Uncovering the Holocene roots of contemporary disease-scapes: bringing archaeology into One Health.

The accelerating pace of emerging zoonotic diseases in the twenty-first century has motivated cross-disciplinary collaboration on One Health approaches, combining microbiology, veterinary and environmental sciences, and epidemiology for outbreak prevention and mitigation. Such outbreaks are often caused by spillovers attributed to human activities that encroach on wildlife habitats and ecosystems, such as land use change, industrialized food production, urbanization and animal trade. While the origin of anthropogenic effects on animal ecology and biogeography can be traced to the Late Pleistocene, the archaeological record-a long-term archive of human-animal-environmental interactions-has largely been untapped in these One Health approaches, thus limiting our understanding of these dynamics over time. In this review, we examine how humans, as niche constructors, have facilitated new host species and 'disease-scapes' from the Late Pleistocene to the Anthropocene, by viewing zooarchaeological, bioarchaeological and palaeoecological data with a One Health perspective. We also highlight how new biomolecular tools and advances in the '-omics' can be holistically coupled with archaeological and palaeoecological reconstructions in the service of studying zoonotic disease emergence and re-emergence.

A chomped chimp: New evidence of tooth marks on an adult chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus).

OBJECTIVES: To describe and interpret previously unreported marks on the dry cranium of an adult chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) from Côte d'Ivoire at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History (USNM 450071). MATERIALS AND METHODS: All marks on the cranium were documented and assessed through physical examination of the specimen, photography, micro-computed tomography (micro-CT), and 3D laser scanning. Pits and punctures were measured with digital calipers for comparison with published carnivore tooth mark measurements. RESULTS: The cranium shows perimortem or postmortem damage to the temporal, occipital, and maxillary regions that is not recent. Size and color variation in the marks suggest two damage events, possibly involving chewing by different animals, at least one of which was a large-bodied mammal. The 22 tooth pits and punctures (0.89-8.75 mm in maximum length and 0.88-6.63 mm in breadth) overlap in size with those inflicted by wild leopards, the most significant predators of common chimpanzees due to their largely overlapping ecological distributions. CONCLUSIONS: Based on qualitative and quantitative evidence, we conclude that leopards are the most likely cause of the most prominent marks on the cranium. However, we cannot rule out the additional possibility of other chimpanzees, although there are no published studies of chimpanzee tooth marks for direct comparison. This study is the most extensive documentation to date of a modern adult chimpanzee skull exhibiting tooth marks by a large mammal, thus providing new evidence to help identify and interpret other events of predation and scavenging of large-bodied apes in the modern and fossil records.

Copper ions induce dityrosine-linked dimers in human but not in murine islet amyloid polypeptide (IAPP/amylin).

Dysregulation and aggregation of the peptide hormone IAPP (islet amyloid polypeptide, a.k.a. amylin) into soluble oligomers that appear to be cell-toxic is a known aspect of diabetes mellitus (DM) Type 2 pathology. IAPP aggregation is influenced by several factors including interactions with metal ions such as Cu(II). Because Cu(II) ions are redox-active they may contribute to metal-catalyzed formation of oxidative tyrosyl radicals, which can generate dityrosine cross-links. Here, we show that such a process, which involves Cu(II) ions bound to the IAPP peptide together with H2O2, can induce formation of large amounts of IAPP dimers connected by covalent dityrosine cross-links. This cross-linking is less pronounced at low pH and for murine IAPP, likely due to less efficient Cu(II) binding. Whether IAPP can carry out its hormonal function as a cross-linked dimer is unknown. As dityrosine concentrations are higher in blood plasma of DM Type 2 patients - arguably due to disease-related oxidative stress - and as dimer formation is the first step in protein aggregation, generation of dityrosine-linked dimers may be an important factor in IAPP aggregation and thus relevant for DM Type 2 progression.

Ancient water bottle use and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) exposure among California Indians: a prehistoric health risk assessment.

