Book Chapter

Between foragers and farmers in the Iron Gates Gorge: physical anthropology perspective. Djerdap population in transition from mesolithic to neolithic

Roksandic, M.
In: Budja, M. (Ed.): Documenta Praehistorica XXVII, 1–100
Neolithic Studies 7
Ljubljana, Zalozila: Filozofska fakulteta, Oddelek za arheologijo (2000)

Abstract

The research presented here aims at discerning possible interactions between Medolithic hunter-gatherers of the Iron Gates Gorge (Serbia-Romania) and the surrounding Neolithic farmers during the 7the and the 6th millenniums BC. In order to examine the interactions of communities with different modes of subsistence (foraging and farming respectively), the nonmetric anatomical variants of the skull and postcranial skeletons were examined on the sites with the largest number of individuals buried. Another set of analyses, aimed at discerning environmental (occupation/nutrition) changes that could have affected the population in transition was performed on metric variables of postcranial skeleton. The combination of these two sets of analyses argues for local continuity within the region, with high degree of initial heterogeneity, and temporal ordering as the most likely explanation for the pattern of change. (AUTHOR)
The Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) in Rostock is one of the leading demographic research centers in the world. It's part of the Max Planck Society, the internationally renowned German research society.