100 ancient genomes show repeated population turnovers in Neolithic Denmark.

Major migration events in Holocene Eurasia have been characterized genetically at broad regional scales1-4. However, insights into the population dynamics in the contact zones are hampered by a lack of ancient genomic data sampled at high spatiotemporal resolution5-7. Here, to address this, we analysed shotgun-sequenced genomes from 100 skeletons spanning 7,300 years of the Mesolithic period, Neolithic period and Early Bronze Age in Denmark and integrated these with proxies for diet (13C and 15N content), mobility (87Sr/86Sr ratio) and vegetation cover (pollen). We observe that Danish Mesolithic individuals of the Maglemose, Kongemose and Ertebølle cultures form a distinct genetic cluster related to other Western European hunter-gatherers. Despite shifts in material culture they displayed genetic homogeneity from around 10,500 to 5,900 calibrated years before present, when Neolithic farmers with Anatolian-derived ancestry arrived. Although the Neolithic transition was delayed by more than a millennium relative to Central Europe, it was very abrupt and resulted in a population turnover with limited genetic contribution from local hunter-gatherers. The succeeding Neolithic population, associated with the Funnel Beaker culture, persisted for only about 1,000 years before immigrants with eastern Steppe-derived ancestry arrived. This second and equally rapid population replacement gave rise to the Single Grave culture with an ancestry profile more similar to present-day Danes. In our multiproxy dataset, these major demographic events are manifested as parallel shifts in genotype, phenotype, diet and land use.

Elevated genetic risk for multiple sclerosis emerged in steppe pastoralist populations.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neuro-inflammatory and neurodegenerative disease that is most prevalent in Northern Europe. Although it is known that inherited risk for MS is located within or in close proximity to immune-related genes, it is unknown when, where and how this genetic risk originated1. Here, by using a large ancient genome dataset from the Mesolithic period to the Bronze Age2, along with new Medieval and post-Medieval genomes, we show that the genetic risk for MS rose among pastoralists from the Pontic steppe and was brought into Europe by the Yamnaya-related migration approximately 5,000 years ago. We further show that these MS-associated immunogenetic variants underwent positive selection both within the steppe population and later in Europe, probably driven by pathogenic challenges coinciding with changes in diet, lifestyle and population density. This study highlights the critical importance of the Neolithic period and Bronze Age as determinants of modern immune responses and their subsequent effect on the risk of developing MS in a changing environment.

Digging in a 120 years-old lunch: What can we learn from collection specimens of extinct species?

Studying collection specimens is often the only way to unravel information about recent extinctions. These can reveal knowledge on threats and life traits related to extinction, and contribute, by extrapolation, to the conservation of extant species. However, high-throughput sequencing methods have rarely been applied to extinct species to reveal information on their ecology. Insular species are especially prone to extinction. We studied the gut contents of three specimens of the extinct giant skink Chioninia coctei of the Cabo Verde Islands using microscopy and DNA-metabarcoding. The presence of Tachygonetria adult nematodes suggests plants as important diet items. Our metabarcoding approach also identified plants and, additionally, invertebrates, supporting the hypothesis of C. coctei's generalist diet. The absence of vertebrates in the digestive contents may reflect the decline of seabirds on the Desertas Islands that could have contributed to the debilitation of the giant skink, already depleted by persecution and severe droughts. Even with a small sample size, this study contributes to shedding light on the trophic roles of this enigmatic extinct species and emphasizes the need to develop holistic conservation plans for island threatened taxa. Additionally, it illustrates the potential of integrating up-to-date molecular methods with traditional approaches to studying collection specimens to help to solve ecological puzzles in other ecosystems.

The genomic origins of the Bronze Age Tarim Basin mummies.

