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MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE FOR THE SCIENCE OF HUMAN HISTORY—The Caribbean was one of the last regions of the Americas to be settled by humans. Now, a new study published in the journal Science sheds new light on how the islands were settled thousands of years ago.

Using ancient DNA, an international team of researchers found evidence of at least three population dispersals that brought people to the region.

“Our results give a glimpse of the early migration history of the Caribbean and connect the region to the rest of the Americas,” says Hannes Schroeder, Associate Professor at the Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, and one of the senior authors of the study. “The DNA evidence adds to the archaeological data and enables us to test specific hypotheses as to how the Caribbean was first settled.”

More data, more details

The researchers analyzed the genomes of 93 ancient Caribbean islanders who lived between 400 and 3200 years ago using bone fragments excavated from 16 different archaeological sites across the Caribbean.

Due to the region’s warm climate, the DNA from the samples is not very well preserved. Using targeted enrichment techniques, the researchers managed to extract genome-wide information from the remains.

“New methods and technology allowed us to increase the number of ancient genomes from the Caribbean by almost two orders of magnitude,” says Johannes Krause, Director of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Jena, Germany, another senior author of the study. “With all that data we are able to paint a very detailed picture of the early migration history of the Caribbean.”

The researchers’ findings indicate that there have been at least three different population dispersals into the region: two earlier dispersals into the western Caribbean, one of which seems to be linked to earlier population dispersals in North America, and a third, more recent wave, which originated in South America.

Connections across the Caribbean Sea

Although it is still not entirely clear how the early settlers reached the islands, there is growing archaeological evidence that, far from being a barrier, the Caribbean Sea served as a kind of ‘aquatic highway’ that connected the islands with the mainland and each other.

“Big bodies of water are traditionally considered barriers for humans and ancient fisher hunter gatherer communities are usually not perceived as great seafarers. Our results continue to challenge that view, as they suggest there was repeated interaction between the islands and the mainland,” says Kathrin Nägele, PhD student at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Jena, Germany and one of the lead authors of the study.

Biological and cultural diversity in the ancient Caribbean

“The new data support our previous observations that the early settlers of the Caribbean were biologically and culturally diverse, adding resolution to this ancient period of our history,” says Yadira Chinique de Armas, Assistant Professor in Bioanthropology at the University of Winnipeg and co-director of three large-scale excavations in Cuba.

The researchers also found genetic differences between the early settlers and the newcomers from South America who, according to archaeological evidence, entered the region around 2800 years ago.

“Although the different groups were present in the Caribbean at the same time, we found surprisingly little evidence of admixture between them,” adds Cosimo Posth, group leader at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History and joint-first author of the study.

“The results of this study provide yet another layer of data that highlights the complex and multi-nature of pre-Columbian Caribbean societies and their connections to the American mainland prior to the colonial invasion. It’s reflected in the archaeology of the region, but it is fascinating to see it supported by the biological data,” says Corinne Hofman, Professor of Archaeology at Leiden University and PI of the ERC Synergy project NEXUS1492. “Genetic data provide a new depth to our findings,” agrees Mirjana Roksandic, Professor at the University of Winnipeg and the PI on the SSHRC project.

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Canimar Abajo. Kathrin Nägele

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Excavating Canimar Abajo (2018). Esteban Grau Gonzalez

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Mirjana Roksandic excavating Playa del Mango. Luis Viera Sanfiel

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Article Source: MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE FOR THE SCIENCE OF HUMAN HISTORY news release

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PLOS—Integrating radiocarbon dating and microarchaeology techniques has enabled more precise dating of the ancient Wilson’s Arch monument at Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, according to a study* published June 3, 2020 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Johanna Regev from the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel, and colleagues.

Radiocarbon dating has rarely been used in archaeological explorations of the Classical and Post-Classical age in the Eastern Mediterranean (approximately the 8th century BC-6th century AD) –this is due to the technique’s imprecision, as well as a historical reliance on using material culture findings like coins or texts to estimate dates of specific monuments.

In this study, Regev and colleagues focused on pinpointing the specific construction dates for Wilson’s Arch, an arch of “The Great Causeway”, an ancient bridge linking Jerusalem’s Temple Mount to the houses of Jerusalem’s upper city, and which was excavated in 2015-2019 as part of a tourist development project. Wilson’s Arch has been the subject of much scholarly debate, with construction dates suggested from the time of Herod the Great, Roman colonization, or even the early Islamic period in Jerusalem (a span of about 700 years).

To better understand the specific timing of Wilson’s Arch (and the historical context in which it was constructed), Regev and colleagues used an integrative approach in the field during its excavation, conducting radiocarbon dating of 33 construction material samples directly at the site (generally charred organic matter, like seeds or sticks, present in mortar), as well as stratigraphic and microarchaeological analyses.

