Tuva, located in the mountains of Southern Siberia, has been studied in detail by Russian anthropologists. The literature reflects broad cross-group comparisons for all programs of anthropological research-from paleoanthropology to blood biochemistry. Tuvans have at least two racial complexes within the framework of North Asian Mongoloids: the predominant Sayan variant of the Central Asian type, especially characteristic of steppe populations, and the Katanga (Sayan-Yenisei according to Levin) variant of the Baikal type, noted in eastern Tuvans-Todzhins, as well as in neighboring Tofalars. Modern Tuvan groups formed on the same territory as a result of the interaction of both types are generally clearly separated from neighboring ethnic groups. The degree of diversity of local groups of the Tuvan ethnic group is stronger than that of the Khalkha-Mongols, the closest approach to which is reliably documented for the southern group. The southwestern group probably retains traces of an ancient southern Europoid influence. The morphophysiological status of Tuvans shows the features of adaptation to the arid zone and cold stress in continental conditions.

Keywords: steppe Tuvans, Tojin Tuvans, anthropological composition, stages and research methods, Central Asian and Katanga types of North Asian Mongoloids.

Introduction

Tuva (former Republic of Tuva) Tuvan ASSR) is located in the central part of the Asian continent, in the mountains of Southern Siberia (Sayan Mountains), in the upper reaches of the Yenisei River on the border with Mongolia. The indigenous population is Tuvans (self-name Tuva; obsolete. names. Tannu-Tueyans, Soyots, Uryankhayans); in historical and cultural terms, they are divided into western (mountain-steppe regions of Western, Central and Southern Tuva) and eastern, or Tuvans-Todzhins (mountain-taiga part of North-Eastern and South-Eastern Tuva). The Tuvan language belongs to the Turkic group of the Altai language family; it has four dialects - central, western, south-eastern, and north-eastern (Todzhinsky). Tuvans are mainly Buddhist Lamaists, and pre-Buddhist cults and shamanism are also preserved. The total number of Tuvans in our country, according to the 1989 census, was 206.2 thousand, in 2002-243.4 thousand, among them 4.4 thousand Tuvans-Todzhins. Tuvans live mainly within the borders of the multiethnic republic of the same name, where they form a numerical majority (Weinstein, 1994). Their closest neighbors at present are the Turkic and Mongolian-speaking peoples - the southern groups of Khakass and Altai Turks in the west of the republic, the Mongols in the south, the Tofalars and Buryats in the east, and the Russians in the north.

In the 20th century, the anthropology of the Turkic peoples of Southern Siberia was studied repeatedly, using various methods. The research was conducted in areas where the rural population is densely populated: men, women, and children-descendants of mono-ethnic marriages.

The work was supported by the program of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences "Adaptation of peoples and cultures to changes in the natural environment, social and technological transformations" and grant RGNF No. 07 - 01 - 00212a "Turkic-speaking peoples of Northern Eurasia: their origin and ethnic history in the light of anthropological data".

The Tuvans of Tuva have been studied in detail; the modern group of soyotes related to them in Southwestern Buryatia has not been examined by anthropologists.

Among the few pre - revolutionary data on the anthropology of Asian peoples is the measurement data of a group of Tuvans (Soyots), which included 70 men and 22 women. These materials, together with data on the Khakass groups, were obtained by K. I. Goroshchenko, an employee of the Minusinsk Museum [1901, 1905; Ivanovsky, 1907]. S. I. Rudenko [1914] involved them in the analysis of the hypothesis of the Altai-Sayan ancestral homeland of the northern Samoyeds (Nenets). I. P. Silinich studied the first small collection of Tuvan skulls [1901]. It was his report, submitted to the Society of Lovers of Natural Science, Anthropology and Ethnography in 1896, that, according to K. I. Goroshchenko, was the beginning of the actual anthropological study of this people.