BACKGROUND: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are the main toxic compounds in natural bitumen, a fossil material used by modern and ancient societies around the world. The adverse health effects of PAHs on modern humans are well established, but their health impacts on past populations are unclear. It has previously been suggested that a prehistoric health decline among the native people living on the California Channel Islands may have been related to PAH exposure. Here, we assess the potential health risks of PAH exposure from the use and manufacture of bitumen-coated water bottles by ancient California Indian societies. METHODS: We replicated prehistoric bitumen-coated water bottles with traditional materials and techniques of California Indians, based on ethnographic and archaeological evidence. In order to estimate PAH exposure related to water bottle manufacture and use, we conducted controlled experiments to measure PAH contamination 1) in air during the manufacturing process and 2) in water and olive oil stored in a completed bottle for varying periods of time. Samples were analyzed with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) for concentrations of the 16 PAHs identified by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as priority pollutants. RESULTS: Eight PAHs were detected in concentrations of 1-10 µg/m3 in air during bottle production and 50-900 ng/L in water after 2 months of storage, ranging from two-ring (naphthalene and methylnaphthalene) to four-ring (fluoranthene) molecules. All 16 PAHs analyzed were detected in olive oil after 2 days (2 to 35 µg/kg), 2 weeks (3 to 66 µg/kg), and 2 months (5 to 140 µg/kg) of storage. CONCLUSIONS: For ancient California Indians, water stored in bitumen-coated water bottles was not a significant source of PAH exposure, but production of such bottles could have resulted in harmful airborne PAH exposure.

OH 83: A new early modern human fossil cranium from the Ndutu beds of Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania.

OBJECTIVE: Herein we introduce a newly recovered partial calvaria, OH 83, from the upper Ndutu Beds of Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. We present the geological context of its discovery and a comparative analysis of its morphology, placing OH 83 within the context of our current understanding of the origins and evolution of Homo sapiens. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We comparatively assessed the morphology of OH 83 using quantitative and qualitative data from penecontemporaneous fossils and the W.W. Howells modern human craniometric dataset. RESULTS: OH 83 is geologically dated to ca. 60-32 ka. Its morphology is indicative of an early modern human, falling at the low end of the range of variation for post-orbital cranial breadth, the high end of the range for bifrontal breadth, and near average in frontal length. DISCUSSION: There have been numerous attempts to use cranial anatomy to define the species Homo sapiens and identify it in the fossil record. These efforts have not met wide agreement by the scientific community due, in part, to the mosaic patterns of cranial variation represented by the fossils. The variable, mosaic pattern of trait expression in the crania of Middle and Late Pleistocene fossils implies that morphological modernity did not occur at once. However, OH 83 demonstrates that by ca. 60-32 ka modern humans in Africa included individuals that are at the fairly small and gracile range of modern human cranial variation.

Evaluating sexual dimorphism in the human mastoid process: A viewpoint on the methodology.

The mastoid process is one of the most sexually dimorphic features in the human skull, and is therefore often used to identify the sex of skeletons. Numerous techniques for assessing variation in the size and shape of the mastoid process have been proposed and implemented in osteological research, but its complex form still presents difficulties for consistent and effective analysis. In this article, we compare the different techniques and variables that have been used to define, measure, and visually score sexual dimorphism in the mastoid process. We argue that the current protocols fail to capture the full morphological range of this bony projection, and suggest ways of improving and standardizing them, regarding both traditional and 3D-based approaches.

Sexual dimorphism in human cranial trait scores: effects of population, age, and body size.

Sex estimation from the skull is commonly performed by physical and forensic anthropologists using a five-trait scoring system developed by Walker. Despite the popularity of this method, validation studies evaluating its accuracy across a variety of samples are lacking. Furthermore, it remains unclear what other intrinsic or extrinsic variables are related to the expression of these traits. In this study, cranial trait scores and postcranial measurements were collected from four diverse population groups (U.S. Whites, U.S. Blacks, medieval Nubians, and Arikara Native Americans) following Walker's protocols (total n = 499). Univariate and multivariate analyses were utilized to evaluate the accuracy of these traits in sex estimation, and to test for the effects of population, age, and body size on trait expressions. Results revealed significant effects of population on all trait scores. Sample-specific correct sex classification rates ranged from 74% to 94%, with an overall accuracy of 85% for the pooled sample. Classification performance varied among the traits (best for glabella and mastoid scores and worst for nuchal scores). Furthermore, correlations between traits were weak or nonsignificant, suggesting that different factors may influence individual traits. Some traits displayed correlations with age and/or postcranial size that were significant but weak, and within-population analyses did not reveal any consistent relationships between these traits across all groups. These results indicate that neither age nor body size plays a large role in trait expression, and thus does not need to be incorporated into sex estimation methods.

