Kalash - ancient Russians? (Photo and video). Kalash - Pakistani people with a Slavic appearance Racial type and genetics

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Kalash are a small Dardic people inhabiting two valleys of the right tributaries of the Chitral (Kunar) River in the mountains of the southern Hindu Kush in the Chitral district of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province (Pakistan). The native language - Kalasha - belongs to the Dardic group of Indo-Iranian languages. The uniqueness of the people, surrounded on all sides by Islamized neighbors, lies in the fact that a significant part of it still professes a pagan religion that has developed on the basis of the Indo-Iranian religion and substratum beliefs.

History and ethnonym

The Dard peoples inhabiting Chitral usually unanimously consider the Kalash to be the natives of the region.

The Kalash themselves have legends that their ancestors came to Chitral through Bashgal and pushed the Kho people to the north, to the upper reaches of the Chitral River. Nevertheless, the Kalash language is closely related to the Khovar language. Perhaps this tradition reflects the arrival in the 15th century. in Chitral of a militant Nuristan-speaking group, which conquered the local Dardo-speaking population. This group separated from the speakers of the Vaigali language, who still call themselves kalašüm, transferred their self-name and many traditions to the local population, but were assimilated by them linguistically.

The idea of ​​Kalash as aborigines is based on the fact that in former times the Kalash inhabited a wider area in South Chitral, where many toponyms are still Kalash in nature. With the loss of militancy, the Kalash in these places were gradually forced out or assimilated by the speakers of the leading Chitral language Khovar.

spiritual culture

The Kalash are the only people in the region that have partially preserved the traditional religion and not fully converted to Islam. Religious isolation of the Kalash began in the beginning. XVIII century, when they were subordinated to the mehtar (ruler) of Chitral and found themselves under the cultural pressure of the kindred Kho people, who had converted to Islam by that time. In general, the Chitral policy was relatively tolerant, and the Islamization of the region, carried out by Sunni mullahs and Ismaili preachers, was rather spontaneous and gradual. When carried out in the XIX century. the Durand Kalash lines remained in British possession, which saved them from the massive forced conversion to Islam carried out in 1896 by the Afghan emir Abdur Rahman in neighboring Nuristan.

Nevertheless, cases of Kalash conversion to Islam occurred throughout the entire modern history of the people. Their number increased after the 1970s, when roads were laid in the region and schools began to be built in Kalash villages. Conversion to Islam leads to the severing of traditional ties, as one of the Kalash elders Saifulla Jan says: "If someone from the Kalash converts to Islam, they can no longer live among us." As K. Jettmar notes, Kalash Muslims look with undisguised envy at Kalash pagan dances and fun festivities. Currently, the pagan religion, which attracts the attention of numerous European tourists, is under the protection of the Pakistani government, which fears the extinction of the tourism industry in the event of the final "triumph of Islam."

Nevertheless, Islam and the Islamic culture of neighboring peoples have a great influence on the life of pagan Kalash and their beliefs, filled with plots and motifs of Muslim mythology. Kalash adopted men's clothes and names from their neighbors. Under the onslaught of civilization, the traditional way of life is gradually being destroyed, in particular, “holidays of merit” are disappearing into oblivion. Nevertheless, the Kalash valleys are still a unique reserve that preserves one of the most archaic Indo-European cultures.

Religion

The traditional ideas of the Kalash about the world are based on the opposition of holiness and impurity. Mountains and mountain pastures, where the gods live and "their cattle" - wild goats, graze, have the highest holiness. Holy are also altars and goat-sheds. Muslim lands are unclean. Impurity is also inherent in a woman, especially during periods of menstruation and childbirth. Desecration brings everything related to death. Like the Vedic religion and Zoroastrianism, the Kalash religion provides for numerous cleansing ceremonies from filth.

The Kalash pantheon (devalog) is generally similar to the pantheon that existed among the Nuristani neighbors, and includes many deities of the same name, although it differs somewhat from the latter. There are also ideas about numerous lower demon spirits, primarily female.

Kalash shrines are open-air altars built from juniper or oak boards and furnished with ritual carved boards and idols of deities. Special buildings are built for religious dances. Kalash rituals consist primarily in public feasts, to which the gods are invited. The ritual role of young men who have not yet known a woman, that is, who have the highest purity, is clearly expressed.

