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1.
Sci Rep ; 9(1): 6628, 2019 04 29.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-31036834

ABSTRACT

Metagenomic analysis is a highly promising technique in paleogenetic research that allows analysis of the complete genomic make-up of a sample. This technique has successfully been employed to archaeological sediments, but possible leaching of DNA through the sequence limits interpretation. We applied this technique to the analysis of ancient DNA (aDNA) from Late Quaternary stalagmites from two caves in Western Georgia, Melouri Cave and Solkota. Stalagmites form closed systems, limiting the effect of leaching, and can be securely dated with U-series. The analyses of the sequence data from the Melouri Cave stalagmite revealed potential contamination and low preservation of DNA. However, the two Solkota stalagmites preserved ancient DNA molecules of mammals (bear, roe deer, bats) and plants (chestnut, hazelnut, flax). The aDNA bearing layers from one of the two Solkota stalagmites were dated to between ~84 ka and ~56 ka BP by U-series. The second Solkota stalagmite contained excessive detrital clay obstructing U-series dating, but it also contained bear bones with a minimum age of ~50 BP uncalibrated years and ancient DNA molecules. The preservation of authentic ancient DNA molecules in Late Quaternary speleothems opens up a new paleogenetic archive for archaeological, paleontological and paleoenvironmental research.


Subject(s)
DNA, Ancient , DNA, Plant/genetics , Mammals/genetics , Animals , Georgia , Paleontology
2.
Sci Rep ; 8(1): 14879, 2018 10 05.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-30291256

ABSTRACT

Ancient DNA genome-wide analyses of Neolithic individuals from central and southern Europe indicate an overall population turnover pattern in which migrating farmers from Anatolia and the Near East largely replaced autochthonous Mesolithic hunter-gatherers. However, the genetic history of the Neolithic transition in areas lying north of the European Neolithic core region involved different levels of admixture with hunter-gatherers. Here we analyse genome-wide data of 17 individuals spanning from the Middle Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age (4300-1900 BCE) in order to assess the Neolithic transition in north-central Poland, and the local impacts of hunter-farmer contacts and Late Neolithic steppe migrations. We evaluate the influence of these on local populations and assess if and how they change through time, reporting evidence of recurrent hunter-farmer admixture over three millennia, and the co-existence of unadmixed hunter-gatherers as late as 4300 BCE. During the Late Neolithic we report the appearance of steppe ancestry, but on a lesser scale than previously described for other central European regions, with evidence of stronger affinities to hunter-gatherers than to steppe pastoralists. These results help understand the Neolithic palaeogenomics of another central European area, Kuyavia, and highlight the complexity of population interactions during those times.


Subject(s)
Human Migration , Agriculture/history , Archaeology , Chromosomes, Human, Y/genetics , DNA, Ancient/analysis , DNA, Mitochondrial/analysis , DNA, Mitochondrial/genetics , Europe , Farmers , Genetic Drift , Genetics, Population , Genome, Human , Genome-Wide Association Study , Genomics , History, Ancient , Humans , Middle East , Poland
3.
Sci Rep ; 6: 31326, 2016 08 09.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-27502179

ABSTRACT

The agricultural transition profoundly changed human societies. We sequenced and analysed the first genome (1.39x) of an early Neolithic woman from Ganj Dareh, in the Zagros Mountains of Iran, a site with early evidence for an economy based on goat herding, ca. 10,000 BP. We show that Western Iran was inhabited by a population genetically most similar to hunter-gatherers from the Caucasus, but distinct from the Neolithic Anatolian people who later brought food production into Europe. The inhabitants of Ganj Dareh made little direct genetic contribution to modern European populations, suggesting those of the Central Zagros were somewhat isolated from other populations of the Fertile Crescent. Runs of homozygosity are of a similar length to those from Neolithic farmers, and shorter than those of Caucasus and Western Hunter-Gatherers, suggesting that the inhabitants of Ganj Dareh did not undergo the large population bottleneck suffered by their northern neighbours. While some degree of cultural diffusion between Anatolia, Western Iran and other neighbouring regions is possible, the genetic dissimilarity between early Anatolian farmers and the inhabitants of Ganj Dareh supports a model in which Neolithic societies in these areas were distinct.