The identity of the earliest inhabitants of Xinjiang, in the heart of Inner Asia, and the languages that they spoke have long been debated and remain contentious1. Here we present genomic data from 5 individuals dating to around 3000-2800 BC from the Dzungarian Basin and 13 individuals dating to around 2100-1700 BC from the Tarim Basin, representing the earliest yet discovered human remains from North and South Xinjiang, respectively. We find that the Early Bronze Age Dzungarian individuals exhibit a predominantly Afanasievo ancestry with an additional local contribution, and the Early-Middle Bronze Age Tarim individuals contain only a local ancestry. The Tarim individuals from the site of Xiaohe further exhibit strong evidence of milk proteins in their dental calculus, indicating a reliance on dairy pastoralism at the site since its founding. Our results do not support previous hypotheses for the origin of the Tarim mummies, who were argued to be Proto-Tocharian-speaking pastoralists descended from the Afanasievo1,2 or to have originated among the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex3 or Inner Asian Mountain Corridor cultures4. Instead, although Tocharian may have been plausibly introduced to the Dzungarian Basin by Afanasievo migrants during the Early Bronze Age, we find that the earliest Tarim Basin cultures appear to have arisen from a genetically isolated local population that adopted neighbouring pastoralist and agriculturalist practices, which allowed them to settle and thrive along the shifting riverine oases of the Taklamakan Desert.

How Does Diet Influence Our Lives? Evaluating the Relationship between Isotopic Signatures and Mortality Patterns in Italian Roman Imperial and Medieval Periods.

The present research investigates the relationship between dietary habits and mortality patterns in the Roman Imperial and Medieval periods. The reconstructions of population dynamics and subsistence strategies provide a fascinating source of information for understanding our history. This is particularly true given that the changes in social, economic, political, and religious aspects related to the transition from the Roman period to the Middle Ages have been widely discussed. We analyzed the isotopic and mortality patterns of 616 individuals from 18 archeological sites (the Medieval Latium sites of Colonna, Santa Severa, Allumiere, Cencelle, and 14 Medieval and Imperial funerary contexts from Rome) to compile a survivorship analysis. A semi-parametric approach was applied, suggesting variations in mortality patterns between sexes in the Roman period. Nitrogen isotopic signatures influenced mortality in both periods, showing a quadratic and a linear effect for Roman Imperial and Medieval populations, respectively. No influence of carbon isotopic signatures has been detected for Roman Imperial populations. Conversely, increased mortality risk for rising carbon isotopic values was observed in Medieval samples.

Dietary evidence from Central Asian Neanderthals: A combined isotope and plant microremains approach at Chagyrskaya Cave (Altai, Russia).

Neanderthals are known primarily from their habitation of Western Eurasia, but they also populated large expanses of Northern Asia for thousands of years. Owing to a sparse archaeological record, relatively little is known about these eastern Neanderthal populations. Unlike in their western range, there are limited zooarchaeological and paleobotanical studies that inform us about the nature of their subsistence. Here, we perform a combined analysis of carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes on bone collagen and microbotanical remains in dental calculus to reconstruct the diet of eastern Neanderthals at Chagyrskaya Cave in the Altai Mountains of Southern Siberia, Russia. Stable isotopes identify one individual as possessing a high trophic level due to the hunting of large- and medium-sized ungulates, while the analysis of dental calculus also indicates the presence of plants in the diet of this individual and others from the site. These findings indicate eastern Neanderthals may have had broadly similar subsistence patterns to those elsewhere in their range.

Stable isotope evidence of human diet in Mediterranean context during the Last Glacial Maximum.

