Who is Caucasian? Races and their origins - Knowledge Hypermarket

The characteristics on the basis of which races of different orders are distinguished are diverse. The most obvious are the degree of development of tertiary hairline (primary hairline already exists on the body of the fetus in the utero state, secondary hairline - hair on the head, eyebrows - is present in a newborn; tertiary - associated with puberty), as well as a beard and mustache, hair shape and eye.

Pigmentation, that is, the color of skin, hair and height, plays a prominent role in racial diagnosis. However, there are significant differences in the degree of pigmentation in each race. For example, fairly light-pigmented groups of the Negroid African population and very dark Caucasians, residents of southern Europe. Therefore, the division of humanity into white, yellow and black, accepted in literature, does not correspond to factual data. The peculiarity of growth (short stature) is characteristic only of a few pygmy peoples of Asia and Africa. Among the more special characteristics used in racial diagnosis, blood groups, some genetic characteristics, papillary patterns on the fingers, the shape of teeth, etc. can be named.

Racial characteristics were not only continuously reinforced, but also leveled out. Increasingly different from one another due to the differences in the geographical environment with which they were associated, under the influence of labor, the development of culture and other special conditions, the races at the same time acquired more and more similarities with each other in the general features of modern man. At the same time, as a result of a qualitatively special path of development, human races began to differ more and more sharply from subspecies of wild animals.

NEGROID RACE: Negroes, Negrillies, Bushmen and Hottentots.

Characteristic features of a Negroid: curly hair (black); dark brown skin; Brown eyes; poor development of tertiary hairline; moderately prominent cheekbones; strongly protruding jaws; thick lips; wide nose.

Mixed and transitional forms between the Negroid and Caucasoid large races: the Ethiopian race, transitional groups of Western Sudan, mulattoes, “colored” African groups.

Negroid characteristics are most pronounced among the population living in sub-Saharan Africa, known under the collective and imprecise name “blacks.” Negroids also include Central African pygmies, or Negrills, who are very short in stature, similar in appearance to Asian Negritos, as well as South African Bushmen and Hottentots, in whom Negroid features (extreme curly hair) are combined with individual Mongoloid features (yellowish skin, flattened face, epicanthus).

EUROPEAN RACE: northern, transitional forms, southern.

Characteristic features of a Caucasian: wavy or straight soft hair of different shades; light or dark skin; brown, light gray and blue eyes; weakly protruding cheekbones and jaws; narrow nose with a high bridge; thin or medium thickness lips.

Mixed forms between the Caucasoid great race and the American branch of the Mongoloid great race: American mestizos. Mixed forms between the Caucasoid great race and the Asian branch of the Mongoloid great race : Central Asian groups, South Siberian race, Laponoids and Subural type, mixed groups of Siberia.

Caucasoids, whose formation center is attributed to South-West Asia, North Africa and Southern Europe, can be divided into three main groups: southern - with dark skin, predominantly dark eyes and hair; northern - with fair skin, a significant proportion of gray and blue eyes, light brown and blond hair; intermediate , which is characterized by medium-intensive pigmentation. Based on the color of the skin, hair and eyes, on the structure of the facial skeleton and soft parts of the face, on the proportions of the cerebral part of the skull, often expressed by the cephalic index (the percentage ratio of the greatest width of the head to its greatest length), and according to some other characteristics, various Caucasians are distinguished second order races.

Southern Caucasians in general, given their range, are called Indo-Mediterranean race. Among relatively long-headed(dolichocephalic) populations of this race are distinguished the Mediterranean proper in the west And Indo-Afghan in the east , composed of short-headed(brachycephalic) southern Caucasians - Adriatic , or Dinaric , race (population of the countries of the Balkan Peninsula and the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea), Central Asian, or Armenoid (Armenians, some other West Asian populations), and Pamir-Fergana (Tajiks, part of the Uzbeks).

Characteristic features of the Mediterranean race:

Characterized by short stature, almond-shaped dark eyes, dark skin, large nose, narrow lips and dolichocephaly. Representatives - b The majority of the population of the Iberian Peninsula, southwestern France, southern and central Italy, Israel, southern Greece, the Mediterranean islands, and North Africa belong to the Mediterranean race.

Indo-Afghan race - distribution: central and eastern Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan

Description:
height - medium/high
length of legs and torso - long legs, short torso
hair structure - wavy
hair color - black/dark chestnut/reddish chestnut
back of the head - convex
face - narrow, long
eye color - dark brown
nose - long, narrow, convex/straight, protruding
base of the nose - high
the tip of the nose is bent down
jaw - deep
hairline - highly developed
beard and mustache growth is strong

Dinaric race- a sub-race of the Caucasian race, represented among the inhabitants of the Balkans (Albanians, Serbs, Bulgarians, etc.). The race was named after the Dinaric Alps. Characterized by tall stature; slim physique; dark (close to black) eyes and hair, brownish skin; round face (brachycephaly); straight or downward curved, strongly protruding nose; the lower jaw often protrudes forward. Head index 85-87 brachycephaly, very short occiput.