Subject(s)
Agriculture , DNA, Ancient/analysis , Farmers , Genetics, Population , Archaeology , DNA, Mitochondrial/genetics , Ethnicity/genetics , Europe , Female , Genetic Variation , Genome, Human , Geography , Haplotypes , Human Migration , Humans , Iran/ethnology , Phenotype , Phylogeny , Principal Component Analysis
4.
Science ; 350(6262): 820-2, 2015 Nov 13.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-26449472

ABSTRACT

Characterizing genetic diversity in Africa is a crucial step for most analyses reconstructing the evolutionary history of anatomically modern humans. However, historic migrations from Eurasia into Africa have affected many contemporary populations, confounding inferences. Here, we present a 12.5× coverage ancient genome of an Ethiopian male ("Mota") who lived approximately 4500 years ago. We use this genome to demonstrate that the Eurasian backflow into Africa came from a population closely related to Early Neolithic farmers, who had colonized Europe 4000 years earlier. The extent of this backflow was much greater than previously reported, reaching all the way to Central, West, and Southern Africa, affecting even populations such as Yoruba and Mbuti, previously thought to be relatively unadmixed, who harbor 6 to 7% Eurasian ancestry.


Subject(s)
Black People/genetics , Genome, Human , Human Migration , Asia , Biological Evolution , Ethiopia , Europe , Genetic Variation , Humans , Male
5.
Homo ; 66(1): 27-37, 2015 Feb.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-25456143

ABSTRACT

A child from a Roman necropolis in Pécs, Hungary (4th century CE) was initially diagnosed with severe spinal osteomyelitis. The post-cranial skeleton displayed bone alterations in the lower thoracic and upper lumbar segments, including vertebral body destruction, collapse and sharp kyphosis, and additional multiple rib lesions, suggesting a most likely diagnosis of pulmonary and spinal tuberculosis. This study discusses a number of selected diagnoses in the context of our pathological findings, complementing the macroscopic examination with radiological and biomolecular analyses.


Subject(s)
Paleopathology , Tuberculosis, Osteoarticular/diagnosis , Tuberculosis, Osteoarticular/history , Child , History, Ancient , Humans , Hungary , Lumbar Vertebrae/pathology , Osteomyelitis/diagnosis , Osteomyelitis/history , Osteomyelitis/pathology , Thoracic Vertebrae/pathology , Tuberculosis, Osteoarticular/pathology
6.
Science ; 345(6204): 1609-13, 2014 Sep 26.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-25258079

ABSTRACT

The Lower to Middle Paleolithic transition (~400,000 to 200,000 years ago) is marked by technical, behavioral, and anatomical changes among hominin populations throughout Africa and Eurasia. The replacement of bifacial stone tools, such as handaxes, by tools made on flakes detached from Levallois cores documents the most important conceptual shift in stone tool production strategies since the advent of bifacial technology more than one million years earlier and has been argued to result from the expansion of archaic Homo sapiens out of Africa. Our data from Nor Geghi 1, Armenia, record the earliest synchronic use of bifacial and Levallois technology outside Africa and are consistent with the hypothesis that this transition occurred independently within geographically dispersed, technologically precocious hominin populations with a shared technological ancestry.


