Bone aerophones from Eynan-Mallaha (Israel) indicate imitation of raptor calls by the last hunter-gatherers in the Levant.

Direct evidence for Palaeolithic sound-making instruments is relatively rare, with only a few examples recorded from Upper Palaeolithic contexts, particularly in European cultures. However, theoretical considerations suggest that such artefacts have existed elsewhere in the world. Nevertheless, evidence for sound production is tenuous in the prehistoric archaeological record of the Levant, the study of music and its evolution being sparsely explored. Here we report new evidence for Palaeolithic sound-making instruments from the Levant with the discovery of seven aerophones made of perforated bird bones in the Final Natufian site of Eynan-Mallaha, Northern Israel. Through technological, use-wear, taphonomic, experimental and acoustical analyses, we demonstrate that these objects were intentionally manufactured more than 12,000 years ago to produce a range of sounds similar to raptor calls and whose purposes could be at the crossroads of communication, attracting hunting prey and music-making. Although similar aerophones are documented in later archaeological cultures, such artificial bird sounds were yet to be reported from Palaeolithic context. Therefore, the discovery from Eynan-Mallaha contributes new evidence for a distinctive sound-making instrument in the Palaeolithic. Through a combined multidisciplinary approach, our study provides important new data regarding the antiquity and development of the variety of sound-making instruments in the Palaeolithic at large and particularly at the dawn of the Neolithic in the Levant.

Bones geometric morphometrics illustrate 10th millennium cal. BP domestication of autochthonous Cypriot wild boar (Sus scrofa circeus nov. ssp).

Epipaleolithic hunter-gatherers from the Near East introduced wild boars (Sus scrofa) to Cyprus, with the Early Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) settlers hunting the wild descendants of these boars. However, the geographic origin of the Cypriot boar and how they were integrated into the earliest forms of pig husbandry remain unsolved. Here, we present data on 11,000 to 9000 cal. BP Sus scrofa from the PPN sites of Klimonas and Shillourokambos. We compared them to contemporaneous populations from the Near East and to Neolithic and modern populations in Corsica, exploring their origin and evolution using biosystematic signals from molar teeth and heel bones (calcanei), using 2D and 3D geometric morphometrics. We found that the Cypriot PPN lineage of Sus scrofa originates from the Northern Levant. Yet, their phenotypic idiosyncrasy suggest that they evolved into an insular sub-species that we named Sus scrofa circeus, referring to Circe, the metamorphosis goddess that changed Ulysses companions into pigs. The phenotypic homogeneity among PPNA Klimonas wild boars and managed populations of PPNB Shillourokambos suggests that local domestication has been undertaken on the endemic S. s. circeus, strengthening the idea that Cyprus was integrated into the core region of animal domestication.

The anurans and squamates assemblage from Final Natufian Eynan (Ain Mallaha, Israel) with an emphasis on snake-human interactions.

During the Natufian period, more than 12,000 years ago, Eynan (Ain Mallaha) was an important human settlement in the Hula Valley, Israel. This study concentrates on the anuran and squamate assemblage from the ultimate stage of the Natufian period at the site, the Final Natufian. Over five thousand bones assigned to at least sixteen taxa were studied from a sampled segment of the excavated open-air site. Relative species abundance, spatial distribution, taphonomic observations and ecological considerations all pointed to the conclusion that the inhabitants of Eynan intensively exploited three large "colubrine" snakes species: the Large Whip Snake (Dolichophis jugularis), the Eastern Montpellier Snake (Malpolon insignitus) and an Eastern Four-lined Ratsnake (Elaphe cf. sauromates). These snakes were the most desired and were intensively gathered, while other snakes and lizards could have been opportunistically collected when encountered. We raise questions about whether the large "colubrines" exploitation should be interpreted as additional evidence of increasing diet breadth. We suggest challenging this line of reasoning and offer possible alternative motives.

Effect of X-ray irradiation on ancient DNA in sub-fossil bones - Guidelines for safe X-ray imaging.

Sub-fossilised remains may still contain highly degraded ancient DNA (aDNA) useful for palaeogenetic investigations. Whether X-ray computed [micro-] tomography ([µ]CT) imaging of these fossils may further damage aDNA remains debated. Although the effect of X-ray on DNA in living organisms is well documented, its impact on aDNA molecules is unexplored. Here we investigate the effects of synchrotron X-ray irradiation on aDNA from Pleistocene bones. A clear correlation appears between decreasing aDNA quantities and accumulating X-ray dose-levels above 2000 Gray (Gy). We further find that strong X-ray irradiation reduces the amount of nucleotide misincorporations at the aDNA molecule ends. No representative effect can be detected for doses below 200 Gy. Dosimetry shows that conventional µCT usually does not reach the risky dose level, while classical synchrotron imaging can degrade aDNA significantly. Optimised synchrotron protocols and simple rules introduced here are sufficient to ensure that fossils can be scanned without impairing future aDNA studies.

Cementoblastoma in a red deer (Cervus elaphus) from the Late Pleistocene of Rochedane, France.

Only relatively few cases of dental abnormalities in wild ruminants have thus far been described in the paleopathological literature. This study reports a case of cementoblastoma, a benign odontogenic tumor of ectomesenchymal origin, in a red deer (Cervus elaphus) from the Late Pleistocene of Rochedane, a prehistoric site in the French Jura. The tumor was attached to the root of a heavily worn loose left maxillary third molar. CT imaging revealed several radiolucent (former soft tissue) spaces of varying shape and size within the mineralized tumorous mass. Light microscopic analysis and backscattered electron imaging in the SEM showed that the process of dental wear had reached the tumor and that the tooth and the attached tumor had undergone considerable microbial diagenesis. This is the first case of cementoblastoma described in a prehistoric animal and also the first report of this type of odontogenic tumor in a deer.

Dental development pathology in wild artiodactyls: Two prehistoric case studies from France.

In this paper we report two unique cases of dental development anomalies observed on prehistoric faunal material from France. The first is a severely malformed first incisor from a red deer, dated to the 13th-12th millennium BC, which is interpreted as a composite odontoma, a rare pseudo-tumor of odontogenic origin. The second is a Mesolithic (9th-8th millennium BC) wild boar skull presenting an anomalous tooth row including a duplication of the upper left second premolar. Both pathologies are discussed in terms of diagnosis and etiology, and comparable archeological cases are sought. We conclude by stressing that the occurrence of these two developmental anomalies appears to have a strong spontaneous component, and that caution should be exercised when considering such defects in terms of populational significance.

A dog's life: Multiple trauma and potential abuse in a medieval dog from Guimps (Charente, France).

Rescue excavations carried out around Guimps (Charente, France) in 2011 unearthed several medieval structures, including a silo containing a single dog burial. The animal, a young adult, exhibits numerous skeletal lesions. The excellent preservation of the remains allowed us to carry out a retrospective diagnosis and to demonstrate the presence of two independent pathologies, a radius-curvus and a medial patellar dislocation. These conditions are of traumatic origin, as are the many fractures the animal also displays. The possible causes of such multiple injuries are discussed and the chronology of the lesions and their skeletal distribution are examined in light of modern data. This leads us to suggest animal abuse as a probable cause and, as almost no comparable cases were found in the bibliographical record, raise the profile of the identification of animal abuse in archeology.