TY - JOUR

T1 - Human teeth from strashnaya cave, the altai mountains, with reference to the dental variation in Stone Age Siberia

AU - Zubova, A. V.

AU - Krivoshapkin, A. I.

AU - Shalagina, A. V.

PY - 2017

Y1 - 2017

N2 - Human teeth found in layer 31a of Strashnaya Cave, northwestern Altai Mountains, in 1989, are described. The layer is related to the Upper Paleolithic and has been dated to 19,150 - 80 BP. However, owing to the nature of sedimentation in the areas adjacent to the cave's walls, where the teeth were found, these may be either earlier or later. The objective of this study is to examine the possible biological continuity between the Upper Paleolithic and Neolithic populations of the Altai-Sayan highland because the teeth from Strashnaya may postdate their layer. In view of the chronological ambiguity, we compared them with both the Paleolithic and Neolithic specimens from southwestern Siberia. Marked affi nities have been demonstrated between the Strashnaya teeth and those from the Upper Paleolithic sites of Malta, Listvenka, and Afontova Gora II in Southern Siberia, suggesting that the Upper Paleolithic population of the Altai Mountains represented the same Southern Siberian dental complex. Certain features link the Strashnaya child with people associated with the Neolithic and Chalcolithic cultures of the Altai-Sayan region, such as the Kuznetsk-Altai and Bolshoy Mys cultures, possibly evidencing evolutionary conservatism.

AB - Human teeth found in layer 31a of Strashnaya Cave, northwestern Altai Mountains, in 1989, are described. The layer is related to the Upper Paleolithic and has been dated to 19,150 - 80 BP. However, owing to the nature of sedimentation in the areas adjacent to the cave's walls, where the teeth were found, these may be either earlier or later. The objective of this study is to examine the possible biological continuity between the Upper Paleolithic and Neolithic populations of the Altai-Sayan highland because the teeth from Strashnaya may postdate their layer. In view of the chronological ambiguity, we compared them with both the Paleolithic and Neolithic specimens from southwestern Siberia. Marked affi nities have been demonstrated between the Strashnaya teeth and those from the Upper Paleolithic sites of Malta, Listvenka, and Afontova Gora II in Southern Siberia, suggesting that the Upper Paleolithic population of the Altai Mountains represented the same Southern Siberian dental complex. Certain features link the Strashnaya child with people associated with the Neolithic and Chalcolithic cultures of the Altai-Sayan region, such as the Kuznetsk-Altai and Bolshoy Mys cultures, possibly evidencing evolutionary conservatism.

KW - Altai Mountains

KW - Dental anthropology

KW - Neolithic

KW - Southern Siberian Upper Paleolithic dental complex

KW - Strashnaya Cave

KW - Upper Paleolithic

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85036587475&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.17746/1563-0110.2017.45.3.136-145

DO - 10.17746/1563-0110.2017.45.3.136-145

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85036587475

VL - 45

SP - 136

EP - 145

JO - Archaeology, Ethnology and Anthropology of Eurasia

JF - Archaeology, Ethnology and Anthropology of Eurasia

SN - 1563-0110

IS - 3

ER -