"To honor and remember": An ethical awakening to African American remains in museums.

In 2021, amid surging activism in the Movement for Black Lives, the Smithsonian Institution's possession of the remains of thousands of African Americans drew widespread attention. In response, the Smithsonian and its National Museum of Natural History undertook a series of steps to assess these remains and to develop a policy for returning as many as possible to descendants and descendant communities, under changes that would apply to all non-Native American remains in Smithsonian collections. This paper reviews the actions taken to date and the work that is still in progress or planned. I contextualize these steps more broadly within an "ethical awakening" to African American remains that have long been present, studied, and displayed in collections across the museum community in the United States, where other institutions have faced similar challenges and changes.

Ethical futures in biological anthropology: Research, teaching, community engagement, and curation involving deceased individuals.

Although ethical reforms in biological anthropology have gained ground in recent years, there is still a scarcity of ethical standards for work involving historical documented collections (HDCs) at US museums and universities. These collections of deceased individuals were created in the late 19th to mid-20th centuries under anatomy laws that targeted socially marginalized communities and allowed for the dissection of these individuals without their consent. Due to the extensive information associated with the individuals and made available to researchers, these collections have served as foundational resources for theory and methods development in biological anthropology into the 21st century. Recognizing the need for ethical guidelines for research, teaching and training, community engagement, and curation involving HDCs, we held a workshop called "Ethical Futures for Curation, Research, and Teaching in Biological Anthropology" on November 15-17, 2021. Here we summarize the conversations and major points of consensus among the workshop participants on these topics in order to advance these ethical considerations more broadly across the field.

Regaining creativity in science: insights from conversation.

The 'early modern' (Renaissance) workshop was predicated on the idea that informal, open-ended cooperation enables participants to experience difference and develop new insights, which can lead to new ways of thinking and doing. This paper presents the insights that emerged from a conversation event that brought wide-ranging voices together from different domains in science, and across the arts and industry, to consider science leadership as we look to the future in a time of interlocking crises. The core theme identified was a need to regain creativity in science; in the methods of scientific endeavours, in the way science is produced and communicated, and in how science is experienced in society. Three key challenges for re-establishing a culture of creativity in science emerged: (i) how scientists communicate what science is and what it is for, (ii) what scientists value, and (iii) how scientists create and co-create science with and for society. Furthermore, the value of open-ended and ongoing conversation between different perspectives as a means of achieving this culture was identified and demonstrated.

Investigating factors of metabolic bone disease in baboons (Papio spp.) using museum collections.

OBJECTIVES: To assess manifestations of metabolic bone disease (MBD) and their potential environmental and phenotypic factors in captive and non-captive baboon (Papio spp.) specimens. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Our sample consisted of 160 baboon specimens at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History accessioned from 1890 to 1971. Combining cranial indicators of MBD and the museum's historical data, we examined factors contributing to likely instances of MBD. We used binomial-family generalized linear models to assess differences in MBD frequency by environment (captive, non-captive), specimen accession year, and skin color (light, medium, dark). RESULTS: Indicators of MBD were most frequently observed in captive baboons, with a decrease in MBD frequency over time. Fifteen non-captive individuals showed indicators of MBD, which are the first published cases of MBD in non-captive nonhuman primates (NHPs) to our knowledge. The most common MBD indicators were bone porosity (n = 35) and bone thickening/enlargement (n = 35). Fibrous osteodystrophy was observed frequently in our sample, likely relating to nutritional deficiencies. We found no association between exposed facial skin color variation and MBD. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings are consistent with historical accounts of MBD prevalence in captive facilities, especially earlier in the 20th century. A decrease in MBD prevalence later in the 20th century likely reflects improvements in housing, diet, and veterinary care in captive settings. Causes of MBD development in non-captive baboons should be further explored, as understanding the potential health impacts that anthropogenic environments impose on NHPs is imperative as humans increasingly alter the natural world in the 21st century.

Sampling and statistical considerations for the Suchey-Brooks method for pubic bone age estimation: implications for regional comparisons.

