Transition from Mesolithic to Neolithic in the Iron Gates Gorge: Physical
Anthropology Perspective
The research presented here aims at discerning possible interactions between
Mesolithic hunter-gatherers of the Iron Gates Gorge (Serbia-Romania) and the
surrounding farmers. The region has, during the 7th and the 6th millenniums
BC, witnessed the coexistence of Mesolithic culture of the Lepenski Vir –Schela
Cladovei type and the Early and Middle Neolithic of the Balkans, represented
in the region by Gura-Baciului and Starcevo. At the end of this coexistence,
Neolithic settlements are confirmed on one of the examined sites (Lepenski
Vir), as well as downstream from the Gorge, integrated into the Middle Neolithic
Starcevo-Cris-Körös complex.
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 four
sites with the largest number of individuals buried: Padina, Lepenski Vir,
Vlasac and Hajducka Vodenica. The analyses were performed according to sites,
chronological units, and combination of sites and chronological units. 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. A more
pronounced difference at the time of availability of contact with Neolithic
populations in the region argues for a limited "seeping in" of a non-local
population that did not result in a change of either economic base or ideology.
There is no evidence of an incoming population at the time of change to
Neolithic economy and integration of sites into the cultural circle of the
Balkan Neolithic, but rather of a local population accepting the new way of
life.