| Tartalmi leírás: |
The osteological evidence of Neolithic populations from the Southern Great Plain
of Hungary – An insight into the potential of macroscopic observations for the demographic and
pathological analyses of past populations. This doctoral research provides a unique contribution
to our knowledge of the Early Farmers of Europe in general and the Neolithic populations from the
Southern Great Plain of Hungary in particular. The potential of macroscopic observations for the
demographic and pathological analyses of past populations was demonstrated on this exceptional
Neolithic sample, revealing despite the lack of contextual data, the damaged and fragmentary
skeletal remains, and the restriction to morphological analyses, a mostly non-violent population
prone to infections, with a physically stressful way of life and a diet leading to a high rate of dental
disease and (at least occasionally) lack of vitamin C. In particular, the palaeopathological analysis
uncovered the oldest cases of tuberculosis in Europe so far, as well as the probable oldest cases of
scurvy. In addition, a potential case of leprosy and one of cancer were also discovered, which
would be of great significance for the palaeopathological record if these can be confirmed by
further studies.
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