UDC 572.77

Lomonosov Moscow State University Leninskie Gory, MSU 1, building 12, Moscow, 119899, Russia

E-mail: archpmk@mail.ru, vyu@sumail.ru

In line with the main hypotheses about the origin of the population of the Korean peninsula, odontological materials on different historical epochs of Korea are considered from the collections of the Museum of Busan State University, Yeongnam University, Jeonam State University, the Department of History of Archeology and Arts of Chungbuk State University, the Museum of Anthropology of Moscow State University and the Laboratory of the Baikal Region Research Center. Irkutsk. The results obtained can be considered as confirmation of hypotheses about the northern connections of the population of the Korean Peninsula in the late periods of its settlement history.

Keywords: Korean Peninsula, population, ancient connections, odontology.

Introduction

In the previous publication devoted to the problems of ethnogenesis of the Korean people, we considered the main hypotheses about the origin of Koreans (mestizo, autochthonous, and northern) and the existing anthropological data that allow us to judge the validity of each of them [Pan Min-kyu, Baholdina, 2008]. This report presents original author's and comparative materials on the odontology of the ancient and modern populations of the Korean Peninsula, which may be of interest in terms of studying this issue.

The scientific value of odontological materials is primarily determined by the high degree of genetic determinism of odontology features. In addition, these materials reflect to some extent the cultural evolution of fossil populations. This area of anthropological research is rapidly developing, including due to the inclusion of new features in odontological programs, a deeper study of their nature, and the accumulation of experience in successfully applying odontological data in the practice of ethnic odontology [Zubov, 1973; Scott and Turner, 2004].

The odontological study of Koreans was initiated by Kim Myung-guk and Jang Shin-hwe in 1962 [1962]. In 1979, a large amount of material related to different ethnic groups was published by the North Korean researcher Jang Woo-jin [1979]. The odontology of the ancient inhabitants of the Korean Peninsula was also studied by Yeon-oh [1981], who examined the skull from the Iron Age monument (V century AD) Chisandon in Goryeon County, as well as by Pak Sung-joo [1977], who developed his own methodology for studying craniological and odontological materials. The ancient fossil material dates from IV-Vbb. The state of the dental system of the preserved skulls allowed us to make some assumptions about the level of development of Korean culture and medicine at that time. Since 1985, studies of odontological materials have also been carried out to study food traditions [Jung Sung-min, Kim Jong-nel, 1985]. It turned out that the diet of the ancient inhabitants of the Korean Peninsula was dominated by solid food.

Comparative analysis of odontological characteristics revealed a rather high degree of differences

between the ancient population of the peninsula (Gaya State, ca. 1600 BC and the Goryeo-Joseon era, 1000 - 300 AD) and modern Koreans (Ho Kyung-seok et al., 1999).

Thus, the odontological material is a valuable source of anthropological information and can be used in the development of the problem of the origin and ethnogenesis of the Korean people.

Materials and methods

This paper uses odontological materials on South Korea from the collection of the Museum of Busan State University, Yeongnam University, Jeonam State University and the Department of History of Archeology and Arts of Chungbuk State University. The fossil series included in the sample belong to the Paleolithic (10 skulls) [Jung Sung Min, Kim Jong Nel, 1985], Neolithic (15) [Kim Jong Nel, Yun Chang Nyuk, 1991], and Iron Age (7) [Kim Jin Jong, Takahiko Ogata, Katsuharu Min, 1988], the period of early Korean states (25) [Kim Jin-jong, Takahiko Ogata, Katsuharu Min, 1990; Kim Jin-jong Jr., 1993; Gwaksanghyong, 1993; Jung Sang-soo, 1994, 1998] and the Goryeo-Joseon era (18) [Park Sung-joo, Lee Eun-kyung, 1995a, b; Park Sung Joo, Moon Hwyung Sun, Im Na Hyuk, 1999; Park Sung Joo, 2000]. The total sample includes 1,200 individual teeth. For comparison, we used materials on 1,397 teeth of modern Koreans stored at Yonsae, Hanyang, Katolrik, and Gongkuk Universities. Some preliminary results were published in the Journal of the Society of Anthropologists (Ho Kyung-seok et al., 1999; Kim Hee-jin et al., 2000).

The author's odontological data on the fossil series of Buryats, Yakuts, Mongols, Sagayans, Shors, Tuvans, Evenks, Orochi and Ulchi from the craniological repository of the Research Institute and the Museum of Anthropology of Moscow State University were used as comparative materials. Data from the Laboratory of the Baikal Region Research Center in Irkutsk (Table 1).

The study used the skulls of individuals older than 20 years and only if at least 14 teeth were preserved. Age was determined by the condition of the teeth, lower jaw, and skull sutures.

Measuring and descriptive features of dental crowns were used to study morphological variations. Data on roots were not considered, as their safety is much worse. The following dimensions were measured using an odontometer: height and width (mesio-distal diameter) crowns, neck width (mesio-distal diameter) and fazio (vestibulo) - lingual diameters of the crowns of the upper and lower permanent teeth. The index, massiveness, and crown modulus were also calculated for each tooth (Zubov, 1968). The descriptive part of the program included the following features: shovel-like shape of the upper incisors, crowding (crowded arrangement of teeth in the area of the lateral upper incisor), reduction of the upper lateral incisor, distal additional ridge of the lingual surface of the canine, reduction of the hypoconus of the upper molars, variations in the crown pattern and number of molar tubercles, Carabelli's tubercle, distal trigonid crest, metaconid knee fold.

