Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 44 (3) 2016   DOI: 10.17746/1563-0110.2016.44.3.139-149

Annotation:  The Middle Paleolithic of the Levant Faunal Remains from the Early Complexes of the Sagan-Zaba II Multilayered Habitation Site (9120–7880 Wooden Saddle-Trees from Yaloman II in the Altai: An Interdisciplinary Analysis A Scythian Age Sword from the Forest-Steppe Altai Above-Ground Frame Buildings in Western Siberia: Archaeological and Ethnographic Parallels New Evidence on the Early Saka Horse Harness from Eastern Kazakhstan “Caster’s Cache” from Tartas-1, Late Krotovo (Cherno-Ozerye) Culture, Baraba Forest-Steppe Modeling the Deformation of Bone Points: Archaeological and Experimental Data Woven, Knitted, and Wattled 17th–18th Century Textiles from Tara Fortress, Western Siberia Ceramics from Novoilyinka III, a Chalcolithic Site in Kulunda, Western Siberia Shatra and Jurt: The “Return Address” in the Altaian Ritual The Distribution of Bashkir Tribes Before and During their Integration into the Russian State Mythological Characters of the Domestic Space in Russian Folk Beliefs: Lexicographic and Ethnographi Dental Anthropology of the Mesolithic and Neolithic Populations of the Eastern European Forest-Stepp An Upper Paleolithic Human Mandible and a First Cervical Vertebra from Afontova Gora II   

Dental Anthropology of the Mesolithic and Neolithic Populations
of the Eastern European Forest-Steppe Zone

A.V. Zubova

Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 17, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia

Dental data are used to test two hypotheses as to whether the “eastern” traits of the Mesolithic and Neolithic populations of the Russian Plain are due to Mongoloid admixture or to evolutionary conservatism: specifi cally, to the retention of features peculiar to the Upper Paleolithic groups. Frequencies of nonmetric traits (both those used in standard population studies and so-called markers of generalized conservatism) were studied in dental samples from Yuzhny Oleniy Ostrov and Vasilyevka-3 (Mesolithic), Fomino (Ryazan variant of Pit-Comb Ware culture), Karavaikha (Kargopol variant of the same culture), Vovnigi-1 (Kiev-Cherkassy variant of the Neolithic Dnieper-Donets culture), and Vovnigi-2 (Azov-Dnieper variant of the same culture). Published dental data on Zvejnieki (Mesolithic Kunda culture), Yasinovatka and Nikolskoye (Dnieper-Donets culture), Sakhtysh-2a (Lyalovo variant of the Neolithic Pit-Comb Ware culture), and Upper Paleolithic samples from Europe were used for comparison. Both A.A. Zubov’s standard protocol and C.G. Turner’s ASUDAS were employed. The results suggest that multiple evolutionary processes were involved. Northeastern European Mesolithic dentitions indicate both Mongoloid admixture and continuity with Upper Paleolithic groups. Mesolithic series from Ukraine are more specialized in the Caucasoid direction, while also showing certain Upper Paleolithic traits. In the Neolithic, the dental differences between northern and southern Caucasoids decrease, and there is a gradual reduction of both Mongoloid and Upper Paleolithic characteristics. Nonetheless, people of the Pit-Comb Ware culture, like those of Dnieper-Donets culture display certain Upper Paleolithic traits, which are the most evident in Vovnigi-2.

Keywords: Upper Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, dental anthropology, evolutionary conservatism.

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