The article is dedicated to the publication and comparative analysis of a craniological group from the Chernyakhiv culture of the second half of the 4th – first half of the 5th century AD, from Shyshaky. The series consists of skulls found during excavations in 2009–2016, by R. Reida, A. Geiko, and S. Sapegin. The aim of the article is to introduce new material into scientific circulation, provide a general characterization of Chernyakhiv culture males against the background of adjacent ethnic groups in Ukraine, Lithuania, Eastern Europe, and Eurasia (diachronic method), determine the distances between individual series from the 3rd century BC to the 5th century AD using multidimensional canonical and cluster analysis, and clarify the place of males from Shyshaky in the system of craniological types of the Chernyakhiv culture from the territory of Ukraine. This study also aims to determine the features of the studied group based on the results of typologization. Methodology. The research is based on the principle of objectivity, using general scientific analysis and synthesis, the method of observation, anthropological and statistical methods. Skulls were measured according to a complete craniometric program using R. Martin’s standard methodology, according to which feature numbering was indicated. The work used computer programs created by B. and O. Kozintsev in 1991. Fourteen craniometric features were involved. The article considers only males, as females require a separate, detailed study. Scientific novelty. For the first time, a male sample of the Chernyakhiv culture from the second half of the 4th – first half of the 5th century AD from Shyshaky was created, involving fourteen skulls. It was determined that according to the average values of craniometric features, the male part of the population can be attributed to the dolichocranial Europoid variant with a narrow face (based on the absolute dimensions of the facial skeleton). It has been proven that the male craniological group from Shyshaky, according to T. Rudych’s typological scheme, falls within the dolichocranial, narrow-faced craniological type, in which Chernyakhiv groups from the territory of Moldova and Western Ukraine are located. Conclusions. When comparing the male study group of the 4th–5th centuries AD with synchronous series from the territory of Ukraine and diachronic and synchronous groups from Central and Eastern Europe (Lithuania, Caucasus) and Asia using the method of multidimensional canonical and cluster analysis, similarity to the combined series of Western Ukraine was noted.
Yuriy Dolzhenko (Mon,) studied this question.