Research results and discussion

The possibility of ancient connections between the population of the Korean Peninsula and the northern and Siberian regions is one of the most discussed hypotheses of the ethnogenesis of the Korean people, which is mainly supported by South Korean anthropologists, historians, and linguists [Kim Jong Bae, 1985; Park Sung Joo, 1990, 1992, 2004, 2005; Kim Jong Hak, 1964, 1966, 1985; Han Seung Ho et al., 2001]. In this regard, it is of particular interest to compare anthropological data on the population of the Korean Peninsula from different epochs with data on modern Siberian ethnic groups, as well as on the ancient inhabitants of the Baikal region, which Yu. G Rychkov considered as a hypothetical ancestral group for the entire

Table 1. Materials studied

later population system of Northern Asia [1973]. In addition, it is in the area of Lake Baikal that some South Korean researchers tend to look for possible Siberian roots of Koreans [Kim Jong Bae, 1985; Pak Sung Joo, 1990, 1992, 2004, 2005].

For the comparative analysis, metric and nonmetric odontological features were used (Tables 2, 3). The data in Tables 1 and 2 are shown in Fig. 2 and 3 were subjected to a clustering procedure in order to statistically estimate and graphically represent the mutual proximity or distance of the series included in the sample (see figure). The use of a mixed set of features in the processing of material using multidimensional statistical methods is quite acceptable in our case, since descriptive features are represented by frequency of occurrence, which makes it possible to combine them in one analysis with metric ones [Deryabin, 1995].

According to the results obtained, the Paleolithic and Neolithic series of the Korean Peninsula form a separate cluster. The series of the Iron Age and the subsequent historical period-the era of the three Korean states-are also combined into one cluster. Modern Yakuts are close to them. Modern Koreans are most similar to the population of the Goryeo-Joseon era, when, according to historical evidence, the consolidation and final formation of the Korean ethnic group took place [Vorobyov, 1997]. The Buryat and both ancient Baikal series are adjacent to this cluster. Ulchi and orochi, representing the modern population of the Far East, are removed from all Korean series. Nor is there any convergence of the latter with the modern Evenks, as might be expected based on assumptions about the possible Tungusic roots of the Korean people (Kim Jong Bae, 1985).

Thus, the results obtained to a certain extent can be considered as confirmation of hypotheses about the northern connections of the population of the Korean Peninsula. Perhaps they really should be looked for to a greater extent in the regions adjacent to Lake Baikal, rather than in the regions of the Far East. These connections, however, relate to relatively late periods of the peninsula's settlement history, since the Paleolithic and Neolithic series occupy a separate position and are less close to its inhabitants of subsequent epochs and modern Koreans than the ancient and modern ones.-

Table 2. Average values of metric odontological features

Note. 1 - crown height, upper jaw; 2-same, lower jaw; 3-mesio-distal crown diameter, upper jaw; 4-same, lower jaw; 5-mesio-distal neck diameter, upper jaw; 6-same, lower jaw; 7-vestibulo-lingual diameter crown index, upper jaw; 8 - same, lower jaw; 9 - crown index, upper jaw; 10-same, lower jaw; 11, 12-average row modulus of upper and lower molars, respectively; 13, 14 - average crown area of upper and lower molars, respectively.

Nonmetric odontological features, frequency of occurrence, Table 3. %

Note. 1-spade-shaped shape of the upper incisors; 2-reduction of the upper lateral incisor; 3, 4-respectively four - and six - tufted type of the first lower molars; 5, 6 - respectively four - and three - tufted type of the second lower molars; 7 - distal ridge of the trigonid; 8-knee fold of the metaconid; 9-Carabelli's tubercle.

Results of clustering.

Korean Peninsula series: 1-Paleolithic, 2-Neolithic, 3-Iron Age, 4 - period of three early states, 5-Goryeo-Joseon era, 6-modern; Siberia: 7-Tuvans, 8-Evenks, 9-Khakas, 10-Mongols, 11-Ulchi, 12 - Orochi, 13-Shors, 14-Yakuts, 15-Buryats, 16-Neolithic of the Baikal region, 17-Bronze Age of the Baikal region.

population of Siberia. The results obtained can also be considered as confirmation of the hypothesis about the existence of a certain population "vacuum" on the Korean Peninsula, when the continuity between the oldest and later populations of the region was disrupted [Ibid.; Kim Jong Hak, 1985].

Conclusion

A comparative study of the odontology of the ancient and modern populations of the Korean Peninsula allowed us to obtain additional evidence in favor of the hypothesis of the possible participation of Siberian populations in the ethnogenesis of the Korean people. For further development of this problem, it is advisable to use materials on the south-eastern regions of the Asian continent in order to consider the available data against a broader anthropological background.

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The article was submitted to the Editorial Board on 25.10.09.

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