The Final Gravettian in Europe overlapped with the cold and dry climatic event of Heinrich 2 (ca. 27-23.5 kyr cal BP), which caused the contraction of human distribution over refuge regions in the southern peninsulas of Europe. Here, we consider the human subsistence in the northeast Iberian Peninsula, where an extensive range of small to large prey was available. Four human remains from the Serinyà caves were investigated using the stable isotope ratios of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur of bulk collagen (δ13Ccoll, δ15Ncoll, δ34Scoll) and of phenylalanine and glutamine amino acids (δ15NPhe, δ15NGlu). Direct AMS dating of the human and animal remains from the Final Gravettian levels of Mollet III, Reclau Viver, and Arbreda at Serinyà confirmed their chronological position from 27.5 to 22.6 kyr cal BP and the occurrence of four different human individuals. The δ13Ccoll and δ15Ncoll values showed a large contribution of terrestrial prey to the dietary protein of the individuals. The δ34Scoll values were consistent with a subsistence based on the local continental resources, without detectable contribution of marine resource. The δ15NPhe and δ15NGlu values confirm that freshwater resources were not a substantial component of the diet of the considered individuals. Contrast in the isotopic amounts in bulk collagen could be interpreted as the result of different proportions of terrestrial prey in human diet at Serinyà. Altogether, the isotopic investigation reveals the importance of terrestrial over aquatic resources in the subsistence of the studied Final Gravettian individuals from the Serinyà caves in northeastern Iberia during the Last Glacial Maximum. It would be consistent with a scenario of a productive enough terrestrial ecosystem to sustain hunter-gatherer subsistence in this refuge region.

Bronze Age innovations and impact on human diet: A multi-isotopic and multi-proxy study of western Switzerland.

The archaeological Bronze Age record in Europe reveals unprecedented changes in subsistence strategies due to innovative farming techniques and new crop cultivation. Increasing cultural exchanges affected the economic system. The inhabitants of Switzerland played a pivotal role in this European context through relationships with the Mediterranean, the High and Middle Danube regions and the Alps thanks to the area's central position. This research aims to reconstruct, for the first time in Switzerland, human socio-economic systems through the study of human diet, herding and farming practices and their changes throughout the Bronze Age (2200-800 BCE) by means of biochemical markers. The study includes 41 human, 22 terrestrial and aquatic animal specimens and 30 charred seeds and chaff samples from sites in western Switzerland. Stable isotope analyses were performed on cereal and legume seeds (δ13C, δ15N), animal bone collagen (δ13Ccoll, δ15N, δ34S), human bone and tooth dentine collagen (δ13Ccoll, δ15N,) and human tooth enamel (δ13Cenamel). The isotopic data suggest a) an intensification of soil fertilization and no hydric stress throughout the Bronze Age, b) a human diet mainly composed of terrestrial resources despite the proximity of Lake Geneva and the Rhone river, c) a diet based on C3 plants during the Early and Middle Bronze Age as opposed to the significant consumption of 13C-enriched resources (probably millet) by individuals from the Final Bronze Age, d) no important changes in dietary patterns throughout an individual's lifespan but a more varied diet in childhood compared to adulthood, e) no differences in diet according to biological criteria (age, sex) or funerary behavior (burial architecture, grave goods).

Dietary changes across time: Studying the indigenous period of La Gomera using δ13 C and δ15 N stable isotope analysis and radiocarbon dating.

OBJECTIVES: This article presents new radiocarbon and isotopic data to provide further information about the diet of the indigenous population of La Gomera and its possible changes across time. MATERIALS AND METHODS: δ13 C and δ15 N of 53 human and 19 faunal samples from different sites on the island have been obtained and analyzed. Of these, 52 have been radiocarbon dated to provide insight on chronological changes. RESULTS: Human dates range from the 3rd to 15th centuries AD, while faunal dates range from the 1st to 17th centuries AD. Stable carbon and nitrogen values are significantly different between the human and goat samples and have also a trophic increase of 3.4‰. Although male and female δ15 N data are not significantly different. Both δ13 C and δ15 N values of both human and animal samples tend to discretely decrease over time. DISCUSSION: Radiocarbon dates from humans correlate with other dates obtained in the rest of the archipelago. Animal radiocarbon dates generally coincide except for one date, which requires further study. Isotopic δ15 N data suggest a mix of marine and terrestrial protein consumption in humans, the latter being more abundant given the seasonality of the first. δ13 C data also suggest a possible mixed diet in humans, with a predominance of C3 plants, like Hordeum vulgare, the only grain found in archaeological sites so far. Variations of both δ13 C and δ15 N over time suggest a slight modification on the diet, which could be related to environmental changes.

