МАЭ № 6080-11

Mesolithic man from Murzak-Koba rockshelter (Crimea)

circa 1938

plaster

Mesolithic man from Murzak-Koba. In 1936, during excavations of the Mesolithic layer at Murzak-Koba, southern Crimea, S.N. Bibikov and E.V. Zhirov discovered a double burial of a man and a woman. The man’s appearance was reconstructed by Gerasimov. The individual died at 40-50. His stature is rather high for that time – about 180 cm. The cranium, in Gerasimov’s words, is large and robust. Muscular insertions are well developed. The forehead is steep and medium wide, and the supraorbital structures are heavy, suggesting strength but not rendering the face primitive. Large facial breadth is in a way less salient because of a prominent nose, which is narrow, high, and elegant in outline. Deep-set eyes display an upper eyelid fold overhanging the outer corner of the eye. The cheekbones are robust and crudely shaped. The lower jaw is very large and robust. The head poise is straight, evidencing pride. The neck and the shoulders are strong. There is no hint whatever at any primitiveness or coarseness.

Anthropological plastic reconstructions, lifetime masks. 19th - 20th centuries