A review of the scientific literature on physical anthropology revealed a curious fact: Tuvans are one of the most studied peoples of Russia; in different regions of the republic, surveys were repeatedly conducted according to the classical racial studies program, information was obtained on ethnic odontology, dermatoglyphics and serology, the rate of physical development and aging, body types and the degree of skeletal mineralization, physiological indicators adaptive to the natural environment craniological material was studied, which allowed us to reconstruct anthropological processes from the Eneolithic-Bronze Age to the present. G. F. Debets [1929, 1950, 1951], V. P. Alekseev [1962, 1974, 1984], I. I. Gokhman [1980; Alekseev and Gokhman, 1970, 1984, 1986], and A. G. Kozintsev [1988] made important contributions to the paleoanthropological chronicle of Tuva.

Information about Tuvans is included in the world reports of odontological and dermatoglyphic materials (Zubov and Khaldeyeva, 1989; Khit and Dolinova, 1990). Craniological data on Tuvans collected according to the classical program were published in the most complete form by G. F. Debets [1951], and cranioscopic data were published by A. G. Kozintsev [1988]. The results of ecological and population-genetic studies in a broad comparative context are presented in generalizing works [Anthropo-ecological studies..., 1984; Anthropoecology..., 2005; Gene Pool..., 2000, 2003; Spitsyn, 1985].

Results and discussion

In the anthropological study of modern Tuvans, we distinguish four main stages::

the first was pre-revolutionary, 1900-1914. First scientific data, works by K. I. Goroshchenko, I. P. Silinich, A. A. Ivanovsky, S. I. Rudenko;

The second one is Altai-Sayan, 1924-1947. The first mass survey of all Altai-Sayan Turks in the mid-1920s. The 1926 expeditions led by V. V. Bunak (1928) and A. I. Yarkho (1929, 1936) studied several territorial groups of Tuvans; only the western Tuvans of the Khemchik River Valley were published in detail (Yarkho, 1947);

the third - East Sayan, 1952-1969. The first simultaneous survey of Tuvans (including Todzhins) and Tofalars by expeditions led by M. G. Levin in 1952 [1954, 1958] and YUG. Rychkov in 1964 [1965; Rychkov et al., 1969]. M. G. Levin was the first anthropologist to obtain information on southern Tuvans and Todzhin reindeer herders; Yu. G. Rychkov's expedition marked the beginning of a modern population-genetic study of the region;

The fourth is the modern period of comprehensive study of the Tuvan people, 1972-2005. Survey of Tuvan groups across the entire area of traditional residence in Tuva by the expeditions of V. I. Bogdanova (1972-1976) and T. I. Alekseeva with a large group of colleagues (1976-1980). The program of these studies, which included the compilation of a traditional description of the physical appearance of the adult population, for the first time included the study of a number of other systems of signs-dermatoglyphics, odontology in the course of growth, development and aging of the body, physiological and biochemical markers of ecological adaptation. Collections of anthropological photographs were collected, and extensive intergroup comparisons were made on the scale of Central and all of Northern Asia in ethnogenetic and ecological aspects [Bogdanova, 1978a, b; 1986; Anthropoecological studies..., 1984]. In the course of the analysis, materials on Mongolia were used [Antropoekologiya..., 2005].

Anthropological data on Tuvans and southern Altaians (Altay-Kizhi and Telengites) became the basis for constructing models for solving fundamental problems of ethnic anthropology in the Russian border regions related to determining the territorial and anthropological boundaries between the Central Asian Mongoloid and mixed South Siberian complexes in Southern Siberia, as well as the participation of the ancient Caucasian population in the formation of the latter and the extent of the racial boundary between Turkic and Mongolian-speaking peoples in Asia. Based on paleoanthropological data from the Altai-Sayan mountain country, Buryatia, and Western Mongolia, the presence of an ancient Europoid component in the composition of not only the South Siberian, but also the Central Asian type was established (Gokhman, 1980). The presence of Caucasian admixture in Tuvans was confirmed by the results of izu-

both the morphological features that are traditional for modern anthropology and the genetic polymorphism of blood proteins [Spitsyn, Boeva. Filippov, 1984].

External physical characteristics of modern populations of Altai-Sayan Turks indicate that the boundaries between anthropological variants in the southern regions of Altai and adjacent regions of Western Tuva are unclear. The concentration of Central Asian features increases on average from the Altaians to the Tuvans and then to the Mongols, with the southern group of Tuvans being as close to the Mongols as possible, and the southwestern group being as close as possible to the Altaians. The Baikal Buryats are a community of Central Asian Mongoloids close to the steppe Tuvans. The Todzhins are moving away from the steppe populations in the direction of the taiga aborigines of Siberia and are approaching the neighboring ethnic group-the Tofalars.