The pagan deities of the Kalash have a large number of temples and altars throughout the valley where their people live. They offer them sacrifices mainly consisting of horses, goats, cows and sheep, the breeding of which is one of the main industries of the local population. They also leave wine on the altars, thereby offering a sacrifice to the god Indra, the god of grapes. Kalash rituals are combined with holidays and are generally similar to the Vedic ones.

Like the bearers of the Vedic culture, the Kalash consider the crows to be their ancestors and feed them from their left hand. The dead are buried above the ground in special wooden coffins with ornaments, and wealthy representatives of the Kalash also set a wooden effigy of the deceased above the coffin.

The word gandau kalash refers to the tombstones of the Kalash valleys and Kafiristan, which differ depending on what status the deceased achieved during his lifetime. Kundrik is the second type of anthropomorphic wooden sculptures of the ancestors of the Kalash. It is a statue-amulet, which is installed in the fields or in the village on a hill - a wooden pole or a pedestal made of stones.

Endangered

At the moment, the culture and ethnicity of the Kalash is in danger of extinction. They live in closed communities, however, the younger population is increasingly forced to assimilate by marrying into the Islamic population, this is due to the fact that it is easier for a Muslim to find a job and feed a family. In addition, the Kalash receive threats from various Islamist organizations.

• Terentiev M.A. Russia and England in Central Asia. - St. Petersburg: Type. P.P. Merkulyeva, 1875. - 376 p.
• Metcalfe D. Lost in the Steppes of Central Asia. - Almaty: VOX POPULI, 2010. - 288 p.

They were almost completely exterminated as a result of the Muslim genocide by the beginning of the 20th century, as they profess paganism. They lead a secluded life. They speak the Kalash language of the Dardic group of Indo-European languages ​​(however, about half of the words of their language have no analogues in other Dardic languages, as well as in the languages ​​of neighboring peoples). According to the most common version, the Kalash are the descendants of the soldiers of Alexander the Great. On the way to India, he left barrage detachments in the rear, which, as a result, did not wait for their master, and remained settled in these places. If the Kalash have their roots in the conquests of Alexander the Great, then the legend seems more plausible, according to which Alexander specially selected 400 of the most healthy Greek men and women and settled them in these hard-to-reach places in order to create a colony in this territory.

According to another version, the Kalash are the descendants of the people who settled in the mountains of Tibet in the process of a large migration of peoples during the Aryan invasion of Hindustan. The Kalash themselves do not have a single opinion about their origin, but in conversations about this issue with strangers, they often prefer the version of Macedonian origin.

A more accurate explanation of the origin of this people could be given by a detailed study of the Kalash language, which, unfortunately, is still poorly understood. It is believed that it belongs to the Dardic language group, but on the basis of what this assignment was made is not entirely clear, because. more than half of the words from the vocabulary of the Kalash language have no analogues in the languages ​​of the Dardic group and the languages ​​of the surrounding peoples. There are publications that directly state that the Kalash speak the ancient Greek language, but it is not known whether this is so. The fact is that the only one who helps the Kalash today to survive in extreme high-altitude conditions is the modern Greeks, with whose money a school, a hospital, a kindergarten were built, and several wells were dug.

A study of the Kalash genes did not reveal anything specific. Everything is very incomprehensible and unsteady - they say that the Greek influence can be from 20 to 40%. (Why was research carried out if the similarity with the ancient Greeks is already visible?)

The religion of most Kalash is paganism; their pantheon has many common features with the reconstructed ancient Aryan pantheon. Along with the Kalash, representatives of the Hunza people and some ethnic groups of the Pamirs, Persians, and others also have similar anthropological characteristics.
The faces of many Kalash are purely European. The skin is white, unlike Pakistanis and Afghans. And bright and often blue eyes - like the passport of an unfaithful kafir. Kalash eyes are blue, gray, green and very rarely brown. There is one more touch that does not fit into the culture and way of life common to the Muslims of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Kalash always made for themselves and used furniture. They eat at the table, sitting on chairs - excesses that were never inherent in the local "natives" and appeared in Afghanistan and Pakistan only with the arrival of the British in the 18th-19th centuries, but never took root. And Kalash from time immemorial used tables and chairs ...

Horse warriors Kalash. museum in Islamabad. Pakistan.

