Ancestral Whispers@Sulkalmakh
Facial reconstruction of a 4,200-year-old Catacomb culture man from kurgan 1 in Snihurivka, Ukraine
The Catacomb culture was a continuation of the Yamnaya culture.
Catacomb culture covers the end of the 3rd millennium to the first half of the 2nd millennium BCE. It is distributed in the southern regions of the East European Plain, from the Manych River and the North Caucasus to the Dnieper.
Within the Catacomb culture, as in the Yamnaya culture, such local variants are distinguished: the Lower Dnieper, the North Azov, the Middle Dnieper, as well as the Donetsk (or Middle Donets), the Volga–Manych (also known as the Pre-Caucasian culture) (Popova, 1955; Lagodovskaya, 1957; Klein, 1961). Close to them is the Poltavka culture. (Konduktorova, 1973)
Skulls of the Yamnaya and Catacomb cultures are characterized on average by dolichocrany, although in some skulls mesocrany and brachycrany are observed. The cranial capacity is large. The longitudinal and vertical diameters are large, while the transverse diameter is medium.
The relief is strongly developed. The glabella, external occipital protuberance, and mastoid processes are well expressed. The slope of the forehead is pronounced.
The face is broad and of medium height; according to the index, however, it is low and orthognathic. Horizontal facial profiling is sharply expressed.
The orbits are low. The nose is of medium width and strongly projecting. The nasal bridge protrudes sharply. The canine fossae are deep.
It should be noted, however, that when comparing Catacomb with Yamnaya series, the formers relief is somewhat less pronounced, and the angle of the forehead is smaller. (Konduktorova, 1973)
