HUMAN REMAINS FROM THE MESOLITHIC SITE OF EL-COLLADO (OLIVA, VALENCIA, SPAIN)

Fifteen individuals from the Mesolithic site of El Collado (Oliva, Val encia, Spain) have been studied. The dating of the site, based on the archaeological context, is 8500-9500 B.P. This is the largest Spanish sample of human remains from this period. The skulls are considerable robust and the face has a well marked subnasal prognathism. The teeth are large, especially the posterior dentition. The morphology of the s kulls shows that the analyzed individuals tend to be brachycephalic, w ith high skulls from a lateral view. These Mesolithic skulls seems to differ clearly from the morphological pattern of the later Neolithic p eriod, which consists of mainly dolichocephalic and more gracile skull s. The subnasal prognathism is also present in Neolithic populations. The frequencies of skeletal stress indicators in the sample from El Co llado also resemble more closely those of hunter-gatherer Upper-Paleol ithic groups. The individuals from El Collado might represent the loca l Mesolithic substrate prior to the Neolithic migrations. The study of Mesolithic and Neolithic human skeletal remains from the Mediterranea n area is of great interest in order to test current hypothesis of hum an migrations during the Neolithic.