Mesolithic Human Teeth from Zamostye-2, Moscow Region

• Published in: Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia
• Main Authors: A. V. Zubova, V. G. Moiseev, A. M. Kulkov
• Other Authors: This study was supported by the Program for Basic Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences “Monuments of Material and Spiritual Culture in the Modern Information Environment”, Project “Morphometric Analysis of the Upper Paleolithic Paleoanthropological Collections of the MAE RAS with the Use of 3D Technologies and Databases”. The authors express their gratitude to O.V. Lozovskaya for the opportunity to work with her data, and to Prof. E. Murphy for her consultations in the process of preparing this paper
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: IAET SB RAS 2020
• Subjects: paleogenetics; Zamostye-2; Yuzhny Oleny Island; dental anthropology; dental metric traits; paleodiet; Reindeer Island; karelia*
• Online Access: https://journal.archaeology.nsc.ru/jour/article/view/836; https://doi.org/10.17746/1563-0110.2019.47.4.120-127

We describe the morphology of deciduous and permanent human teeth from Zamostye-2—a Mesolithic site in the Moscow Region, Russia. Pathological changes indicate a variable diet, including both animal and vegetable food. Non-metric analysis reveals several Upper Paleolithic retentions, but the overall combination is insufficient for tracing population affinities. Metrically, permanent teeth from Zamostye are similar to those from the Mesolithic burial ground on Yuzhny Oleny (Southern Reindeer) Island, Karelia, while differing from the teeth of Mesolithic Western and Southern Europeans. Our findings agree with those of recent genetic studies that revealed close affinities between the Mesolithic populations of European Russia, contrasting them with the Mesolithic groups of Western and Northern Europe.