The authors were able to narrow the dates of construction for the initial Great Causeway bridge structure as having occurred between 20 BC and 20 AD, during the reign of Herod the Great or directly after his death. They also discovered a second stage of construction: between 30 AD and 60 AD, the bridge doubled in size as Wilson’s Arch in its current form was finalized (during this period of direct Roman rule, there’s evidence the Romans began or expanded on many building projects around Jerusalem, including an aqueduct supplying the Temple Mount with water).

Regev and colleagues note that their technique of using many samples for radiocarbon dating, coupled with stratigraphic analysis, could be broadly applied in many other densely-built ancient cities in order to fine-tune building dates for specific remains.

The authors add: “Radiocarbon high resolution chronology of charred remains reshapes Jerusalem’s history, resolving a long-standing debate regarding the entrance to its holiest site: the Temple Mount.”

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Wilson’s Arch excavation area. (A) Map of the old city of Jerusalem and the location Wilson’s Arch. Copyrights: Israel Antiquities Authority, 2020. (B) An artistic reconstruction of the Temple Mount in the time of Herod the Great (1st century AD). The arrow points to the arch known today as Wilson’s Arch. Copyrights: Ritmeyer Archaeological Design, 2020. (C,D) Photographs of the site. The scale bar in D is 1 meter in length. (E,F) A 3D reconstruction of the site. As the site is under constant renovations, a model is used here to illustrate the location of the various features and strata. A section drawing of strata 1,4,5 was imposed on the Western Wall to illustrate their relative position. Regev et al, 2020 (PLOS ONE, CC BY 4.0)

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Article Source: PLOS news release

*Regev J, Uziel J, Lieberman T, Solomon A, Gadot Y, Ben-Ami D, et al. (2020) Radiocarbon dating and microarchaeology untangle the history of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount: A view from Wilson’s Arch. PLoS ONE 15(6): e0233307. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0233307

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UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA—From the ground, it’s impossible to tell that the plateau underfoot is something extraordinary. But from the sky, with laser eyes, and beneath the surface, with radiocarbon dating, it’s clear that it is the largest and oldest Mayan monument ever discovered.

Located in Tabasco, Mexico, near the northwestern border of Guatemala, the newly discovered site of Aguada Fénix lurked beneath the surface, hidden by its size and low profile until 2017. The monument measures nearly 4,600 feet long, ranges from 30 to 50 feet high and includes nine wide causeways.

The monument was discovered by an international team led by University of Arizona professors in the School of Anthropology Takeshi Inomata and Daniela Triadan, with support from the university’s Agnese Nelms Haury program and under the authorization of the National Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico.

They used lidar – or light detection and ranging – technology, which uses laser-emitting equipment from an airplane. Laser beams penetrate the tree canopy, and their reflections off the ground’s surface reveal the three-dimensional forms of archaeological features. The team then excavated the site and radiocarbon-dated 69 samples of charcoal to determine that it was constructed sometime between 1,000 to 800 B.C. Until now, the Maya site of Ceibal, built in 950 B.C., was the oldest confirmed ceremonial center. This oldest monumental building at Aguada Fénix turned out to be the largest known in the entire Maya history, far exceeding pyramids and palaces of later periods.

The team’s findings are published today in the journal Nature.

“Using low-resolution lidar collected by the Mexican government, we noticed this huge platform. Then we did high-resolution lidar and confirmed the presence of a big building,” Inomata said. “This area is developed – it’s not the jungle; people live there – but this site was not known because it is so flat and huge. It just looks like a natural landscape. But with lidar, it pops up as a very well-planned shape.”

The discovery marks a time of major change in Mesoamerica and has several implications, Inomata said.

First, archaeologists traditionally thought Maya civilization developed gradually. Until now, it was thought that small Maya villages began to appear between 1000 and 350 B.C., what’s known as the Middle Preclassic period, along with the use of pottery and some maize cultivation.

Second, the site looks similar to the older Olmec civilization center of San Lorenzo to the west in the Mexican state of Veracruz, but the lack of stone sculptures related to rulers and elites, such as colossal heads and thrones, suggests less social inequality than San Lorenzo and highlights the importance of communal work in the earliest days of the Maya.

“There has always been debate over whether Olmec civilization led to the development of the Maya civilization or if the Maya developed independently,” Inomata said. “So, our study focuses on a key area between the two.”

The period in which Aguada Fénix was constructed marked a gap in power – after the decline of San Lorenzo and before the rise of another Olmec center, La Venta. During this time, there was an exchange of new ideas, such as construction and architectural styles, among various regions of southern Mesoamerica. The extensive plateau and the large causeways suggest the monument was built for use by many people, Inomata said.