Earliest Olduvai hominins exploited unstable environments ~ 2 million years ago.

Rapid environmental change is a catalyst for human evolution, driving dietary innovations, habitat diversification, and dispersal. However, there is a dearth of information to assess hominin adaptions to changing physiography during key evolutionary stages such as the early Pleistocene. Here we report a multiproxy dataset from Ewass Oldupa, in the Western Plio-Pleistocene rift basin of Olduvai Gorge (now Oldupai), Tanzania, to address this lacuna and offer an ecological perspective on human adaptability two million years ago. Oldupai's earliest hominins sequentially inhabited the floodplains of sinuous channels, then river-influenced contexts, which now comprises the oldest palaeolake setting documented regionally. Early Oldowan tools reveal a homogenous technology to utilise diverse, rapidly changing environments that ranged from fern meadows to woodland mosaics, naturally burned landscapes, to lakeside woodland/palm groves as well as hyper-xeric steppes. Hominins periodically used emerging landscapes and disturbance biomes multiple times over 235,000 years, thus predating by more than 180,000 years the earliest known hominins and Oldowan industries from the Eastern side of the basin.

Exploring late Paleolithic and Mesolithic diet in the Eastern Alpine region of Italy through multiple proxies.

OBJECTIVES: The analysis of prehistoric human dietary habits is key for understanding the effects of paleoenvironmental changes on the evolution of cultural and social human behaviors. In this study, we compare results from zooarchaeological, stable isotope and dental calculus analyses as well as lower second molar macrowear patterns to gain a broader understanding of the diet of three individuals who lived between the end of the Late Pleistocene and the Early Holocene (ca., 17-8 ky cal BP) in the Eastern Alpine region of Italy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We analyze individuals buried at the sites of Riparo Tagliente (Verona), Riparo Villabruna, and Mondeval de Sora (Belluno). The three burials provide a unique dataset for diachronically exploring the influence of climatic changes on human subsistence strategies. RESULTS: Isotopic results indicate that all individuals likely relied on both terrestrial and freshwater animal proteins. Even though dental calculus analysis was, in part, hindered by the amount of mineral deposit available on the teeth, tooth macrowear study suggests that the dietary habits of the individuals included plant foods. Moreover, differences in macrowear patterns of lower second molars have been documented between Neanderthals and modern humans in the present sample, due to a prevalence of Buccal wear among the former as opposed to higher values of Lingual wear in modern human teeth. DISCUSSION: Isotopic analyses have emphasized the contribution of animal proteins in the diet of the three foragers from the Eastern Alpine region. The possible intake of carbohydrate-rich plant foods, suggested by the retrieval of plant remains in dental calculus, is supported by the signal of macrowear analysis. Moreover, the latter method indicates that the distribution of macrowear in lower second molars (M2 s) allows us to discriminate between Neanderthals and modern humans within the present reference sample. Overall, our results show these three prehistoric hunter-gatherers were well adapted to the environment in which they lived exploiting many natural resources.

[The potato in hospital nutrition as an approach to its introduction in the urban diet: the case of Vitoria (Alava, Spain)]. / La patata en la nutrición hospitalaria como aproximación a su introducción en la dieta urbana: el caso de Vitoria (Álava, España).

INTRODUCTION: Introduction: given the lack of historical documentary sources about the beginning of potato effective consumption in Vitoria (Alava, Spain), its introduction in the urban diet is estimated from cultivation and production data. This only allows asserting the introduction of the cultivation at the end of the 18th century, the recognition of two quantitative jumps during the Independence and First Carlist Wars, and that it was the second cultivation in quantity by 1857. Objective/method: from the hypothesis of a good correspondence between hospital diet and ordinary urban diet, evidenced in other studies for Vitoria, it is proposed to document the chronology of potato introduction in the urban diet from its analysis in the city hospital, as well as to contextualize concurrent historical events, through the review and analysis of primary and secondary documentary sources. Results: the hospital keeps a record of food acquisitions since 1743. The first purchase of potatoes was paid on September 17, 1834. Acquisitions continue in very variable quantities and dates, which are normalized from 1844. Contextually, there is a major subsistence crisis with cholera as the most immediate and necessary cause in synergy with the first carlist war and the devastation of crops in a summer storm. In 1854 the potato was established in the urban diet. Conclusions: the first acquisition of potatoes was made in September 1834 in the immediate context of cholera together with the carlist war and catastrophic weather effects.

