Genetische und paläoethnographische Aspekte bei der Beurteilung der Mammutjägerpopulation von Dolni Věstonice in Südmähren

In 1986 and 1987 there were made exceptionally important finds of burials of a late Palaeolithic population at the locality Dolní Věstonice in Moravia. These finds compensate the losses that occured in our collections at the end of World War II. Remains of 31 individuals were found at Dolní Věstonice during the years 1924–1988. Scholars and interested public have already been informed about this population in publications and exhibitions. The present paper is devoted to the problem of family relations, which have been given only limited attention, as well as to the palaeoethnographic aspects studied on the skeletal material from the graves.

Genetic relation.

1. On three individuals (DV XIII, XIV and XV) from the common grave of three persons were found the following specific features that point to very close family relations : siblings.

– Specific shape of the scapulae, on which the spina scapulae is bent at an angle at the point of the tuberositas triangularis and the lower margin of the tuberostias is turned upwards in the shape of a lobe. The inner margin of the scapula (margo medialis) has a concave shape, and on the outer margin (margo lateralis) there are two edges, labium anterior and posterior, that is facies axillaris bisulcata, sec. Trinkaus. In situ in the grave the scapulae of all three individuals were in the so called upper position.

– Flattening of the bodies of the clavicles.

– Aplasia sinus frontalis on the right side in all three individuals.

2. In the individuals DV XXXI and XXXII there were found striking identity in the structure of the same category of molars (nutritive channels under the crown, separation of mesial roots by a groove etc.).

3. In individuals from the collective grave at Předmostí from the year 1894 there are repeated two identical characteristics in several individuals (both foramina parietalia are missing, deflection of the sinus sagittalis superior to the right, one foramen parietale in the left parietal bone).

Palaeoethnographic findings.

1. Use of a bone object between jaws, to bite into in case of pain (Schmerzbeißer) in individual DV XV.

2. Preparation of a cult bowl from the skull, with intentionally worked rims and typical retouching in individual DV XII.

3. Healed surface scars on frontal and parietal bones in male individuals. Injuries caused by typical blows with blunt objects against the head from the front – perhaps the result of initiation rituals (DV XI–XII, XIV, XV).

4. Intentional grinding of tooth enamel on buccal sides of the crowns, caused by flat pebbles that were put into the mouth with the intention to provoke the mucous membrane in the mouth to increased salivation to suppress thirst (numerous finds from Dolní Věstonice, Předmostí, Brno).

5. Pendants made of drilled human teeth (DV VIII).

The burial ritual is a separate subject that is out of scope of the present paper.