A Nyíregyházi Jósa András Múzeum évkönyve 45. (Nyíregyháza, 2003)
Természettudomány - László Szathmáry: A Neolithic Skeleton from Mezőcsát–Csemetekert (NE Hungary)
A Neolithic Skeleton from Mezőcsát-Csemetekert (NE Hungary) László Szathmáry In 1960, in the territory of Mezőcsát-Csemetekert, Géza Megay excavated a skeleton buried 30-35 cm deep in a contracted position accompanied by pieces of Neolithic pottery. All the findings got to Herman Ottó Museum in Miskolc (HOM Archaeological Documentation Department, No. 229268). According to KALICZ-MAKKAY 1977's attribution, the ceramics (HOM Archaeological Collection, Inv. No.: 60.19.1-4.) may be dated either to the end of the earlier phase or to the beginning of the later phase of Alföld Linear Pottery culture (ALP). General Biological Features Each bone, namely, a fragmentary brain case, a mandible, a left humerus, two clavicles, a right radius and a right femur, set in the osteological collection of Herman Ottó Museum is labelled as "Neolithic Skeleton". Their anatomical habits, the decompositional criteria and the characteristic features of the articular surfaces equally convince us that they belong to one and the same individual. The sex is male and the degree of sexualization is +1.0 (cf. ÉRY-KRALOVÁNSZKY-NEMESICÉRI 1963). Of the secondary sex characteristics, the glabella and the superciliary arch, the mastoid process, the supraorbital margin and the orbit, the mandibular angle, the femoral head and the linea aspera are found hypermasculine. The external occipital protuberance, the squama occipitalis, the mental protuberance, the head of mandible and also the clavicle can be characterised as masculine. At the same time the frontal and the parietal eminences, the malar surface and the body of the mandible can be considered indifferent. The age of death determined by NEMESKÉRI-HARSÁNYI-ACSÁDI 1960's methods and SJOVOLD 1975's charts, is 50-55 years. (The endocranial suture closure is of degree III, while there can be found deformations of degree II induced by the age in the proximal epiphysis of the humerus and deformations of degree III of the same type in the proximal epiphysis of the femur.) Cranial Traits The ascertainable measures of the skull after MARTIN 1928's numbers are as follows: 1 = 186, lc=179,2=182,2a=176,3=181, 3a=179,5=105,7=37,8=139,10=118,11 = 118,12=115,13=104,16=31, 17=133,20=110,23=517,24=298,25=365,26=121,27=130,28=114,28/1=60,29=108,30=115,31=96,31/ 1=56,65=116,65/1=97,66=96,67=42,68=85,69=27,69/1=31, 70-r=71,71-r=39,71-1=37,79=114. According to Lee-Pearson (cit. in MARTIN 1928), it is euencranial (1397 cm 3 ). Considering the proportions it can be determined as a dolichocephalic, orthocephalic and metriocephalic variant (Fig. 1-3).
