Dairying, diseases and the evolution of lactase persistence in Europe.

In European and many African, Middle Eastern and southern Asian populations, lactase persistence (LP) is the most strongly selected monogenic trait to have evolved over the past 10,000 years1. Although the selection of LP and the consumption of prehistoric milk must be linked, considerable uncertainty remains concerning their spatiotemporal configuration and specific interactions2,3. Here we provide detailed distributions of milk exploitation across Europe over the past 9,000 years using around 7,000 pottery fat residues from more than 550 archaeological sites. European milk use was widespread from the Neolithic period onwards but varied spatially and temporally in intensity. Notably, LP selection varying with levels of prehistoric milk exploitation is no better at explaining LP allele frequency trajectories than uniform selection since the Neolithic period. In the UK Biobank4,5 cohort of 500,000 contemporary Europeans, LP genotype was only weakly associated with milk consumption and did not show consistent associations with improved fitness or health indicators. This suggests that other reasons for the beneficial effects of LP should be considered for its rapid frequency increase. We propose that lactase non-persistent individuals consumed milk when it became available but, under conditions of famine and/or increased pathogen exposure, this was disadvantageous, driving LP selection in prehistoric Europe. Comparison of model likelihoods indicates that population fluctuations, settlement density and wild animal exploitation-proxies for these drivers-provide better explanations of LP selection than the extent of milk exploitation. These findings offer new perspectives on prehistoric milk exploitation and LP evolution.

A multi-analytical evaluation of the depositional pattern on open-air rock art panels at "Abrigo del Lince" (Badajoz, Spain).

Microscopic observation correlated with chemical-mineralogical characterization was performed on pigment samples from "Abrigo del Lince" rock art site (V-IV millennium BC), in order to provide contributions to the study of prehistoric schematic art on granite in the province of Badajoz (Spain). The research objectives include the understanding of technological and cultural aspects, as well as of conservation and deterioration issues related to the pictographs. The multi-analytical approach encompasses the integration of microscopic observation, SEM-EDS analysis, micro-Raman spectroscopy, and ATR-FTIR and allowed to achieve a multispectral overview of the samples and to describe their varied composition and the alteration pattern which connects them. The main phases overlying the granitic bedrock and involved in this sequence are as follows: hematite, whewellite, and gypsum. While hematite could be stratigraphically considered the most ancient layer and assigned to the use of red ochre as a pigment, whewellite and gypsum are the main constituent of the alteration layer which forms a patina over the pictographs, due to weathering processes. Finally, the role of biofilms in rock art conservation is discussed, suggesting that, especially for what concern thin and homogenous layers of oxalates, their presence should not be necessarily considered an issue.