Matta, a Neolithic burial in Central Yakutia. Results of an anthropological analysis

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the results of a complex anthropological investigation of the Late Neolithic Matta burial complex. The burial was found in Megino-Kangalas district of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) in 1996. Radiocarbon dates obtained from the human bones fall to the second half of the III millennium BC, the time when two Late Neolithic archaeological cultures — Ymyjakhtakh and Belkachi — existed in the region. Burial customs described in the Matta complex differ from both cultures because no grave goods and unusual position of the skeleton were found. The left arm was missing and a hare leg was put in the grave instead. The fragments of the scull, bones and teeth found in the grave were investigated using a complex research program. That included standard protocols of dental anthropological analysis, used in Russia and abroad (ASUDAS), cranial measurements using Martin’s program, and osteological analysis including measurements of bones and registration of enthesopathies, using Mariotti’s method. The results of analysis reveal that morphological features of the women buried in Matta’s grave were closer to Ymyjakhtakh population than to the Belcachi. The isotopic analysis of bone collagen (δ15N and δ13C) was also made. The results allow a suggestion about the prevalence of animal proteins in the Matta women’s diet, low level of fish proteins, and using local C4 plants for food.

Keywords

• Yakutia
• the Neolithic
• the Ymyjakhtakh culture
• the Belkachi culture
• Matta
• osteology enthesopathies
• dental anthropology
• stable isotopic analysis
• paleodiet research