“During later periods, there were powerful rulers and administrative systems in which the people were ordered to do the work. But this site is much earlier, and we don’t see the evidence of the presence of powerful elites. We think that it’s more the result of communal work,” he said.

The fact that monumental buildings existed earlier than thought and when Maya society had less social inequality makes archaeologists rethink the construction process.

“It’s not just hierarchical social organization with the elite that makes monuments like this possible,” Inomata said. “This kind of understanding gives us important implications about human capability, and the potential of human groups. You may not necessarily need a well-organized government to carry out these kinds of huge projects. People can work together to achieve amazing results.”

Inomata and his team will continue to work at Aguada Fénix and do a broader lidar analysis of the area. They want to gather information about surrounding sites to understand how they interacted with the Olmec and the Maya.

They also wants to focus on the residential areas around Aguada Fénix.

“We have substantial information about ceremonial construction,” Inomata said, “but we want to see how people lived during this period and what kind of changes in lifestyle were happening around this time.”

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LiDAR has been instrumental in revealing major new monumental discoveries in Mesoamerica in recent years, allowing scientists to pierce the jungle canopy to “see” ancient monuments that is otherwise shrouded beneath the tropical cover. Dezalb, Pixabay

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Article Source: UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA news release

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CELL PRESS—The collection of more than 25,000 fragments of ancient manuscripts known as the Dead Sea Scrolls include, among other ancient texts, the oldest copies of books of the Hebrew Bible. But finding a way to piece them all together in order to understand their meaning has remained an incredibly difficult puzzle, especially given that most pieces weren’t excavated in an orderly fashion. Now, researchers reporting in the journal Cell* on June 2 have used an intriguing clue to help in this effort: DNA “fingerprints” lifted from the animal skins on which the texts were written.

“The discovery of the 2,000-year-old Dead Sea Scrolls is one of the most important archaeological discoveries ever made,” says Oded Rechavi (@OdedRechavi) of Tel Aviv University in Israel. “However, it poses two major challenges: first, most of them were not found intact but rather disintegrated into thousands of fragments, which had to be sorted and pieced together, with no prior knowledge on how many pieces have been lost forever, or–in the case of non-biblical compositions–how the original text should read. Depending on the classification of each fragment, the interpretation of any given text could change dramatically.”

The second challenge is that most of the scrolls were acquired not directly from eleven Qumran caves near the Dead Sea but through antiquity dealers. As a result, it’s not clear where many of the fragments came from in the first place, making it that much more difficult to put them together and into their proper historical context.

Since their discovery, mainly in the late 1940s and 1950s, scholars tried to put them together like a jigsaw puzzle, relying primarily on visible properties of the fragments in order to learn about their relationship to other fragments. In the new study, Rechavi and colleagues including Noam Mizrahi, Tel Aviv University, Israel, and Mattias Jakobsson, Uppsala University, Sweden, decided to look deeper for clues. From each piece, they extracted ancient DNA of the animals that were used to make the parchments. Then, using a forensic-like analysis, they worked to establish the relationship between the pieces based on that DNA evidence and on scrutiny of the language within the texts under investigation.

The DNA sequences revealed that the parchments were mostly made from sheep, which wasn’t known. The researchers then reasoned that pieces made from the skin of the same sheep must be related, and that scrolls from closely related sheep were more likely to fit together than those from more different sheep or other species.

The researchers stumbled onto an interesting case in which two pieces thought to belong together were in fact made from different animals–sheep and cow. It suggested they don’t belong together at all. The most notable example came from scrolls that comprise different copies of the biblical, prophetic book of Jeremiah, which are also some of the oldest known scrolls.

“Analysis of the text found on these Jeremiah pieces suggests that they not only belong to different scrolls, they also represent different versions of the prophetic book,” says Mizrahi. “The fact that the scrolls that are most divergent textually are also made of a different animal species is indicative that they originate at a different provenance.”

Most likely, he explains, the cow fragments were written elsewhere because it wasn’t possible to raise cows in the Judean desert. The discovery also has larger implications. The researchers write that the fact that different versions of the book circulated in parallel suggests that “the holiness of the biblical book did not extend to its precise wording.” That’s in contrast to the mutually exclusive texts that were adopted later by Judaism and Christianity, they note.

“This teaches us about the way this prophetic text was read at the time and also holds clues to the process of the text’s evolution,” Rechavi says.

Other highlights include insight into the relationship among different copies of a non-biblical, liturgical work known as the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice, found in both Qumran and Masada. The analysis shows that the various copies found in different Qumran Caves are closely related genetically, but the Masada copy is distinct. The finding suggests that the work had a wider currency in the period.

