Some questions on paleoanthropology of the chalcolithic and early bronze ages in the south of Eastern Europe in connection with the problem of the origin of the Afanasievo culture

Aim. To study intergroup population variability of the ancient population of Southeastern Europe in the context of the origin of the population of the Afanasievo culture of Southern Siberia and Central Asia.
Methodology. A corpus of craniometric data was formed taking into account the identified problematic issues of paleoanthropology of the Eneolithic – Early Bronze steppes and forest-steppes of Eastern Europe, and its multidimensional statistical study was conducted.
Results. The analysis made it possible to identify at the statistical level the differences between the series of two cultural and genetic layers of the ancient population of the south of Eastern Europe belonging to the proto-European anthropological type. The general differences between the populations of the Yamnaya community and the groups of the Eneolithic period preceding in these territories are determined. The greatest similarity of the majority of Afanasievo samples of skulls with Yamnaya craniological series of the territory of the steppes and forest-steppes of the Volga-Ural region, as well as a series from the Altai highlands with Eneolithic Berezhnovsky type, Sredny Stog culture and other groups of the steppe Eneolithic of southern Eastern Europe was revealed.
Research implications. The formed craniological series of the Eneolithic and Early Bronze Age of Southeastern Europe are suitable for studying the issues of cultural and ethnogenesis of the ancient population of this territory. The study of paleoanthropological materials of the Eastern European steppes and forest-steppes with the reception of new factual data should be carried out taking into account the key problems of paleoanthropology of this region.

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