Armenoid race(Aramaic) - an anthropological type of a large Caucasian race, common in the north of the Middle East (Syria, northern Iraq, part of Armenia, Lebanon). The Armenoid race is distinguished by the following phenotype: average height, brachycephaly, curly hair, large fleshy nose, full lips and large black “protruding” eyes, dark pigmentation, flattened nape. In a number of indicators it is close to dinarids. Characterized by particularly strong development of tertiary hair. Part of the population of Western Asia and the Caucasus (Armenians) belongs to the Armenoid race.

Description[typical Armenides]
[average 86-88]
height - low
physique - thick-boned, mature-boreal (according to Lundman)
length of legs and body - short legs, long torso
hair structure - hard, curly
hair color - black
back of the head - flat
face - oval, mesoprosopic, low
cheekbones - do not protrude
eyebrows - arched, fused
the location of the eyes is “Anterior Asian” (the outer canthus is lower than the inner one)
palpebral fissure - wide
eye color - black
nose - protruding, long, wide, convex
the tip of the nose is bent down
ears are small, often without lobes
jaw - wide, angular
lips are thick, the upper protrudes above the lower
chin - small, non-protruding
beard and mustache growth is very strong
hair development - very strong (hair extending onto the forehead, fused eyebrows, hair on the back)

Intermediate according to the pigmentation of Caucasians, mostly short-headed, divided into the following races: alpine (population of Switzerland and adjacent regions of France, Germany, Austria and Italy), Central European (population of Central and partly Eastern Europe, including some groups of southern Germans, Austrians, Hungarians, Czechs, Slovaks, western Ukrainians, southern Belarusians, Lithuanians), Eastern European, to which most of the Russian central and eastern regions of the European part of Russia, Siberia and the Far East belong, as well as many groups of northern Ukrainians and Belarusians.

Alpine race(Celtic race, Central European race, Eastern race according to Gunter) - a branch of the Caucasian race, characterized by average height, brachycephaly, dark pigmentation of hair and irises of the eyes. Prominent representatives of this subrace are Hungarians, Austrians, Czechs, Slovenes and Ukrainians. Representatives of this race also inhabit Luxembourg, Switzerland, France, northern Italy and southern Germany.

The concept of the Alpine race was used by the American scientist Madison Grant to designate a population of Europeans that lies geographically between representatives of the Nordic and Mediterranean races. Spreading: central France, southern Germany, Alps, Balkan Peninsula, northern Italy, Sicily, southern Norway, Denmark, Middle East

Description:
cranial index - brachycephaly
height - low/average
body type - picnic
hair structure - hard
hair color - from light brown to black
back of the head - rounded
face - wide, low, round/square
forehead - wide, high
eye position - horizontal
eye color - brown/dark brown
nose - short, wide, slightly concave/straight
the base of the nose is low
chin - blunt
hairline - highly developed
beard and mustache growth is strong

Northern branch: tall medium-long-headed fair Caucasians were previously described under the name northern or Nordic , race, and more brachycephalic - entitled Baltic . Some scientists divide all light Caucasians into northwestern (Atlanto-Baltic race, which includes the population of Great Britain, the Netherlands, the northern regions of Germany, the Scandinavian countries, Latvia and Estonia, Western Finland) and northeastern (White Sea-Baltic race, widespread in North-Eastern Europe among Russians, Karelians, Vepsians and Northern Komi).

Nordic race:

Term Nordic race (race nordique) was first introduced by the Russian racologist of French origin I. Deniker in 1900. He described them as "a tall race with blond, sometimes wavy hair, light eyes, pink skin and a dolichocephalic skull."

Characteristic features:

Cranial index - dolichocephaly

Body type: leptosomal, normo-skeletal

Hair structure - straight/wavy

Hair color - blond/ash blond/golden blond/light blond/dark blond

The back of the head is convex

Face - narrow, long, oval-rhombic

Forehead - high, often sloping

Eye position is horizontal,

Eye shape - characterized by a long eye shape

Eye color - blue/gray/green

Nose - long, narrow, straight, protruding

The base of the nose is high

The tip of the nose is horizontal, sometimes raised, pointed

Jaw - long, deep

Lips are thin

Chin - narrow, angular, protruding

Beard and mustache growth is normal

Subtypes of the Nordic race

There are three main subtypes of the Nordic race.

East Nordic- Distributed in Eastern Europe, including Russia and to some extent Finland. It differs from the Hallstatt Nordic by a longer skull (dolichocephaly), a higher cranial vault, a more protruding nose, and often a sloping forehead. Description [differences from Hallstatt Nordic]

Cranial index - dolichocephaly

Skull - higher

Forehead - higher

Nasal profile - more prominent

The bridge of the nose is sometimes convex

Hairline - less developed

Hallstatt Nordic(other names: Teutonic, Teutonic-Nordic, Scanno-Nordid) - common in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, northern Germany, and to some extent in the British Isles.