Subject(s)
Biological Evolution , Hominidae/anatomy & histology , Technology/history , Animals , Armenia , History, Ancient , Humans
7.
Ann Hum Biol ; 41(2): 127-37, 2014.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-24102550

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The effect of environmental factors and, in particular, non-specific stress on the growth patterns of limbs and other body dimensions of children from past populations is not well understood. AIMS: This study assesses whether growth of mediaeval and post-mediaeval children aged between 0-11.5 years from Adriatic (coastal) and continental Croatia varies by region and by the prevalence and type of non-specific stress. METHODS: Dental ages were estimated using the Moorrees, Fanning and Hunt (MFH) scoring method. Growth of long bone diaphyses (femur, tibia, humerus, radius and ulna) was assessed by using a composite Z-score statistic (CZS). Clavicular length was measured as a proxy for upper trunk width, distal metaphyseal width of the femur was measured as a proxy for body mass and upper and lower intra-limb indices were calculated. Differences between sub-sets sampled by (a) region and (b) active vs healed non-specific stress indicators and (c) intra-limb indices were tested by Mann--Whitney U-tests and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA). RESULTS: Adriatic children attained larger dimensions-per-age than continental children. Children with healed stress lesions had larger dimensions-per-age than those with active lesions. No inter-regional difference was found in intra-limb indices. CONCLUSION: These findings highlight the complexity of growth patterns in past populations and indicate that variation in environmental conditions such as diet and differences in the nature of non-specific stress lesions both exert a significant effect on long bone growth.


Subject(s)
Bone Development/physiology , Bone and Bones/physiology , Stress, Physiological/physiology , Anthropology, Physical , Anthropometry , Body Mass Index , Child , Child, Preschool , Clavicle/growth & development , Croatia , Environmental Exposure , Female , Femur/growth & development , Humans , Humerus/growth & development , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Male , Radius/growth & development , Tibia/growth & development , Ulna/growth & development
8.
J Hum Evol ; 63(6): 770-80, 2012 Dec.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-23084367

ABSTRACT

Neanderthal populations of the southern and northern Caucasus became locally extinct during the Late Pleistocene. The timing of their extinction is key to our understanding of the relationship between Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans (AMH) in Eurasia. Recent re-dating of the end of the Middle Palaeolithic (MP) at Mezmaiskaya Cave, northern Caucasus, and Ortvale Klde, southern Caucasus, suggests that Neanderthals did not survive after 39 ka cal BP (thousands of years ago, calibrated before present). Here we extend the analysis and present a revised regional chronology for MP occupational phases in western Georgia, based on a series of model-based Bayesian analyses of radiocarbon dated bone samples obtained from the caves of Sakajia, Ortvala and Bronze Cave. This allows the establishment of probability intervals for the onset and end of each of the dated levels and for the end of the MP occupation at the three sites. Our results for Sakajia indicate that the end of the late Middle Palaeolithic (LMP) and start of the Upper Palaeolithic (UP) occurred between 40,200 and 37,140 cal BP. The end of the MP in the neighboring site of Ortvala occurred earlier at 43,540-41,420 cal BP (at 68.2% probability). The dating of MP layers from Bronze Cave confirms that it does not contain LMP phases. These results imply that Neanderthals did not survive in the southern Caucasus after 37 ka cal BP, supporting a model of Neanderthal extinction around the same period as reported for the northern Caucasus and other regions of Europe. Taken together with previous reports of the earliest UP phases in the region and the lack of archaeological evidence for an in situ transition, these results indicate that AMH arrived in the Caucasus a few millennia after the Neanderthal demise and that the two species probably did not interact.


Subject(s)
Extinction, Biological , Fossils , Neanderthals , Animals , Bayes Theorem , Bone and Bones , Models, Biological , Paleontology , Radiometric Dating , Transcaucasia
9.
Eur Arch Paediatr Dent ; 9(4): 166-71, 2008 Dec.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-19054469