“What we learn from the scrolls is probably relevant also to what happened in the country at the time,” Mizrahi says. “As the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice foreshadows revolutionary developments in poetic design and religious thinking, this conclusion has implications for the history of Western mysticism and Jewish liturgy.”

The evidence also confirmed that some other fragments of uncertain origin likely came from other places and not the Qumran caves. In one case, the DNA evidence suggests a fragment from a copy of the biblical book of Isaiah–one of the most popular books in ancient Judea–likely came from another site, which suggests to the researchers the potential existence of an additional place of discovery that still awaits identification.

Although the DNA evidence adds to understanding, it can only “reveal part of the picture and not solve all the mysteries,” Rechavi says. The researchers had to extract DNA from tiny amounts of materials–what they refer to as scroll “dust” in certain cases–and say there are also many scrolls that have yet to be sampled and others that can’t be, for fear it might ruin them.

Nevertheless, the researchers hope that more samples will be tested and added to the database to work toward a more complete Dead Sea Scroll “genome.” They now think they can apply the same methods to any ancient artifact that contains enough intact DNA or perhaps other biological molecules.

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One of the Qumran caves where the Dead Sea Scroll fragments were found. Courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority, Photographer Shai Halevi

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a tiny fragment of the scrolls being sampled for testing. Courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority, Photographer Shai Halevi

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Article Source: Cell Press news release

*Cell, Anava, Neuhof, Gingold, Sagy, et al.: “Illuminating Genetic Mysteries of the Dead Sea Scrolls” https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(20)30552-3

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MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE FOR THE SCIENCE OF HUMAN HISTORY—While recent advances in ancient DNA analysis have established the major patterns of prehistoric human migration in western Eurasia, the population history of eastern Eurasia remains little understood. Northern China is of particular importance, as it harbored two of the world’s earliest agricultural centers for millet farming: the Yellow and West Liao River basins. Both basins are famous for their rich archaeological cultures and their influence on nearby regions. However, little is known about their genetic interactions and how these affected the dispersal of millet farming over northern China and surrounding regions.

To tackle these questions, a team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History (MPI SHH) in Germany collaborated with geneticist Prof. Dr. Yinqiu Cui and her team at the School of Life Sciences at Jilin University in China. With joint forces, they were able to sequence 55 genomes from across northern China dating between 7,500 and 1,700 years ago, covering the Yellow River, West Liao River and Amur River regions. Their results add to discussions concerning the relationship between genetic contacts and subsistence change while providing the first comprehensive genetic overview of northern China.

Correlated changes of genes and subsistence

The researchers find that, contrary to the strong genetic continuity in the Amur basin, genetic profiles in the West Liao River region substantially changed over time. Yellow River, however, showed a general genetic stability but received genetic contribution from populations related to present-day groups in southern China since the middle Neolithic.

“Although the genetic changes in each region differ in timing and intensity, each shift is correlated with changes in subsistence strategy,” says lead author Chao Ning of the MPI SHH’s eurasia3angle team. “As we look backwards in time, an increase of Amur River affinity in West Liao River corresponds with the inclusion of a pastoral economy during the Bronze Age, prior to that, an increased Yellow River affinity in the same region is correlated with the intensification of millet farming in the late Neolithic. Finally, our earliest results show that an affinity of Yellow River to populations from southern China (e.g. from the Yangtze River basin) since the middle Neolithic is concordant with the northward dispersal of rice farming.”

Corresponding author Choongwon Jeong, formerly a geneticist on the eurasia3angle team now affiliated with Seoul National University in South Korea, puts the findings in perspective. “We realize that our current dataset needs ancient genomes from people who brought rice agriculture into northeast China, such as ancient farmers from the Shandong and Lower Yangtze River regions, but nevertheless our study is a major step forward in understanding how this region developed.”

“For me, as a linguist, our findings truly are an eye-opener,” says senior author Martine Robbeets, principal investigator of the eurasia3angle team. “As the West Liao River Basin is associated with the origin of the Transeurasian language family and the Yellow River Basin with the Sino-Tibetan family, our results fuel the debate on the historical correlation between archaeological cultures, languages and genes.”

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Human remains in house foundation F40 of the Haminmangha site. Yonggang Zhu, School of Archaeology Jilin University

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Location of the 19 archaeological sites covering 55 ancient individuals in this study. Each symbol corresponds to a site from a specific region. Ning et al., 2020

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Article Source: MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE FOR THE SCIENCE OF HUMAN HISTORY news release

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TAYLOR & FRANCIS GROUP—Analysis of the material on two Iron Age altars discovered at the entrance to the “holy of holies” of a shrine at Tel Arad in the Beersheba Valley, Israel, were found to contain Cannabis and Frankincense, according to new article in the journal, Tel Aviv.

