FROM HUNTER-GATHERERS to FARMERS Human Adaptations at the End of the Pleistocene and the First Part of the Holocene
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
FROM HUNTER-GATHERERS TO FARMERS Human adaptations at the end of the pleistocene and the first part of the Holocene Papers in Honour of Clive Bonsall Edited by Monica Mdrgdrit and Adina Boroneant CETATXA ne SCAUN CONTENTS EDITORIAL / s CTIVE BONSALL - SOME YEARS AFTER / n PUBTICATIONS OF CLIVE BONSALI / r3 THE EARTY PREHISTORY OF THE IRON GATES / z3 Andrei Dorian Soficaru - Pathological conditions of the humqn skeleton from Climente II Cave, Romania I z5 Adina Boroneant - Rdzvrata revisited. A supplementary account of the excavation I 45 Adrian Bil5gescu, Adina Boroneanf, Valentin Radu - Animal exploitation at the Mesolithic site of Rdzvrata, Romania I 6S Monica Mirgirit, Adina Boroneanf - The Mesolithic osseous industry from Rdzvrata (the Iron Gates region) I 8t Dragana Filipovid, felena fovanovid, Dragana Raniid - In search of plants in the diet of Mesolithic-Neolithic communities in the lron Gates I 93 Ivana Zivaljevid, Vesna Dimitrijevid, Sofija Stefanovid - Faunal remains from Kula, a Mesolithic-Neolithic site at the exit of the Danube Gorges (serbia) / ul Dragana Antonovid, Vidan Dimid, Andrei Starovid, DuSan Borid - Ground stone artefacts from Aria Bobi I ry5 Selena Vitezovid - The Early Neolithic osseous industry in the lron Gates region I r49 REGIONAL STUDIES / 16z fonathan Beniamin, Geoff Bailey - Coastal adaptations and submerged landscapes: whereworld prehistory meets underwqter archaeology I 169 fudith M' Griinberg - Women and men in Mesolithic buriqls: inequalities in early postglacial hunter-gatherer-fisher societies I r85 Agathe Reingruber - Foragers, qnd Fishers Farmers in the Aegean (n,ooo-6ooo cal BC) I zo3 Tomasz Plonka - Ornamented huntinq weapons from the Lqte Palaeolithic in the southern Bqltic Basin I zr7 Eva David - No Maglemosiqn bone roo/s in Mesolithic Nor,,vay so far! I zzg Mihael Budia - cerqmic technology inventions in Europe and Asia I 245 Maria Gurova - Geometric microliths from Holocene sequences in Bulgaria I 273 Annie Brown, Haskel Greenfield - Deer Season; hunting seasonality during the Neolithic in the central Balkans I zg5 Vassil Nikolov - Fortified settlements in the valleys of the Riyers Provadiyska, Golyama l(qmchiq, and Luda lft.mchiq (northeast Bulgaria) in the context of Chalcolithic economy I V7 Kenneth Ritchie - Mixing copper andwater: the aquaticfocus of Chalcolithic Romania I 329 Humqnadaptationsar.#:Tr""iT'"'f#11:TJ:iTfr :;,."rn,rtof theHotocene SITE STUDIES I 1;39 Sini5a Radovid, Ankica Oros SrSen - Subsistence change in the eastern Adristic hinterland during the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene: Archaeozoology of Zemunica Cave (Croatia) I 34t Paolo Biagi, Elisabetta Starnini, Renato Nisbet - Malga Rondeneto: A high altitude Sauveterrian camp in the Centrql Italiqn AIps and the Bore(il Mesolithic settlement pattern in the region I 367 Barbara Voytek - A Sense of Place: the Mesolithic Occupation of Grotta dell'Edera, Northern Italy I 385 Lars Larsson, Fredrik Molin - Symbols in the Lqte Mesolithic. Ornqments on bone and antler from Strandviigen, Motala, in Central Sweden I 395 Catriona Pickard - Prehistoric Shellfish Exploitation in Coastql Western Scotlqnd: the shell assemblagesfrom Carding MiII Bay I 4oe Olga Lozovskaya, Charlotte Leduc, Louis Chaix - Beaver mandible tools during the Lqte Mesolithic qnd the Early Neolithic at Zamostje z (the IJpper Volga region, Russia) I 425 I(rum Babvarov, |ohn Gorczyk - The ritual package at the Neolithic pit field of Sarnevo, south- centralBulgaria I 439 Tanya Dzhanfezova The importance of beini eqrliest: the AMS dating of the Late Chalcolithic Vqrna I I 453 Liiszl6 Bartosiewicz, Erika Gil - Resurrecting roe deer: skeletql weight ratios at prehistoric Paks-Gyapa, Hungary I 465 t -.*-..*a-<-'. PATHOLOGICAL CONDITIONS OF THE HUMAN SKELETON FROM CLIMENTE II CAVE, ROMANIA Andrei Dorian Soficaru Romaniqn Academy, "Fr. J. Rainer" Institute of Anthropology, soficaru.adEbioarchaeology.ro Abstract: The archaeological excavation at Climente II Cave (Romania, Mehedinqi County) from 1968 and 1969 uncovered beside lithic industry, bone and antler artefacts, and fauna, remains from at least two formal burials (Mr and Mz) and several other disarticulated human remains. The radiocarbon date of burial Mt indicates a calibrated age of ca. 14ooo BP while the stable isotopes suggest a predominantly aquatic diet. The anthropological analysis indicates a male younger than 3o, with possible injuries caused by prolonged physical activity, and other minor pathological modifications. I(eywords: Final Epigravettian, Iron Gates, human bones, pathology, physical activities, aneurysm Introduction Z-28 years, based on the sternal ends of the ribs. The stature was of 66.48 cm, calculated During the archaeological excavations at using Pearson's method on the maximum Climente II cave ca. 6ooo chipped stone length of the left femur. artefacts were found together with osseous The skeleton was very well preserved. For objects, remains of small/large mammals and the identification of the bones and side birds, as well as human remains (Boroneanq assignation was used White er cl. (zorz) while r97o). They derived from two formal burials for the anatomical features Grant's Atlas of and there were also several disarticulated Anatomy was employed (Anderson rg8:). bones (Bonsall et qI. zorz. Bonsall ef a /. 