Description of the Hallstadt Nordic type
cranial index - mesocephaly [average - 75]
height - tall
physique - leptosomal (but with developed muscles), normoskeletal
length of legs and torso - long legs, short torso, short arms
hair structure - wavy
hair color - blond/ash blond/golden blond/dark blond
back of the head - convex, pronounced
face - narrow, long, oval-rhombic
forehead - narrow, sloping
eye position - horizontal
the palpebral fissure is normal, the effect of a “swollen upper eyelid” occurs
eye color - blue / gray
nose - protruding, long, narrow, straight (sometimes slightly convex)
base of the nose - high
the tip of the nose is horizontal
jaw - long, deep
lips are thin
chin - narrow, angular, prominent, often pointed
hair - developed
beard and mustache growth is strong

Celtic Nordic- common in Western Europe, the British Isles, and Switzerland. Differs from the Haltstatt by a shorter skull (usually mesocephaly), darker hair pigmentation (to dark chestnut) and light mixed shades of eyes.

Description
cranial index - mesocephaly
height - tall
hair color - from ash blond to dark chestnut
back of the head - convex
temporal areas - depressed
face - narrow, long
forehead - sloping
eye position - horizontal
eye color - light mixed shades
nose - long, leptorrhine/mesorrhine, convex/straight, protruding
base of the nose - high
lips - thin/medium, slightly turned out
chin - moderately developed
hair - developed
beard and mustache growth is strong

Baltic race:

East Baltic type(also known as White Sea-Baltic race) - a branch of the Caucasoid race, localized in northeastern Europe (around the White and Baltic seas). It is characterized by short-headedness (brachycephaly), a lower and wider face, a decrease in forehead height, average height, fair skin, eyes and hair, a small “duck nose” (concave bridge of the nose) and a number of other signs. It is the most depigmented of the Caucasoid races.

Spreading: Baltic countries, Finland, Poland, north-eastern Germany, Russia, Scandinavia
Description:
cranial index - brachycephaly
height - average
body type - picnic
length of legs and torso - short legs, long torso
hair structure - hard
hair color - from ash blond to dark brown
face - wide, short
forehead - sloping
eye location - horizontal/mongoloid (the outer canthus is higher than the inner corner)
eye color - light blue/gray
nose - short, concave, non-protruding
the base of the nose is low
jaw - wide, inconspicuous
chin - round

Mixed: On the eastern borders of its range Caucasians have interacted with Mongoloids since ancient times . As a result of their early mixing, which probably began in the Mesolithic era (10 - 7 thousand years ago), it developed in the north-west of Siberia and in the extreme east of Europe. Ural race (Ladoga type) (Khanty, Mansi, etc.), which is characterized by a combination of intermediate Mongoloid-Caucasian features with some specific features (for example, a low face, weakened pigmentation, a high prevalence of the concave shape of the bridge of the nose, a flattened face and light pigmentation.). In addition to the Finno-Ugric peoples, the Ladoga type is found among Russians (35%), Poles (10%) and Baltic peoples (5%)

It is close to the Ural in many respects laponoid a race with a very low face (Sami); some anthropologists combine these races into one - the Ural-Laponoid, the features of which are also expressed in a less dramatic form among the Udmurts, Komi-Permyaks, Mari, and some groups of Mordovians. Laponoid race- an anthropological type preserved among the Sami - the indigenous population of northern Europe, very different from classical Caucasians and related them to the Mongoloid race. Main features: low stature, epicanthus, concave bridge of the nose. The face is low, mainly due to the very low height of the lower section. The interorbital distance is large. At the same time, laponoids have light skin and a high percentage of light eyes. From the first centuries of our era, in the steppe zone between the Urals and the Yenisei, it was formed in the process of mixing Mongoloids and Caucasians South Siberian a race with a very wide face and pronounced short-headedness. In the Middle Ages, new mixed Caucasoid-Mongoloid populations (part of the Uzbeks, Uyghurs, Salars) formed in Central and Central Asia.

MONGOLOID RACE: American races, Asian branch of Mongoloid races: continental Mongoloids, Arctic race (Eskimos and Paleo-Asians), Pacific (East Asian) races.

Characteristic features of the Mongoloid: straight, coarse and dark hair; poor development of tertiary hairline; yellowish skin tone; Brown eyes; flattened face with prominent cheekbones; narrow nose, often with a low bridge; presence of epicanthus (fold at the inner corner of the eye).

Epicanthus, “Mongolian fold” is a special fold at the inner corner of the eye, to a greater or lesser extent covering the lacrimal tubercle. The epicanthus is a continuation of the fold of the upper eyelid. One of the characteristics characteristic of the Mongoloid race is rare in representatives of other races. During anthropological examinations, not only the presence or absence of epicanthus is determined, but also its development (see figure).

Humanity is a mosaic of races and peoples that inhabit our globe. A representative of each race and each people has a number of differences in comparison with representatives of other population systems.

