Dental trait variation among Tara and Baraba Tatars of Western Siberia (metric and non-metric data)

The article examines the variation in dental metric and non-metric traits among the Tara and Baraba Tatars, who constitute part of the broader ethno-territorial community of the Turkic (Kipchak) population known as the Siberian Tatars. The study aims to reconstruct possible biological affinities between South Siberian and Central Asian Mongoloid and autochthonous groups of the forest-steppe zone of the West Siberian Plain, and to conduct an inter-group analysis of local and regional connections between the southern Tatar groups of Western Siberia and Turkic and Mongolic populations. The dataset of the research comprises six craniological series of Siberian Tatars dating from the 16th to the early 19th century (N = 323 individuals of both sexes). These samples were examined using multivariate statistical methods. The analysis has revealed biological heterogeneity among the historical and cultural Tatar communities, with the Baraba Tatars exhibiting greater homogeneity. Furthermore, the Baraba Tatars display more eastern dental non-metric traits. A diachronic analysis of the Tara Tatar series was conducted to explore the chronological dynamics of dental non-metric traits. The later series, derived from the Toksay 1 and 2 burial grounds, exhibits a mosaic pattern of trait variation, characterized by a higher frequency of the western dental non-metric traits. This trend reflects contacts with migrant populations from Central Asia, particularly the Bukharians. The influence of Turkic-Mongolian populations on the formation of the Siberian Tatars, especially the Baraba Tatars, is comparable to that observed in the neighboring Turkic groups, such as the Kazakhs.