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Acta medica Lituanica

ISSN 1392-0138
ISSN 2029-4174 (online)

2009 m. Nr. 1-2

Reinventing Mesolithic skulls in Lithuania: Donkalnis and Spiginas sites
Gintautas ČESNYS, Adomas BUTRIMAS

Introduction. The aim of the investigation was to bring into scientific circulation the craniometric characteristics of the Mesolithic crania from Lithuania and to interpret them against the 14C-timed craniological background from adjacent territories.

Materials and methods. According to the 14C dating, the attribution of Stone Age skulls from Lithuania was revised: the well known Kirsna skull, which had been considered to be Mesolithic, was found to belong to the Bronze Age (2895 ± 55BP), and new crania from Donkalnis and Spiginas (4050–6660 BP) (Lake Biržulis islands from West Lithuania) were analysed. Individual measurements of the crania are presented, the general anthropological analysis has been performed, female characteristics being calculated into male ones, and a pooled Mesolithic Lithuanian sample was formed.

Results. The mean values of Lithuanian Mesolithic skulls were compared with strictly 14C-timed materials, expressing the data of separate samples in percentage of those in the Lithuanian sample. According to morphograms, the skulls from Skateholm (Sweden) are the closest. Among not strictly timed synchronous materials, the Ofnet (Germany) skulls are most similar. The possible reasons for mesobrachycrany in Mesolithic Lithuania are discussed, supposing it to be of a local European origin.

Conclusions. The analogy with the Scandinavian skulls is indicative of ancient interchange between gene pools on the western and eastern coasts of the Baltic Sea, while mesobrachycrany testifies to some influx of genes from Central Europe.

Keywords: Lithuanian anthropology, craniology, Mesolithic, 14C dating

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