Although the Suchey-Brooks (SB) system is currently the most widely used method for age-at-death estimation from the pubic bone, the system continues to evolve through stepwise improvements. Since the system was developed from a pubic bone sample derived mainly from North Americans, it is unclear how well it performs on populations from other continents. During the last decade, studies of the SB system on pubic bone samples from local populations in Europe and Asia have indicated regional differences in the relationship between age and pubic bone development. However, these studies have for the most part followed different research protocols, which make comparisons between their results less meaningful. It would be most useful if future regional analysis of the SB system were done in a rigorous and uniform fashion, following standard procedures. In this paper, sampling and statistical considerations are outlined that hopefully will help to standardize research on the SB system.

Sexual dimorphism in mastoid process volumes measured from 3D models of dry crania from mediaeval Croatia.

3D analysis of skeletal volumes has become an important field in digital anthropology studies. The volume of the mastoid process has been proposed to display significant sexual dimorphism, but it has a complex shape and to date no study has quantified the full mastoid volume for sex estimation purposes. In this study we compared three different ways to isolate the volume of the mastoid process from digital 3D models of dry crania, and then evaluated the performance of the three different volume definitions for sex estimation purposes. A total of 170 crania (86 male, 84 females) excavated from five medieval Croatian sites were CT-scanned and used to produce 3D stereolitographic models. The three different isolation techniques were based on various anatomical landmarks and planes, as well as the anatomy of the mastoid process itself. Measurements of the three different mastoid volumes yielded different accuracies and precisions. Interestingly, anatomical structures were sometimes more useful than classical landmarks as demarcators of mastoid volume. For all three volume definitions, male mastoid volumes were significantly larger than female volumes, in both relative and absolute numbers. Sex estimation based on mastoid volume showed a slightly higher precision and better accuracy (71% correct classifications) than visual scoring techniques (67%) and linear distance measurements (69%) of the mastoid process. Sex estimation based on cranial size performed even better (78%), and multifactorial analysis (cranium size + mastoid volume) reached up to 81% accuracy. These results show that measurements of the mastoid volume represent a promising metric to be used in multifactorial approaches for sex estimation of human remains.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis After Exposure to Manganese from Traditional Medicine Procedures in Kenya.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease characterized by motor neuron loss and widespread muscular atrophy. Despite intensive investigations on genetic and environmental factors, the cause of ALS remains unknown. Recent data suggest a role for metal exposures in ALS causation. In this study we present a patient who developed ALS after a traditional medical procedure in Kenya. The procedure involved insertion of a black metal powder into several subcutaneous cuts in the lower back. Four months later, general muscle weakness developed. Clinical and electrophysiological examinations detected widespread denervation consistent with ALS. The patient died from respiratory failure less than a year after the procedure. Scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction analyses identified the black powder as potassium permanganate (KMnO4). A causative relationship between the systemic exposure to KMnO4 and ALS development can be suspected, especially as manganese is a well-known neurotoxicant previously found to be elevated in cerebrospinal fluid from ALS patients. Manganese neurotoxicity and exposure routes conveying this toxicity deserve further attention.

What does it mean to be wild? Assessing human influence on the environments of nonhuman primate specimens in museum collections.

OBJECTIVES: Natural history collections are often thought to represent environments in a pristine natural state-free from human intervention-the so-called "wild." In this study, we aim to assess the level of human influence represented by natural history collections of wild-collected primates over 120 years at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History (NMNH). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Our sample consisted of 875 catarrhine primate specimens in NMNH collections, representing 13 genera collected in 39 countries from 1882 to 2004. Using archival and accession information we determined the approximate locations from which specimens were collected. We then plotted location coordinates onto publicly available anthrome maps created by Ellis et al. (Global Ecology and Biogeography, 2010, 19, 589), which delineate terrestrial biomes of human population density and land use worldwide since the 1700s. RESULTS: We found that among primates collected from their native ranges, 92% were from an environment that had some level of human impact, suggesting that the majority of presumed wild-collected primate specimens lived in an environment influenced by humans during their lifetimes. DISCUSSION: The degree to which human-modified environments may have impacted the lives of primates currently held in museum collections has been historically ignored, implicating unforeseen consequences for collection-based research. While unique effects related to commensalism with humans remain understudied, effects currently attributed to natural phenomena may, in fact, be related to anthropogenic pressures on unmanaged populations of primates.

Forensic Tools for Species Identification of Skeletal Remains: Metrics, Statistics, and OsteoID.