The researchers came to a conclusion about the genetic community of the peoples of the north of Central Asia. Within this community, as T. I. Alekseeva emphasized, there are different variants of racial composition and morphophysiological complexes that are adaptive to the geographical environment. Among the peoples of the Altai-Sayan Highlands, against the background of pronounced continental features, which are most clearly manifested in the population of the Gobi zone (Khalkha-Mongols), the features of steppe, taiga and high-mountain adaptation are traced. It is established that the indigenous inhabitants of the steppes, regardless of their race or ethnicity, are characterized by a larger body size compared to the inhabitants of the taiga. This differentiation is clearly evident in the Tuvans: the steppe groups are more massive than the taiga group, which is represented by the relatively gracile Todzhins (Klevtsova, 1984; Alekseeva, Batsevich, and Yasina, 2005).

In the mid-1920s, A. I. Yarkho and a group of collaborators studied representatives of all Altai-Sayan ethnic groups (except for the Tofalars). He proposed a successful taxonomic classification that included three main second-order racial types in the region: North Asian, or Ural-Altaic; South Siberian, or Altaic; and Central Asian, or Sayan. In the Altai-Sayan Highlands, A. I. Yarkho considered Tuva to be the center of localization of the most pronounced Mongoloid Central Asian (Sayan) type, which is represented in a weakened form in the Altai-Kizhi, and as an admixture in the inhabitants of all regions of the mountainous country [1947]. The scientist examined more than 100 men from among the Western Tuvans. During the survey period, this territorial group was characterized on average by: low stature (160.5 cm); large head and face sizes; close to rounded head shape (head index 80.5%); medium-wide, elongated face and nose; dark skin color, as dark as possible in the region; very dark hair and nose. eyes; often blue-black hair color; hair straight and stiff (tight); very weak growth of the beard; flat face with a low bridge; strongly developed crease of the eyelid and epicanthus (Mongolian crease of the eyelid); in the proportions of the body-brachymorphy (relative shortening of the legs and broad shoulders).

M. G. Levin collected and published unique representative materials obtained in one field season on the Tuvans of three steppe regions (west, center, and south of the republic), Todzhins (separately divided into cattle and reindeer herders), Tofalars, and Buryats of the Irkutsk region (a total of 795 Tuvans, men and women) [1954]. All steppe groups are assigned to the Mongoloid Central Asian type. Comparison of the data of M. G. Levin and A. I. Yarkho showed that Tuvans became slightly taller (by 2 cm in the same western group), they increased the size of the head, face and nose. The head of Tuvans is broad, brachycephalic (head index 82-85%); the face is high and broad; the nose is rather broad and high, but elongated and relatively narrow in shape; the forehead is slightly sloping, medium in width, but less than the width of the lower jaw; the mouth is medium in width; the thickness of the lips is average. Mongoloid features of the face and facial hair are very pronounced; the skin is dark; the nose is medium-protruding with a low bridge; the profile of the back of the nose is usually straight, convex or sinuous forms are more characteristic than concave ones. The eye slit is narrowed and sloping, with a developed crease of the eyelid and epicanthus; the eye color is very dark, mixed shades of the iris are quite rare. This characteristic of the male samples was mostly confirmed by later large-scale studies of the Tuvan people; representatives of both sexes were surveyed everywhere.

M. G. Levin paid special attention to the analysis of the Eastern Sayan groups and their position in the anthropological classification of the peoples of Siberia. According to the tabular data, Todzhin pastoralists and reindeer herders are very similar to each other. They are characterized by a number of features that distinguish them from other groups of Tuvans and bring them closer to the Tofalars. Todzhin people are distinguished by lighter skin, softer hair, significantly weaker growth of the beard and eyebrows, a low face on a Mongoloid scale (131-132 mm in male samples), a stronger protrusion of the cheekbones, and a shorter body length (158-159 cm in men on average). M. G. Levin suggested the presence of Sayan people in the composition as one of the components of the Katanga variant of the Baikal anthropological type [1954, p. 21]. The literature has established an assessment of the anthropological type of these two ethnic groups by gender-