321-325; Discriminant functions for the femoral neck zol.6.3o33r4). (Seidemann et al. i998. and the Previous publications indicate (Boronean! 3o5-3r3) mandibular features (Walker zoo8. 4r, fig. r) r97o) that the grave of Mr was found in 1968 were applied for sex determination. Evolution and the skeleton was articulated, in a flexed ofthe sternal ends ofthe ribs (Loth and Igcan position on the left side and sprinkled with red 1989. ro8-ro9, fig. 5.3) was used for age ochre. Radiocarbon results suggest the age of estimation and the stature was calculated t4,266-r3,853 cal BP (8S.o% probability based on the Pearson's formula (Rosing 1988. Bonsall et al. zorz). Also, the stable isotopes of 597). The pathological transformations were C and N indicate a significant component of recorded according to Ortner (zoo3). aquatic resources in the diet. Inventory of the Mr human remains Material and methods Mandible and dentition For the sex determination was used a discriminant function applied to the The cranium of the Climente II specimen superoinferior neck diameter of the left femur is represented only by a fragmentary (using the formula for individuals of unknown mandible. The right posterior half of the ancestry) and the mental eminence (fourth corpus is missing, along with the right ramus. degree) of the mandible. They both indicated A fragmentary area, the upper half that a male. The age estimation was appreciated to connects the Mr and Mz molars with the rest Hu m an a d ap t at i o n s",,fl:TJ#;": f;'HH ::f;il:? r o ar t of th e H o r o c e n e "" of the body of the mandible is present. These - the fourth cervical vertebra (C-+) with fragments were detached quite recently, as only a partially complete spinous process and indicated by the discoloration ofthe fractures. a partially preserved side lamina (all fractures The left corpus is broken in two from the Mr were recent); and lacks several fragments. Also, the left - the fifth cervical vertebra (C-S) vertical ramus is missing, except for a small represented only by a partial vertebral body piece attached to the right of the extra-molar with the left costal fovea; sulcus, which (based on the colour of the - the fifth thoracic vertebra (T-5) with a fracture) was temoved post-mortem. complete spinous process and early parts of While the left mental foramen is aligned both laminae; with the mesial edge of the second premolar, - the fifth lumbar vertebra represented by the right mental foramen is positioned rather the spinous process and the right inferior more posteriorly than the second premolar. articular facet; The shape of the mandible, in occlusal view, is - an unidentified vertebral body fragment rather oval and has a general robust aspect. (probably thoracic); There is no sign of post-mortem damage to - seven transverse processes (probably the alveolar sockets, mostly because the teeth thoracic); have remained in their position; except for the - an isolated articular surface and an right M3 molar which was probably lost isolated spinous process (probably thoracic). antemortem (the mesial facet of the root Sternum socket reveals stages of resorption and porosity). Some of the teeth present small The sternum is almost complete. The fractures, most of them having occurred post- manubrium and the body are not fused mortem: the right lower canine (split in half), together and the xiphoid process is missing. the distal part of the right second molar From the body of the sternum are missing the crown; there are also a series of cracks on the superior and right-superior lateral parts. right first molar crown. There is a slight colour There is cortical bone loss from the inferior change, a darker gradient, starting with the edge of the right first costal notch and from right lateral incisor throughout the entire the right posterior-inferior portion of the right side of the mandible. manubrium. The last inferior morphology of The mandible presents signs of red ochre the body of the sternum displays a freshly that starts from the left side of the mental fused segment at the fifth costal notches with protuberance and continues alongside to the very deep gaps at each notch. right ramus. Also, the remaining part over the On the anterior view of the manubrium, as extra-molar sulcus is red coloured. The same well as on the body of the sternum, there are red coloration was observed in the area of the signs of colour change due to the presence of angle of the mandible, suggesting that the red red ochre. The same colouring can be ochre had been sprinkled on the ground observed laterally, on the right third sternebra before the skeleton was placed.