In the 18th-19th centuries, Muslims slaughtered thousands of Kalash. Those who did not obey and at least secretly performed pagan cults, the authorities, at best, were driven from fertile lands, driven into the mountains, and more often they were destroyed.
The brutal genocide of the Kalash people continued until the middle of the 19th century, until the tiny territory that the Muslims called Kafirstan (the land of the infidels), where the Kalash lived, fell under the jurisdiction of the British Empire. This saved them from complete extermination. But even now, Kalash are on the verge of extinction. Many are forced to assimilate (through marriage) with Pakistanis and Afghans, converting to Islam - it's easier to survive and get a job, education, position.

Kalash do not know days off, but they cheerfully and hospitably celebrate 3 holidays: Yoshi - the sowing festival, Uchao - the harvest festival, and Choimus - the winter holiday of the gods of nature, when the Kalash ask the gods to send them a mild winter and good spring and summer.
During Choimus, each family slaughters a goat as a sacrifice, the meat of which is treated to everyone who comes to visit or meet on the street.

The Kalash language, or Kalasha, is the language of the Dardic group of the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family.
The basic vocabulary of Sanskrit is very well preserved in the Kalash language, for example:

Russian Kalasha Sanskrit
head shish shish
athia asthi bone
piss mutra mutra
gromgram village
loop rajuk rajju
smoke thum dhum
tel tel oil
mos mas meat
shua shva dog
ant pililak pipilika
son of putr putr
long driga dirgha
eight asht ashta
broken china chhinna
kill our our

The most impressive, according to everyone who visited the Kalash villages, are the dances of Kalash women mesmerizing the audience.

And a little more video with Kalash. Pay attention to the eight-pointed stars on the outfits of the Kalash beauties.

The feathers on the headdresses of men are funny - just like medieval nobles from Europe.

Neighbors lies in the fact that a significant part of it still professes a pagan religion, which has developed on the basis of the Indo-Iranian religion and substratum beliefs.

History and ethnonym

The Dard peoples inhabiting Chitral usually unanimously consider the Kalash to be the natives of the region. The Kalash themselves have legends that their ancestors came to Chitral through Bashgal and pushed the Kho people north, to the headwaters of the Chitral River. Nevertheless, the Kalash language is closely related to the Khovar language. Perhaps this tradition reflects the arrival in the 15th century. in Chitral of a militant Nuristan-speaking group, which conquered the local Dardo-speaking population. This group separated from the speakers of the Vaigali language, who still call themselves kalašüm, transferred their self-name and many traditions to the local population, but were assimilated by them linguistically.

The idea of ​​Kalash as aborigines is based on the fact that in former times the Kalash inhabited a wider area in South Chitral, where many toponyms are still Kalash in nature. With the loss of militancy, the Kalash in these places were gradually forced out or assimilated by the speakers of the leading Chitral language Khovar.

Settlement area

Kalash villages are located at an altitude of 1900-2200 m above sea level. Kalash inhabit three side valleys formed by the right (western) tributaries of the Chitral  (Kunar): Ayungol with tributaries Bumboretgol (Kalash. Mumret) and Rumburgol (Rukmu), and Bibirgol (Biriu), at a distance of approximately 20 km south of the city of Chitral. The first two valleys are connected in the lower reaches, the third pass through the Kalash ethnic territory leads to a pass with a height of approx. 3000 m. Passes through the western ridge lead to Afghanistan, to the area of ​​​​settlement of the Nuristani people of the Kati.

The climate is quite mild and humid. The average annual rainfall is 700-800 mm. The average temperature in summer is 25 °C, in winter - 1 °C. The valleys are fertile, the slopes are covered with oak forests.

Racial type and genetics

Recently, the Kalash have become widely known not only due to their unique religion, but also due to their usual blond hair and eyes, which in ancient times gave rise to legends among the lowland peoples about the Kalash as the descendants of the warriors of Alexander Macedon, and today is sometimes interpreted in popular literature as a legacy "Nordic Aryans" and an indicator of the special closeness of the Kalash to European peoples. However, reduced pigmentation is characteristic of only a part of the population, most of the Kalash are dark-haired and exhibit a characteristic Mediterranean type, which is also inherent in their lowland neighbors. Homozygous inbreeding depigmentation is characteristic to one degree or another for all surrounding peoples living for thousands of years in isolated endogamous conditions of mountain valleys with a very weak influx of the gene pool from outside: Nuristanis, Dards, Pamir peoples, as well as non-Indo-European aboriginal Burishes. Recent genetic studies indicate that the Kalash exhibit a haplogroup set that is common among Indo-Afghan populations. Typical Y-chromosomal haplogroups for Kalash are: (25%), R1a (18.2%), (18.2%), (9.1%); mitochondrial: L3a (22.7%), H1* (20.5%).

