The article is based on the materials of archaeological sites of the Sargat community and analyzes skull injuries. Based on the data of the burial inventory, which contains a significant proportion of weapons items, by analogy with the nomadic world, researchers have repeatedly noted the pronounced military nature of burials, on the basis of which various reconstructions have been proposed. However, an anthropological analysis of 173 skulls (male and female) revealed only 9 specimens. with traces of injuries (only five of them were classified as combat, i.e. they were inflicted with weapons); two more skulls with penetrating wounds were found according to archival data. Based on this, as well as a contextual analysis of the burials and taking into account the materials of burial grounds of other cultural formations of the Iron Age, it can be assumed that military clashes took place in the Sargat world, but they were not constant, and the observed "abundance" of weapons in the burials most likely marks the status of the buried. Key words: Early Iron Age, Sargat community, bioarchaeology, skull injuries, cultural identity. Introduction Analyzing the antiquities of the Sargat culture, researchers have repeatedly noted the pronounced military nature of burials and the militarized way of life of the population group buried under the mounds**. The noticeable prevalence of weapons and armor items in the accompanying inventory of both male and female burials gave rise to the assumption of a certain militarization of the Sargat society [Kul'tura..., 1997, p. 155]. The pathologies of horsemen identified on the bones [Razhev, 1996], together with the presence of arrows in women's burials, allowed us to put forward a hypothesis about the existence of female warriors in this society [Matveeva, 2005, p.164; Razhev 2009, p. 61, 63]. Some modern interpretations, supported by historical facts, are more categorical, but they are justified without using the data of physical anthropolo ... Read more