Kaszab Zoltán (szerk.): A Magyar Természettudományi Múzeum évkönyve 76. (Budapest 1984)

Tóth, T.: Some anthropological problems of the Mesolithic Europoids, I.

index are high in the Late-Neolithic male series from the Central Danubian Basin (KisköreGát, Zengővárkony-Lengyel culture) (Table 1). Altough the number of cases is fairly small in both groups, we are able to point to the territorially close parallelism revealed by the mentioned adaptative morphological trait (Vlasac and the Ukrainian Meso-Neolithic series) (Tabic 1). Besides this the significant chronological distance cannot be left out of consideration. Thus e.g. the Kisköre-Gát (Late-Neolithic) findings are two thousand years younger than the Mesolithic Vlasac or the Early-Neolithic Nea Nikomedeia (Table 3). Similarly great is the temporal distance between the Tisza and Lengyel cultures

—considering them as an entity

—and the abovementioned two series from the Lower Danube and the Balkan-peninsula. During these two millenia the subtribal groups were moving in both directions, but it is without doubt that the northward migrations started in the chronologically older Mediterranean. Certainly the Late-Mesolithic group from Zveinieki in the periglacial zone was about five hundred years younger than the also Late Mesolithic population from Vlasac in the Lower Danube region. Particular attention deserves the fact that the Late Mesolithic Zweinieki is after all of the same age as the Middle-Neolithic Dikili-Tas from Greece (Table 3). It seems irrealistic to suppose a systematic connection between the southern and northern zones of the Europoids' area in a secular time period. The connections as well as the swarmings had been determined by the population density of the given subcontinents which in turn depended on ecological factors. As it is known in the last hundred years archeological excavations were carried out with extreme intensivity in the Europoids' area including the Central Danubian Basin too. In spite of this intensive activity the human skeletal remains from the Meso- and Neolithicum are very rare in relation to the findings from the archeological sites. Taking into consideration the abovementioned intensive searching activity it can be supposed that in different region of the Europoids during the Meso-Neolithicum which lasted several millenia the inhumations was not systematic and overall. In this connection paleodemographical calculations may have a directive value. As it is known DEEVEY (1960) estimated the total Mesolithic population of the whole world at 5.32 million. However, in the Village Farming and Early Urban periods (FinalMesolithic and Neolithic

—T.T.) the total population increased in number to 86.5 millions. That is, in four thousand years the number of humans increased about 17 times. In accordance with this the population density also increased in the mentioned period, that means the number of humans arose from 1 per km

2 to above 20 per km

2 (BUNAK 1980; smaller scalingdown of data by the author). The results of these calculations make one contemplate and we have to take into consideration the ecological crises which occurred in the Final Pleistocene (BUDUEKO 1977): the enviromental conditions became altered, a significant part of the big herbivorous mammals supplying men with food became extinct and the search for new food resources caused temporary difficulties to the Mesolithic hunter tribes. Some of the groups were able to overcome the difficulties including starvation to such an extent which was in accordance with their ecosensitivity. The disadvantageous factors affecting human life in the Mesolithicum resulted in a decrease in population density (DOLUHANOV 1979). There are many signs for a decreased average life span. The paleodemographical data from the Ukrainian Mesolithic and Neolithic illustrate quite well the abovementioned fact (ALEXEYEV 1972). In this region the population during the whole Mesolithic period had a shorter average life span than the peoples from the following Neolithic period. In a given local group women seem to have had a shorter life span than men (Table 4). It might have depended on the more disadvantageous social-hygienic circumstances of women, particularly as regard to the lethal infections arising in the perinatal period. Some of the results from recent studies about the potential reproductive possibilities of prehistoric human populations are also fairly suggestive. Taking into consideration the former analyses done by ACSÁDI & NEMESKÉRI (1970),