Ethnic anthropology

There are some thoughts about Kaspi anthropological type in the science, to which Azerbaijanis are related within great white race. One of the most notable anthropologists of the XX century Fischer included Azerbaijani Turks and Turkmens in 1923 to oriental race. But there are 4 different views in connection with this problem among anthropologists of former Soviet Union:

1. Yarkh, Roginski, Levin and Abdushelishvili have made efforts to make loser Kaspi type to anthropological types, to which northern India and middle Asian people belonged.

2. In 1948 G.F Debets has included Kasip type to front Asian small race. According to Debets “physical types of Azerbaijanis and Turkmens makes them relative to people of Front Asia and Mediterranean coast rather than to ancient people of Kazakhstan and Altay.. Oshanin defending his thought  has presented Kaspi type as long head modification of Front Asia small race

3. But in Cheboksarov’s racial classification Kaspi type has been included in races of Mediterranean and Balkan. 

4. More inconsistent position in connection with problem belongs to V.V. Bunak. In 1951 assumedly taking into account the head parameters the scientist had included Kaspi type to small race of   Mediterranean along with Pont type of Kaspi type. But in further researches Bunak made Kaspi type closer to Mavarannahar anthropological types as described by L.V. Oshanin and Pamir-Farqan type as described by Yarkho.

It is necessary to note that in Ancient Chinese sources that separated from ancient Turkic kin since middle of II millennium BC the khush named eastern oghuzs differed from Chinese with their belonging to white race. 

It is possible to observe the same circumstances in the Caucasian territory. As a whole belonging of Caucasian peoples to different language families give the great importance to solution of exact ethnogenetic matters from the paleoanthropologic materials found from this territory. In 1939 finding of teeth remains of primate from Garayazy, lower jaw of archantrop from  Azykh cave, bones of paleonthrop from Western Georgia, from Basin of Podkumok River near to Bestau (Pyatigorsk) had allowed to make a view that they belonged to antropogenesis zone of Caucasus.  Finding of well preserved sculls from Dmanisi (Bashkechid) area of Georgia resided by Azerbaijanis, from the cave at bank of Khram river with age of 1 million 700 thousand years had not just proved the theory about Caucasus being the most ancient man dwelling area but at the same time had destroyed the evolutionist, atheist theories connected with creation of human being. 

Remains of human being related to Age of Mid Stone of Caucasus were found in Gobustan. Bones of 11 men found from shallow hole of «Firuz» camp were preserved badly. 7 of found sculls were of male ad 3 of female and 1 of child. Only two of these sculls were in condition of measuring. Called conditionally as No 3 1st scull was dolychokran for structure. 2nd scull known as No 5 was partly different from first. As there were no other human remains found related to Mid Stone Age in the Caucasus so the first  researcher of  finding R.F. Gasimova could compare the  Gobustan findings just with female scull found from Khotu cave related to Mazandaran culture and it was informed that both sculls were dolichokran. Study of Gobustan and Khotu sculls, as well as its comparision allows to say that the physical structure of people of Stone Age of “Kaniza” cave of Gobustan and population of present Armenia and South Azerbaijan were dolychrokran.  

The new stone age of Caucasus (neolith) was identified based on studies of 4 sculls found from territory of Georgia.  3 of these sculls were dolychkran and the scull found from foothills of Imeretia (Westrn Georgia) belonged to mesokefal type. 

In identification of morphologic structure of population of copper-stone (Neolith) Age of Caucasus the sculls found from Kultapə (Azerbaijan Republic), Samtavro (present Georgian Republic), Şengavit and Jararat (present Armenian Republic), Chimkend (present Daghestan Republic) are of great importance. Longheadness of scull found from Kultapa   (dolichokran) and thin facedness can be considered as ancient form of Kaspi (Khazar) type. The similar structured paleoantropologic findings are met in Al – Ubeyd ( Iraq) and Sialk (South Azerbaijani) cultures.

The analogues of Kaspi (Khazar) type were found out in Jararat camps in the south-west of Goycha Lake and Sengavit in the present Armenian Republic territory. 4 of out of 5 sculls found in Şengavit were male and 1 of female scull. The main indicator of Şengavit scull was 72.5 and in sculls of Jararat 78.5 whereas in present Armenians this parameter reaches 85,7. In both cases and sculls found from the territory of Armenia had no relations to Armenians.  