Past excavations revealed two superimposed fortresses, dated to the 9th to early 6th centuries BCE, which guarded the southern border of biblical Judah. Highly important Iron Age finds were unearthed, including a well-preserved shrine that was dated to ca. 750-715 BCE.

Two limestone altars (the smaller altar is 40 cm high and about 20 × 20 cm at the top; the larger is about 50 cm high and 30 × 30 cm at the top) were found lying at the entrance to the “holy of holies” of the shrine.

Evidently, they had played an important role in the cult practices of the shrine. An unidentified black solidified organic material was preserved on the altars’ surfaces. Past analysis of these materials failed to identify their content and this dark material was recently submitted to organic residue analysis by modern methods.

The study reveals that on the smaller altar cannabis had been mixed with animal dung to facilitate heating, while the larger altar contained traces of frankincense that was mixed with animal fat to promote evaporation.

These unique findings shed new light on cult practices in biblical Judah, suggesting cannabis was used here as a deliberate psychoactive, to stimulate ecstasy as part of cultic ceremonies.

Lead author Eran Arie from The Israel Museum in Jerusalem commented, “This is the first time that cannabis has been identified in the Ancient Near East; Its use in the shrine must have played a central role in the cultic rituals performed there.”

Frankincense comes from Arabia. Therefore, the presence of frankincense at Arad indicates the participation of Judah in the south Arabian trade even before the patronage and encouragement of the Assyrian empire. Arad provides the earliest evidence for frankincense in a clear cultic context. Frankincense is mentioned as a component of the incense that was burned in the Temple of Jerusalem for its pleasant aroma.

The “fortress mound” of Tel Arad in the Beersheba Valley in southern Israel was excavated over 50 years ago under the direction of the late TAU Professor Yohanan Aharoni.

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Front view of the shrine at Arad, rebuilt in the Israel Museum. The top-down view of the altars: on where you can see the black residue of cannabis and frankincense. Collection of the Israel Antiquities Authority, Photo © The Israel Museum, by Laura Lachman.

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Article Source: TAYLOR & FRANCIS GROUP news release

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HARVARD UNIVERSITY and MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE FOR THE SCIENCE OF HUMAN HISTORY—New research on one history’s most important trading hubs provides some of the earliest genetic glimpses at the movement and interactions of populations that lived in parts of Western Asia between two major events in human history: the origins of agriculture and the rise of some of the world’s first cities.

The work reveals how a high level of human movement in the region not only led to the spread of ideas and material culture but to a more genetically connected society well before the rise of cities, not the other way around, as previously thought.

The researchers, made up of an international team of scientists including Harvard anthropology professor Christina Warinner, looked at DNA data from 110 skeletal remains in West Asia dated 3,000 to 7,500 years ago. The remains came from archaeological sites in the Anatolia (present-day Turkey), the Northern Levant which includes countries on the Mediterranean coast such as Israel and Jordan, and countries in the Southern Caucasus which include present-day Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Based on their analysis, the scientists describe two genomic events that occurred around 8,500 years ago and 4,000 years ago that pointed to long-term genetic mixing in the region and subtle population movements within the area, shedding light on a long-standing question.

“Within this geographic scope, you have a number of distinct populations, distinct ideological groups that are interacting quite a lot and it hasn’t really been clear to what degree people are actually moving or if this is simply just a high contact area from trade,” said Warinner, assistant professor of anthropology at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and the Sally Starling Seaver Assistant Professor at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. “What we can see is that rather than this period being characterized by dramatic migrations or conquest, what we see is the slow mixing of different populations, the slow mixing of ideas, and it’s percolating out of this melting pot that we see the rise of urbanism — the rise of cities,”

The study was led by the Max Planck-Harvard Research center for the Archaeoscience of the Ancient Mediterranean and published in the journal Cell. Warinner was a senior author on the paper.

Historically, Western Asia, which includes the modern-day Middle East, is one of the world’s most important geographical locations. Early on it not only created some of humanity’s earliest cities but its early trade routes laid the foundation for what would become the Silk Road, a route that commercially linked Asia, Africa, and Europe.

Even prior to being connected with other regions, however, populations across Western Asia had already developed their own distinct traditions and systems of social organization and complexity. The areas studied in this paper played major roles in this development from early farming to pastoral communities to early state-level societies.

With the study, the researchers wanted to fill in some of the anthropological gaps between the origins of agriculture and of cities to better understand these different communities came together to eventually form cities.

