The population of the bronze age of the lower volga region in the works of russian anthropologists

Introduction. Thiswork is a review of scientificpublications on studying paleoanthropological materials of the BronzeAgeoriginating from burial moundsofthe Lower Volga region. Materialsand Analysis. Thepaper begins with the analysisofarticles and monographic studies ofdomesticauthors, whoseworks were written in the periodfrom the 30s to the late 80s of the 20th century. The so-called Soviet period in Russian anthropology is characterized bythe dominance of the individual-typological approach in describing skeletal series of representatives of the BronzeAge cultures. Theosteological collections from burial complexes of the Bronze Age of the Lower Volga region accumulated at this stage of the studywere distinguished by a small number and low representativeness. The main conclusions were based on studying craniological samples.Agreat contribution todevelopingideas on the racial and ethnichistoryofthe Lower Volga region during thisperiod wasmadebyresearchers G.F. Debets, V.V. Gizburg, V.I. Vuich, B.V. Firshtein,A.V. Shevchenko. Thesecondpart of thearticle is devoted to analyzing the results of anthropological research in the region in the works of modern Russian scientists. A distinctive feature oftheseworks is that theyare based on studying large-scale craniological series ofbroad temporal and territorial coverage. Thestudies ofsuch scientists as A.A. Khokhlov, E.F. Batieva, A.A. Kazarnitsky, M.A. Balabanova use the complex approach in which classical methods of physical anthropology (craniology, osteology) are combined with the methods of statistical analysis and using data from Archaeology, Paleodemography, and Paleoecology. Results. The work shows the importanceof using anthropological data as an independent source in paleohistorical constructions, as well asin the process of the archaeological studyof various cultures of the Bronze Age that existed in the Lower Volga region.