NO. 13 SOVIET ANTHROPOLOGY — FIELD 123 



namely that of dolichocephals, particularly in the province of Khams. 

 The population of Tihet did not, therefore, take any part in the forma- 

 tion of the racial structure of the Iranian tribes in the western Pamirs. 



In eastern Turkestan, as a result of Sir Aurel Stein's investiga- 

 tions, in addition to a Mongoloid type, there has been recognized a 

 brachyccphalic European type closely related to the peoples dwelling 

 in the region of the Duab. This same race also inhabits the I'erghana 

 Valley, which is separated from the western Pamirs by the Altai and 

 Trans-Altai mountain ridges and by the plateau of the eastern Pamirs, 

 which are inhabited by the Kirghiz, typical Mongoloids. 



Thus, the comparison between the Iranian tribes of the western 

 Pamirs and the peoples of the surrounding countries proves that this 

 region was populated from the west, from Iran. The connecting link 

 was Afghanistan. 



On the basis of the scanty historical information, Oshanin states 

 that the western Pamirs appear to have been populated 1,500 to 2.000 

 years ago by the Iranians, who from the anthropological point of 

 view take an intermediate position between the brachycephalic "* 

 Europeans of Central Asia and those of Western Asia. 



Oshanin then dwells on certain general anthropological problems 

 of Central Asia and adjacent countries: 



I. The distribution of the Armcnoids of Western Asia and their 

 differentiation into local types. As stated above, the brachycephalic 

 Europeans of the Pamirs, in certain characters, the most important 

 being hair growth and nose morphology, take an intermediate position 

 between the Armenoids and the peoples of the Central Asiatic Duab. 

 They might possibly be considered as a result of a crossing between 

 the two types named, but on the other hand this intermediate position 

 does not necessarily prove the fact of crossing. It is possible, for 

 example, that the Pamir Europeoids may be but a local variety of the 

 Armenoid of Western Asia. Nor is another possibility excluded of 

 their being a certain transitional stage in the racial evolution, and 

 as our knowledge increases, the number of such intermediary stages 

 linking the brachycephals of Central Asia with those of Western 

 Asia may grow. 



Studies reveal that among the peoples of Central Asia there occur 

 certain types undoubtedly maintaining the general Armenoid habitus. 



^* On the basis of my measurements in Iran and Uiosc compiled from 

 numerous sources the basic element on the Iranian plateau is dolichocephalic. 

 Brachyccphaly. however, predominates in the northwestern and northeastern 

 areas of Iran. Cf. Contributions to the anthropology of Iran, Field Museum 

 of Natural History, Chicago, 1939. (H. F.) 



