Dr. T. Tóth szerk.: Studia historico-anthropologica (Anthropologia Hungarica 10. Budapest, 1971)

mination of age should not he further improved by taking differences in sex into account. Demographic characteristics The morphological age group and sex distribution of the Tengelic individuals is-given in Table 2; their more detailed demographic data are given in the abridged life-table (Table 3.). First of all, the distribution per age group should he considered. The 33:67 ratio of children per adults appears to be appropriate from the demographic point of view, while the distribution of the infant dead is the more disproportionate. To begin with, the number of those 0-4 years old is extremely low (6.0 %); with only one infant found. Accordingly, the average life expectancy of the population at birth is very high: 34.2 years. The 12.1 per cent proportion of the 5-9 years old dead is more or less acceptable, but the number of those 10-14 years old is relatively high. The resultant 15.1 per cent frequency far exceeds the exceptable mortality rate in this age group, shown conspicuously by the comparative data of Table 4. The disparity cannot be explained by the partial excavation of the cemetery. In knowledge of the physiogeographical conditions and the position of the graves no more than 6-7 demolished graves can be reckoned with, but even counting these, the proportion of the 10-14 years old does not sink below 13 per cent. No explanation can at the moment be given on the cause of the high mortality of this age group. The other demographically noteworthy phenomenon is the greater number of female than male dead in the cemetery - and that despite the fact that according to I. Lengyel*

s chemical analysis the sex distribution of the children is rather balanced. It is