Reprints 66-75

Date:
1969-1973
Reference:
PP/CRI/M/1/4
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Reprints 66-75. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    ply that the x-ray data from DNA could be fitted just as well by a model with alternative base-pairing. What I said was the Fourier method of struc ture refinement has, in fact, contributed nothing toward either the proof of that structure [that is, the Watson-Crick model], nor toward the elucidation of its details. . . . This is a negative con clusion affirming that one particular model has not been established on the basis of evidence furnished by a par ticular method. Such models have not yet been tested rigorously. Crick says that I did not allow for the numerous dyads in the structure which would cause many of the reflec tions to be effectively centric. These numerous dyads are, in fact, part of a model of a single molecule, and not of any of the proposed crystal structures, which are assemblages of molecules, and do not contain numerous dyads which must be allowed for. I agree with Crick that this matter needs deciding. Jerry Donohue Department of Chemistry and Laboratory for Research on the Structure of Matter, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 19104 878 (1963). 9. Wilkins et al. have correctly detected a typo graphical error in the legend to figure 6 (2); the phases used in the preparation of this figure were those of pairing H. Animal Remains from Lepenski vir The vertebrate fauna of this early center of domestication represent an atypical animal husbandry. Sándor Bökönyi In the Iron Gate gorge, where the Danube traverses the southern chain of the Carpathians, Yugoslavia and Rumania are planning a giant hydro electric power system. Large areas of land will be inundated by the artificial lake, which will be formed by the pro posed dam. Therefore, in 1965 large- scale salvage work was begun to save the most important archeological monu ments of the area. Most of this work has been done by the Archeological Institute and the National Museum, Belgrade. The most interesting site of the area is Lepenski vir. The excavation of this site has been one of the most rewarding of any in the field of European pre history in recent years. Lepenski vir lies on the right bank of the Danube, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) downstream from Belgrade, near the town of Donji Milanovac, not far from the mouth of the small Bolje- tinska River. At the site location the valley of the Danube widens from its narrow course in the Iron Gate gorge, making room for a small but almost inaccessible settlement. Excavation has been going on since 1965, under the direction of D. Srejovic and Z. Letica, of the University of Belgrade. By 1967, 1643 square meters had been explored; since then, more of the site has been unearthed. According to Srejovic (1) the site has three main occupation phases, Lepenski vir I, II, and III. Archeologi- cally, the age of the first two is not yet clear, though it is certain that they represent a period before the earliest pottery-Neolithic culture of the Balkans. The first phase is characterized by trapeziform houses with hard, red- lime plaster floors and by stone sculp tures. These finds are unique in Europe, particularly the figurai and abstract sculptures, and they indicate that the site will have great significance for both archeologists and art historians. The houses of the second phase did not have hard floors, but they did have sculptures, which are more monu mental, though less finely worked, than those of the first phase. The third phase belongs to the Starcevo-Körös culture complex that heralds the beginning of the pottery- Neolithic, found in the northern Bal kans and in the southeastern half of the Carpathian Basin. Radiocarbon data place the early period of this complex between 5410 ± 100 and 4449 ± 75 B.C. (2). Along with the archeological features and artifacts, a rich collection of animal remains was uncovered at the excavations. The bones were frag mentary, the sample yielding only one whole skull, some larger skull frag ments, and a few whole long bones. However, despite their fragmentary state, they were well preserved, so a high percentage of them could be identified. Unfortunately, as Table 1 clearly shows, the early phases of the site are the poorest in bone material. Despite this, one can obtain much valuable in formation about animal husbandry, hunting, and fishing within those phases. The domestic faunas of the two early phases are very similar, and they differ sharply from the fauna of the third phase. Their most specific charac teristic is that they have only one domestic species, the dog. This is quite an unusual situation, since we have not yet found in the temperate zone of Europe any Neolithic sites where the dog was the only domestic animal. Therefore, if the two early phases do not belong to the Mesolithic period, the first of the two phases may represent an independent, local evolu tion, and the second may be a survival of the first. The wild faunas of the two early phases resemble each other closely. Common to the two phases is the high ratio of fishes, proving the great im- SCIENCE, VOL. 167
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