Evolution of body height, body size and body build during the Upper Paleolithic/Neolithic transition in Central Europe
Abstrakt
Body size and body build including limb proportions are important for the analysis of evolutionary changes and trends. We have studied evolutionary trends in body shape changes in Central Europe.
We are computig all body parameters by several selected verified estimation methods. We use probabilistic population approach based on using same package of methods for computing body height and body mass for any examined population which enable to reconstruct skeletal BMI and Rohrer index for any individual or population.
Mean values for the estimates of body height and body mass for any examined individuum. Our results show that changes in body build after transition to agriculture basically corresponds to changes of environmental and social conditions as well as to genetic and epigenetic changes in Neolithic populations as a complex adaptive response of human organism to new conditions of life in Neolithic societies We suppose that these factors could substantially influence differential fertility of early and late maturating individuals/populations (Piontek, Vančata IANZA 2012).
There are significant differences among LBPT (agricultural) and CWC (pastoral) populations in central Europe. It corresponds to our model of early and delayed matured populations during changes in adaptive strategies from hunter/gatherers to agriculture.
The results could be influenced by regional difference between various Neolithic populations, by assemblage and quality of studied skeletal populations, by possible hybridization with autochtonous "Mesolithic" populations and possible cultural transfer, like in the Bell Beaker Culture populations where the genetic profiles of central European and British populations differ. Our results are compatible with genetic migrations models of colonisation of Europe since Late Paleolithic till Neolithic and early Bronze.
That is why we strongly prefer "biological" hypothesis primarily independent on purely cultural indicators, that is changes way of life, long term adaptations and by genetic admixture of migrating and/or autochtonous populations.