Ivor Janković

The Middle Paleolithic from Mujina Pećina, Dalmatia, Croatia

Abstract Mujina Pećina in Dalmatia, Croatia is the only systematically excavated and well-dated Middle Paleolithic cave site in the eastern Adriatic. Its stratigraphic sequence covers the period between 45 and 39 uncalibrated years ka. Results of sedimentological, lithic, faunal, and paleobotanical analyses of the upper levels (Levels B, C, D1, and D2) show that this was a hunting site only sporadically visited by humans. During these occupation episodes humans processed animal remains (mostly large bovids, cervids, and caprids) and produced tools from locally available raw material. Carnivore use of the cave is also indicated. This work contributes to our understanding of lifestyles and mobility patterns of the Middle Paleolithic inhabitants of this region.

The Importance of Croatian Pleistocene Hominin Finds in the Study of Human Evolution

In this chapter, we discuss Croatian sites that have yielded human skeletal remains from the Pleistocene. These include the well-known Neandertal localities Husnjakovo (at Krapina) and Vindija cave, as well as the Late Upper Paleolithic hominin fossil site Sandalja II cave in Istria. The Krapina site played an important role in the historical development of paleoanthropology and is still the Neandertal site with the largest known minimum number of skeletal individuals to date. Finds from Vindija cave belong to one of the latest Neandertal groups in Europe and provide data for the study of both their behavioral, as well as biological characteristics (including genomics studies). The Sandalja II cave in Istria is the only site in Croatia with direct association of human skeletal finds and the late Paleolithic, an Epigravettian industry, providing us with data on the anatomy and behavior of the Late Paleolithic inhabitants of this region.

Scenes from the Past: CT-guided Endoscopic Recovery of a Foreign Object from the Cranial Cavity of an Ancient Egyptian Mummy

The aim of this study was to test the value of computed tomography (CT)-guided endoscopy in the scientific study of mummified remains and the recovery of unidentified objects from ancient mummified remains. CT-guided endoscopy was performed on an Egyptian mummy from the Late Period to help retrieve an unidentified object from its skull. The combined use of CT and endoscopy facilitated the recovery of the object, minimizing further damage to the remains and to the object itself. The successful recovery of the brittle object allowed detailed analysis of the item to be performed in an attempt to determine the nature of its presence in the cranial cavity. It was confirmed that the object was a monocotyledon stem fragment. Relying on the existing literature on mummification and excerebration methods in ancient Egypt, we concluded that the stick was probably used for transnasal removal of the brain. The results of this study demonstrate the great potential of CT-guided endoscopy for minimally invasive recovery of small unidentified items from mummies that could yield important information about mummification procedures and the materials used to preserve bodies.

The Stone Age Plague: 1000 years of Persistence in Eurasia

Molecular signatures of Yersinia pestis were recently identified in prehistoric Eurasian individuals, thus suggesting Y. pestis might have caused some form of plague in humans prior to the first historically documented pandemic. Here, we present four new Y. pestis genomes from the European Late Neolithic and Bronze Age (LNBA) dating from 4,500 to 3,700 BP. We show that all currently investigated LNBA strains form a single genetic clade in the Y. pestis phylogeny that appears to be extinct today. Interpreting our data within the context of recent ancient human genomic evidence, which suggests an increase in human mobility during the LNBA, we propose a possible scenario for the spread of Y. pestis during the LNBA: Y. pestis may have entered Europe from Central Eurasia during an expansion of steppe pastoralists, possibly persisted within Europe until the mid Bronze Age, and moved back towards Central Eurasia in subsequent human population movements.

Recent Research on the Croatian Middle/Upper Paleolithic Interface in the Context of Central and Southeast Europe

This chapter presents some new data on, and interpretations of the Croatian Middle and Early Upper Paleolithic. Alternative interpretations of the Middle/Upper Paleolithic interface in Vindija cave (situated in the Zagorje region of northwestern Croatia) are reported, together with preliminary results of research on the early Upper Paleolithic site of Bukovac pecina (situated in the region of Gorski kotar), and the late Dalmatian Middle Paleolithic sites of Mujina pecina, Velika pecina in Klicevica and Kastel Stafilic—Resnik. The archaeological assemblage (Mousterian industry) and the results of chronometric dating make the sequences of these Dalmatian sites contemporary with late Neandertals and with the earliest known anatomically modern human groups in Europe. This recent research greatly contributes to our understanding of the distribution of Neandertals and the complexity of the Middle/Upper Paleolithic interface.