INTRODUCCIÓN: Introducción: dada la carencia de fuentes documentales históricas sobre el inicio del consumo efectivo de patata en Vitoria (Álava, España), su introducción en la dieta urbana se estima a partir de los datos de cultivo y producción. Ello solo permite aseverar la introducción del cultivo a finales del siglo XVIII, el reconocimiento de dos saltos cuantitativos durante las guerras de independencia y primera carlista, y que era el segundo cultivo en cantidad en 1857. Objetivo/método: desde la hipótesis de una buena correspondencia entre la dieta hospitalaria y la dieta ordinaria urbana, evidenciada en otros estudios para Vitoria, se propone documentar la cronología de la introducción de la patata en la dieta urbana a partir de su análisis en el hospital de la ciudad, así como contextualizar los acontecimientos históricos concurrentes mediante la revisión y el análisis de fuentes documentales primarias y secundarias. Resultados: el hospital conserva el registro de alimentos adquiridos desde 1743. La primera compra de patatas se abona el 17 de septiembre de 1834. Se continúa con adquisiciones en cantidades y fechas muy variables que se normalizan a partir de 1844. Contextualmente, existe una crisis mayor de subsistencia con el cólera como causa más inmediata y necesaria en sinergia con la primera guerra carlista y la devastación de cultivos en una tormenta veraniega. En 1854 la patata está asentada en la dieta urbana. Conclusiones: la primera adquisición de patatas se realizó en septiembre de 1834 en el contexto inmediato del cólera junto a la guerra carlista y efectos catastróficos meteorológicos.

Diet and subsistence in Bronze Age pastoral communities from the southern Russian steppes and the North Caucasus.

The flanks of the Caucasus Mountains and the steppe landscape to their north offered highly productive grasslands for Bronze Age herders and their flocks of sheep, goat, and cattle. While the archaeological evidence points to a largely pastoral lifestyle, knowledge regarding the general composition of human diets and their variation across landscapes and during the different phases of the Bronze Age is still restricted. Human and animal skeletal remains from the burial mounds that dominate the archaeological landscape and their stable isotope compositions are major sources of dietary information. Here, we present stable carbon and nitrogen isotope data of bone collagen of 105 human and 50 animal individuals from the 5th millennium BC to the Sarmatian period, with a strong focus on the Bronze Age and its cultural units including Maykop, Yamnaya, Novotitorovskaya, North Caucasian, Catacomb, post-Catacomb and late Bronze Age groups. The samples comprise all inhumations with sufficient bone preservation from five burial mound sites and a flat grave cemetery as well as subsamples from three further sites. They represent the Caucasus Mountains in the south, the piedmont zone and Kuban steppe with humid steppe and forest vegetation to its north, and more arid regions in the Caspian steppe. The stable isotope compositions of the bone collagen of humans and animals varied across the study area and reflect regional diversity in environmental conditions and diets. The data agree with meat, milk, and/or dairy products from domesticated herbivores, especially from sheep and goats having contributed substantially to human diets, as it is common for a largely pastoral economy. This observation is also in correspondence with the faunal remains observed in the graves and offerings of animals in the mound shells. In addition, foodstuffs with elevated carbon and nitrogen isotope values, such as meat of unweaned animals, fish, or plants, also contributed to human diets, especially among communities living in the more arid landscapes. The regional distinction of the animal and human data with few outliers points to mobility radii that were largely concentrated within the environmental zones in which the respective sites are located. In general, dietary variation among the cultural entities as well as regarding age, sex and archaeologically indicated social status is only weakly reflected. There is, however, some indication for a dietary shift during the Early Bronze Age Maykop period.

