Donkalnio ir Spigino mezolito kapinynuose rastų priekinių žvėrių dantų biotechnologiniai tyrimai

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Donkalnio kapinynas; Spigino kapinynas; Mezolitas; Biotechnologiniai tyrimai.

ENAs in other North European Mesolithic burial sites, pendants-amulets of animal teeth comprised the main part of grave goods in the Donkalnis and Spiginąs Mesolithic settlements around Biržulis Lake. The uncovered pend- ants-amulets are of three types: with attachment holes and nicks at the root ends, and with incisions at the junction of the incisor root and the crown. It is assumed that some animal teeth were used for necklaces and some for clothing ornaments, which where attached to the garments of the dead with leather strips. The pendants-amulets discovered in graves 4 and 5 of the Donkalnis burial ground, made of the teeth of deer, elk, aurochs / bison and roe, were examined using biotechnological (roentgenological) and trasological (macro and micro trasological) methods. According to the macro and micro trasological traces, the teeth of these animals were used for necklaces and clothing ornaments. This is proved by bores and abraded areas on both sides of the roots to facilitate drilling of holes and to make the necklace more compact. Trasological examination of these teeth showed that the holes at the root ends were drilled using flint gimlets and small knives, whereas the nicks at the root ends were cut or abraded using flint knives and sharp-edged sandstones. Visual examination showed that the crowns of teeth from the Donkalnis and Spiginąs graves have many ruptures and cleavages. Presumably, the crumbled teeth crowns from graves 4 and 5 of the Donkalnis burial ground are indicative of a deficiency of trace elements (copper, zinc and lead) in the soils around Biržulis Lake [Kendall MacKenzie et al„ 2011; Underwood, 1971; 1977: Underwood, Suttle 1999].Macro anatomical analysis and roentgenological images of Mesolithic teeth-amulets from the area around Biržulis Lake allowed the age of some of the hunted animals, their structure and tooth patholgies, which are rarely identified in the osteological material, to be identified. The following pathologies were identified: hardened dental plaque around the neck of the tooth, pulp stones and pulp canal obliteration. So far, these pathologies are the most ancient in the archaeological material from Lithuania. Trasological and biotechnological examination of anterior animal teeth uncovered in the Donkalnis and Spiginas Mesolithic burial grounds allowed determining the specific features, though minor, of the natural environment and animal growth in the vicinities of the Biržulis Lake and to understand better the technological skills of Mesolithic population used in making ornaments designed for spiritual life. [From the publication]

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