The o steological evidence of Neolithic populations from the Southern Great Plain of Hungary – An insight into th e potential of macroscopic observations for the demographic and pathological analyses of past populations

The osteological evidence of Neolithic populations from the Southern Great Plain of Hungary – An insight into the potential of macroscopic observations for the demographic and pathological analyses of past populations. This doctoral research provides a unique contribution to our knowledge of the Early Farmers of Europe in general and the Neolithic populations from the Southern Great Plain of Hungary in particular. The potential of macroscopic observations for the demographic and pathological analyses of past populations was demonstrated on this exceptional Neolithic sample, revealing despite the lack of contextual data, the damaged and fragmentary skeletal remains, and the restriction to morphological analyses, a mostly non-violent population prone to infections, with a physically stressful way of life and a diet leading to a high rate of dental disease and (at least occasionally) lack of vitamin C. In particular, the palaeopathological analysis uncovered the oldest cases of tuberculosis in Europe so far, as well as the probable oldest cases of scurvy. In addition, a potential case of leprosy and one of cancer were also discovered, which would be of great significance for the palaeopathological record if these can be confirmed by further studies.