It was proposed to name it not Katanga (after one of the Evenk regions), but Sayano-Yenisei, based on the area of close complexes of racial traits (Levin, 1958, 1960). Considering the latter, I consider it important to focus on the noticeable difference between the Tofalars and Todzhins from the Western Evenks, recorded in the tabular material of M. G. Levin [1954, p. 21]. Both groups, despite their specificity, have much in common with the group of steppe Tuvans and the comparative group of Buryats. At the same time, the Tojins are closer to the former, and the Tofalars are closer to the latter, according to the descriptive characteristics.

In connection with the hypothesis of the Altai-Sayan ancestral homeland of the Samoyeds, the greatest ethnogenetic interest is the anthropological convergence of the Tofalars and Todzhins with more northern Siberian groups. Indeed, the features of the Katanga or Sayan-Yenisei type are clearly evident in the northern Samoyeds (Aksyanova, 2003). The distribution of gene frequencies of blood protein systems (ABO, MN, HP, GC, PI, TF, AP, PGM) allows us to draw parallels between the Tofalars, Tuvans, mountain Shors, and Asian tundra Nenets, but the intra-Sayan and Central Asian connections of the studied Eastern Sayan Turks are closer (Spitsyn, Boeva, and Filippov, 1984)..

In the 1970s, as part of her dissertation work, V. I. Bogdanova surveyed four territorial groups of steppe Tuvans - western, southwestern, central and southern (in total, approx. 2 thousand people with school-age children). She obtained data to describe the physical appearance of men and women according to the traditional program, and also collected materials on dermatoglyphics, odontology, and blood types. In the comparative analysis, V. I. Bogdanova shifted the focus to the intraethnic differentiation of Tuvans and broad intergroup comparisons. When interethnic comparison is made, it establishes the uniqueness of the complex anthropological characteristics of Tuvan populations, which, on the one hand, have similarities with Kazakhs, Kirghizs, Altaians, and on the other - with Mongols and Yakuts. They are combined with the former by more stable measurement features, and with the latter by descriptive features of appearance. This allows us, in our opinion, to consider the South Siberian stratum in the ethnogenesis of the Tuvans earlier than the southern Central Asian one.

V. I. Bogdanova [1979, 1986], based on the analysis of data from several systems of traits, concluded that the steppe Tuvans are heterogeneous. It distinguishes two anthropological types in their composition-pronounced Mongoloid (most groups) and with a weakened Mongoloid (southwestern Tuvans).

It is shown that the variability of most anthropometric features in the territory of Tuva has a geographical orientation: from west to east, the degree of beard and eyebrow development decreases, the frequency of wavy hair decreases, the pigmentation of hair, eyes and skin darkens, the Mongoloid features of the eye area and nose signs increase, and the frequency of concave nasal backs increases. South-western group (Ovyurskaya and Mongun-taiginskaya combined) They are characterized by a significant peculiarity and deviation to the South Siberian type: very large head and face sizes, strong flatness and cheekbones in combination with a more prominent nose, weakening of pigmentation, and a decrease in the frequency of epicanthus. Western Tuvans of the Khemchik River basin are united with representatives of this group. The other pole of variability, the most Mongoloid in racial type, is located in the south of Tuva (Erzinsky district), and the central Tuvans of the Ulug-Khem and Kaa-Khem river basins are close to it. V. I. Bogdanova explains the reason for the deviation of southwestern Tuvans to the South Siberian type by the admixture of ancient Caucasians, which could have been preserved here for a long time in conditions of increased geographical isolation. This concept is also expressed in the works of V. P. and T. P. Alekseev. Tuvans of the Mongun-Taiga district were re-studied by the scientific group of T. P. Alekseeva under a comprehensive program. Their similarity with the geographically close telengites of the Kosh-Agachsky district of Gorny Altai was revealed not so much by their racial complex as by their morphophysiological status. This proves the unity of adaptive biological responses in populations that live in similar natural conditions for a long time (Antropoekologiya..., 2005).

