Study on the Chechen Anthropology is very rare, i found this study by Bruno Pleček who traveled all over the Caucasus during the 1920s. The website i found it on is Ingush and they have the original work linked but its in German: http://ingushforum.ru/viewtopic.php?id=1979

I used Google translate because it was originally in Russian, the translation is quite rough

Die Tschetschenen (Bruno Pleček, 1929).

"The Chechen people, pity to all other nations, do not represent a single whole in the racial plan. But, like most of the nations, they formed a certain anthropological type, which is perceived as typical. This type refers undeniably to the Asiatic race. In this respect, Chechens do not differ from other Caucasian peoples, the anthropological basis of which also applies to the race described above. Its characteristics are well known. We are talking about strong people of medium and high build with an elongated, short form of the head, a pronounced eagle nose and usually dark hair and eyes.

But even among the Asiatic race, which is spread over a vast territory, it is necessary to distinguish between subspecies, just as we do among the bright North-West European race. Among the peoples known to me with the frontier Asian racial basis - the northern Armenians, the eastern Georgians with the Pshavians and Khevsurs, the Azerbaijani Tatars, a number of Dagestani peoples, the Ingush and a small number of Kumyks and Ossetians - I also found, in my opinion, various variants of this race.

To describe the Chechen antero-Asiatics, I want to first say negative. His profile does not have those excessive Asiatic forms, which for example are often observed among Armenians. A similar profile of the Armenian, roughly the one that was published by Lushan and was replicated in various books on racialism, is not found among Chechens at all. However, according to my observations and among Armenians this type is a rarity. The Chechen I photographed (images 5 and 6 on the right) is perhaps the most extreme front Asian form among its people. A typical Chechen anthropological type is depicted in photograph No. 7. This, therefore, is a quite moderate front Asian profile, though with a large, but still slightly curved and not fleshy nose and a tolerably well-formed chin. The latter is especially striking in comparison with the image of No. 5, on which, as in general in explicit front Asian profiles, the chin retreats further and is itself flatter than that which corresponds to our ideal of beauty. Profile in the image number 7 is not striking, it is balanced and pleasing due to its scope and bold, large outlines. Also sitting man on the right (image No. 8) belongs to this category. His face can be described without any restrictions as a man's beautiful. Anthropological forms that almost do not resemble the predator bird of the Asiatic origin are common, but on the contrary they have almost straight and thin noses and in which only short skulls remind of the Asiatic heritage. These regular features of the face were the cause of the former glory of Caucasian beauty and prompted Blumenbach to introduce the concept of the Caucasian race. Earlier, especially in the era of the Caucasian wars, when Bodenstedt was in the Caucasus, the Caucasian peoples were too idealized, especially with regard to their bodily beauty. Later, on the contrary hit the other extreme. Misleading introductions of anthropological publications, in which the most extreme types of person are displayed. This applies, for example, to the photographs published in the Günter's racial material. It depicts an Imeretian from Kutaisi, who is perhaps the most ugly man that could be found in this city. In contrast, it must be stressed once again that the Caucasian peoples, and especially the North Caucasians, outnumber them in terms of bodily beauty. It is enough to move from Rostov towards the Caucasus and observe how at the stations the pure Caucasian faces with their large, straight lines stand out from the number of obscure Russian faces. As for the physique, I noticed that among Armenians, Eastern Georgians, Khevsur and Dagestanis, people of medium height and sturdy build are more common, more stocky than slim, but by no means tall; in part the growth is very small, for example in some regions of Dagestan (Kazikumukh, Gumbet). In comparison with them, the Chechens are striking because of their growth. It is enough to go from the last Khevsursky settlement of Shatil to the Kistian Jherego and be amazed at the sharp anthropological change: among the Khevsurs, stocky, broad figures, among the cysts tall, slender, even would say elegant looks.

