Dermatoglyphic characteristics of a population from the central Rhodopes (south Bulgaria).

The finger and palmar prints of a total of 386 individuals (182 males and 204 females) at an age between 10 and 18 years from the region of the villages Petkovo and Banite, situated along the river Malka Arda in the Central Rhodopes, were studied. The following dermatoglyphic traits were analyzed: pattern intensity index (PII), the main line or Cummin's index (MLI), the frequencies of the proximal palmar triradius (t), the true hypothenar patterns (Hy) and the accessory interdigital triradii (AIT). The specific dermatoglyphic complexes after Heet were also determined for the population under study. A peculiarity of this population is the appearance of a clearly expressed Eastern Complex (EC), which accounts for 53.1% in the males and for 48.8% in the females. These values of EC and the calculated dermatoglyphic distances (DD) after Heet show a similarity between the examined population and a number of populations from the Volga region, Northern Caucasus, Middle Asia and Siberia. This similarity could be explained with the preservation of the genetic heritage of the proto-Bulgarians, one of the three main components of the modern Bulgarians.