The same interethnic correlation in the south-west of Tuva was revealed by the analysis of signs of skin relief. On the whole, the diversity of dermatoglyphic complexes of steppe Tuvans ' populations is not inferior to the diversity of ethnic groups in Gorny Altai. The severity of the Mongoloid component varies by local groups 2 times more strongly than that of the Altaians and 4 times more strongly than that of the Khakass (Khit, 1986). According to V. I. Bogdanova, Tuvans showed the greatest similarity in the ratio of gene frequencies of blood groups in the ABO system with the Altai peoples. According to V. A. Spitsyn's analysis of enzymes and other blood proteins, Tuvans form a common cluster with groups of the Altai-Sayan Highlands, Khalkha-Mongols, Yakuts, and one of the Evenki populations and characterize frequency variations within the Central Asian subtype of the Siberian type (Spitsyn, Boeva, and Filippov, 1984).

According to the latest survey conducted in the late 1970s by a large group of ants-

The average body length of male Tuvans is 163-165 cm (for steppe groups), women 151-152 cm, and Todzhins 160 and 147 cm, respectively. The highest were the southern Tuvans of the Erzinsky district. In the early 1950s, M. G. Levin noted that they, on the contrary, had the lowest height - 160.4 cm (an epochal difference of more than 4 cm). At the same time, the Todzhin residents ' height gain was 1 - 2 cm.

These multi-year studies covered populations of indigenous peoples of the Altai-Sayan Highlands, Buryatia, and Mongolia under a wide range of programs. In Tuva, the work was carried out in four territorial groups: western (Dzun - Khemchik district), south-western (Mongun-Taiginsky district), southern (Erzinsky district) and eastern (Todzhinsky district). In total, approximately 1,600 Tuvans, adults and children were examined.

The morphophysiological status of Tuvans is characterized by features inherent in the indigenous populations of the Altai-Sayan Highlands as a whole: brachymorphic body proportions, an increase in the body fat component, and a flattened chest. Researchers explain these features by the adaptive response of the human body to cold stress in continental conditions of sharp diurnal and seasonal fluctuations in ambient temperature. In terms of basic metabolism, which reflects the level of heat production, the indigenous population of the Altai-Sayan region is close to the population of the Arctic, and in terms of the level of proteins and lipids in blood serum, it is close to the inhabitants of the temperate zone. A specific feature is the reduced mineralization of the skeleton, characteristic of the inhabitants of the arid zone [Antropoekologiya..., 2005, p. 292].

T. I. Alekseeva, comparing all groups with the Shors (mountain and Abakan), Khakas (Kachin and Sagai) and Yakuts of the Gorny district of Yakutia, emphasized the following racial characteristics of Tuvans: "... the anthropological characteristics of Tuvans are quite complex and ambiguous. Pronounced brachycephaly, a broad forehead, a sloping chin, and rather dark skin distinguish Tuvans from other Altai-Sayan peoples, as well as from Yakuts. According to the size and profile of the face, the size and shape of the nose, the development of the eyelid fold and epicanthus, the shape and width of the eye slit, the color of hair and eyes, and the growth of hair on the face and body, Tuvans are typical representatives of the Mongoloid race" [1984, p.103]. The researcher includes all the steppe Tuvan territorial groups in one Sayan variant of the Central Asian type, separating it from the variants characteristic of the Buryats, Yakuts, and Mongols of the same type. In the areas of contact with the Mongols (southern Tuvans), Central Asian features are strengthened, and in isolated areas (southwestern Tuvans), the features of the ancient, possibly southern-European, population are preserved. The low specific gravity of the latter does not give grounds for distinguishing the South Siberian type in the Tuvans.

According to T. I. Alekseeva, the formation of the Sayan variant, which is characteristic of Tuvans, occurred on the basis of inter-racial contacts between representatives of the Katanga variant of the Baikal and Central Asian types proper [1984]. A striking morphological feature of the former is its short stature and relative low-face, while the latter is characterized by an increased frequency of convex nasal dorsal profiles on the Mongoloid scale. It is confirmed that the Katanga type is most clearly manifested in Tuvans-Todzhins. Anthropologists, following ethnographers and linguists, associate this type with the Samoyedic and Ket (i.e. pre-Turkic) substrates in the Sayan Mountains.