[Nutriome as the direction of the "main blow": determination of physiological needs in macro- and micronutrients, minor biologically active substances].

One of the essential parts of fundamental research in Nutrition Science is the determination of the physiological requirements of humans for energy and food substances. Research that has been carried out in this area over the past 90 years, consistently develops and improves the norms of physiological requirements for energy and nutrients for various groups of the population of the Russian Federation. In the 50 years of the last century in this research field, determining the values of daily intake for macronutrients (proteins, lipids and carbohydrates), was in the first place. Then the Era of micronutrients (vitamins, minerals, trace elements) was started, and, finally, now there is the Era of minor food biologically active substances. More and more facts are accumulating about their leading role in regulating metabolism. They can be recognized as endogenous regulators, the primary vital components involved in the formation of human health. In recent years, the new definition of Nutriome is introduced into Nutrition Science. It is considered as a set of essential nutritional factors to maintain a dynamic equilibrium between human being and the environment, aimed to ensure viability, the preservation and reproduction of the species, keeping the adaptive capacity, the system of antioxidant defence, apoptosis, metabolism, and immune system function. The Nutriome is a formula for optimal nutrition, which is continually being improved and supplemented. Knowledge of this formula is the key to forming an optimal diet for a person, and, therefore, to save their health. It is evident that at the population level, the Nutriome has its characteristics, its structure for each age period of human life. The need to develop a formula for optimal nutrition and, consequently, updating nutrient-based dietary guidelines is induced by socio-economic and demographic changes in population, changes in anthropometric characteristics of children and adults, increasing prevalence of socially significant non-communicable diseases, developing studies of the significance of particular food substances and establishing the relationship between nutrition and health.

Growing up in Ancient Sardinia: Infant-toddler dietary changes revealed by the novel use of hydrogen isotopes (δ2H).

Detailed information about the lives and deaths of children in antiquity is often in short supply. Childhood dietary histories are, however, recorded and maintained in the teeth of both juveniles and adults. Primary tooth dentinal collagen does not turn over, preserving a sequential record of dietary changes. The use of nitrogen (δ15N) and carbon (δ13C) isotope values of incrementally sampled dentin are used in the study of breastfeeding practices but evidence for the addition of weaning foods, both in terms of mode and, particularly, duration, has remained analytically inaccessible to date. Here, we demonstrate how the novel use hydrogen isotope (δ2H) values of sequentially micro-sampled dentin collagen, measured from individuals excavated from a Punic cemetery, in Sardinia, Italy, can serve as a proxy for weaning food type and duration in ancient childhood diet. The weaning rate and age, based on the decline in δ15N and δ13C values of permanent first molars and the concomitant increase in δ2H, appears to be broadly similar among six individuals. Hydrogen isotopes vary systematically from a low value soon after birth, rising through early childhood. The early post-birth values can be explained by the influence of 2H-depleted lipids from mother's breastmilk and the later δ2H rise is consistent with, among other things, a substantial portion of boiled foodstuffs, such as the higher δ2H values observed in porridge. Overall δ2H in dentin shows great promise to elucidate infant and childhood feeding practices, and especially the introduction of supplementary foods during the weaning process.

External auditory exostoses and early Neolithic aquatic resource procurement in Cyprus: Results from Cypro-PPNB Kissonerga-Mylouthkia in regional context.

