NO. 13 SOVIET ANTHROPOLOGY — FIELD 1 43 



Chronologically, tiie study of tlic Tajiks since the Revolution has 

 progressed as follows : 



1. In 1925 V. V. Bunak studied the blood groups of the students 

 of the various nationalities represented at the Institute of Oriental 

 Peoples in Moscow. Among these were 25 Tajiks. 



2. L. V. Oshanin, in the period between 1925- 1927, investigated 

 433 Tajiks from Karategin employed in seasonal labor in Tashkent. 

 The materials have not yet been published. 



3. In 1926 Oshanin examined too Tajiks from Bukhara, and pub- 

 lished detailed data regarding their racial composition. 



According to Oshanin's conclusions, Tajiks belong to an indepen- 

 dent "autochthonous" type which he calls Homo saf>icns ittdo-curo- 

 pacus var. iurkcstauica centralis, subsp. irauoidcs hrachyccphalica, 

 with the focus of habitation within the Central Asian interfluvial 

 region (between the basins of the Amu-Darya and Syr-Darya Rivers). 

 Oshanin believes that this type docs not differ from the ethnic groups, 

 but admits the possibility of local variations. 



Constitutionally, the majority of Bukharan Tajiks are asthenic, 

 and only a small percentage are pycnic, which, according to Oshanin, 

 points to the paratypical nature of the phenomenon. The general con- 

 clusion regarding constitutions is that the types found among the 

 native population are no less real than tiiose of some Europeans. 



4. S. Tsimmerman studied, in 1925, 100 Tajiks aged 20 to 80 years, 

 JT) of whom were from Pskem Valley near Tashkent, 19 from Moun- 

 tainous Dukiiara, and 8 from the Samarkand region. Tsimmerman 

 distinguishes at least two types among the Tajiks, and thinks that the 

 Tajik type is ver}- near to that of the Uzbeks (having in view "Sarts" 

 studied by Shishlov in Tashkent). Tsimmerman's materials were 

 taken summarily, and it is possible that the types which he dis- 

 tinguishes came from various districts. 



5. In 1926 the Academy of Sciences sent a large expedition into 

 Central Asia under the leadership of Barthold. B. N. Vishnevskij, 

 who was in charge of the anthropological work of the expedition, 

 measured 279 Tajiks aged 16 to 61, from the Pendzhikent region. 

 Blood groups were studied in addition to other physical characters. 

 According to Vishnevskii, the Tajiks of the region are, anthropo- 

 logically speaking, a variegated group. Among them were observed 

 several Mongolian types. Blue-eyed, fair-skinned individuals were 

 also found along with the ordinary bruncts. 



According to Vishnevskii, various types are found among the Tajiks, 

 while the most prominent type is that of Homo tauricus (O. Reche). 

 Of the individuals studied, 85 percent were mesosomic, 10 percent 