ABSTRACT

AIM: This was to study an archaeological population of subadult teeth in 17th and 18th century skeletal material from a London (England) cemetery for enamel defects including molar-incisor-hypomineralisation (MIH). METHODS: Dentitions of 45 sub-adults were examined using standard macroscopic methods and systematically recorded. A total of 557 teeth were examined with a *5 lens and photographed. Ages of the individuals were estimated from their dental crown and root development stages and not from charts that combine tooth eruption with development stages. The dental age of the individual and the approximate age of onset of enamel defects was then calculated on the basis of the chronological sequence of incremental deposition and calcification of the enamel matrix. Affected enamel was graded macroscopically as: - Mild: <30% of the tooth's enamel surface area visibly disrupted (this encompasses the entire range reported in most other studies), Moderate: 31-49% of the tooth's enamel surface area visibly disrupted and Severe: >50% of the tooth's enamel surface area visibly disrupted. RESULTS: Of the total number of individuals 41 (93.2%) showed signs of enamel developmental dysplasia or MIH, 28 of them showing moderate or severe lesions of molars, primary or permanent (63.6% of the sample). Incisors and canines, though surviving much less often, showed episodes of linear hypoplasia. CONCLUSION: The extensive lesions seen on many of the molars displayed cuspal enamel hypoplasia (CEH). Many of these teeth also exhibited Molar Incisal Hypomineralisation (MIH).


Subject(s)
Dental Enamel Hypoplasia/history , Incisor/pathology , Molar/pathology , Tooth Demineralization/history , Child , Child, Preschool , Dental Enamel/abnormalities , Dental Enamel/pathology , History, 17th Century , History, 18th Century , Humans , London
10.
J Hum Evol ; 55(5): 803-16, 2008 Nov.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-18930308

ABSTRACT

The territory of present day Armenia is a geographic contact zone between the Near East and the northern Caucasus. Armenian Middle and Upper Paleolithic records are both few and patchy as a result of the historical paucity of systematic archaeological research in the country. Consequently, it is currently difficult to correlate the Armenian Middle and Upper Paleolithic records with those from other neighboring regions. We present new archaeological and chronometric data (luminescence, U-Th, and 14C) from our ongoing research at Hovk 1 Cave in northeast Armenia. We discuss in particular two activity phases in Hovk 1 Cave for which we have outline chronometric data: (1) an early Middle Paleolithic occupational phase, dated by optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) to 104+/-9.8 ka BP(OSL); and (2) a Paleolithic occupational phase characterized by microlithic flakes dated by AMS 14C to 39,109+/-1,324 calibrated years BP(Hulu). The two phases are separated by a hiatus in hominin occupation corresponding to MIS 4 and an episode in early MIS 3. These chronometric data, taken together with the preliminary paleoenvironmental reconstruction of the Hovk 1 Cave and environment, suggest that these activity phases represent short-lived and seasonal use of the cave presumably by small groups of hunters during episodes of mild climate. Neither tool manufacture nor butchery appears to have taken place within the cave, and consequently, the archaeological record included, for the most part, finished tools and blanks. We address the chronology and techno-typological aspects of Hovk 1 lithics in relation to: (1) the Paleolithic records of Armenia, and (2) the broader interregional context of early Middle Paleolithic hominin occupation and the Middle-Upper Paleolithic transition in the Caucasus.


Subject(s)
Anthropology, Cultural/methods , Archaeology/methods , Chronology as Topic , Animals , Armenia , Hominidae , Humans , Radiometric Dating/methods , Thorium/chemistry , Uranium/chemistry
11.
Am J Phys Anthropol ; 135(2): 136-48, 2008 Feb.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-18046779

ABSTRACT

A post-Pleistocene reduction trend in the dimensions of the masticatory complex followed the transition to agricultural lifestyle in several world regions. A major limitation of previous studies is large temporal gaps between the analyzed skeletal populations, which do not allow the detection and analysis of a diachronic morphological transition. In this work, we analyze a large number of specimens from the southern Levant, where agriculture first emerged in situ and for which there is a good diachronic sequence of the shift from a hunting-gathering way of life to a food producing, farming economy (12,000-7,000 uncalibrated bp). Changes in the masticatory complex are examined in the context of three prevailing dental reduction models: the Probable Mutation Effect (Brace,1963; Brace and Mahler,1971), Increasing Population Density Effect (Macchiarelli and Bondioli,1986) and Selective Compromise Effect (SCE) (Calcagno,1989). A series of linear regressions of dimension vs. time and coefficients of variation for each dimension are analyzed. Our results indicate significant reduction in the buccolingual but not mesiodistal dental dimensions and in the ramus breadth and anterior height dimensions of the mandible but not in its overall size. These findings, taken together with low coefficients of variation for the buccolingual dimensions, suggest selective pressure resulting in reduction of specific dimensions. The observed trend is in partial accordance with the SCE but differs from the trends observed in other regions, and is therefore best explained as a region-specific variant of the SCE.