Traditional economy and social structure

Nevertheless, cases of Kalash conversion to Islam occurred throughout the entire modern history of the people. Their number increased after the 1970s, when roads were laid in the region and schools began to be built in Kalash villages. Conversion to Islam leads to the severing of traditional ties, as one of the Kalash elders Saifulla Jan says: “If someone from the Kalash converts to Islam, they can no longer live among us.” As K. Jettmar notes, Kalash Muslims look with undisguised envy at Kalash pagan dances and fun festivities. Currently, the pagan religion, which attracts the attention of numerous European tourists, is under the protection of the Pakistani government, which fears the extinction of the tourism industry in the event of the final "triumph of Islam."

Nevertheless, Islam and the Islamic culture of neighboring peoples have a great influence on the life of pagan Kalash and their beliefs, filled with plots and motifs of Muslim mythology. Kalash adopted men's clothes and names from their neighbors. Under the onslaught of civilization, the traditional way of life is gradually being destroyed, in particular, “holidays of merit” are disappearing into oblivion. Nevertheless, the Kalash valleys are still a unique reserve that preserves one of the most archaic Indo-European cultures.

Religion

The traditional ideas of the Kalash about the world are based on the opposition of holiness and impurity. Mountains and mountain pastures, where the gods live and "their cattle" - wild goats, graze, have the highest holiness. Holy are also altars and goat-sheds. Muslim lands are unclean. Impurity is also inherent in a woman, especially during periods of menstruation and childbirth. Desecration brings everything related to death. Like the Vedic religion and Zoroastrianism, the Kalash religion provides for numerous cleansing ceremonies from filth.

The Kalash pantheon (devalog) is generally similar to the pantheon that existed among the Nuristani neighbors, and includes many deities of the same name, although it differs somewhat from the latter. There are also ideas about numerous lower demon spirits, primarily female.

Kalash shrines are open-air altars built from juniper or oak boards and furnished with ritual carved boards and idols of deities. Special buildings are built for religious dances. Kalash rituals consist primarily in public feasts, to which the gods are invited. The ritual role of young men who have not yet known a woman, that is, who have the highest purity, is clearly expressed.

religious rites

The pagan deities of the Kalash have a large number of temples and altars throughout the valley where their people live. They offer them sacrifices mainly consisting of horses, goats, cows and sheep, the breeding of which is one of the main industries of the local population. They also leave wine on the altars, thereby making a sacrifice to the god Indra, the god of grapes. Kalash rituals are combined with holidays and are generally similar to the Vedic ones.

Like the bearers of the Vedic culture, the Kalash consider the crows to be their ancestors and feed them from their left hand. The dead are buried above the ground in special wooden coffins with ornaments, as well as rich representatives of the Kalash set a wooden effigy of the deceased above the coffin.

The word gandau kalash refers to the tombstones of the Kalash valleys and Kafiristan, which differ depending on what status the deceased achieved during his lifetime. Kundrik is the second type of anthropomorphic wooden sculptures of the ancestors of the Kalash. It is a statue-amulet, which is installed in the fields or in the village on a hill - a wooden pole or a pedestal made of stones.

Endangered

At the moment, the culture and ethnicity of the Kalash is in danger of extinction. They live in closed communities, however, the younger population is increasingly forced to assimilate by marrying into the Islamic population, this is due to the fact that it is easier for a Muslim to find a job and feed a family. In addition, the Kalash receive threats from various Islamist organizations.

Everything in the life of the Kalash living in northern Pakistan in the Hindu Kush mountains is different from that of their neighbors: both faith, and way of life, and even the color of their eyes and hair. This people is a mystery. They themselves consider themselves descendants of Alexander the Great.

