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Little has been described of the Holocene populations of South-Central Africa, despite the region demonstrating major subsistence shifts relating to dispersals of agriculturalists at least 2,000 years ago. Seven sites with associated human skeletal remains were selected. Hora, Chencherere, Fingura, and Mtuzi represent the Middle Holocene (2,000-5,000 years ago), and Phwadze, Mtemankhokwe, and Nkudzi Bay represent the Late Holocene and the arrival of agriculturalists between 500-2,000 years ago. Focusing on the identity of Hora and Chencherere specimens, two questions were addressed: are the various Holocene Malawians similar to each other, or do they suggest morphological change over time? What modern populations are closest to the prehistoric specimens? The archaeological sample was compared to modern sub-Saharan Africans from four regions, plus a historic Khoi-San foraging group. Factor analyses were performed in order to identify complex patterns of variation in metric traits of the skull. According to the results, prehistoric Malawians showed only slight differences between the Late and Middle Holocene, suggesting a population change without any major discontinuity. Later Stone Age skulls did not exclusively show similarities with the Khoi-San, as they frequently fit well within the variation of modern Bantu-speaking groups, especially West-Central Africa. Therefore, we reject the hypothesis that Middle Holocene South-Central Africans have an exclusively Khoi-San ancestry, and support an alternative hypothesis that both Middle and Late Holocene groups share a common biological heritage originating in West-Central Africa in earlier times. KEY WORDS Later Stone Age; Malawi; skull

This study aims to quantify the physical demands of a sample of late 18th century skeletons from an unmarked burial site on Cobern Street, Cape Town, South Africa. Historical studies suggest that these individuals were either slaves or 'free black' people of low socioeconomic standing. Cortical cross-sectional areas of paired humeri and tibiae from the Cobern Street collection (N = 29), a modern cadaver collection (N = 31), and a hunter-gatherer collection (N = 30) were compared by means of biomechanical beam analysis on computerized tomography scans. Results showed that the Cobern Street sample, both males and females, were closer to the modern group in total tibial cortical area and in the second moments and polar moments of cortical area, than to the hunter-gatherer group. It is assumed that these results can be explained by differences in lower limb activity. Tibial strength properties showed the hunter-gatherer peoples to be highly mobile and active walkers in comparison to the Cobern Street and modern samples. The males from the Cobern Street sample showed significantly higher values for humeral strength properties than either the hunter-gatherer or modern individuals, attesting to their status as manual laborers. The humeral cross-sectional strength properties for females were very similar between the Cobern Street and modern groups but again significantly different from the hunter-gatherer sample. The domestic chores performed by females of the recent cadaver sample may be very similar to those performed by the Cobern Street sample. Keywords: hunter-gatherers; slaves; upper and lower limb activity patterns; biochemical analysis

In this article, the author presents his genealogical research on his ancestral history in Dzisna which is today the Republic of Belarus, with the help of family history of his paternal grandfather Theodor Morris. Topics discussed include information on Morris immigration to Canada; antisemitism towards Russian Jews in 20th century; and information on bridge over the Dzisna river where Germans forced the Jews to cross on their way to the newly proclaimed ghetto in 1941.