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Tóth, T.: Homo sapiens' groups in the Palaeometallic and Neometallic biosphere
communities that certain diseases were connected with nutrition. FEREMBACH (1971, 1973) repeatedly called our attention to the connections between nutrition and the formation of the bone structure. It cannot be without reason that the infectious diseases are considered as some the most significant factors affecting human populations (ORTNER 1979) as well as that the suppurative arthritis diseases occurring in various joints are due to blood-borne infections (ALPAGUT 1979). It cannot be denied that certain differences in the agroecological conditions of the local populations inhabiting different subcontinents of Mediterranean and temperate climatic zones existed in the Bronze as well as in the Iron Age, nevertheless the maintenance of adequate nutrition was the same constraint. The hygienic conditions were in this respect very far from uniform and not only the children suffered from the gastrointestinal effects of nutritional diseases, but the adult people as well in certain societies of the Metallic periods. Nevertheless, body weight expressing fitness and sufficient nutrition was equally present in the different subcontinents in any phase of the human ontogenetic development (in childhood as well as in adulthood). This fact is well documented by the adult contingents presented here. However, mankind's world-wide survival indicates in itself that the lethal-selection factors did not result in complete extinctions of certain tribal micropopulations. The above presented attempt—inspite of its being perspective —cannot be considered as absolutely exact in respect of the reconstruction of stature as well as that of body weight, only as a more or less significant approximation of Mankind's reality in the distant past. * * * Acknowledgement — The author wishes to express his sincere gratitude to DR ERZSÉBET PATEK and DR NÁNDOR KALICZ for helpful discussions about the Bronze and Iron Age finds from Mezőcsát, as well as to DR PÉTER BIACS and DR JUDIT BECZNER for allowing me access to the text of their congress paper, further to DR ILDIKÓ PAP for the calculations of the stature and body weight data obtained from the presented skeletal contingent. References ALEXEYEV, V. P. (1966) : Osteometria. Metodika antropologitsheskih issledovaniy. — Moskva : 251 pp (in Russian). ALEXEYEVA, T. I. & KOVALENKO, V. Yu. (1980): Morfofunktsionalnaia harakteristika postkranialnogo skeleta aziatskih eskimosov. — Paleoantropológia Sibiri, Moskva: 131-153. (in Russian). ALPAGUT, B. (1979): Some paleopathological cases of the ancient Anatolian mandibles. — /. Human Evolution 8: 571-574. BARTUCZ, L. (1961): Anthropologische Beiträge zur I. und II. Periode der Sarmatenzeit in Ungarn. — Acta arch. Acad. Sei. hung. 13: 157-229. BERNHARD, W. (1967) : Humanskeletal remains from the cemetery of Timargarha. — Ancient Pakistan 3: 289-^07. BIACS, P. A. & BECZNER, J. (1985): Fermented foods in human nutrition. — Paper presented at the 11th S. I. R. M. C. E. Congress. (Manuscript). BRETTINGER, E. (1980): Skelette aus einer Späturnenfelderzeitlichen Speichergrube in der Wallburg von Stillfried an der March, Nö. — Forschungen in Stillfried 4; Veröffentlichungen der Osten. Arbeitsgem. für Ur- und Frühgeschichte Wien 13/14: 45-106. BREITINGER, E. (1980a) : Skelette Spätmykenischer Gräber in der Unterburg von Tiryns. — Tiryns 9; Deutsches Archaeol. Inst. Athen, Verlag Zabern, Mainz: 181-149. BRÖSTE, K. & JÖRGENSEN J. B. (1956): Prehistoric Man in Denmark, vol. 1. — Copenhagen: 1-159. CORRAIN, C. & NALIN, G. (1966): Resti Scheletrici Umani della Necropoli Protostorica di Monte Saraceno presso Mattinata (Gargano). — Atti delVlstituto Italiano di Preistoria e Protostoria, Verona: 309-338. CORRAIN, C. & CAPITANIO, M. (1967): I resti scheletrici umani provenienti della stazioni trentine de! Neo-eneolitico e dell'Eta del Bronzo. — Studi Trentini di Scienze Naturali B. 44: 135-250. CORRAIN, C. & CAPITANIO, M. (1968): I resti scheletrici umani dei depositi neolitici di Maddalena di Muccia e di Ripabianca di Monterado, nelle Marche. — Rivista di Scienze Preistoriche, Firenze 23 (1): 223-244.