However, all people, despite their racial and ethnic background, are an integral part of a single whole - earthly humanity.

The concept of “race”, division into races

Race is a system of a population of people who have similar biological characteristics that were formed under the influence of the natural conditions of the territory of their origin. Race is the result of the adaptation of the human body to the natural conditions in which it had to live.

The formation of races took place over many millennia. According to anthropologists, at the moment there are three main races on the planet, including more than ten anthropological types.

Representatives of each race are connected by common areas and genes, which provoke the emergence of physiological differences from representatives of other races.

Caucasian race: signs and settlement

The Caucasoid or Eurasian race is the largest race in the world. Characteristic features of the appearance of a person belonging to the Caucasian race are an oval face, straight or wavy soft hair, wide eyes, and average thickness of lips.

The color of eyes, hair and skin varies depending on the region of the population, but always has light shades. Representatives of the Caucasian race evenly populate the entire planet.

The final settlement across the continents occurred after the end of the century of geographical discoveries. Very often, people of the Caucasian race tried to prove their dominant position over representatives of other races.

Negroid race: signs, origin and settlement

The Negroid race is one of the three big races. Characteristic features of people belonging to the Negroid race are elongated limbs, dark skin rich in melanin, a wide flat nose, large eyes, and curly hair.

Modern scientists believe that the first Negroid man arose around the 40th century BC. in the territory of modern Egypt. The main region of settlement of representatives of the Negroid race is South Africa. Over the past centuries, people of the Negroid race have settled significantly in the West Indies, Brazil, France and the United States.

Unfortunately, representatives of the Negroid race have been oppressed by “white” people for many centuries. They faced such anti-democratic phenomena as slavery and discrimination.

Mongoloid race: signs and settlement

The Mongoloid race is one of the largest world races. The characteristic features of this race are: dark skin color, narrow eyes, small stature, thin lips.

Representatives of the Mongoloid race primarily inhabit the territory of Asia, Indonesia, and the islands of Oceania. Recently, the number of people of this race has begun to increase in all countries of the world, which is caused by an intensifying wave of migration.

Peoples inhabiting the earth

A people is a certain group of people who have a common number of historical characteristics - culture, language, religion, territory. Traditionally, a stable common feature of a people is its language. However, in our time, cases are common when different peoples speak a single language.

For example, the Irish and Scots speak English, although they are not English. Today there are several tens of thousands of peoples in the world, which are systematized into 22 families of peoples. Many peoples that existed before disappeared at this point or were assimilated with other peoples.

Modern people appeared on Earth about 40 thousand years ago. Due to the peculiarities of natural and geographical conditions, differences arose in the appearance of a person. For example, dark skin color protects against solar radiation. Curly hair forms an air cushion on the head and protects against overheating.

Where people with a yellowish skin tone live, there are often winds, dust and sand storms. Therefore, the eyes of those people look like a narrow slit with a fold of skin covering the inner corner of the eye. People of different continents and countries differ in body structure, skin color, hair, eyes, shape and size of nose, lips, etc. These characteristics are called racial. They were formed over a long historical period and are passed on from generation to generation.

Human races - these are large groups of people connected by a common origin and external characteristics.

According to external signs they distinguish four main races: Caucasian, Mongoloid, Negroid(or equatorial) And Australoid.

To the Caucasian race includes almost half of the planet's humanity. The name itself suggests that most of the peoples of this race live in Europe. With the discovery of America and Australia, Caucasians settled throughout the world. They have fair skin, soft straight or slightly wavy hair, a narrow nose, thin lips, and eye color may vary. In addition to Europeans, Indians, Tajiks, Armenians, and Arabs belong to this race. All Slavs, including Ukrainians, are Caucasians.

People live in Africa and America Negroid race. The peoples of this race live in the equatorial regions. They have dark skin, hair and eyes, curly or wavy hair, poorly developed hair on the face and body, most of them have a wide nose, the upper jaw protrudes forward, and thick lips.

TO Mongoloid race belongs to almost 40% of the world's population. The peoples of the Mongoloid race settled across the vast expanses of Asia, the Pacific Islands and both continents of America. Mongoloids have yellowish skin color, black straight hair, narrow eyes like slits, a flat face, a wide nose, thin, slightly thickened lips. This race includes the Mongols, Chinese, Japanese, Koreans and other peoples of Asia, as well as Indians - the indigenous population of America

Representatives Australoid race inhabit the northeast of mainland Australia and the eastern part of the island. New Guinea. This race is characterized by dark skin, hair, and eyes. The facial hair is well developed, the nose is wide and flat.

