Laboratory of Physical Anthropology
24 May 2022
By the decision of the Scientific Council of the Institute dated December 23, 2021 (Protocol No. 9), the Target Research Laboratory of Anthropology of the Margulan Institute of Archaeology of the CS of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan was renamed the Laboratory of Physical Anthropology.
The Laboratory of Paleoanthropological Study of Kazakhstan at the Institute was established on the initiative of the Director of the Institute, Academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Kazakhstan B. Baitanayev in 2015. Candidate of Historical Sciences E. Kitov headed of the laboratory.
A repository of paleoanthropological collections has been created on the basis of the laboratory, which will be the basis for conducting research not only in various areas of anthropology, but also for research on paleogenetics, radiocarbon dating (14C), analysis of nitrogen, carbon isotopes, etc. These analyses are widely implemented in research projects, allowing to obtain fundamentally new information on the basis of which we can draw conclusions about migration processes in Eurasia, about the diet, diseases and lifestyle of ancient populations. Such studies are currently widespread in world practice, the results of which are published in serious international publications – Science, Nature, Radiocarbon, etc.
Paleoanthropological study of the collections is carried out according to various methods adopted in modern physical anthropology (craniology, osteometry, odontology, cranioscopy, paleopathology, reconstruction of physical activity, etc.). On the basis of the available materials, integration multilateral statistical analyses are carried out with the involvement of new paleoanthropological materials from the territory of modern Kazakhstan and adjacent territories. On the basis of these comprehensive studies, the processes of race and ethnogenesis that took place on the territory of modern Kazakhstan and the steppe strip of Eurasia are studied, and their role in the formation of the population of subsequent periods is determined.
Laboratory employees:
1. Zhanuzak Ramazan - Head of the laboratory
The main purpose of the laboratory is to collect and store anthropological collections in order to study the process of formation of the anthropological cover on the basis of paleoanthropological materials of a large chronological interval (from the Stone Age to the present) and to train young specialists. Based on the available anthropological materials, a reliable scientific base will be obtained to solve the problems of race and ethnogenesis in the process of forming an anthropological map of the territory of Kazakhstan.
To do this, it is planned to perform the following tasks:
- collection of anthropological materials, their restoration and organization of storage;
- study and introduction into scientific circulation of new paleoanthropological data on the population of Kazakhstan in various historical periods, analyzed on the basis of the latest methods and developments of paleoanthropology;
- intergroup and intragroup analysis of the studied series against a broad comparative background of Eurasian populations for the purpose of anthropological identification and clarification of possible genetic connections and identification of racial components;
- integration analysis of materials of paleoanthropology, archaeology and other related disciplines and obtaining objective results on the ethnogenetic history of Kazakhstan;
- solving the issues of human physical activity in various ecological niches in different historical periods;
- study of paleopathological and traumatic evidence to study the adaptive characteristics of ancient groups to environmental conditions and the degree of social tension of ancient societies;
- solving paleodemography issues;
- performing graphic and sculptural reconstructions of skulls to create visual examples of the appearance of the ancient population of the regions, the modern territory of Kazakhstan;
- identification of skeletal remains from funerary monuments correlated with the burial sites of prominent historical figures on the territory of Kazakhstan, and establishment of possible kinship relationships between individuals based on morphological and genetic data;
- implementation of training and advanced training of young specialists in the field of anthropology, participation in the discussion of monographs, textbooks, scientific articles, as well as dissertation research submitted for defense.
To date, the laboratory has conditions for the storage and operation of anthropological collections. There are about 2000 storage units of various chronological periods on the balance sheet, which are in the process of being studied. Cooperation is also continuing with archaeological centers in Kazakhstan to accept anthropological collections from various regions of the Republic of Kazakhstan for storage, with which further work will be continued.
Projects within the framework of program-targeted financing, in which the department's employees have participated over the past 5 years:
PTF 2018-2020 "Culture of the population of Kazakhstan from the Stone Age to ethnographic modernity according to archaeological sources". Headed by A. Manapova.