Dr. T. Tóth szerk.: Studia historico-anthropologica (Anthropologia Hungarica 18. Budapest, 1983)

ANTHROPOLOGIA HUNGARICÀ XVIII. 1982-1983 p. 43—52 Dermatoglyphics and ethnogenesis of Hungarians By T. D. GLADKOVA — T. A. TÓTH (Received June 23, 1981) Abstract. Comparison of dermatoglyphic data of 13 Hungarian local groups with those of 19 European and Asian peoples is presented. With 5 tables and 3 figures. Dermatoglyphical traits of male series from different regions of the Hungarian People's Republic were studied by authors in the last decade (GLADKOVA et TOTH 1973,197 5, 1977, 1979). In the present paper authors wish to give a general survey of the skin patterns characterising Hungarians in connection with their ethnogenesis. In performed analyses the data of 11 formerly published groups as well as new materials of Hungarians from Szendrő (North Hungary, to the north-west from Taktabáj) and Kustánszeg (to the south-west from Lake Balaton) were used. In the whole 13 local groups of Hungarian men (about 1600 individuals) from 9 different ethnogeographical regions located along a hypothetical south-west - north-east diagonal of the country (Fig. 1). The palm- and fingerprints of Hungarian men were collected in 1969-1 971 by T.A .TOTH among the rural populations. The prints have been analysed by using the CUMMINS and MIDLO's method of pattern interpretation (1961). » Paleoanthropological and somatological investigations of Hungarian anthropologists (L. BARTUCZ, P. LIPTÄK, M. MALÁN, J. NEMESKÉRI, S. WENGER, T. A

. TÓTH and others) showed the complicated historical process of the formation of Hungarian people and its anthropological type. In this process autochthonous and immigrated tribes participated which at different times inhabited the territory of Hungary and succeeded each other. A wide ranging material collected by Hungarian scientists on the territory of Cis-Ural, Khazakhstan, North-, Central- and Inner Asia clearly revealed the Finno-Ugric origin of the Hungarian language and of the people. According to this hypothesis the Hungarian people has common linguistic roots with the West Siberian Ugrians (Khants and Mansi), belonging to the Uralian race having a mixed Europo-Mongoloid origin. However, TÓTH - having accepted the Ugric hypothesis of Hungarians' origin - studying somatological as well as paleo- and neocraniological materials from the territory of Hungary and the Eurasia concluded that in the whole the taxonomical position of recent Hungarians may be connected with different components of the Europoid racial stock. In connection with this it will be interesting to sum up the skin patterns of Hungarians because they represent ancient, heritable and ontogenetically stable traits. In Tables 1-3 the frequency data of the finger and palm pattern are given from the above-mentioned 13 local groups of Hungarians. The survey of these tables shows first of all the extensive variability, dispersity and crossing similarity between the different groups. Such, the range of the frequencies of arches (A), loops (L) and whorls (W) is in order of the mentioned traits 2.8 (Gacsály) - 8.1 (Gyöngyöstarján), 53.2 (Taktabáj) - 62.8 (Himód) and 32. 6 (Kisfalud) - 41.7% (Taktabáj). In respect of the delta index (Dl ) the lowest and highest values are 12. 57 (Gyöngyöstarján) and 13.66 (Taktabáj) (Table 4).