With the growth of the Earth's population, peoples of different races communicated with each other more and more. This is how they appeared mixed race — mulattoes(descendants of blacks and Europeans), mestizos(descendants of Indians and Europeans), sambo(descendants of Indians and blacks). Material from the site

For a long time, Europeans did not recognize the equality of races. Representatives of the Mongoloid race, and especially the Negroid race, were considered to be at the lowest level of development and incapable of creating their own civilization. One of the first to refute this erroneous and inherently racist theory was the world-famous scientist, great-grandson of the Zaporozhye Cossack Makhlai N. N. Miklouho-Maclay. He was a famous traveler, lived for many years among the Papuans of New Guinea and proved that they were in no way inferior to Europeans in their mental development. He argued that all people, regardless of place of residence, skin color, hair and other external features, are the same in their biological characteristics. The Papuans considered Nikolai Nikolaevich their friend. On the coast of New Guinea has a territory named after him Maclay coast.

On this page there is material on the following topics:

• Races of man summary

• Geography 7th grade message about the Australoid race

• 5th grade report on geography Caucasian race

• The number of Negroid races on earth

• Biology report on the topic of the Caucasian race

Questions about this material:

Straight or wavy, usually soft (particularly in northern groups), the eyes have a wide opening, although the palpebral fissure can be small, the nose is moderately or strongly protruding with a high bridge, the lips are thin or moderately thick, strong or medium growth of hair on the face and body. Wide hands and feet. The color of skin, hair and eyes is varied: from very light shades in the northern groups, to very dark shades in the southern and eastern populations.

Subgroups

Origin of the Caucasians

The Caucasoid race in its modern version did not emerge earlier than the Holocene.

The most probable assumption is that the bulk of the large Caucasian race had an original area of ​​origin somewhere within a wide area covering parts of southwest Asia, as well as southern Europe and northern Africa. The range of proto-Europeans probably also included some areas of Western Asia, which had a foothill character, as well as, partially, the Mediterranean with its arid coastal areas. From here, proto-Europeans could settle in different directions, gradually occupying all of Europe and northern Africa.

In the European population, blue eyes were already widespread among hunter-gatherers of the Mesolithic era, but the gene responsible for light skin pigmentation was fixed with 100% frequency only by the Bronze Age.

There are two branches within the Caucasoids - northern and southern. The differences between them relate mainly to the pigmentation of the skin, eyes, and hair. Between these two branches there are peoples occupying an intermediate position. Back in the 30s, the Soviet ethnographer and Doctor of Historical Sciences N.N. Cheboksarov expressed the idea that southern Caucasians, intermediate variants and northern Caucasians are the result of a consistent process of depigmentation of an initially dark-pigmented population. Southern Caucasians are closer to the original type than northern Caucasians.

History of terms

Caucasian

Scientific term "Caucasian" Europoid, German Europide) is formed by combining the word "European" and the suffix "-oid", which means "similar".

Caucasian race

Currently the term Caucasian in English is one of the official terms for Caucasian (for example, used to indicate race in the IAFD database).

Mediterranean race

In the 19th century, in order to avoid frequent confusion, the German researcher F. Müller proposed another term - Mediterranean race(German) Mittelländische Rasse), since the peoples belonging to it reached the height of their development on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. This term was then accepted by most ethnologists (Peschel, Helwald and others) and by the end of the 19th century almost replaced Blumenbach's term in scientific works, but is now used in this meaning as an integral part of the larger Indo-Mediterranean race.

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Notes

1. // Great Soviet Encyclopedia. - M.: Soviet encyclopedia 1969-1978
2. // Big medical dictionary
3. Caucasian- article from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia (3rd edition).
4. Glushkova V. G., Simagin Yu. A. .
5. // Bogatenkov D. V., Drobyshevsky S. V. Anthropology
7. Human races, Human races. Retrieved September 30, 2012. .
9. Origin of the Caucasians, Origin of the Caucasians. Retrieved September 30, 2012. .
12. // Small Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 4 volumes - St. Petersburg. , 1907-1909.
13. Biographical details are in Charles Coulston Gillispie, Dictionary of Scientific Biography, 1970:203f s.v."Johann Friederich Blumenbach".
14. // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
15. Caucasian variety - “I have taken the name of this variety from Mount Caucasus, both because its neighborhood, and especially its southern slope, produces the most beautiful race of men, I mean the Georgian; because all physiological reasons converge to this, that in that region, if anywhere, it seems we ought with the greatest probability to place the autochthones (birth place) of mankind" - Blumenbach J.F. De generis humani varietate nativa.- 3rd ed., 1795, trans. Bendyshe (1865). Quote eg V: |Keith A. Blumenbach’s Centenary // Man, 1940.- Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland
16. Oxford English Dictionary: "a name given by Blumenbach (a1800) to the "white" race of mankind, which he derived from the region of the Caucasus."
17. Blumenbach, De generis humani varietate nativa(3rd ed. 1795), trans. Bendyshe (1865). Quoted e.g. in Arthur Keith, Blumenbach's Centenary, Man, Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (1940).