The same difference I ascertained between the Ichkerians(South East Chechens) on one side and the Andians and Avars on the other side, especially the Gumbetes.
Slimness sometimes seems excessive. In other places, such figures would probably be called frail. In vain! Since the shoulders are usually wide, only the hips are narrow. The body receives, because of this, an unusually elastic, elastic, sometimes slightly unconstrained appearance. This kind is emphasized by the wearing of the Circassian coat on the plain. In the mountains, this is less noticeable, as there is usually a heavy sheepskin covering the body, with the exception of Melchist(South West Chechens), where again Circassian is mostly prevalent.
The completeness that I observed among Armenians and Eastern Georgians, both among men and women, especially in old age, is almost completely absent; Slim and slim.

High Chechens seem only in comparison with their neighbors; the average figures are unlikely to equal the Northern German. People with height above 1.85 m I saw with confidence only twice. One was a Kistian (meaning a mountaineer) from Melchist, another, the tallest Chechen in general, was already mentioned the great vizier of the former Emirate - Dishni. By the way, this circumstance played not the least role in the matter of increasing its authority among ordinary mountaineers. He was quite an aristocratic personality, combining in himself as all the virtues of his race, as well as of course its shortcomings.
In the foregoing, the racial basis of the Chechen people was called the Asiatic, but with the same right it can also be called the Dinar. Dinarids I met in large numbers among POWs during my travels through Carinthia and Styria (the historical regions of Austria), and if I compare them with the dominant race among the Chechens, I do not see any significant differences in order to speak, in contrast to the Dinaric race, then a special variety of the Asiatic. For Armenians and some Dagestanis, it is possible to speak correctly about a special sub-branch of the Asiatic race, but only in the sense that the distinctive features of the Dinaric race among them are too excessive, thereby alienating them from the dinarids; the shape of the head tends to form a "tower skull", the nose is ugly large, the growth is partially below the standard. For the Chechens, this is not typical in general, nor is it typical for Ingush and Ossetians, and also according to the generally accepted idea for the Circassians. Thus, it is with these reservations that I refer the Chechens to the Asiatic race.

The special position of the Chechen antero-Asian will be proved by the color of hair, eyes and skin. People with pure black hair, very dark eyes, like Armenians and partly Georgians, are not often found among Chechens, in any case there is no such thing that both signs coincide. Therefore, one can only talk about an anthropological type, which is generally dark. Most often, dark (and also black) hair is the head, eyes are in front of the brown or color, which is difficult to accurately describe. It probably can be called light-colored, with a small admixture of green. Clear, translucent, light brown eyes, I often observed in women, rather than men. But what first of all strikes the traveler, this is a large number of blondes and light-eyed, mostly the last of the listed. It is difficult to say which tone prevails: they are distributed as gray,
A few times less than light eyes, there are blonde hair. But here the reason is in a very strong gradual darkening. Among the children there are much more light, unlike adults and dark-haired adults assured me that they were blond hair in childhood. I noticed early male graying; usually at thirty-year-old gray hair is clearly visible. Surely one of the reasons is the constant wearing of the fur cap. Shaved nalyso men are also not uncommon. Studying the color of hair naturally gets hard because of this custom. And in general one must go to spend the night with people to see uncovered heads; people with a naked head in the open do not see: no matter the man, woman or child. Never.
The color shade of a blonde is perhaps less than that of a dull blonde of the eastern race, but more similar to a blond of the northern race tending to golden, although in pure manifestation I did not observe the golden one. I also saw redheads many times; the color of their eyes was light-colored.
More often than blonde hair, light beards occur, and I remember the brownish-red tone, as well as in men with dark hair and brown eyes. Beards are plentiful and even, they are worn with a certain accuracy. Also spread fluttering red as Barbarossa's beard, and it should be noted that henna is not used. But most men only wear a mustache.