Subject(s)
Anthropology, Physical , Biological Evolution , Diet , Mastication/physiology , Agriculture/methods , Ancient Lands , History, Ancient , Humans , Paleodontology
12.
Am J Phys Anthropol ; 133(3): 957-66, 2007 Jul.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-17492667

ABSTRACT

Dental Enamel Hypoplasia has long been used as a common nonspecific stress indicator in teeth from archaeological samples. Most researchers report relatively minor linear and pitted hypoplastic defects on tooth crown surfaces. In this work we report a high prevalence and early age of onset of extensive enamel defects in deciduous and permanent molars in the subadults from the post-medieval cemetery of Broadgate, east central London. Analysis of the dentition of all 45 subadults from the cemetery, using both macroscopic and microscopic methods, reveals disturbed cusp patterns and pitted, abnormal and arrested enamel formation. Forty-one individuals from this group (93.2%) showed some evidence of enamel hypoplasia, 28 of them showing moderate or extensive lesions of molars, deciduous or permanent (63.6% of the sample). Scanning Electron Microscope images reveal many molars with grossly deformed cuspal architecture, multiple extra cusps and large areas of exposed Tomes' process pits, where the ameloblasts have abruptly ceased matrix production, well before normal completion. This indented, rough and poorly mineralized surface facilitates both bacterial adhesion and tooth wear, and when such teeth erupt fully into the mouth they are likely to wear and decay rapidly. We suggest that this complex combination of pitted and plane-form lesions, combined with disruption of cusp pattern and the formation of multiple small cusps, should henceforth be identified as "Cuspal Enamel Hypoplasia."


Subject(s)
Dental Enamel Hypoplasia/history , Dental Enamel/pathology , Burial , Child , Dental Enamel Hypoplasia/epidemiology , History, 16th Century , History, 17th Century , History, 18th Century , Humans , London , Molar/pathology , Molar/ultrastructure , Prevalence
13.
Ann Hum Biol ; 33(3): 372-89, 2006.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-17092873

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Vitamin D deficiency rickets is associated with skeletal deformities including swollen rib junctions, bowing of the legs, and the flaring and fraying of the wrist and long-bone metaphyses. There is, however, scarce information on the direct effect of rickets on skeletal growth in either present or past populations. AIM: The study investigated the effect of vitamin D deficiency rickets on long-bone growth in two post-medieval skeletal populations from East London (Broadgate and Christ Church Spitalfields). Subsequently, inter-population growth variations in relation to non-specific environmental stress (dental enamel defects), industrialization, urbanization and socio-economic status during infancy (birth to 3 years) and early childhood (3-7 years) were examined. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Data on long-bone diaphyseal length dimensions and stress indicators of 234 subadults from Anglo-Saxon, late medieval and post-medieval archaeological skeletal samples were analysed using both linear and non-linear growth models. RESULTS: Rickets had no effect on the growth curves for any of the long bones studied. However, pronounced variations in growth between the four populations were noted, mainly during infancy. The diaphyseal length of long bones of Broadgate were significantly smaller-per-age than those of Spitalfields and the other samples up to the age of 4 years, and were associated with a high prevalence of enamel defects during early infancy. CONCLUSION: Socio-economic status, rather than urbanization, industrialization or rickets, was the central factor behind the observed differences in growth among the post-medieval populations. The observed inter-population growth variations were only significant during infancy.


