Mesolithic Human Teeth from Zamostye-2, Moscow Region
Mesolithic Human Teeth from Zamostye-2, Moscow Region
DOI: 10.17746/1563-0110.2019.47.4.120-127
A.V. Zubova1, V.G. Moiseev1, and A.M. Kulkov2 1Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera), Russian Academy of Sciences, Universitetskaya nab. 3, St. Petersburg, 199034, Russia 2Saint Petersburg State University, Universitetskaya nab. 7–9, St. Petersburg, 199034, Russia
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.