The skin of light Chechens is tender and fragile, young girls have a beautiful complexion. Men face reddened from wind and bad weather, but not swarthy, a circumstance especially characteristic of the Nordic race. The body is white in the best sense. I once observed this in Melchist. A certain number of kistin (meaning the mountaineers) was occupied with the crossing of the tree along the Argun, they themselves standing in the water, crossing unrelated tree trunks, towing them in the right direction, holding long poles in muscular fists and guiding the logs between the boulders washed by foam waves. Although they were not dressed, they were not embarrassed by our approaching Georgian column. The wooded slopes, the turbulent mountain stream, the bare bogatyr images of rafters of the forest, created at that time an atmosphere of rare romance, which I always remember, just because of its clearly expressed Nordic character. Such cases have not happened to me in the rest of the Muslim Caucasus. Extreme scruples prevent men from showing up dressed. Also they dislike the appearance of at least partially exposed body of others; I was convinced of this many times, when in the winter of 1919-1920 I was seriously ill for a whole month in a private house in Botlikh (Andean Dagestan), I could not persuade any man to help me at least somehow. When I tried to get up everyone left despite my objections to the room. I do not think that this is due to any superstitions, like the fear of infection. Cheaper views of the Chechens are also reflected in the more free position of women who move freely without closing themselves with a veil, which they are allowed to talk openly with men, which is hardly observed in Dagestan.

For a more accessible description of the Chechen blond, I want to compare it with light northern Europeans. S.Paudler in his work on light races clearly distinguished between the distant Cro-Magnon race and the usual dolichocephalic (ie long-headed) light representatives of the northern race. Of the two races, only the latter is suitable for comparison. Light Caucasians are like her because of the greater smoothness and evenness of the lines, the fuller lips and the more rounded incisions of the eyes. Rigid, coarse facial features, such as are often found amongst the inhabitants of Westphalia (the region in Germany), are not judged by my observations. Not to mention the extreme Dalian anthropological types published by Scheldinavia published by Paudler. As far as I know, they do not occur among other Caucasian peoples. Comparison with light north-western European dolichocephalic cells is acceptable only in relation to the color and shape of the face. In the structure of the skull Chechen blondes do not differ from their fellow countrymen-brunettes. And here and there the same short, straight skulls, the same eagle noses. The man in the middle of the image No. 8 combines all the color characteristics of a light type in a clean form, was more than 1.80 m tall, but he had a short head shape even for Chechen proportions. There are also more elongated forms of the skull with a slight protuberance of the occiput, but they are also common among dark-haired and brown-eyed. Yet the length of the skull never reaches the size of the usual Nordic dolichocephalic skulls. Nevertheless, the tall Chechen blondes with their long, narrow faces and their entire manner of behaving really create the impression of a bright northerner. In Maestes and Melchist it is very easy to study the skulls, as there are a lot of them in the crypts there. I found there also long skulls (dolichocephalic skulls). But of course I did not make exact measurements, this is just an approximate measurement by eye.

This slender, brachycephalic (ie short-headed), large race, found together in both the dark and the light, is so prevalent among the Chechens that the remaining available composite racial parts can not change the overall picture. Dominant among the other anthropological types is similar to the Alpine race. That is, most often we are talking about dark, low people with a formless physique and a crude skull composition. The images of Nos. 5 and 6 show a representative of this race, who still has relatively regular features, especially a rather graceful nose, while mostly alpine faces seem ugly. Judging from my observations, the Chechen Alpine lacks the rounded forms of Central and Western Europe typical of the Alpine people. The body is rather tense and angular, which is most likely connected with the way of life. I can not say that I noticed a significant number of mixed between high antero-Asiatic and Alpine anthropological types. Both coexist more at the same time: I do not remember that I met a tall Chechen with a bulky head and a short nose and a flat face profile, or vice versa, low and stocky with a front Asian face and skull shape. Both men in picture No. 5 and 6 are photographed sitting and appear to be of the same height. In fact, the front anteater was on the right higher than the alpine on the left. Both men in picture No. 5 and 6 are photographed sitting and appear to be of the same height. In fact, the front anteater was on the right higher than the alpine on the left. Both men in picture No. 5 and 6 are photographed sitting and appear to be of the same height. In fact, the front anteater was on the right higher than the alpine on the left.

