Nose, short-haired and no beard: scientists have dispelled the myth about the real appearance of the ancient Slavs

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

It is customary to illustrate fairy tales about Ancient Russia and the Slavic people with images of a tall good fellow with straw-golden hair and a beautiful long beard. But how justified is this pattern? Did the ancient Slav really look like this? Scientists say: not so.

The data of archaeologists, anthropologists and historians indicate that the typical Slav was nosed and had a short stature. And men began to grow beards later …

Taller than the Greeks, but not giants

In the middle of the last century, near the town of Krasnoe Selo (Belarus), the skeleton of an adult man with a height of 170-175 cm was discovered. The features of his face coincided with those that scientists attribute to the Slavs who settled in this area in the X-XII centuries: this is a Caucasian type, nosy, with the bridge of the nose of medium width. This is how most of the Slavs looked many centuries ago. There was no doubt that we were talking about the remains of a Slav.

Modern scientists, as a result of extensive research on this and other skeletons, found that the average height of a Slav was about 170 centimeters (for a man - slightly higher, for a woman - slightly below this mark), and the size of shoes for Slavic men was most often equal to the modern 44th …

By the way, according to scientists, the ancient Greeks were lower than the Slavs, and the ancient Jews were of the same height, but they had longer arms.

A typical Slavic face: what is it like?

As you know, scientists divide the Slavs into several groups, and each has its own external characteristics. If we talk about the Slavs who lived many centuries ago on the territory of modern central Russia, Ukraine and Belarus (White Sea-Baltic, East European and Pontic types), then there are common features. The face was light, the eyes were gray or blue, the skin color was light. Some had prominent Mongoloid features acquired during the Neolithic period (full lips and folds on the upper eyelids, noticeable in older age).

Representatives of the Pontic and East Slavic types (the territory of modern Russia, Ukraine) more often had brown eyes and darker hair, their face was narrower, and the White Sea-Baltic Slavs who lived to the north had lighter skin and a smaller nose.

The following tendency was also revealed: the closer to the north the Slavs settled, the narrower their skull was, and their eyes were almost always gray or blue.

Researcher Olga Emelyanchik, who, together with her colleagues, was engaged in burial research in the 10th – 18th centuries. in the Mogilev region and Minsk, she was able to trace how the appearance of the Slavs of this area changed over 1000 years. The initially elongated skull gradually became round (clearly influenced by the addition of Tatar blood), the skeleton became thinner, and the jaws became smaller in size. As for the forehead, it has become narrower. The eyes of the Slavs have also changed: over a thousand years they have become more rounded and "moved" a little lower.

But the Slavs did not lose their characteristic nose during this period, although the bridge of the nose became flatter. In general, scientists noticed that over a thousand years, the Slavs began to smooth out European features.

Didn't the ancient Slav have a beard?

In many historical novels, the ancient Slavs are depicted as long-haired (and the hair is tied with braid) and with a long, thick beard. Scientists have concluded that this is not the case.

The first discrepancy with the above-described image is the ancient gods of the Slavs. As you know, people usually try to portray anthropomorphic deities in their own image and likeness. So, among the most ancient images of Slavic gods, long-bearded characters are almost never found, and there are no long-haired ones at all. But there are barbel in the pagan iconography of the Slavs. As for the Rus, in the early centuries they worshiped the "golden-mouthed" (but not the long-bearded!) Perun, and he, in addition to the mustache, was sometimes depicted with a forelock, which in our time is associated with the folklore image of the Ukrainian Cossack.

The fact that the most ancient Slavs usually did not have bushy beards is also confirmed by the figurines of Antic times found by archaeologists in the Dnieper region (the so-called Martynovsky treasure), representing beardless, but mustachioed men with short hair.

To wear long hair for a Slav was initially considered almost a shame, and the most ancient sources tell about short-haired or shaved-headed heroes.

Another confirmation of these facts is numerous ancient illustrations and, for example, bas-reliefs of the old cathedral in Yuryev-Polsk, depicting princely warriors with shaved heads and without beards. Moreover, the legends about Dobryna Nikitich said that he had golden curls "in three rows around the crown", in other words, a haircut for a pot.

Among the ancient Russian epic and historical characters, there are no descriptions of bearded men or owners of long hair at all. But after the Baptism of Russia, the growing of beards and long hair began to gradually enter into practice, after which folk proverbs and sayings appeared about how important a beard is for a man.

By the way, the fact that before Peter I almost all men in Russia wore beards is also not entirely true. And even for the clergy in the period up to the 15th century inclusive, growing a beard was optional.

In addition, according to anthropological scientists, the East European Slavs, of whom there was the greatest number in the above-mentioned territory, had a physiologically weak beard.

No less interesting is the information about what mermaids looked like in Slavic mythology.