Subject(s)
Rickets/history , Bone Development , Bone and Bones/anatomy & histology , Child , Child, Preschool , Dental Enamel Hypoplasia/pathology , Diaphyses/growth & development , History, Medieval , Humans , Infant , Infant, Newborn , United Kingdom
14.
Am J Hum Biol ; 17(4): 470-88, 2005.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-15981184

ABSTRACT

Inter-population variability in long-bone and pelvic-bone growth during the Early Medieval period is examined. The materials comprise four archaeological populations: two Slavonic (Gars-Thunau, Zwentendorf, Austria, 10th-century AD), one Avar (Zwölfaxing, Austria, 8th-century AD), and one Anglo-Saxon (Raunds, England, 10th-century AD). Bone measurements are analyzed against dental age estimates in order to assess inter-population differences in growth rates for long-bone and os coxae bone dimensions. Growth curves of the upper and lower extremities of additional archaeological populations and a modern North-American population are also assessed. The expectation was that the greatest differences in growth patterns would be found between the Anglo-Saxon and the Austrian samples, due to their distinct genetic and biocultural background. Minimal differences were expected between the two Slavonic populations, as these were approximately contemporaneous, recovered from geographically close locations, and shared relatively similar archaeological contexts. Growth curves were estimated for each bone dimension by fitting least-squares fourth-order polynomials (which allowed testing of population differences by analysis of covariance), and iteratively estimating Gompertz growth curves. The results showed differences between bones in the extent of inter-population variability, with diaphyseal long-bone growth showing equivalent patterns across the four populations, but significant differences between populations in the growth patterns of distal diaphyseal dimensions of the femur and humerus and the dimensions of the ilium. Varying growth patterns are therefore associated with inter-population differences in absolute dimensions in relation to age as well as variations in growth velocities. Inter-population variability in growth curves in the case of femoral and humeral dimensions were most pronounced during infancy (0-2 years). The most consistent differences in bone growth and related dimensions are between Zwölfaxing and the other samples. No significant differences in growth were detected between the Anglo-Saxon and the Austrian populations.


Subject(s)
Clavicle , Coccyx , Femur , Pelvic Bones , Population Surveillance/methods , Scapula , Adolescent , Analysis of Variance , Anthropology, Physical , Anthropometry , Austria , Child , Child, Preschool , Clavicle/anatomy & histology , Clavicle/growth & development , Coccyx/anatomy & histology , Coccyx/growth & development , Femur/anatomy & histology , Femur/growth & development , History, Medieval , Humans , Infant , Pelvic Bones/anatomy & histology , Pelvic Bones/growth & development , Scapula/anatomy & histology , Scapula/growth & development
15.
J Hum Evol ; 39(3): 269-88, 2000 Sep.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-10964529

ABSTRACT

The morphometric affinities of the 33,000 year old skeleton from Nazlet Khater, Upper Egypt are examined using multivariate statistical procedures. In the first part, principal components analysis is performed on a dataset of mandible dimensions of 220 fossils, sub-fossils and modern specimens, ranging in time from the Late Pleistocene to recent and restricted in space to the African continent and Southern Levant. In the second part, mean measurements for various prehistoric and modern African and Levantine populations are incorporated in the statistical analysis. Subsequently, differences between male and female means are examined for some of the modern and prehistoric populations. The results indicate a strong association between some of the sub-Saharan Middle Stone Age (MSA) specimens, and the Nazlet Khater mandible. Furthermore, the results suggest that variability between African populations during the Neolithic and Protohistoric periods was more pronounced than the range of variability observed among recent African and Levantine populations. Results also demonstrate a general reduction in the degree of sexual dimorphism during the Holocene. However, this pattern of reduction pattern varies by geographic location and is not uniform across the African continent.


Subject(s)
Fossils , Mandible/anatomy & histology , Sex Characteristics , Africa , Asia, Western , Bone and Bones/anatomy & histology , Egypt , Female , Humans , Male , Multivariate Analysis
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