OBJECTIVE: This research is designed to evaluate the occurrence of external auditory exostoses (EAEs) in skeletal remains from the oldest known water wells in the world (Kissonerga-Mylouthkia, Cyprus, 8,200-7,200 BCE). MATERIALS: Six individuals (MNI = 6), five fragmentary temporalia, two preserved auditory canals. METHODS: Macroscopic and microscopic (up to x30) observation, with illumination; presence, type, side, severity, occlusion, number, and position of bony growths recorded. RESULTS: Bony growths within two auditory canals were discovered. Differential diagnosis includes osteomata and external auditory exostoses, with the latter consistent with the bony growths (Grade 1 EAEs, two adult males, one with single, another with two EAEs). CONCLUSIONS: The emergence of the Neolithic in Southwest Asia is thought to involve increases in dietary breadth among foraging societies (Broad-Spectrum Revolution). EAEs likely indicate maritime activity in this context, given the lack of freshwater bodies, and zooarchaeological evidence points to dietary and other uses of maritime organisms. SIGNIFICANCE: This EAE evidence is the oldest known in maritime contexts in Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East, and first in Cyprus. It contributes towards understanding the initial colonization events by Neolithic farming communities in the 9th millennium BC, and the emergence of broad-spectrum economies at the dawn of the Neolithic in Southwest Asia, crucial for re-considerations of paradigms on the transition to the Neolithic way of life in the Near East. LIMITATIONS: Only a few skeletal remains from these prehistoric contexts were available for observation. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH: Further intensive review of Cypriot skeletal collections for EAEs is advised.

New insights on Neolithic food and mobility patterns in Mediterranean coastal populations.

OBJECTIVES: The aims of this research are to explore the diet, mobility, social organization, and environmental exploitation patterns of early Mediterranean farmers, particularly the role of marine and plant resources in these foodways. In addition, this work strives to document possible gendered patterns of behavior linked to the neolithization of this ecologically rich area. To achieve this, a set of multiproxy analyses (isotopic analyses, dental calculus, microremains analysis, ancient DNA) were performed on an exceptional deposit (n = 61) of human remains from the Les Bréguières site (France), dating to the transition of the sixth to the fifth millennium BCE. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The samples used in this study were excavated from the Les Bréguières site (Mougins, Alpes-Maritimes, France), located along the southeastern Mediterranean coastline of France. Stable isotope analyses (C, N) on bone collagen (17 coxal bones, 35 craniofacial elements) were performed as a means to infer protein intake during tissue development. Sulfur isotope ratios were used as indicators of geographical and environmental points of origin. The study of ancient dental calculus helped document the consumption of plants. Strontium isotope analysis on tooth enamel (n = 56) was conducted to infer human provenance and territorial mobility. Finally, ancient DNA analysis was performed to study maternal versus paternal diversity within this Neolithic group (n = 30). RESULTS: Stable isotope ratios for human bones range from -20.3 to -18.1‰ for C, from 8.9 to 11.1‰ for N and from 6.4 to 15‰ for S. Domestic animal data range from -22.0 to -20.2‰ for C, from 4.1 to 6.9‰ for N, and from 10.2 to 12.5‰ for S. Human enamel 87 Sr/86 Sr range from 0.7081 to 0.7102, slightly wider than the animal range (between 0.7087 and 0.7096). Starch and phytolith microremains were recovered as well as other types of remains (e.g., hairs, diatoms, fungal spores). Starch grains include Triticeae type and phytolith includes dicotyledons and monocot types as panicoid grasses. Mitochondrial DNA characterized eight different maternal lineages: H1, H3, HV (5.26%), J (10.53%), J1, K, T (5.2%), and U5 (10.53%) but no sample yielded reproducible Y chromosome SNPs, preventing paternal lineage characterization. DISCUSSION: Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios indicate a consumption of protein by humans mainly focused on terrestrial animals and possible exploitation of marine resources for one male and one undetermined adult. Sulfur stable isotope ratios allowed distinguishing groups with different geographical origins, including two females possibly more exposed to the sea spray effect. While strontium isotope data do not indicate different origins for the individuals, mitochondrial lineage diversity from petrous bone DNA suggests the burial includes genetically differentiated groups or a group practicing patrilocality. Moreover, the diversity of plant microremains recorded in dental calculus provide the first evidence that the groups of Les Bréguières consumed a wide breadth of plant foods (as cereals and wild taxa) that required access to diverse environments. This transdisciplinary research paves the way for new perspectives and highlights the relevance for novel research of contexts (whether recently discovered or in museum collections) excavated near shorelines, due to the richness of the biodiversity and the wide range of edible resources available.