The relatively large uniformity of steppe Tuvans and their difference from Todzhins are revealed by intergroup comparisons based on the signs of skin relief and dental morphology (Khit, 1983; Khaldeyeva, 1984; Bitadze, 1984). These systems of biological features are quite conservative, and therefore can inform us about relatively earlier periods of the group's ethnic history. According to V. I. Bogdanova, populations in the west of Tuva tend to weaken Mongoloidness due to the ancient Europoid admixture (Alekseev, 1984; Bogdanova and Khaldeyeva, 1980; Khit and Bogdanova, 1980).

Based on the detailed published material on the peoples of Central Asia (Alekseeva, 2005), we estimated statistically the intra-ethnic diversity of Tuvan, Mongolian, and Gorno-Altaic populations by the complex of racial and diagnostic features of appearance (Tables 1, 2). We obtained an average or increased level of diversity of all three ethnic communities (especially Altaic) by the measurement complex. According to the criterion of harmony of ranks for quantitative and qualitative characteristics, the Tuvans are closer to the Mongols than to the Altaians. For Tuvans, heterogeneity of the genetic substrate is most likely acceptable with a high racial homogeneity of superstrate components (without taking into account modern mestizos).

Clustering of the groups surveyed by T. I. Alekseeva in the north of Central Asia confirms the increased heterogeneity of the southern Altaians (Altai-Kizhi and Telengites). There is no doubt about the association of the Altai-Kizhi with representatives of the Central Asian racial type (see figure). The Khalkha Mongols are clearly separated from both the Altaians and Tuvans, although in general the differences between them are small on a Eurasian scale. Of the three ethnic communities, the Khalkha are the most homogeneous, with an increasing diversity of eastern populations (Burda and Khalkhgol groups). A similar degree of homogeneity for-

Table 1. Anthropological characteristics

* Compiled from: [Alekseeva, 2005], hair color in Tuvans and Mongols- [Batsevich, 1984; Zolotareva, 1990], Altai-kizhi

Table 2. Indicators of intra-ethnic differentiation based on the sum of head and face features

There were three Tuvan groups - the western, south-western, and adjacent eastern (Todzhins). As we can see, the Mongun-Taiga (southwestern) group is closer to its ethnic neighbors in terms of racial complex than to the Telengites. The most peculiar among the Tuvans in terms of the combination of features were not the Todzhins, but the southern group of the Erzinsky district. Despite the general mosaic structure of this local complex, it clearly shows similarities with the Mongols, although the closest group, according to V. I. Bogdanova, is still the central Tuvans.

The closeness of the Todzhins to the steppe Tuvans by racial characteristics corresponds to the data on the genetic closeness between them in terms of a set of blood protein factors. So, when comparing each of these groups with tofalars, the genetic distance increases by about 2 times. These data indicate the unity of origin of all territorial groups of Tuva and strengthen the view of the Todzhins as part of the Tuvan people [Spitsyn, Boeva, Filippov, 1984, pp. 191-193].

Comparison of Todzhin pastoralists and reindeer herders with Tofalars and central Tuvans by main characteristics

ethnoterritorial groups of the Altai-Sayan Highlands and Mongolia*

Ongudai district and Tubalara (Aksyanova, 1992).

Clustering of male groups of Khalkha Mongols, Tuvans, and southern Altaians by a complex of racial characteristics.

The definition of blood groups is presented in the work of Yu. G. Rychkov, I. V. Perevozchikov, V. A. Sheremetyeva, T. V. Volkova, and A. G. Bashlai [1969]. The expedition worked in 1964 on the territory of Tofalaria, Toji and in the city of Kyzyl (central part of Tuva); it examined more than 500 people. The program of work included the collection of genealogical data, anthropological photographs and hair samples, as well as the determination of blood groups (ABO, MNSs, Rhesus, PI, Lewis) and racial characteristics of appearance. A great variety of tofalars was noted: a very high concentration of gene 0 (0.8036 on average); the ratio of gene frequencies B > A, N > M, and S > s; a high NS frequency; and a pronounced specificity in the set and frequency of markers of the Rhesus system. Tuvans, especially Todzhins, are characterized by gene frequencies from 0 to 0.6560 and 0.5500, respectively, as well as the inverse formula A > B, M > N (A = 0.2186 and 0.3176, M = 0.5215 and 0.6034). The article by Yu. G. Rychkov, I. V. Perevozchikov, V. A. Sheremetyeva, T. V. Volkova and A. G. Bashlay contains detailed digital data on the studied genetic markers in local and total groups (frequencies of phenotypes and genes are given