“What we see in archeology is that the interconnectivity within Western Asia increased and areas such as Anatolia, the Northern Levant, and the Caucasus became a hub for [the] exchange of ideas and material culture,” said Eirini Skourtanioti, a Ph.D. student at the Max Plank Institute and the lead author of the study, in a video accompanying the release of the paper. “The goal of our study was to understand the role of human mobility throughout this process.”

The researchers included an international team of authors from many disciplines and countries, including Australia, Azerbaijan, France, Italy, Germany, South Korea, Turkey, and the United States. They gathered the 110 ancient remains and took samples from their teeth and part of the temporal bone called the petrous, which is part of the inner ear. The samples from the skeletons were all previously excavated and were housed in different museums and labs around the world. The genetic analysis was all conducted by scientists at the Max Planck Institute, including Warinner.

In the paper, the authors outline how approximately 8,500 years ago, populations across Anatolia and the Southern Caucasus began genetically mixing. It resulted in a gradual change in genetic profile that over a thousand years slowly spread across the both areas and entered into what is now Northern Iraq. Known as a cline in genetics, this mixture indicated to the researchers ongoing human mobility in the area and the development of a regional genetic melting pot in Anatolia and its surrounding areas.

The other shift researchers detected wasn’t as gradual. They looked at samples from the ancient cities of Alalakh and Ebla in what is today southern Turkey and northern Syria and saw that around 4,000 years ago the Northern Levant experienced a relatively sudden introduction of new people.

The subtle genetic shifts points to a mass migration event. The timing of this migration corresponds with a massive drought in Northern Mesopotamia. It is likely where the migrants that entered the Northern Levant area originated from. The scientists can’t be sure because there are currently no well preserved genomes for Mesopotamia.

Along with findings on interconnectivity in the region, the paper presents new information about long distance migration during the late Bronze age about 4,000 years ago. Researchers determined that a lone corpse genetically belonged in Central Asia at the time, not the site that is part of present-day Turkey where the skeletal remains were found. In addition to being a genetic outlier, the individual, who was identified as female, was unearthed at the bottom of a well which was in use at the time of her consignment.

“I was fascinated by our results for the ‘lady in the well,'” says Philipp Stockhammer, co-director of MHAAM and another senior author of the study. “She provides a unique insight into individual female mobility over large distances. We know from literary sources that women travelled in this time throughout Western Asia – very often as marriage partners. However, the story of this woman of Central Asian origin will remain an enigma.”

“We can’t exactly know her story, but we can piece together a lot of information that suggests that either she or her ancestors were fairly recent migrants from Central Asia,” said Warinner, who is also a group leader in the Department of Archaeogenetics at the Max Planck Institute. “We don’t know the context in which they arrived in the Eastern Mediterranean but this is a period of increasing connectivity in this part of the world.”

The corpse had many injuries and the way she was buried indicates a violent death. Warinner hopes more genomic analysis can play some type of role in unraveling the ancient woman’s story.

For Warinner, who earned her master’s in 2008 and her Ph.D. in 2010 from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, these types of studies are proof of the insights DNA analysis can provide when more traditional clues don’t tell the full story.

“What’s really interesting is that we see these populations are mixing genetically long before we see clear material culture evidence of this—so, long before we see direct evidence in pottery or tools or any of these more conventional archaeological evidence artifacts,” Warinner said. “That’s important because sometimes we’re limited in how we see the past. We see the past through artifacts, through the evidence people leave behind. But sometimes events are happening that don’t leave traces in conventional ways, so by using genetics, we were able to access this much earlier mixing of populations that wasn’t apparent before.”

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A partial map of West Asia, which includes Anatolia (present-day Turkey), the Northern Levant, and the Southern Caucasus. An international team of researchers showed populations from Anatolia and the Caucasus started genetically mixing around 6,500 BC and that small migration events from Mesopotamia 4,000 years ago brought further genetic mixture to the region. The orange marker shows the route from Central Asia. DNA from a lone ancient woman revealed proof of long distance migration during the late Bronze age about 4,000 years ago from Central Asia to the Mediterranean Coast. Image courtesy of the Max Planck-Harvard Research center for the Archaeoscience of the Ancient Mediterranean

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Skeletal remains of ‘Lady in the Well’ from the site of Alalakh in Hatay, Turkey. Murat Akar © Alalakh Excavations Archive

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Article Sources: HARVARD UNIVERSITY and MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE FOR THE SCIENCE OF HUMAN HISTORY news releases

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PLOS—A wave of new technology in the Late Paleolithic had reached North China by around 41,000 years ago, according to a study* published May 27, 2020 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Fei Peng of the Minzu University of China, Beijing and colleagues.

Around 40,000 years ago, the Asian continent saw the spread of new forms of technology associated with what’s known as the Initial Upper Paleolithic. This change brought new blade technology along with symbolic materials such as beads and pendants, and it is thought to mark the spread of humans, possibly our own species Homo sapiens, across the continent. But the exact timing and route of this dispersal has been difficult to ascertain in past studies.

