\'. misci:llanea anthropologica 



INTRODUCTION 



This report, wliich has been delayed by World War II, is based on 

 results obtained by Soviet physical anthropologists together with 

 observations recorded in the Soviet Union during September and 

 October, 1934, by Henry Field, while leader of the Field Museum 

 Anthropological Expedition to the Near East, financed by Marshall 

 Field. 



At the conclusion of the compilation of anthropometric data in Iraq 

 and Iran the members of this expedition, then reduced to the leader 

 and Richard A. Martin, later Curator of Near Eastern Archaeology 

 at Field Museum of Natural History,^ crossed the Caspian Sea to 

 enter the Union of Soviet Socialists Republics at Baku on September 



13. 1934- 



Their journey took them by train to Tbilisi [formerly Tifiis] ; by 

 automobile over the Georgian Military Highway to Daudzikau 

 [formerly Vladikavkaz and Ordzhonikidze] ; by train to Rostov, 

 Kharkov, and Dnieproges ; by automobile to Dnepropetrovsk ; and by 

 train to Kiev, Moscow, and Leningrad. 



In order to add a link to the series of anthropometric data from 

 Southwestern Asia, in Tbilisi 50 male Yezidis and in Ordzhonikidze 

 107 males and 50 females from North Osetia were measured, observed, 

 and photographed. In addition, 20 skulls from a tomb in the Dar- 

 gavskaia Valley near Koban were measured and photographed. In 

 the Osetian Museum at Ordzhonikidze 19 dcfomied skulls from a site 

 near Nalchik were also examined. 



These data, together with photographs by Mr. Martin, will appear 

 under the title "Contributions to the Anthropology of the Caucasus," 

 by Henry Field. 



Before the expedition left Qiicago. Wallace Murray, Chief of the 

 Near East Division of the Department of State, had been advised of 

 the proposed itinerary. As a result Ambassador William H. Bullitt in 

 Moscow had requested a special entry permit at Baku. The ,-\cademy 

 of Sciences of the U.S.S.R. and the All-l'nion Society for Cultural 

 Relations with Foreign Countries (VOKS) were also asked to assist 

 them in any manner within their power. 



During their visit to branches of the U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences, 



* In 1943 changed to Chicago Natural History Museum. 



113 