The part of Chechens that belongs to the Eastern race, to which the Russians belong, is also insignificant to me. I also did not notice any explicit Mongolian racial features, which in principle are possible, given the early neighborhood with the Kalmyks and the present one with the Nogais. These signs are found in the northern part of the accident, and then only in the form of especially prominent cheekbones. I did not see the Mongolian form of the eyes.

As to the issue of the geographical distribution of certain anthropological types, I can with some confidence say only about the spread of blondes. And in this regard, I can say that some regions show great differences.
There is no doubt that the percentage of blondes in the western part of Chechnya is higher than in the east. In the west there are areas in which the population can be called mostly light. If we talk about the color of the eyes, then there is no doubt in this statement, but also the number of people with blond hair, skin and eyes will be almost 50% there.
First of all, this is the territory along Chanty-Argun starting from Melchist to Shatoi. Especially in these places I was surprised by a large number of Nordic looks in general, especially since blond hair is combined with exceptionally good growth. In Mayst, next to the Melchist district, it was less noticeable * (* among the children I noticed some clearly Jewish features). Because of the right features, I still remember the population of the Khochar valley. And I already wrote about Shatoi girls. Next, we should name the upper Sharo-Argun, although to a lesser extent than Shatoi. In Chaberloi, I was only in the eastern and western villages, Chobakh-Kineroy and Khoy, where I did not notice a significant number of blondes, although it was Cheberla that I was described by some Chechens as a territory with a mostly bright population. In general, that some of the many traveling Chechens were well aware of the anthropological features of a particular region, such as the high growth of the inhabitants of Melchist.

My observations on the spread of the light population were generally confirmed by them. On my question about the reason for the differences, I was told without hesitation that there are more blondes in such and such a district, and in such and such a more brunette. The disappearance of a bright element in the east is especially felt in South Aukh (East Chechens) and after crossing the Andean watershed in Dagestan territory a dark element is already dominant, both in Gumbet and Andi. At the same time, the number of coarse and ugly persons is increasing. This is most pronounced in the village of Benoy. I would also like to add that among the other Chechens and especially among the Gumbetians who buy corn from them,
The fact of the prevalence of a light element in the west is particularly interesting, if you look at the history of the settlement of the territory. It turns out that in the territories inhabited by judging by legends, in the first place more blondes than on later developed lands in the east. I do not want to be lost in conjecture, but the idea arises that the reason should be sought in the later colonization of the eastern regions, and as already mentioned, in the possible absorption of another population.
On the plain, I did not notice a clear predominance of a light or dark anthropological type. Here too (as in the mountains), tall, slender people with eagle noses predominate.

Among the Caucasian peoples known to me, undoubtedly, the greatest number of blondes is among the Chechens. In ethnographic works, as well as in the literature on the Caucasus, they mostly write about Ossetians. In principle, the reason is clear. The Ossetians are an Indo-Germanic people and they were given great attention in the era of Indo-German studies. In fact, the percentage of blondes among Ossetians is hardly higher than among Chechens. Still, I got the impression that the features and expression of the Ossetians are more similar to the European ones than the Chechens and Ingush. At the Ossetian hosts of the hotel in Vladikavkaz, blondes, I was completely disturbed by a completely unfamiliar language from their lips; it seemed to me that the Germans were in front of me. Perhaps played a role and the fact that the Ossetians are mostly Christians, in the same degree can cause and in the more numerous intelligentsia, than their eastern neighbors. Among the Chechens, only 2-3 people with a university education are visible, among the Ossetians, in spite of the smaller population, several dozen. This stronger thirst for knowledge is apparently connected with the Christian faith.

Von Eckert anthropologically investigated 70 Chechens (list of used literature, No. 12) wrote at the end of the publication that everyone had dark hair. This conclusion is very unusual, if we assume that the readings are made on the basis of accurate observations. But we are talking only about the residents of Aukh, that is, the Chechen east.
I have included another section of traditional medicine here, perhaps this information also presents some anthropological interest. The conversation is about the procedure for treating Chechens with headaches.
Next is a description of the traditional head massage and in the conclusion of the chapter describes the diseases common for that period."
Full text in German - http://works.bepress.com/cgi/viewconten ... xt = r_gould