Shuidonggou is an archaeological site in North China that provides the southernmost examples of Initial Upper Paleolithic technology in North Asia. In this study, Peng and colleagues provide radiocarbon dates on 18 samples of charcoal and ostrich eggshell beads from multiple stratigraphic layers of Shuidonggou Locality 2. Their results indicate that this new wave of technology had reached this region by between 43,000 and 39,000 years ago, slightly later than dates recovered from more northern sites.

These results support previous hypotheses that the spread of this Initial Upper Paleolithic technology originated in the Altai region of Russia around 47,000 years ago before spreading eastward and southward across Asia. While more dating will be needed to further constrain the timing of this event, this study shows that, even in a region with unfavorable conditions for preserving datable materials, careful selection and treatment of samples can yield reliable results from multiple corroborating sources of data.

The authors add: “We carried out a systematical radiocarbon analysis of charcoal and ostrich eggshell samples obtained from 2014-2016 excavation throughout the whole sequence of Shuidonggou locality 2. Based on the Bayesian age modeling, two phases which is an early phases 43-35 cal kBP and a later phase 35-28 cal kBP were split. The result supports the interpretation that the blade technology appeared in this region by at least ~41ka.”

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SDG2 T3 stratigraphy. On the left, the schematic column summarizes the general sediment characteristic and archaeological remain distribution of the site stratigraphic sequence. On the right, the photographs and schematic drawings show a close-up view of different parts of the stratigraphic sequence. The distribution of the three main types of archaeological remains recovered (lithics, fauna remains and ostrich egg shell fragments) corresponding to the photographed sections are overlain on the schematic drawings. The partitioning of the seven cultural layers (CL1a-7) are denoted beside the schematic drawings. Peng et al, 2020 (PLOS ONE) CC BY

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Article Source: PLOS news release

*Peng F, Lin SC, Patania I, Levchenko V, Guo J, Wang H, et al. (2020) A chronological model for the Late Paleolithic at Shuidonggou Locality 2, North China. PLoS ONE 15(5): e0232682. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0232682

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UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK—One of the most promising theories for the evolution of human speech has finally received support from chimpanzee communication, in a study conducted by a group of researchers led by the University of Warwick.

The evolution of speech is one of the longest-standing puzzles of evolution. However, inklings of a possible solution started emerging some years ago when monkey signals involving a quick succession of mouth open-close cycles were shown to exhibit the same pace of human spoken language.

In the paper ‘Chimpanzee lip-smacks confirm primate continuity for speech-rhythm evolution’, published today, the 27th May, in the journal Biology Letters, a consortium of researchers, including St Andrews University and the University of York, led by the University of Warwick, have found that the rhythm of chimpanzee lip-smacks also exhibit a speech-like signature – a critical step towards a possible solution to the puzzle of speech evolution.

Just like each and every language in the world, monkey lip-smacks have previously shown a rhythm of about 5 cycles/second (i.e. 5Hz). This exact rhythm had been identified in other primate species, including gibbon song and orangutan consonant-like and vowel-like calls.

However there was no evidence from African apes, such as gorillas, bonobos and chimpanzees – who are closer related to humans, meaning the plausibility of this theory remained on hold.

Now, the team of researchers using data from 4 chimpanzee populations have confirmed that they too produce mouth signals at a speech-like rhythm. The findings show there has been most likely a continuous path in the evolution of primate mouth signals with a 5Hz rhythm. Proving that evolution recycled primate mouth signals into the vocal system that one day was to become speech.

African great apes, the closest species to humans, had never been studied for the rhythm of their communication signals. Researchers investigated the rhythm of chimpanzee lip-smacks, produce by individuals while they groom another and found that chimpanzees produce lip-smacks at an average speech-like rhythm of 4.15 Hz.

Researchers used data across two captive and two wild populations, using video recordings collected at Edinburgh Zoo and Leipzig Zoo, and recordings of wild communities including the Kanyawara and the Waibira community, both in Uganda.

Dr Adriano Lameira, from the Department of Psychology at the University of Warwick comments:

“Our results prove that spoken language was pulled together within our ancestral lineage using “ingredients” that were already available and in use by other primates and hominids. This dispels much of the scientific enigma that language evolution has represented so far. We can also be reassured that our ignorance has been partly a consequence of our huge underestimation of the vocal and cognitive capacities of our great ape cousins.

“We found pronounced differences in rhythm between chimpanzee populations, suggesting that these are not the automatic and stereotypical signals so often attributed to our ape cousins. Instead, just like in humans, we should start seriously considering that individual differences, social conventions and environmental factors may play a role in how chimpanzees engage “in conversation” with one another.