The ancestors of the Kalash are argued over and over again. There is an opinion that the Kalash are local aborigines who once inhabited the vast territories of the southern valley of the Chitral River. And today numerous Kalash toponyms have been preserved there. Over time, the Kalash were forced out (or assimilated?) From their original territories.

There is another point of view: the Kalash are not local natives, but came to the north of Pakistan many centuries ago. These could be, for example, the tribes of northern Indians living around the 13th century BC. in the south of the Urals and in the north of the Kazakh steppes. Their appearance resembled the appearance of modern Kalash - blue or green eyes and fair skin.

It should be noted that external features are not characteristic of everyone, but only of a part of the representatives of the mysterious people, however, often this does not prevent them from mentioning their proximity to Europeans and calling the Kalash the heirs of the "Nordic Aryans". However, scientists believe that if you look at other peoples who have been living in isolated conditions for thousands of years and are not too willing to record strangers as relatives, then Nuristani, Darts or Badakhshans can also find "homozygous inbreeding (related) depigmentation." They also tried to prove that the Kalash belonged to European peoples at the Vavilov Institute of General Genetics, as well as at Southern California and Stanford Universities. The verdict - the genes of the Kalash are really unique, but the question of the ancestors was still open.

The Kalash themselves willingly adhere to a more romantic version of their origin, calling themselves the descendants of the warriors who came to the mountains of Pakistan after Alexander the Great. As befits the legend, it has several variations. According to one, Macedonian ordered the Kalash to remain until their return, but for some reason he did not return for them. Faithful soldiers had no choice but to develop new lands.

According to another, several soldiers, due to injuries unable to continue moving along with Alexander's army, were forced to remain in the mountains. Faithful women, of course, did not leave their husbands. The legend is very popular with travelers-researchers who visit the Kalash and numerous tourists.
Everyone who comes to this amazing land must first sign papers prohibiting any attempts to influence the identity of a unique people. First of all, we are talking about religion. There are many among the Kalash who continue to adhere to the old pagan faith, despite numerous attempts to convert them to Islam. Numerous posts on this topic can be found on the net, although the Kalash themselves evade questions and say that they "do not recall any tough measures."

Sometimes, the elders assure, a change of faith occurs when a local girl decides to marry a Muslim, but this happens, according to them, infrequently. However, researchers are sure that the Kalash succeeded in avoiding the fate of their Nuristani neighbors, who were forcibly converted to Islam at the end of the 19th century, only because they inhabited the territory that fell under the jurisdiction of the British.

The origin of the polytheism of the Kalash causes no less controversy. Attempts to draw analogies with the Greek pantheon of gods are considered by most scientists to be unfounded: it is unlikely that the Kalash supreme god Dezau is Zeus, and the patroness of women Dezalik is Aphrodite. The Kalash have no clergy, and everyone prays on their own. True, it is not recommended to address the gods directly, for this there is a dehar - a special person who, in front of a juniper or oak altar, decorated with two pairs of horse skulls, makes a sacrifice (usually a goat). It is quite difficult to list all the Kalash gods: each village has its own, and besides this, there are many demon spirits, mostly female.

Kalash shamans can predict the future and punish sins. The most famous of them is Nanga dhar - legends were made about his abilities, telling how in one second he disappeared from one place, passing through the rocks, and appeared with a friend. Shamans are trusted to administer justice: their prayer is supposedly capable of punishing the offender. On the humerus of a sacrificial goat, a shaman-ashzhiau (“looking at a bone”) specializing in predictions can see the fate of not only an individual, but also entire states.
The life of the Kalash is unthinkable without numerous feasts. Visiting tourists are unlikely to immediately be able to understand what event they are attending: a birth or a funeral. Kalash are sure that these moments are equally significant, and therefore it is necessary in any case to arrange a grand celebration - not so much for themselves, but for the gods. It is necessary to rejoice when a new person comes into this world so that his life is happy, and to have fun at the funeral - even if the afterlife turns out to be serene. Ritual dances in a sacred place - Dzheshtak, chants, bright clothes and tables bursting with refreshments - all these are the invariable attributes of the two main events in the life of an amazing people.