and chromosomes). It is shown that the genetic characteristics of aboriginal populations of the Eastern Sayan were formed not only under the influence of gene drift in isolation, but also as a result of their directed migration. The genetic influence spread mainly from Tuva, through Toja to Southern Tofalaria. As the authors suggest, at the early stages of the ethnogenesis of the Sayan peoples, there were three genetically disjointed groups, traces of which are preserved in the characteristics of the northern group of Tofalars, Todzhin pastoralists and steppe Tuvans. This fragmentation probably dates back to the Samoyedic or even pre-Samoyedic stage of the region's history. This assumption is consistent with the opinion of V. A. Dremov that the spread of native speakers of the Turkic language in the Altai-Sayans most likely caused the leveling of racial differences between populations.

Mongolian influence, traces of which can be traced in the south of the Altai and in the Sayans, did not lead to a complete replacement of the aboriginal population, which is more pronounced in the extreme north-eastern regions - in Toja and Tofalaria. The processes of biological mixing, as well as the relative isolation of territories and populations, are considered by anthropologists as the leading factors in the formation of the anthropological composition of the modern peoples of the Altai-Sayan Highlands.

Conclusion

The territory of Tuva, located in the Sayan mountain system of Central Asia, has repeatedly been the site of detailed expedition studies of the indigenous population in physical anthropology. Extensive intergroup comparisons are reflected in the Russian literature for all developed racial-genetic programs. Main periods in the study of modern Tuvan populations: 1900 - 1914, 1924 - 1947, 1952 - 1969, 1972 - 2005 years

Tuvans have at least two racial complexes within the framework of North Asian Mongoloids: the predominant Sayan variant of the Central Asian type, which is characteristic of steppe populations, and the Katanga (Sayan-Yenisei, in the terminology of M. G. Levin) variant of the Baikal type, which is predominant in eastern Tuvans-Todzhins. In the course of interaction of both types, modern territorial groups of Tuvans were formed. It is assumed that the specificity of the southwestern group is due to the preservation of an ancient, probably southern-Caucasian, population here. The greatest deviation to the Mongols of the southern territorial group is reliably documented, which gives it a unique identity.

In the morphophysiological status of Tuvans, features of adaptation to cold stress in continental conditions are noted: brachymorphy, an increase in the body fat component, flatness of the chest. A special feature is the reduced mineralization of the skeleton, which is generally characteristic of the inhabitants of the arid zone.

There is no doubt about the autochthonous origin of all groups of Tuvans in the territories of traditional compact residence. The existence of a characteristic set of features that, on the one hand, separates the Tuvan ethnic community from neighboring peoples, and on the other hand, forms not only geographical, but also anthropological unity with them in the north of central Asia, is reliably documented.

List of literature

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Aksyanova G. A. Somatology // Ethnography and anthropology of Yamal. Novosibirsk: Nauka Publ., 2003, pp. 200-292.

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Alekseev, V. P., Brief description of the paleoanthropology of Tuva in connection with historical issues, in Antropo-ekologicheskie issledovaniya v Tuve, Moscow: Nauka Publ., 1984, pp. 6-75.

Alekseev V. P., Gokhman I. I. Paleoanthropological materials of the Hunno-Sarmatian period from the Kokel burial ground. the complex. Archaeological and Ethnographic Expeditions, Nauka Publ., 1970, vol. 3, pp. 239-297.

Alekseev V. P., Gokhman I. I. Anthropology of the Asian part of the USSR, Moscow: Nauka Publ., 1984, 208 p.

Alekseev V. P., Gokhman I. I. Antropologicheskiy sostav i proiskhozhdenie naseleniya, poslavshego mogilnik Kokel ' [Anthropological composition and origin of the population that left the Kokel burial ground]. Novosibirsk: Nauka Publ., 1986, pp. 87-107.

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The article was submitted to the Editorial Board on 07.10.08.

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