Links

• (video lecture)

An excerpt characterizing the Caucasoid race

Pelageya Danilovna Melyukova, a broad, energetic woman, wearing glasses and a swinging hood, was sitting in the living room, surrounded by her daughters, whom she tried not to let get bored. They were quietly pouring wax and looking at the shadows of the emerging figures when the footsteps and voices of visitors began to rustle in the hall.
Hussars, ladies, witches, payassas, bears, clearing their throats and wiping their frost-covered faces in the hallway, entered the hall, where candles were hastily lit. The clown - Dimmler and the lady - Nikolai opened the dance. Surrounded by screaming children, the mummers, covering their faces and changing their voices, bowed to the hostess and positioned themselves around the room.
- Oh, it’s impossible to find out! And Natasha! Look who she looks like! Really, it reminds me of someone. Eduard Karlych is so good! I didn't recognize it. Yes, how she dances! Oh, fathers, and some kind of Circassian; right, how it suits Sonyushka. Who else is this? Well, they consoled me! Take the tables, Nikita, Vanya. And we sat so quietly!
- Ha ha ha!... Hussar this, hussar that! Just like a boy, and his legs!... I can’t see... - voices were heard.
Natasha, the favorite of the young Melyukovs, disappeared with them into the back rooms, where they needed cork and various dressing gowns and men's dresses, which through the open door received the naked girlish hands from the footman. Ten minutes later, all the youth of the Melyukov family joined the mummers.
Pelageya Danilovna, having ordered the clearing of the place for the guests and refreshments for the gentlemen and servants, without taking off her glasses, with a restrained smile, walked among the mummers, looking closely into their faces and not recognizing anyone. Not only did she not recognize the Rostovs and Dimmler, but she also could not recognize either her daughters or her husband’s robes and uniforms that they were wearing.
-Whose is this? - she said, turning to her governess and looking into the face of her daughter, who represented the Kazan Tatar. - It seems like someone from Rostov. Well, Mr. Hussar, what regiment do you serve in? – she asked Natasha. “Give the Turk, give the Turk some marshmallows,” she said to the bartender who was serving them: “this is not prohibited by their law.”
Sometimes, looking at the strange but funny steps performed by the dancers, who had decided once and for all that they were dressed up, that no one would recognize them and therefore were not embarrassed, Pelageya Danilovna covered herself with a scarf, and her entire corpulent body shook from the uncontrollable, kind, old lady’s laughter . - Sashinet is mine, Sashinet is that! - she said.
After Russian dances and round dances, Pelageya Danilovna united all the servants and gentlemen together, in one large circle; They brought a ring, a string and a ruble, and general games were arranged.
An hour later, all the suits were wrinkled and upset. Cork mustaches and eyebrows were smeared across sweaty, flushed and cheerful faces. Pelageya Danilovna began to recognize the mummers, admired how well the costumes were made, how they suited especially the young ladies, and thanked everyone for making her so happy. The guests were invited to dine in the living room, and the courtyard was served in the hall.
- No, guessing in the bathhouse, that’s scary! - said the old girl who lived with the Melyukovs at dinner.
- From what? – asked the eldest daughter of the Melyukovs.
- Don’t go, you need courage...
“I’ll go,” said Sonya.
- Tell me, how was it with the young lady? - said the second Melyukova.
“Yes, just like that, one young lady went,” said the old girl, “she took a rooster, two utensils, and sat down properly.” She sat there, just heard, suddenly she was driving... with bells, with bells, a sleigh drove up; hears, comes. He comes in completely in human form, like an officer, he came and sat down with her at the device.
- A! Ah!...” Natasha screamed, rolling her eyes in horror.
- How can he say that?
- Yes, as a person, everything is as it should be, and he began and began to persuade, and she should have occupied him with conversation until the roosters; and she became shy; – she just became shy and covered herself with her hands. He picked it up. It's good that the girls came running...
- Well, why scare them! - said Pelageya Danilovna.
“Mother, you yourself were guessing...” said the daughter.
- How do they tell fortunes in the barn? – asked Sonya.
- Well, at least now, they’ll go to the barn and listen. What will you hear: hammering, knocking - bad, but pouring bread - this is good; and then it happens...
- Mom, tell me what happened to you in the barn?
Pelageya Danilovna smiled.
“Oh, well, I forgot…” she said. - You won’t go, will you?
- No, I'll go; Pepageya Danilovna, let me in, I’ll go,” said Sonya.
- Well, if you're not afraid.
- Luiza Ivanovna, may I? – asked Sonya.
Whether they were playing ring, string or ruble, or talking, as now, Nikolai did not leave Sonya and looked at her with completely new eyes. It seemed to him that today, only for the first time, thanks to that corky mustache, he fully recognized her. Sonya really was cheerful, lively and beautiful that evening, like Nikolai had never seen her before.
“So that’s what she is, and I’m a fool!” he thought, looking at her sparkling eyes and her happy, enthusiastic smile, making dimples on her cheeks from under her mustache, a smile that he had never seen before.
“I’m not afraid of anything,” said Sonya. - Can I do it now? - She stood up. They told Sonya where the barn was, how she could stand silently and listen, and they gave her a fur coat. She threw it over her head and looked at Nikolai.
“What a beauty this girl is!” he thought. “And what have I been thinking about so far!”
Sonya went out into the corridor to go to the barn. Nikolai hurriedly went to the front porch, saying that he was hot. Indeed, the house was stuffy from the crowded people.
It was the same motionless cold outside, the same month, only it was even lighter. The light was so strong and there were so many stars on the snow that I didn’t want to look at the sky, and the real stars were invisible. In the sky it was black and boring, on earth it was fun.
“I’m a fool, a fool! What have you been waiting for so far? thought Nikolai and, running onto the porch, he walked around the corner of the house along the path that led to the back porch. He knew that Sonya would come here. Halfway along the road there were stacked fathoms of firewood, there was snow on them, and a shadow fell from them; through them and from their sides, intertwining, the shadows of old bare linden trees fell onto the snow and the path. The path led to the barn. The chopped wall of the barn and the roof, covered with snow, as if carved from some kind of precious stone, glittered in the monthly light. A tree cracked in the garden, and again everything was completely silent. The chest seemed to breathe not air, but some kind of eternally youthful strength and joy.
Feet clattered on the steps from the maiden porch, there was a loud creaking sound on the last one, which was covered with snow, and the voice of an old girl said:
- Straight, straight, along the path, young lady. Just don't look back.
“I’m not afraid,” answered Sonya’s voice, and Sonya’s legs squealed and whistled in her thin shoes along the path towards Nikolai.
Sonya walked wrapped in a fur coat. She was already two steps away when she saw him; She also saw him not as she knew him and as she had always been a little afraid. He was in a woman's dress with tangled hair and a happy and new smile for Sonya. Sonya quickly ran up to him.
“Completely different, and still the same,” thought Nikolai, looking at her face, all illuminated by moonlight. He put his hands under the fur coat that covered her head, hugged her, pressed her to him and kissed her on the lips, above which there was a mustache and from which there was a smell of burnt cork. Sonya kissed him in the very center of his lips and, extending her small hands, took his cheeks on both sides.