The effect of diet and sociopolitical change on physiological stress and behavior in late Roman-Early Byzantine (300-700 AD) and Islamic (902-1,235 AD) populations from Ibiza, Spain.

OBJECTIVES: This study evaluated chronological changes in physiological stress and levels of habitual loading of Ibizan populations from the Late Roman-Early Byzantine (LREB) to the Islamic period (300-1,235 AD) using measures of body size and bone cross-sectional properties to compare Urban LREB, Urban Medieval Islamic, and Rural Medieval Islamic groups. It also explored the effect of diet, modeled using stable isotopes, on physiological stress levels and behavior. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The sample comprised individuals from three archeological populations: Urban Late Roman- Early Byzantine (LREB) (300-700 AD), Medieval Urban Islamic (902-1,235 AD), and Medieval Rural Islamic. Bone lengths, femoral head dimensions, and cross-sectional properties, diaphyseal products and circumferences, were compared to assess differences in body size and habitual loading in 222 adult individuals. Ordinary least squares regression evaluated the correlations between these measures and carbon (δ13 C) and nitrogen (δ15 N) stable isotope ratios in 115 individuals for whom both isotope values and osteological measures are available. RESULTS: The Medieval Rural Islamic group had shorter stature and reduced lower limb cross-sectional properties compared to the two urban groups. Limb shape differs between Urban LREB and Urban Medieval Islamic groups. Measures of body size length were positively correlated with δ13 C values in all individuals and separately in the Urban LREB and Rural Medieval Islamic groups. δ15 N showed a positive correlation with left humerus shape in the Urban LREB sample. CONCLUSIONS: The low stature and cross-sectional properties of the Medieval Rural Islamic group may be an indicator of greater physiological stress, potentially due to poorer diet. Positive correlations between measures of body size and δ13 C values further suggest that greater access to C4 resources improved diet quality. Alternatively, this relationship could indicate greater body size among migrants from areas where individuals consumed more C4 resources.

Reconstructing Bronze Age diets and farming strategies at the early Bronze Age sites of La Bastida and Gatas (southeast Iberia) using stable isotope analysis.

The El Argar society of the Bronze Age in the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula (2200-1550 cal BCE) was among the first complex societies in Europe. Its economy was based on cereal cultivation and metallurgy, it was organized hierarchically, and successively expanded its territory. Most of the monumentally fortified settlements lay on steeply sloped mountains, separated by fertile plains, and allowed optimal control of the area. Here, we explore El Argar human diets, animal husbandry strategies, and food webs using stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of charred cereal grains as well as human and animal bone collagen. The sample comprised 75 human individuals from the sites of La Bastida (n = 52) and Gatas (n = 23), 32 domesticated and wild animals as well as 76 barley and 29 wheat grains from two chronological phases of a total time span of ca. 650 years. The grains indicate extensive cereal cultivation under rain-fed conditions with little to moderate application of manure. Especially at La Bastida, crops and their by-products contributed significantly to the forage of the domesticated animals, which attests to a strong interrelation of cultivation and animal husbandry. Trophic level spacing and Bayesian modelling confirm that human diets were largely based on barley with some contribution of meat or dairy products. A cross-sectional analysis of bone collagen suggests that children were breastfed until about 1.5-2 years old, and infants from Gatas may have suffered from more metabolic stress than those at La Bastida. Adults of both sexes consumed similar diets that reflect social and chronological variation to some extent. Despite significantly higher δ13C and δ15N values at La Bastida than at Gatas, the isotopic data of the staple crops and domestic animals from both sites indicate that such differences do not necessarily correspond to different average human diets, but to agricultural strategies. These results urge for a reassessment of previous isotope studies in which only human remains have been taken into account. The study highlights that disentangling the complex influences on human isotope compositions requires a firm set of comparative data.