Search This Blog

Monday, 1 January 2024

Phenotypes of Turkey according to Carleton S. Coon.

This post is less scientific than my genetic posts, it relies on very old studies.

I don't know what Turkish regions they tested exactly in this skull study. Post was written by Onur

Summary

Going by what Coon writes in his book and draws on his map: the most major phenotype of Turks is Dinarid-Mediterranid. Dinarid and Armenoid come after it. Then come Alpine, Gracile Mediterranid and Pontid (East Mediterranid).

Sources: 

https://archive.org/details/racesofeurope031695mbp/page/144/mode/2up?q=dinaric&view=theater 

The modern Turks, as characterized by Coon, display a diverse range of phenotypes, primarily a mix of Mediterranean (especially Cappadocian Mediterranean) and Alpine traits. While there is some regional variation, with moderate to high brachycephaly more common in the east and north, the overall physical attributes are consistent with southeastern European populations. Turks generally have brunet pigmentation, with dark brown hair and eyes being the most common. Stature and bodily build vary slightly across different regions but are similar to central and southeastern European standards. Despite occasional Mongoloid features, these are not predominant. The Turks are largely seen as descendants of pre-Turkish Anatolian populations, with a significant blend of Dinaric-Mediterranean, Dinaric, Armenoid, Alpine, Gracile-Mediterranid, and Pontid (East-Mediterranid) influences.

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Turkish Republic, made a big deal about the Dinarid strain in Turkey back in the 30s, at the height of his Turkish nationalism. He read or employed people who read physical anthropological works after all. He even commisioned a mega physical anthropological study in Turkey, had tens of thousands of Turkish citizens' heads measured. That study found people with recognizable Mongoloid traits in about 5% of the Turks only.

The conclusions by Coon are confirmed by autosomal DNA, Mongoloid admix peaks at 15% in West Anatolia while the average is closer to 5-10%. In some regions it can peak as high as 20%, these regions probably do show more Turkic traits than other Turks.

Click this to see how much Greek vs Turkic ancestry they have: Turkic and Greek ancestry in modern Turks

Chart showing the most common phenotypes in ancient Greeks, modern Greeks and other populations:

You can compare the phenotypes of Turks to Greeks based on the chart below and the results of the Turkish phenotypes summarized above.

Important parts from Coon's study 

The head form of the Turks as a whole is only moderately brachycephalic; 84.2 is the mean for Anatolia, and this varies from 81.8 in Brussa, between Smyrna and the Hellespont, to 85.4 in the eastern provinces, and 86.6 in Kastamuni, on the southern shore of the Black Sea. The western and southern Turks are low brachycephals, the eastern and northern ones high. In the regions of Brussa, Smyrna, and Konia, there is, therefore, an important long-headed minority. For the most part the heads of Turks are not large; the mean length for Anatolia is 181.6 mm., the breadth 152.6 mm., while the auricular height mean is 126.1. These dimensions could easily be matched among Yugoslavs or Macedonians. In Smyrna, the longest-headed province, the mean head length rises to nearly 184 mm., in Kastamuni it falls to 180 mm. The breadth similarly varies between 150 mm. and 156 mm.; even the roundest-headed region has a relatively small head breadth. It is interesting to note that th Greeks of the north shore of Asia Minor have the same head form as the Turks, but to a more exaggerated degree; with a length mean of 180.7 mm., breadth of 157.6 mm., and cephalic index of 87.2.

The faces of the Osmanli Turks of Anatolia, as well as their head vaults, have dimensions reminiscent of southeastern Europe. The total face height mean for the whole is 122 mm., and this varies little throughout the region. The bizygomatic mean, 140 mm., is also relatively constant, but narrowest in the Smyrna district. The minimum frontal, about 105 mm., is not excessive, nor is the bigonial, 108 mm. In these dimension the Turks resemble Balkan Mediterraneans and Alpines; their faces are not long enough for exaggerated Dinarics. Like the Greeks and the peoples to the west of the Black Sea, they preserve a forehead-jaw ratio which emphasizes the width of the mandible. The nose, with a mean height of 57 mm. and a breadth of 35.3 mm., is, however, fully Dinaric. It is largest (59 mm. by 36 mm.) in the eastern provinces, smallest (56 mm. by 35 mm.) in Smyrna. The nasal index of 62.4 is leptorrhine, but not as much so as that of Albanians.

The unexposed skin color of the Turks is mostly brunet-white or swarthy (von Luschan #11—16), the head hair color, in 90 per cent of cases, dark brown. Black hair, however, is found in less than 5 per cent, and blondism is rare. The ratio of dark brown hair is constant, except in the eastern provinces, where it is nearly 100 per cent. The beard hair is often lighter than the head hair; only 70 per cent are black or dark brown, while reddish shades are found among nearly 10 per cent. Reddish and blondish beards are by far commoner in the western and northern provinces than elsewhere, and are in these places found in one-third of the group observed.