Anthropologist Stanislav Drobyshevsky about the general characteristics of the Caucasian race, the main groups and the ways of settlement of its representatives. What characteristics are characteristic of the Caucasian race as a whole? What groups can be distinguished among Caucasians? What is the reason for variability within one race? Candidate of Biological Sciences Stanislav Drobyshevsky talks about this.

- The Caucasoid race is most often called this, although in Russian anthropology the term “Eurasian race” is adopted. One could call it the “Eurasian-African race,” but there is no such term. The Caucasoid race is not only settled in Europe, its range is much wider, even without taking into account the fact that at present Caucasoids have settled anywhere: in Australia, in America, in Africa.

Even the original area of ​​formation of the Caucasoid race included, in addition to Europe itself, the north of Africa, up to the Sahara, and at some time the Sahara was a rather important region, and probably the same people lived there, as did the entire Middle East, which is geographically Asia, and further, up to Northern India. Currently, approximately half of India's population is, strictly speaking, Caucasian. In total, the Caucasoid race is one of the most widespread from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean, around the entire Mediterranean Sea. And naturally, over such a vast territory it is very heterogeneous, but there are common features that allow it to be distinguished.

Caucasian characterized by the lightest color of skin, eyes and hair, but all northern Caucasians and those living outside the equatorial zone have much lighter skin, while the southernmost Caucasians are still darker. The center of skin lightness for Caucasians is located in the Baltic Sea region, the Baltic states, Finland, Karelia, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and the further south you go, the darker the skin becomes.

The eyes and hair of some Caucasians can be of different shades, some generally have the lightest hair and eyes on the planet, while other Caucasians have very dark eyes and hair. Almost all Caucasians in Mediterranean countries have dark hair and eyes, but there are also lighter shades.

In North Africa, light eyes and hair are extremely rare. Caucasians in Northern Egypt have approximately 2% light eyes. Blonde hair and eyes are found among the Kabyles, for example, in the Atlas Mountains, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, but this is rare. Sometimes this slips through, say, in the Hindu Kush and Pakistan. And these individual light-colored people in the southern populations gave rise to talk about the warriors of Alexander the Great, who were, of course, blond and reached India, about the Vandals who passed through Africa to Tunisia and settled there, and their blood is now in the Kabyles. It is unlikely that the soldiers of Alexander the Great and the Vandals could have had such a strong influence on the local residents. Moreover, fair-haired, light-eyed people in the south are individuals, and their fractions of a percent, as a rule, or 2% maximum for eyes in Egypt. There is variability from the very north to the south. This variability is quite tricky; it is not consistent everywhere, because the territory of both Europe and the entire western part of Asia is not blocked by any prohibitive geographical barriers. There are, of course, the Alps in the middle of Europe, there is the Caucasus, there is the same Hindu Kush, but they are completely bypassed. And Europe has always been a place of rapid population movements; people did not sit still. I’m not talking about the 20th century, but about earlier times: both in the Bronze Age and in the Neolithic, people wandered back and forth, and from north to south, and from south to north, from west to east, from east to west. Therefore, at present, it is extremely problematic to identify any strict variants of Caucasians.