African Genesis: Assimilation and modern human origins in the African peripheries

The vast majority of pertinent genetic and human palaeontological evidence indicates that an early transition from archaic to modern humans occurs in Africa. Interestingly, the earliest well dated modern human fossils all derive from eastern Africa: Omo Kibish KHS (104 ka to 196 ka) and Herto (154 ka to 160 ka), both in Ethiopia (ka = thousand years ago). This suggests that modern humans may have originated in, and ultimately radiated out of, eastern Africa into the ‘peripheral’ regions of Africa, defined here as northern Africa and southern Africa, as well as into Eurasia. Evidence of the earliest presence of purported modern humans from both African ‘peripheral’ regions is assessed in this study. These include the Klasies River Mouth (KRM) sample from southern Africa and the Aterian-associated remains from North Africa, particularly the fragmentary subadult maxilla from Mugharet el ‘Aliya (High cave) near Tangier, Morocco. Both samples are maximally dated to ~130 ka and thus are significantly younger than the earliest eastern African modern humans. The KRM sample exhibits a significant amount of size and morphological variation, the latter reflecting a mosaic of archaic/modern anatomy. We interpret this morphological pattern as reflecting an admixed sample. The northern African evidence is less clear, but the morphology of the Tangier maxilla demonstrates archaic elements in the Aterian population, and this may well reflect the same pattern of admixture. We conclude that the evidence from the African ‘peripheries’ is consistent with admixture and that this broadly supports the assimilation model of modern human origins.

On some aspects of Neandertal zygomatic morphology

Neandertals are characterized by a series of well-documented facial characteristics, including midfacial prognathism, large nasal and orbital areas, and a marked supraorbital torus. We provide a comparative morphometric study of another part of this facial complex, the frontal process of the zygomatic. We find that European Neandertals have a distinctly columnar form of the frontal process not found in recent modern humans and most Pleistocene modern humans. Some purportedly modern specimens and specimens pre-dating Neandertals exhibit the same pattern as European Neandertals, while others exhibit the modern human pattern. The columnar form is likely a retention of the ancestral state in Neandertals and the other late Pleistocene specimens that exhibit it, but variation in the pattern seen in early modern humans reveals possible insights into late Pleistocene human evolution.

Juvenile elbow dislocation from the prehistoric site of Josipovac–Gravinjak, Croatia

This paper examines a rare case of juvenile elbow dislocation in the human skeletal remains from the Eneolithic (Copper Age) site of Josipovac-Gravinjak in Croatia, dated to 3500-2780 BC. Although dislocations from the archaeological context have been previously reported in adults, they are rarely diagnosed in juveniles. The skeletal remains of a 7.5-8.5 year old juvenile were examined using gross observation and radiography. Analyses of the skeletal remains confirm the absence of a fracture, while comparison with clinical studies suggests that the observed lesions are indicative of a radial head dislocation. The severity of the injury and bone remodelling suggest that the injury occurred more than 6 months prior to death and that it was left untreated.

Mummified remains from the Archaeological museum in Zagreb, Croatia - reviewing peculiarities and limitations of human and non-human radiological identification and analysis in mummified remains

Forensic protocols and medico-legal techniques are increasingly being employed in investigations of museological material. The final findings of such investigations may reveal interesting facts on historical figures, customs and habits, as well as provide meaningful data for forensic use. Herein we present a case review where forensic experts were requested to identify taxonomic affinities, stage of preservation and provide skeletal analysis of mummified non-human archaeological remains, and verify whether two mummified hands are human or not. The manuscript offers a short review on the process and particularities of radiological species identification, the impact of post-mortem changes in the analysis and imaging of mummified remains as well as the macroscopical interpretation of trauma, pathology and authenticity in mummified remains, which can all turn useful when dealing with forensic cases.

3D landmark and semilandmark geometric morphometric analysis of the Zuttiyeh fronto-zygomatic fragment

Cortisol, as a biomarker of the generalized adaptive stress response, can provide critical information on the physiological effects of behavior. However, group-living animals face multiple interacting stressors from their social and ecological environments. While recent research has revealed the impact of particular social stressors in isolation, few studies have examined how diverse factors contribute to long-term stress hormone variation. We applied multivariate analyses to a 10-year dataset to investigate urinary cortisol variation in wild female chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) in Kibale National Park, Uganda. In interindividual contrasts, older females had higher cortisol levels, as did females that were low-ranking for their age. Over time, cortisol was significantly predicted by rates of aggression, particularly female-targeted aggression. The effect of male-female aggression was most pronounced for cycling, swollen females, who are the most frequent targets of sexual coercion. On the other hand, lactating females were strongly affected by group size, such that cortisol levels were elevated when parties contained more females and fewer males. Fruit consumption was an important covariate for lactating females, who experienced higher cortisol when the diet was poor. Our data indicate that both social and energetic factors contribute to stress variation in female chimpanzees, but that energetic stress increases in significance for females facing high reproductive costs. Our study also contributes to growing evidence that direct and indirect competition, while subtle in their expression, can have substantial impacts on female chimpanzees.