Dr. I. Pap szerk.: Studia historico-anthropologica (Anthropologia Hungarica 22. Budapest, 1992)

ANTHROPOLOGIA HUNGARICA XXII. 1992 p. 17-39. Somatology and paleoanthropology of the Hungarians (to the problems of their origin) by T. Tóth, Budapest Tóth, T.: Somatology and paleoanthropology of the Hungarians (to the problems of their origin). — Anthrop. hung. 1992, 22: 17-39. Abstract — The present English text of the author's doctoral thesis is the translation of the original work published in Russian, in Moscow, in 1977. The dissertation proposes to elucidate the exceedingly intricate problem of the origin (ethnogenesis) of the Hungarian people on the basis of the estimation of anthropological materials. Ethnogenesis may be considered a complex branch within the system of sciences - synthesis of anthropological, linguistical, histographical, ethnographical and archaeological data. Different interpretations evolved about the settlement and anthropological composition of the Proto-Hungarians as well as about their connections with other peoples in the eastern part of Europe and in the Central Danubian Basin in each discipline mentioned in the Hungarian literature. The investigation and publications of L. Bartucz, P. Lipták, M. Malán, J. Nemeskéri, S. Wenger and others treated some questions of morphological composition of historical and recent Hungarians. Hungarian anthropologists examined further craniological finds from different historical periods of the Central Danubian Basin. The present dissertation is attempting to give a synthesis according to the aspects provided by the somatological and paleoanthropological materials originating from the territory of the Central Danubian Basin, as well as from other regions of the Eurasian continent. The attempt for a wide comparative chronological and spatial analysis supports a better founded interpretation of the ethnogenesis of the Hungarian people, too. The dissertation consists of two volumes. In the first volume one can find the introduction and two main parts with ten chapters and a postscript (296 pages of ms text, 47 pages with references). 28 statistical tables are included on 49 pages. The second volume contains 36 statistical tables with somatological, odontological and dermatoglyphic data and 62 figures. In this volume we can find data on the origin of the studied material. The size of this second volume is 257 ms pages, whereas that of the complete work is 649 pages. The introduction stresses the increasing significance of anthropology in the analysis of various questions concerning the origin of the Hungarian people. This is connected to the systematic introduction of the new methodological and methodic concepts adapted by the author from the works of the founders of the Soviet anthropological school. Many important questions are outlined as they came into the focus of the author's attention: anthropological characteristics of the various ethnogeographical groups of the Hungarian population, radiation area and periods of the formation of the morphological character of Hungarians, the pattern of mutual influences of Proto-Hungarians and the autochthonous groups in the Carpathian Basin and Central Europe.