There are several main groups of Caucasians. Lives in the Mediterranean zone and further up to India indo-mediterranean race, having the darkest pigmented skin. The facial features, like all Caucasians, are regular, thin lips, narrow nose. To the south live equatorials with a wide nose, and the contrast in appearance is very sharp. In India, the Dravidian race is very different from the South Indian race, and in West Africa, the facial features of the Ethiopian race are different from the Negroids. In history there was no period of isolation of proto-Europeans from proto-equatorial peoples and races. On a Caucasian scale, Indo-Mediterraneans have relatively small body sizes, they are quite graceful, but on a global scale they cannot be called particularly small. Although there are groups of almost pygmy height. For example, in the Sahara, Biasutti described the so-called Paleo-Saharan type of people; they are also found in Egypt. These are Bedouins, their height is about fifty meters. Low population growth occurs in conditions of isolation from all neighboring tribes; those living in oases are closed within their tribe and enter into closely related relationships, which leads to the degeneration of the people.

To the north of the Indo-Mediterranean people live groups of the Balkan-Caucasian race. The Balkan-Caucasian race is distributed mainly in the Balkans, including the Carpathians, nearby territories, and the Caucasus. The question arises: how related are the Caucasian and Balkan populations to each other? They could have acquired similar characteristics independently, but with a high probability they were related to some extent. Sometimes they are also called Dinaric type . The Balkan-Caucasian race is different increased massiveness of the chest, and large dimensions of the face and nose. The North Caucasus has the widest faces in the world. In Georgia, the population is distinguished by very thick growth of hair all over the body, and especially thick beards and mustaches on the face. Such powerful vegetation was still found only among the white Ainu people, the first inhabitants of the Japanese islands, who have now become mestizos, mixed with the Japanese Mongoloids who came to the islands.

In Europe, the largest body sizes are among Montenegrins and some peoples of the Caucasus, for example, Ossetians are very tall. The Balkan-Caucasian race apparently arose in conditions of rather strong isolation, in mountain conditions, and there are clearly traces of adaptation to mountain conditions, including at the biochemical level. For example, increased development of muscles, because muscles store blood well and, accordingly, oxygen, development of the respiratory tract, that is, large lungs and, accordingly, a large chest, a large nose with a hump.

Even further north is the zone of distribution of the Central European, or Middle European race. This is probably the largest part in terms of numbers, if we take the population within the Eurasian race. Although, considering that the population in India is close to a billion, and in Pakistan there is also a lot, then perhaps the Indo-Mediterranean race gives approximately the same number.

The Central European race as part of the Caucasian race is slightly average: with a straight nose, with a small face, most often with light brown, usually wavy hair - light brown, dark brown. Men sometimes grow beards and mustaches. Basically, representatives of the Central European race settled other parts of the world during the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries, that is, they came to America, Australia, South Africa, there are not very many of them in India and Asia.

The facial features of people of the Central European race are quite variable, there are many variations. Many anthropologists have tried to find some logic in the distribution of these variants, but they are not very successful. The external characteristics of people of the Central European race change chaotically when looking from north to south, from west to east. The closest approximation in the similarity of facial features of the Central European race was found by Vasily Evgenievich Deryabin, who discovered that in the central part of Russia the signs of similarity among Russians are distributed not from west to east or from north to south, but along river valleys.

Perhaps in a similar way it will be possible to determine in Western Europe the signs of similarity between people of the Central European race. Since ancient times, the main roads in Russia were rivers; tribes settled along the rivers in the summer on boats and in the winter on sleighs. That is why the groups living along the river are similar to each other. All trade routes of Russia passed by hand - the path “from the Varangians to the Greeks” connected the Baltic Sea with the Aksinsky Pontus (Black Sea), the “Great Silk Road” was also laid along rivers. And since rivers flow in cunning zigzags, the distribution of anthropological characteristics of people of the Central European race in Russia turns out to be cunning zigzags.

The northernmost Caucasians are divided into two races. To the west - the Atlanto-Baltic race , are rather tall, large people, with very white skin, blond hair and eyes, with a straight narrow nose and an elongated, not wide face.

And further east, in the White Sea area - White Sea-Baltic race , its representatives are shorter, their faces are wider, their noses are slightly snub, more often the back of the nose is concave, their eyes are smaller, beards and mustaches grow poorly in men. Of course, this description may create the idea that just by looking at a person you can tell what race they are. This is not entirely true, because the described differences in the appearance of people are rather sketchy and average, and cannot be an accurate marker of differences between races. In each specific settlement you can find completely different types of people, so determining the type “by eye”, from a photograph or even from individual measurements, is impossible, that is, the race as a whole can be determined only by studying the entire population of people.

Stanislav Drobyshevsky - Candidate of Biological Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Biology, Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosov, scientific editor of the portal "Anthropogenesis.ru"
Based on video materials