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[Ulysses]

A SYNOPSIS OF THE PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY OF THE CORDED WARE COMPLEX ON THE BACKGROUND OF THE EXPANSION OF THE KURGAN CULTURES
Journal of Indo-European Studies №8 (1980)

ROLAND MENK
University of Geneva, Switzerland

http://www.scribd.co...ed-Ware-Culture

The bunch of geographical and cultural variants belonging to or brought in relation with, the Corded Ware complex (s.l.) splits into three categories (see figs. 2, 3, 9), each one with its own biological properties and cultural background.
1. Corded Ware core
- The samples attributed to the core defined hereafter are: the local Corded Ware groups of Central Germany, Czechoslovakia, Poland and, as an offshoot, Fatjanovo.
- A relatively well delimited area, comprising Central Germany, Poland and Czechoslovakia is inhabited by a remarkably homogeneous and autochthonous populace which - abstraction being made of the episodic appearance of the Bell Beaker people in the very same region - had held this territory since the Early Neolithic. Within the biological sphere of "Old Europe," to which they undoubtedly belong, Corded Ware people represent a somewhat "modernized" variety, characterized by a trend, away from the "archaiostenodolichomorphic" type, towards more eurymorphism. This detail could be of some interest (see below).
- As essential parts of its economical and technocultural package seems to be of local outgrowth too (Sulimirski 1970: 154), this area - together with its human stock - can be admitted to be the base of the Corded Ware complex, cultural and biological.
2. Peripheral groups with strong biological affinity to the Corded Ware core
- The East Prussian group ("Baltic Haff culture") represents such a local variety, morphologically slightly diversified; influence of the local substratum, as admitted by Schwidetzky (1978: 260) or by genetical isolation. The case of the Southern Polish mixed Corded Ware (Zlota group) is not of special interest here.
- Another group, of considerably more interest, is the westernmost Corded Ware satellite (Southwestern Germany, Switzerland). As mentioned earlier, this group is considered as an early offshoot of Central European origin, thus tracing back probably to the so-called "Einheitshorizont." Its morphological particularities (14) [[excluded footnote]] fit well into this model: as pointed out by Schwidetzky (1978: 260) the archaiostenodolichomorphic phenotype (its characteristics being probably amplified here by genetical isolation) seems to be clearly more frequent in the early phase of the Central German Corded Ware than in the later phase.
3. Peripheral groups with weak biological affinities to the Corded Ware core
- The case of the East Baltic Boat-Axe culture has already been discussed above. Two explanations can be considered, a) full "Kurgan" origin, or b) persistence of the Comb-marked Pottery substratum (Schwidetzky 1978: 260).
- The Ukrainian groups of Gorodsk and Usatovo, from the point of view close to the ("Old European") Cucuteni/Tripolye substratum. <not my error
- The last group to be taken into consideration is the Globular Amphora culture. It certainly assumes a key-stone function concerning the Kurganization of the Corded Ware complex. For the time being physical Anthropology cannot provide more than a tentative explanation (the skeletal material is still by far too poor to cover the huge area touched by this culture). It seems, however, that in the southern zone of its diffusion (Romania), the presence of individuals of genuine Kurgan type can be attested (Necrasov 1980). As to the northern zone, the biological incidence of the Kurgan radiation is probably fading out, as it does elsewhere. Detail studies remain to be done.