Editing Bulgars (section)

== Anthropology and genetics ==
[[File:Omurtag1.jpg|alt=A medieval monarch|thumb|Khan [[Omurtag of Bulgaria|Omurtag]] was the first Bulgar ruler known to have claimed divine origin, ''[[Madrid Skylitzes]]'']]
According to a paleo-DNA study from 2019 which examined Medieval burials in the Carpathian Basin a closest connection was found between the Y-DNA of these nomadic people and the modern [[Volga Tatars]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Neparáczki |first1=Endre |last2=Maróti |first2=Zoltán |last3=Kalmár |first3=Tibor |last4=Maár |first4=Kitti |last5=Nagy |first5=István |last6=Latinovics |first6=Dóra |last7=Kustár |first7=Ágnes |last8=Pálfi |first8=György |last9=Molnár |first9=Erika |last10=Marcsik |first10=Antónia |last11=Balogh |first11=Csilla |last12=Lőrinczy |first12=Gábor |last13=Gál |first13=Szilárd Sándor |last14=Tomka |first14=Péter |last15=Kovacsóczy |first15=Bernadett |date=2019-11-12 |title=Y-chromosome haplogroups from Hun, Avar and conquering Hungarian period nomadic people of the Carpathian Basin |journal=Scientific Reports |language=en |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=16569 |doi=10.1038/s41598-019-53105-5 |pmid=31719606 |pmc=6851379 |bibcode=2019NatSR...916569N |issn=2045-2322}}</ref> According to Hungarian archeogenetist Neparáczki Endre: "From all recent and archaic populations tested the [[Volga Tatars]] show the smallest genetic distance to the entire Conqueror population" and "a direct genetic relation of the Conquerors to Onogur-Bulgar ancestors of these groups is very feasible."<ref>{{cite journal |biorxiv=10.1101/250688  |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0205920 |doi-access=free |title=Mitogenomic data indicate admixture components of Central-Inner Asian and Srubnaya origin in the conquering Hungarians |date=2018 |last1=Neparáczki |first1=Endre |last2=Maróti |first2=Zoltán |last3=Kalmár |first3=Tibor |last4=Kocsy |first4=Klaudia |last5=Maár |first5=Kitti |last6=Bihari |first6=Péter |last7=Nagy |first7=István |last8=Fóthi |first8=Erzsébet |last9=Pap |first9=Ildikó |last10=Kustár |first10=Ágnes |last11=Pálfi |first11=György |last12=Raskó |first12=István |last13=Zink |first13=Albert |last14=Török |first14=Tibor |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=13 |issue=10 |pages=e0205920 |pmid=30335830 |pmc=6193700 |bibcode=2018PLoSO..1305920N }}</ref>

The paleoanthropological material from all sites in Volga region, Ukraine and Moldova attributed to the Bulgars testify complex ethno-cultural processes.<ref name="Gerasimova">{{cite book |author1=Gerasimova M.M. |author2=Rud' N.M. |author3=Yablonsky L.T. |date=1987 |title=Antropologiya antichnovo i srednevekovo naseleniya Vostochno i Yevropy |trans-title=Anthropology of the Ancient and Middle Age Populations of Eastern Europe |url=https://xn--80ad7bbk5c.xn--p1ai/ru/content/antropologiya-antichnogo-i-srednevekovogo-naseleniya-vostochnoy-evropy |publisher=Наука |place=Moscow}}</ref> The material shows the assimilation between the local population and the migrating newcomers.<ref name="Graves"/> In all sites can be traced the anthropological type found in the Zlivka necropolis near the village of Ilichevki, the district of [[Donetsk]], of brachiocranic [[Caucasian race|Caucasoid]] with small [[Mongoloid|East Asian]] admixtures but with Bulgar males being more Mongoloid than females.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iriston.com/nogbon/print.php?newsid=368|title=ЯВЛЕНИЕ ИССКУСТВЕННОЙ ДЕФОРМАЦИИ ЧЕРЕПА У ПРОТОБОЛГАР. ПРОИСХОЖДЕНИЕ И ЗНАЧЕНИЕ. (окончание)|website=www.iriston.com|access-date=27 March 2018}}</ref><ref name="Graves"/><ref name="Gerasimova"/>

Modern genetic research on Central Asian Turkic peoples and ethnic groups related to the Bulgars points to an affiliation with Western Eurasian populations.<ref name="EB_Bulgars" /><ref name="Suslova">{{cite journal |author=Suslova |display-authors=etal |date=October 2012 |title=HLA gene and haplotype frequencies in Russians, Bashkirs and Tatars, living in the Chelyabinsk Region (Russian South Urals). |journal=International Journal of Immunogenetics |publisher=Blackwell Publishing Ltd |volume=39 |issue=5 |pages=375–392 |doi=10.1111/j.1744-313X.2012.01117.x |pmid=22520580 |s2cid=20804610}}</ref> Despite the morphological proximity, there is a visible impact of the local population, in the Volga region of [[Volga Finns]] and [[Cumans|Cuman]]-[[Kipchaks]], in Ukraine of [[Onogurs|Onogur]]-[[Khazars]] and [[Sarmatians|Sarmatian]]-[[Alans]], and in [[Moldova]] and [[Thrace]] of [[Seven Slavic tribes]].<ref name="Gerasimova" /><ref>{{Cite bioRxiv |last=Mikheyev |first=Alexander |title=Diverse genetic origins of medieval steppe nomad conquerors |year=2019 |biorxiv =10.1101/2019.12.15.876912 |quote=Given the common Turkic genetic background of the Bulgars and Khazars, these ethnicities may be difficult to tell apart either archaeologically or genetically.}}</ref> The comparative analysis showed large morphological proximity between the medieval and modern population of the Volga region.<ref name="Gerasimova" /> The examined graves in Northern Bulgaria and Southern Romania showed different somatic types, including Caucasoid-[[Mediterranean race|Mediterranean]] and less often East Asian.{{sfn|Sophoulis|2011|p=66}}

The pre-Christian burial customs in Bulgaria indicate diverse social, i.e. nomadic and sedentary, and cultural influences.{{sfn|Sophoulis|2011|pp=68–69}} In some necropolises specific to the Danube Bulgars, artificial deformation was found in 80% of the skulls.<ref name="Graves" /> The Bulgars had a special type of shamanic "medicine-men" who performed [[Trepanning|trepanations]] of the skull, usually near the [[sagittal suture]]. This practice had a medical application, as well as a symbolic purpose; in two cases the patient had brain problems.<ref>{{cite book |author=D. Dimitrov |date=1987 |chapter=The Proto-Bulgarians north of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov in the VIII–IX cc. |title=Prabylgarite po severnoto i zapadnoto Chernomorie |chapter-url=http://www.kroraina.com/p_bulgar/p_bulg8.html |place=Varna}}</ref> According to [[Maenchen-Helfen]] and Rashev, the artificial deformation of skulls, and other types of burial artifacts in Bulgars graves, are similar to those of the [[Sarmatians]], and Sarmatized Turks or Turkicized Sarmatians of the post-Hunnic graves in the Ukrainian steppe.{{sfn|Maenchen-Helfen|1973|p=443}}<ref name="Rashev" />