Dietary 14C reservoir effects and the chronology of prehistoric burials at Sakhtysh, central European Russia.

We present a robust radiocarbon (14C) chronology for burials at Sakhtysh, in European Russia, where nearly 180 inhumations of Lyalovo and Volosovo pottery-using hunter-gatherer-fishers represent the largest known populations of both groups. Past dating attempts were restricted by poor understanding of dietary 14C reservoir effects (DREs). We developed a DRE correction approach that uses multiple linear regression of differences in 14C, δ13C, and δ15N between bones and teeth of the same individuals to predict DREs of up to approximately 900 years. Our chronological model dates Lyalovo burials to the early fifth millennium BCE, and Volosovo burials to the mid-fourth to early third millennium. It reveals a change in the subsistence economy at approximately 3300 BCE, coinciding with a reorientation of trade networks, and dates the final burial to the early Fatyanovo period, the regional expression of the Yamnaya/Corded Ware expansion. Our approach is applicable when freshwater 14C reservoir effects are poorly constrained and grave goods cannot be dated directly.

Koban culture genome-wide and archeological data open the bridge between Bronze and Iron Ages in the North Caucasus.

The North Caucasus played a key role during the ancient colonization of Eurasia and the formation of its cultural and genetic ancestry. Previous archeogenetic studies described a relative genetic and cultural continuity of ancient Caucasus societies, since the Eneolithic period. The Koban culture, which formed in the Late Bronze Age on the North Caucasian highlands, is considered as a cultural "bridge" between the ancient and modern autochthonous peoples of the Caucasus. Here, we discuss the place of this archeological culture and its representatives in the genetic orbit of Caucasian cultures using genome-wide SNP data from five individuals of the Koban culture and one individual of the early Alanic culture as well as previously published genomic data of ancient and modern North Caucasus individuals. Ancient DNA analysis shows that an ancient individual from Klin-Yar III, who was previously described as male, was in fact a female. Additional studies on well-preserved ancient human specimens are necessary to determine the level of local mobility and kinship between individuals in ancient societies of North Caucasus. Further studies with a larger sample size will allow us gain a deeper understanding of this topic.

Genetic admixture and language shift in the medieval Volga-Oka interfluve.

The Volga-Oka interfluve in northwestern Russia has an intriguing history of population influx and language shift during the Common Era. Today, most inhabitants of the region speak Russian, but until medieval times, northwestern Russia was inhabited by Uralic-speaking peoples.1,2,3 A gradual shift to Slavic languages started in the second half of the first millennium with the expansion of Slavic tribes, which led to the foundation of the Kievan Rus' state in the late 9th century CE. The medieval Rus' was multicultural and multilingual-historical records suggest that its northern regions comprised Slavic and Uralic peoples ruled by Scandinavian settlers.4,5,6 In the 10th-11th centuries, the introduction of Christianity and Cyrillic literature raised the prestige status of Slavic, driving a language shift from Uralic to Slavic.3 This eventually led to the disappearance of the Uralic languages from northwestern Russia. Here, we study a 1,500-year time transect of 30 ancient genomes and stable isotope values from the Suzdal region in the Volga-Oka interfluve. We describe a previously unsampled local Iron Age population and a gradual genetic turnover in the following centuries. Our time transect captures the population shift associated with the spread of Slavic languages and illustrates the ethnically mixed state of medieval Suzdal principality, eventually leading to the formation of the admixed but fully Slavic-speaking population that inhabits the area today. We also observe genetic outliers that highlight the importance of the Suzdal region in medieval times as a hub of long-reaching contacts via trade and warfare.

Caring for the sick in a medieval rural community: A study based on paleopathological and archaeological data from Medieval Rus'.

OBJECTIVE: This research seeks to identify the way the sick were treated in the 14th-15th centuries АD in a rural community located close to the medieval urban centre of Suzdal in central medieval Russia MATERIALS: Skeletons of 26 humans were examined from the cemetery associated with the rural settlement of Mikhali 3/Mininskoe (central Russia) (14th-15th centuries A.D.) METHODS: Archaeological study, paleodemographic analysis, description of physiological stress markers, stature reconstruction, X-ray, 3D scan. RESULTS: The remains comprised of 11 children, 11 adult females and 4 adult males. Numerous stress markers, as well as indicators of chronic disease and low levels of sexual dimorphism were noted suggesting a hard life and low social position. However, about 20% of adults lived to more than 40 years old and the archaeological artifacts - markers of prosperity -suggests high living standards of the majority of the inhabitants. CONCLUSIONS: Among the possible explanations of the paradox of poor health but ample access to resources is well-developed supportive care practice within the community. SIGNIFICANCE: A combination of bioarchaeological and archaeological studies of a medieval settlement and cemetery of Mikhali 3 offers information about medieval attitude towards the sick. LIMITATIONS: Few sites had been analyzed using a complex approach. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH: Combination of bioarchaeological and archaeological sources for estimation of life quality of medieval communities and clarification of their meaning of 'life quality'.

Species-specific reservoir effect estimates: A case study of archaeological marine samples from the Bering Strait.

Due to the marine reservoir effect, radiocarbon dates of marine samples require a correction. Marine reservoir effects, however, may vary among different marine species within a given body of water. Factors such as diet, feeding depth and migratory behaviour all affect the 14C date of a marine organism. Moreover, there is often significant variation within single marine species. Whilst the careful consideration of the ΔR values of a single marine species in a given location is important, so too is the full range of ΔR values within an ecosystem. This paper illustrates this point, using a sample pairing method to estimate the reservoir effects in 17 marine samples, of eight different species, from the archaeological site of Ekven (Eastern Chukotka, Siberia). An OxCal model is used to assess the strength of these estimates. The marine reservoir effects of samples passing the model range from ΔR (Marine20) = 136 ± 41-ΔR = 460 ± 40. Marine reservoir effect estimates of these samples and other published samples are used to explore variability in the wider Bering Strait region. The archaeological implications of this variability are also discussed. The calibrating of 14C dates from human bone collagen, for example, could be improved by applying a dietary relevant marine reservoir effect correction. For humans from the site of Ekven, a ΔR (Marine20) correction of 289 ± 124 years or reservoir age correction of 842 ± 123 years is suggested.

Upper palaeolithic and late stone age human diet.

Undoubtedly modern mankind is an omnivorous species. Nevertheless, types of diet changed at the time of anthropogenesis. The Upper Palaeolithic period is the crucial time because of the appearance of anatomically modern humans in Europe. The main goal in this period investigation is to find the Neanderthal man-Upper Palaeolithic man diet distinction. A sharp early Holocene rise in humidity and temperature and melting of the permafrost resulted in the complete destruction of traditional migration routes, campsite losses, and the flora and fauna of inland territories changing. All these factors affected nutrition patterns, too. The comparison of the different Mesolithic and Neolithic groups' diet patterns allow us to discuss problems of the influence of cultural and ecological factors. The bone tissue chemical concentrations (Ca, Zn, Sr, Cu) from Upper Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic burials are considered to reconstruct individual and group patterns of nutrition. The results of the atomic absorption method were used.