Mladec
Encyclopedia
Mladeč is a village and municipality (obec
) in Olomouc District
in the Olomouc Region
of the Czech Republic. The municipality covers an area of 12.08 square kilometres (4.7 sq mi), and has a population of 761 (as at 3 July 2006). Mladeč lies approximately 21 kilometres (13 mi) north-west of Olomouc
and 191 km (119 mi) east of Prague
.
The Mladeč caves are located near Mladeč.
Mladeč is an Aurignacian
archaeological site with directly dated remains of early modern human dating to about 31,000 radiocarbon years. The site contains remains of at least half a dozen individuals, including children. They are the oldest bones that indicate a human settlement, or community
in Europe. The Mladec collection also includes Aurignacian
tools and art associated with early modern humans. The remains appear to show some Neanderthal
-like features.
The presence of remnant [rear skull] bones that are not present in the early modern Africans and Near Easterners do not necessarily indicate inter-breeding with Neanderthals. In National geographic Theodore Schurr, an anthropology professor at the University of Pennsylvania
, notes:
Obec
Obec is the Czech and Slovak word for a municipality . The literal meaning of the word is "commune" or "community". It is the smallest administrative unit that is governed by elected representatives. Cities are also municipalities...
) in Olomouc District
Olomouc District
Olomouc District is a district within the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is the city of Olomouc.-Complete list of municipalities:Babice -Bělkovice-Lašťany -Bílá Lhota -Bílsko -Blatec -Bohuňovice -Bouzov -Bukovany -...
in the Olomouc Region
Olomouc Region
Olomouc Region is an administrative unit of the Czech Republic, located in the north-western and central part of its historical region of Moravia and in a small part of the historical region of Silesia . It is named for its capital Olomouc.-External links:* *...
of the Czech Republic. The municipality covers an area of 12.08 square kilometres (4.7 sq mi), and has a population of 761 (as at 3 July 2006). Mladeč lies approximately 21 kilometres (13 mi) north-west of Olomouc
Olomouc
Olomouc is a city in Moravia, in the east of the Czech Republic. The city is located on the Morava river and is the ecclesiastical metropolis and historical capital city of Moravia. Nowadays, it is an administrative centre of the Olomouc Region and sixth largest city in the Czech Republic...
and 191 km (119 mi) east of Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
.
The Mladeč caves are located near Mladeč.
Mladeč is an Aurignacian
Aurignacian
The Aurignacian culture is an archaeological culture of the Upper Palaeolithic, located in Europe and southwest Asia. It lasted broadly within the period from ca. 45,000 to 35,000 years ago in terms of conventional radiocarbon dating, or between ca. 47,000 and 41,000 years ago in terms of the most...
archaeological site with directly dated remains of early modern human dating to about 31,000 radiocarbon years. The site contains remains of at least half a dozen individuals, including children. They are the oldest bones that indicate a human settlement, or community
Community
The term community has two distinct meanings:*a group of interacting people, possibly living in close proximity, and often refers to a group that shares some common values, and is attributed with social cohesion within a shared geographical location, generally in social units larger than a household...
in Europe. The Mladec collection also includes Aurignacian
Aurignacian
The Aurignacian culture is an archaeological culture of the Upper Palaeolithic, located in Europe and southwest Asia. It lasted broadly within the period from ca. 45,000 to 35,000 years ago in terms of conventional radiocarbon dating, or between ca. 47,000 and 41,000 years ago in terms of the most...
tools and art associated with early modern humans. The remains appear to show some Neanderthal
Neanderthal
The Neanderthal is an extinct member of the Homo genus known from Pleistocene specimens found in Europe and parts of western and central Asia...
-like features.
The presence of remnant [rear skull] bones that are not present in the early modern Africans and Near Easterners do not necessarily indicate inter-breeding with Neanderthals. In National geographic Theodore Schurr, an anthropology professor at the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
, notes:
The Mladec individuals do not consistently exhibit the same Neandertal skeletal features, to whatever extent they possess them, nor do they yield any trace of Neandertal DNA... Therefore, based on these data, the Mladec remains show no strong evidence of interbreeding between Neandertals and anatomically modern humans.
External links
- http://www.mladec.cz/ official site (in Czech)