Mesolithic Remains Reexamined in Poland

WARSAW, POLAND—Science in Poland reports that researchers led by Jacek Tomczyk of Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University have reexamined 8,000-year-old bones that were unearthed in the 1950s near the Narew River with electron microscopy and computed tomography. The bones are believed to be the remains of a male hunter. It had been previously thought that the man’s damaged skull showed signs of cannibalism, but the new study suggests he actually lived for seven or eight days after being struck on the front of the head with a sharp tool. “It turns out that the damaged skull shows traces of healing that cannot be seen with the naked eye,” Tomczyk said. The partial burning of the bones may have been part of a Mesolithic burial practice. For more, go to “Off the Grid: Krakow, Poland.”