Biological reconstruction of the Early Neolithic burials excavated at the site of Alsónyék-Bátaszék (South-West Hungary)

This paper shows the results of the physical anthropological assessment of 26 early Neolithic burials of the Starčevo culture excavated at the site of Alsónyék-Bátaszék in the south-western Carpathian Basin. Based on the metric and the morphological analyses, the population was very heterogeneous but dominated by the gracile Mediterranean type, whose origins can be traced to the south. The detailed pathological analysis indicated that the population buried here had an inadequate health status since almost all individuals had some pathological alterations, and traces of tuberculosis were also identified. According to our present knowledge, these cases possibly represent the earliest occurrence of this infection in Europe. The main goal of this paper is to present this population from all anthropological perspectives.