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(Photographic Supplement, Plate 17)
In the highland zone of western Asia, aside from the Alpine rëemergences already studied, the most important racial type is a moderately tall to tall, slender, brunet Mediterranean type characterized especially by a great length of the face and nose. In Syria and Anatolia, as in Armenia and the Caucasus, this type occurs sporadically in the midst of Alpines and, more commonly, of Alpine-Mediterranean hybrids; in Iran and Afghanistan the dolichocephalic strain or strains are numerically predominant. FIG. 1 (3 views). A Turk from Kharput, eastern Turkey. This moderately tall, brunet Mediterranean Turk is remarkable for his considerable head length, and especially for the great height of his upper face and nose. The original Seljuks and Osmanlis who invaded Asia Minor and founded the Turkish Empire probably were men of this same general physical type. Like the Finns, the Turks never were, in all likelihood mongoloid.
FIG. 2 (3 views). A Syrian from Kfar 'Akal, who, although slightly brachycephalized by the prevailing head form of Syria, still retains the essential features of the long-faced, long-nosed Mediterranean prototype of this region.
FIG. 3 (3 views). A dolichocephalic Armenian from Kharput. Dolichocephalic Armenians are rare; this individual appears to be a perfect example of the tall, long-headed, and long-faced Mediterranean prototype which, brachycephalized by Alpine admixture, is at the basis of the Armenian population.
FIG. 4 (2 views, Photo Wm. M. Shanklin). A Cherkess (Circassian) from the northwestern Caucasus. The Caucasic peoples include in their racial repertoire a strong brunet Mediterranean element of the type shown above; this is especially prevalent among the Cherkesses, of whom this individual apparently forms a good example. One cannot be sure, however, in view of his kalpak, that he has not been partly brachycephalized.
FIG. 5 (1 view, tempera painting by Iacovleff). This magnificent head by Iacovleff illustrates an extreme example of the long-faced Mediterranean type characteristic of the Turkomans, who inhabit, besides the plains of Turkestan, some of the mountain districts of northern Iran and Afghanistan.
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