V.V.Bunak studying the Chimkend sculls related them to Kaspi (Khazar) type for morphologic signs and came to conclusion that the anthropologic types of the Northern Caucasus as a whole are formed based on three elements. Two of them are dolichokran (longheaded) and another brachykran (flat headed). V.V.Bunak informs that one of dolichokran elements was spread in the Northern Caucasus since stone (Neolith) age and belonged to Pont type, and another one had relations to Kaspi (Khazar) type. According to V.V.Bunak brachykran (flat headed) element is related mostly to ancient population of Eurasian steppes.

All of these allows to say that this is Kaspi (Caspian) anthropological type, the most spread type in the Southern and Northern Caucasus during Copper –Stone (Neolith ) Age. Paleoantropologic materials series related to Bronze Age (sculls found from Khachbulag settlement in Azerbaijan Republic, near  Tkviavi village of the Gori region of  Georgian Republic, Lchashen in the south-west of Goycha Lake, Nalchik kurgan, basin of Manich River)  informs that at result of transformation of Kaspi type, being more ancient, starting from Bronze age the formation process of Front Asia type begins. In 3 km away from Lchashen, the scull belonging to mid of II millennium BC although put behind the Lchashen sculls for its width but for basic parameters they are dolychroncran (long headed). Giving more importance to wide face factor V.P.Alekseyev evne wanted to consider them as “hereditary” of Armenians but later he forced to relate this sign, that is, wide facedness   to inter Caucasian migration processes. 

Paleoantropologic materials related to Early Iron Age have been found out in Mingachevir (the Azerbaijan Republic), Samakaberd and Noraduz (territory of present Armenia republic). In Mingachevir graves the dead were buried in kinds: folded (X- VIII centuries BC) and lengthened (VI- V centuries BC).  The skulls were long headed and thin faced. Skulls of Samakaberd and Noraduz correspond to Kaspi type with longheaded and mid height sizes.   R.M. Gasımova noted that this series are transition form among sculls from Sialk in South Azerbaijan (IV millennium BC) to sculls in  Mingachevir (VII- V centuries ) and  V.P. Alexeyev noted that they were heirs of  sculls in  Lchashen and Sevan (Goycha). Skulls, found in present Armenian territory related to Early Iron Age, as well as the paleoantropologic materials found out from the territory of Kuban may be considered as analogue of the Kaspi type for its parameters.

Thus basing on paleoantroplogic findings got from the territory of Azerbaijan and present Armenia, as well as present Eastern Georgia during late bronze and early iron it is possible to observe the separation of this type Kavkasion and Front Asia types at result of transformation and domination of population of Kaspi type in Southern Caucasus.

Paleoantropologic findings got from South of the Caucasus and from North prove once again that belonging of Kaspi (Khazar, more truly Oghuz- as this type relates to originally two brother nations of Oghuz, that is Azerbaijanis and Turkmens) in view of the most ancient population of this region had long head, sharp thin nose, thin face and etc morphologic signs and that Azerbaijani Turks were first inhabitants of the Caucasian region.   

Ancient authors wrote that budins ( budun in ancient Turkic language meant tribe)living in the area stretching from  Upper Don to Middle stream of Volga  (Idil) River (Herodotus noted that tribe with this name lived in Azerbaijan) were of “blue eyed, blonde haired”  Such kind of information allow to identify  the anthropological types till the Greta migration of  nations by enriching the paleoantropologic knowledge. During the Great migration of people differences in the anthropological types of the separate peoples are visible in the more salient form. The names of Turkic tribes making ‘leading’ to these migrations enter the vocabulary of the European languages.  For instance, the hun word became the great, in German, Czech and Slovak languages and  avar ethnonym  in the  form of  obr gives the meaning of  hero in the languages of the Karpat Slavs and Hungarians. From this viewpoint at result of researches carried out by T.A.Tot and B.V.Firshtein draws the attention: there is no mongoloid mix in Hun and avars‘ main mass actually. The eastern Turks -  tsze living in neighborhood with China  differed from Chinese of mongoloid race  with such features of  upright noses, thick beards, eye types and long heights . There is no doubt on belonging of Turkic peoples making the majority of  Europoids in the Middle Ages  to Europoid  race of Turkic peoples.