A certain stereotype has developed in the world, corresponding to the Slavic ethnos: light brown or blond hair, gray, blue or green eyes, fair skin, medium or tall stature, round face. However, the Slavic peoples quite widely inhabited the territory of modern Russia and Europe and were very heterogeneous, and therefore the question arises: does the description given above really correspond to the overwhelming majority of Slavs? Anthropologists and ethnologists have conducted their research on this issue.
Generalized characteristic
Anthropologists have concluded that modern Russians are significantly different from the historical Slavs. Interest in the appearance of the ancient Russian people arose in the middle of the 19th century. The first sources about Slavic tribes date back to the 5-7 centuries. n. e., but there is a hypothesis that already 2000 years ago they could live in Eastern Europe.
Outwardly, the Slavs belonged to the Caucasoid race, this was indicated by the absence of the Mongoloid epicanthus, strong horizontal profiling of the face, the type of hair growth on the body, the color of the eyes, hair and skin.
The standard external signs of a Slav who lived in the 10th-12th centuries include a pronounced nose, a medium-wide bridge of the nose, an average shape of the skull - not elongated and not round, pronounced brow ridges, unexpressed cheekbones, non-protruding jaws.
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Anthropometric signs
Anthropometric measures include body height and proportions, leg size, limb length, face height, nose protrusion angle, and head indicator.
In terms of height, the Slavs corresponded to the average modern standards: the average height of a Slavic man was 175 centimeters, women - 165. The average size of men's shoes was 44. The length of the "elbow" was approximately 36.3 centimeters. The Slavs who lived in the north were slightly higher than the southern tribes.
Reviews about the appearance of the Slavs
A detailed description of the appearance of Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich was left by Leo the Deacon in the 10th century. He described the prince as a man of medium height, with light blue eyes and bushy eyebrows. According to the historian, the prince's head was shaved, only a tuft of hair hung down on one side. He did not wear a beard, but had a long mustache. He also noted the strong physique of the prince and his gloomy and wild appearance.
A traveler from the Middle East named Ahmad ibn Fadlan described the Slavs as "like the palms of ruddy and red." He hardly wanted to flatter them with his description, as he immediately added that they are "unclean creatures", because they are not Muslims and do not observe their customs.
Another traveler from the same region noted the ruddy complexion and light brown hair of the Slavs.
However, not all Slavs were of this type. The vastness of the ethnic group and the territories that they inhabited, as well as mixing with other peoples, brought a significant variety to the appearance of the Slavs, depending on the place of residence and historical events.
White Sea-Baltic group
This type includes mainly Poles, Belarusians and, to a lesser extent, Russians. They have a light skin and hair color, medium or elongated skull, short stature, regular features. The nose is usually small.
Sometimes they had a rather heavy upper eyelid and a slowly growing beard - signs of a Mongoloid impurity that appeared long before the arrival of the Tatar-Mongols in Russia.
Eastern European Group
This includes Ukrainians, Russians and Belarusians. Typical signs are light brown or blonde hair, blue, gray or brown eyes, and taller than average height. Characterized by soft-cut rounded contours of the face, a large and sometimes snub nose, full lips. The profiling of the facial skeleton and the large size of the head are also noted. The Mongoloid admixture is poorly expressed, the appearance is closer to the Western European type.
Dnieper-Carpathian group
This group includes Western Ukrainians, partly Czechs, Slovenes, Slovaks, Croats. Compared to the previous two types, they have darker hair pigmentation, a wide face, a round and wide skull. Outwardly, this type can also be compared with the Alpine - residents of Austria, Switzerland and Northern Italy.
Pontic group
They are Bulgarians and partly Ukrainians. The Pontic type of appearance of the Slavs is characterized by medium height, medium or elongated skull, dark eyes and very dark hair.
Dinaric group
These include the Yugoslavs, Montenegrins, Macedonians, Serbs, Albanians. This type is characterized by high growth, light skin, pronounced nose, dark hair, wide face, significant hair. In many ways, representatives of this group are similar to Caucasians.
Output
Thus, Slavic appearance is a very conventional and vague concept. The average type of Slavic appearance really corresponds, to a certain extent, to the prevailing stereotype, but only for the East European and partly for the White Sea-Baltic groups.
Many groups of peoples, which are also Slavic, have dark hair and eyes, a different shape of the skull, nose and other features that do not fall under the established stereotype.
Maxim Ewald