A feature of the Kalash is that, unlike their neighbors, they always used tables and chairs for meals. They build houses according to the Macedonian custom - from stones and logs. Do not forget about the balcony, while the roof of one house is the floor for another - you get a kind of "Kalash skyscrapers". On the facade there is stucco molding with Greek motifs: rosettes, radial stars, intricate meanders.
Most Kalash are engaged in agriculture and cattle breeding. There are only a few examples when one of them managed to change their usual way of life. The legendary Lakshan Bibi, who became an air pilot and created a fund to support the Kalash, is widely known. The unique people are of genuine interest: the Greek authorities are building schools and hospitals for them, and the Japanese are developing projects for additional energy sources. By the way, the Kalash learned about electricity relatively recently.

The production and use of wine is another distinctive feature of the Kalash. Prohibition throughout Pakistan is no reason to abandon traditions. And after making wine, you can also play your favorite gal - a cross between bast shoes, golf and baseball. The ball is hit with a club, and then they are looking for it together. Whoever found it twelve times and returned first "to the base" won. Often, residents of one village come to visit their neighbors to fight in a gala, and then have fun celebrating - and it doesn’t matter if it’s a victory or defeat.
Kalash women are on the sidelines, doing the most “ungrateful work”. But that's where the similarity with neighbors ends. They decide for themselves whom to marry, and if the marriage turns out to be unhappy, then divorce. True, the new chosen one must pay the ex-husband a "forfeit" - a double dowry. Kalash girls can not only get an education, but also, for example, get a job as a guide. For a long time, the Kalash have also had original maternity homes - “bashals”, where “dirty” women spend several days before the onset of childbirth and about a week after.
Relatives and curious people are not only forbidden to visit expectant mothers, they are not even allowed to touch the walls of the tower.
And what kalashki are beautiful and elegant! The sleeves and hems of their black dresses, for which Muslims, by the way, call the Kalash "black infidels", are embroidered with multi-colored beads. On the head is the same bright headdress, reminiscent of the Baltic aureole, decorated with ribbons and intricate beadwork. On the neck - a lot of strings of beads, by which you can determine the age of a woman (if you can count, of course). The elders cryptically remark that the Kalash are only alive as long as their women wear their dresses. And finally, one more "rebus": why is the hairstyle of even the smallest girls - five braids that begin to weave from the forehead?

High in the mountains of Pakistan on the border with Afghanistan, in the province of Nuristan, several tiny plateaus are scattered. Locals call this area Chintal. A unique and mysterious people lives here kalash. Their uniqueness lies in the fact that this Indo-European people managed to survive almost in the very heart of the Islamic world.

Meanwhile, the Kalash do not profess Islam at all, but polytheism (polytheism), that is, they are pagans. If the Kalash were a large people with a separate territory and statehood, then their existence would hardly surprise anyone, but today no more than 6 thousand people have survived - they are the smallest and most mysterious ethnic group in the Asian region.

Kalash (self-name: kasivo; the name "Kalash" comes from the name of the area) is a people in Pakistan living in the highlands of the Hindu Kush (Nuristan or Kafirstan). The Kalash people were almost completely exterminated as a result of the Muslim genocide by the beginning of the 20th century, as they profess paganism. They lead a secluded life. They speak the Kalash language of the Dardic group of Indo-European languages ​​(however, about half of the words of their language have no analogues in other Dardic languages, as well as in the languages ​​of neighboring peoples).

Kalash - envoys of Greece?

In Pakistan, it is widely believed that the Kalash are descendants of the soldiers of Alexander the Great (in connection with which the government of Macedonia built a center of culture in this area, see, for example, “Macedonia ќe gradi kulturen tsentar kaјnzi to Pakistan”). The appearance of some Kalash is characteristic of the northern European peoples, among them blue-eyedness and blondism are often found. At the same time, some of the Kalash also have an Asian appearance that is quite characteristic of the region.

The pantheon of gods among the Kalash people has many features in common with the reconstructed ancient Aryan pantheon. The claims of some journalists that the Kalash worship "ancient Greek gods" are unfounded. At the same time, about 3 thousand Kalash are Muslims. The conversion to Islam is not welcomed by the Kalash, who are trying to preserve their tribal identity. Kalash are not descendants of Alexander's warriors Macedonian, and the northern European appearance of some of them is explained by the preservation of the original Indo-European gene pool as a result of the refusal to mix with the alien non-Aryan population. Along with the Kalash, representatives of the Hunza people and some ethnic groups of the Pamirs, Persians, and others also have similar anthropological characteristics.