Although nonhuman remains constitute a significant portion of forensic anthropological casework, the potential use of bone metrics to assess the human origin and to classify species of skeletal remains has not been thoroughly investigated. This study aimed to assess the utility of quantitative methods in distinguishing human from nonhuman remains and present additional resources for species identification. Over 50,000 measurements were compiled from humans and 27 nonhuman (mostly North American) species. Decision trees developed from the long bone data can differentiate human from nonhuman remains with over 90% accuracy (>98% accuracy for the human sample), even if all long bones are pooled. Stepwise discriminant function results were slightly lower (>87.4% overall accuracy). The quantitative models can be used to support visual identifications or preliminarily assess forensic significance at scenes. For species classification, bone-specific discriminant functions returned accuracies between 77.7% and 89.1%, but classification results varied highly across species. From the study data, we developed a web tool, OsteoID, for users who can input measurements and be shown photographs of potential bones/species to aid in visual identification. OsteoID also includes supplementary images (e.g., 3D scans), creating an additional resource for forensic anthropologists and others involved in skeletal species identification and comparative osteology.

Lithium ions display weak interaction with amyloid-beta (Aß) peptides and have minor effects on their aggregation.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an incurable disease and the main cause of age-related dementia worldwide, despite decades of research. Treatment of AD with lithium (Li) has showed promising results, but the underlying mechanism is unclear. The pathological hallmark of AD brains is deposition of amyloid plaques, consisting mainly of amyloid-ß (Aß) peptides aggregated into amyloid fibrils. The plaques contain also metal ions of e.g. Cu, Fe, and Zn, and such ions are known to interact with Aß peptides and modulate their aggregation and toxicity. The interactions between Aß peptides and Li+ ions have however not been well investigated. Here, we use a range of biophysical techniques to characterize in vitro interactions between Aß peptides and Li+ ions. We show that Li+ ions display weak and non-specific interactions with Aß peptides, and have minor effects on Aß aggregation. These results indicate that possible beneficial effects of Li on AD pathology are not likely caused by direct interactions between Aß peptides and Li+ ions.

Brief communication: Additional cases of maxillary canine-first premolar transposition in several prehistoric skeletal assemblages from the Santa Barbara Channel Islands of California.

This article identifies and discusses seven new cases of complete maxillary canine-premolar transposition in ancient populations from the Santa Barbara Channel region of California. A high frequency of this tooth transposition has been previously documented within a single prehistoric cemetery on one of the Channel Islands. A total of 966 crania representing 30 local sites and about 7,000 years of human occupation were examined, revealing an abnormally high prevalence of this transposition trait among islanders during the Early period of southern California prehistory ( approximately 5500-600 B.C.). One of the affected crania is from a cemetery more than 7,000-years-old and constitutes the earliest case of tooth transposition in humans so far reported. The results are consistent with findings by other studies that have indicated inbreeding among the early Channel Islands groups. Together with the normal transposition rates among mainland populations, the decreasing prevalence of maxillary canine-first premolar transposition among island populations across the Holocene suggests that inbreeding on the northern Channel Islands had all but ceased by the end of the first millennium B.C., most likely as a result of increased cross-channel migration and interaction.

Population-level assessment of atlas occipitalization in artificially modified crania from pre-Hispanic Peru.

Atlas occipitalization (AO) is a spinal anomaly, characterized by the fusion of the first cervical vertebra and occipital bone, with a complex etiology that can arise from congenital and environmental causes. AO has been reported in three regions of pre-Hispanic Peru in skeletal remains with artificial cranial modification (ACM), which involves the use of compression devices to permanently alter cranial shape and may have affected the fusion of the atlas and occipital bone. The aims of this study were to gain insights into AO's etiology by testing correlations between AO and ACM presence/type and geographic region as well as to characterize morphological variation associated with AO. We investigated the geographic distribution of AO and its potential relationship to ACM in a large sample of human crania from eight coastal and highland regions of pre-Hispanic Peru, held at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History (n = 608, 1300-1500 CE). Eleven cases of AO were observed in three coastal regions-including two previously unreported regions-at an overall frequency of 1.8%. The frequency of AO did not differ significantly between crania with and without ACM, in general or by type, suggesting that ACM is not an etiological factor that influences AO in this sample. AO was observed at a significantly higher rate in the southern coastal region of Arequipa than in any other region. Genetic, dietary, and epidemiological conditions are evaluated as factors possibly shaping the geographic distribution of AO along the central and southern coasts of Peru.