Pure dark eyes are found in about 40 per cent of the total, while another 40 per cent possesses dark-mixed eyes, many of which would appear brunet upon casual observation. The remaining 20 per cent is almost entirely composed of men who possess evenly mixed or light-mixed irises, with but less than 2 per cent of pure lights. On the whole, the Anatolian Turks are prevailingly brunet in pigmentation, but brunet in a condition in which the skin is brunet-white, the hair dark brown, and the eyes brown or dark-mixed. There are several shades of brown in the eye color, and it is apparent that more than one brunet strain is present. The virtual absence of black hair, however, the presence of rufosity, and the, high ratio of mixed eyes, when combined with the metrical data, indicate that the principal brunet strain is some form of Alpine.

 The modern Turks of Anatolia differ little in most or tneir metrical characters from peoples whom we have already encountered in central and southeastern Europe, as the following résumé will make clear.140 mean stature for Anatolia is 167 cm.; this varies from 169 cm. in the Smyrna district and 168 cm. in the Dardanelles-Marmora Sea region, and in Kastamuni on the Black Sea shore, to 166 cm. in the eastern provinces, on the flank of Armenia. The bodily build is often thick-set or lateral; this is shown by a relative sitting height of 54. The relative span, 104, is moderate, and varies from 103 in the west, to nearly 105 in the east. The same is true of bodily proportions in general; the lateral form is much more typical of the eastern provinces than of the Aegean and Pontine shores.

On the basis of the metrical and morphological data outlined above, we may dismiss the theory that the Anatolian Turks are in any sense mongoloid. It may be possible to find individuals with some recognizable mongoloid features, but no more frequently than in most countries of Europe. The Anatolian Turks are for the most part Cappadocian Mediterraneans, with a mixture of Alpines in sufficient quantity to produce the Dinaric transformation. Only in Kastamuni, on the shore of the Black Sea, and in the provinces which contain large populations of Armenians and other non-Turks, does the brachycephaly of the Osmanlis reach full Dinaric proportions. In the west and south, there are enough unassimilated dolichocephalic factors left to form a considerable minority.

If the Turks are for the most part Cappadocians Dinaricized through Alpine mixture, this simply means that the zone of reduced Upper Palaeolithic survivors extends into Anatolia; the skeletal types found among the meager remains from Alishar Hüyük have mingled, with a result parallel to that experienced throughout the entire Alpine racial zone in Europe. This conclusion would mean that the Turks are not Turks at all, except in speech and tradition, except for one thing: the remnants of the pre-Turkish population are more brachycephalic, more typical members of this Near Eastern Dinaric race than are the Turks themselves. We have already seen that the Asia Minor Greeks are even rounder-headed than the Turks of Kastamuni; they are also 2 cm. shorter in stature. As we shall presently see, the Armenians themselves likewise exceed the Turks in their Dinaric or Armenoid character. Furthermore, the Takhtadshy and Bektashi, members of heretical sects in Asia Minor who are supposed to have little Turkish blood, are rounder and shorter-headed, and more Alpine and Armenoid in every way, than the Turks as a whole.141 The Turks, therefore, while to a large extent descended from the pre-Turkish population, are perceptibly different as a group from its most fully authentic survivors.

Comments: 

 Also, Coon recognizes the existence of recognizable Mongoloid features on some Turks when he writes this:

It may be possible to find individuals with some recognizable mongoloid features, but no more frequently than in most countries of Europe.

Additionally, Coon did not examine Turks just based on their skulls but also based on living Turkish individuals, that is why he talks a lot about their pigmentation too, those data are from living Turks.

Based on what Coon writes, I would sum up Turks largely as a spectrum from Mediterranean (Cappadocian Med mainly) to Alpine. Armenoids and Dinarids would be represented in the middle of the spectrum.

The same could be said about Asia Minor Greeks too, but in their case brachy types are more common than in Asia Minor Turks.

The invading Turkics were probably close to an even mix of Mongoloids and an Iranid-Andronovo blend, so they would have clear Mongoloid features but a lean towards dolichocephaly in addition to their other clear Caucasoid traits. That must explain why the Turkic mix made Asia Minor less brachycephalized.

It seems Slavs did not change Southern Greek phenotypes much like Turkics not changing Asia Minor phenotypes much.

Turks, going by what Coon writes in his book and draws on his map: the most major type is Dinarid-Mediterranean. Dinarid and Armenoid come after it. Then come Alpine, Gracile Med and Pontid.

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Turkish Republic made a big deal about the Dinarid strain in Turkey back in the 30s in his Turkish nationalism, he read or employed people who read anthro stuff after all, he even directed a big anthro study in Turkey, had tens of thousands of people skull measured. That study found people with recognizable Mongoloid traits in about 5% of Turks only.

Post by Onur

No comments:

Post a Comment