“If we continue searching, new clues will certainly unveil themselves. Now it’s a matter of mastering the political and societal power to preserve these precious populations in the wild and continue enabling scientists to look further.”

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Two Chimpanzees grooming each other. Catherine Hobaiter

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Article Source: UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK news release

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KAROLINSKA INSTITUTET—One in three women in Europe inherited the receptor for progesterone from Neanderthals – a gene variant associated with increased fertility, fewer bleedings during early pregnancy and fewer miscarriages. This is according to a study published in Molecular Biology and Evolution by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany and Karolinska Institutet in Sweden.

“The progesterone receptor is an example of how favorable genetic variants that were introduced into modern humans by mixing with Neanderthals can have effects in people living today,” says Hugo Zeberg, researcher at the Department of Neuroscience at Karolinska Institutet and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, who performed the study with colleagues Janet Kelso and Svante Pääbo.

Progesterone is a hormone, which plays an important role in the menstrual cycle and in pregnancy. Analyses of biobank data from more than 450,000 participants – among them 244,000 women – show that almost one in three women in Europe have inherited the progesterone receptor from Neanderthals. 29 percent carry one copy of the Neandertal receptor and three percent have two copies.

“The proportion of women who inherited this gene is about ten times greater than for most Neanderthal gene variants,” says Hugo Zeberg. “These findings suggest that the Neanderthal variant of the receptor has a favorable effect on fertility.”

The study shows that women who carry the Neanderthal variant of the receptor tend to have fewer bleedings during early pregnancy, fewer miscarriages, and give birth to more children. Molecular analyses revealed that these women produce more progesterone receptors in their cells, which may lead to increased sensitivity to progesterone and protection against early miscarriages and bleeding.

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Article Source: KAROLINSKA INSTITUTET news release

*”The Neandertal Progesterone Receptor”. Hugo Zeberg, Janet Kelso and Svante Pääbo. Molecular Biology and Evolution, online 21 May 2020, doi: 10.1093/molbev/msaa119.

Cover image, top left: Manuchi, Pixabay

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Archaeologists who unearthed a particularly rare medieval priestly burial earlier this year at Lincoln Cathedral have shared their findings and a facial reconstruction of the clergy member, enabling us to see what the priest looked like and giving us an insight into what life would have been like for him.

The priest’s burial was revealed by Lincoln-based Allen Archaeology Ltd during excavations – as part of the Lincoln Cathedral Connected project – to enable drainage works and landscaping around the cathedral, in the area that is now the building’s West Parvis.

Analysis of the skeleton has confirmed that the medieval priest was a male, and that he was approximately 169cm tall and died between the ages of 35 and 45 years old, but most likely in his late 30s.

Regarding the associated grave goods interred with him – a pewter chalice and paten which are key symbols of the work of a priest and used during communion – the report shows that these objects were plain in style, and similar examples have been dated back to as far as the 12^th and 13^th centuries.

Inverness-based forensic artist Hew Morrison, used Allen Archaeology’s findings and photographs of the skull, to build up a reconstruction of the priest’s face. The outcome looks like a real-life photo; enabling the people of Lincoln and Lincolnshire to come face to face with the medieval priest.

Forensic studies have shown that facial reconstruction techniques do not create an exact likeness, but a close representative image of a particular person that could be recognized by those who knew them. In this instance, without the availability of DNA testing, the color of the hair and eyes etc. are conjectural, but the features of the priest’s skull – his close-set eyes and slightly asymmetrical chin – plus his estimated age at the time of death, are factual information that form the basis for facial reconstruction.

From the bone report, a number of interesting and unusual traits were found on the rest of the priest’s body. There was little sign in the skeleton that he had suffered from any disease or injury during his life, with the exception of a small lump resulting from deep tissue bruising and small deposits of mineralized dental plaque.

Hypoplasia (underdevelopment of tissue) which was seen in a neck vertebra, may have been associated with asymmetry of the blood vessels, but whilst this has been shown to increase predisposition to certain types of stroke, it is not possible to conclude that the priest had any associated symptoms.

The degeneration of the discs of his lower spine show that the priest was involved in some level of physical activity, and are within the changes that would be expected to have occurred with age. His remains suggest that he was apparently well nourished and had a relatively risk-free lifestyle.

The Revd Canon, John Patrick, Subdean of Lincoln, said: “These excavation findings are truly captivating and the historical insights we gain are testament to the rich history of the religious site. This burial was one of many significant objects discovered during renovation works and we look forward to being able to see many of these treasures in the new visitor centre.

“The whole cathedral team and I hope everyone is keeping well in these unprecedented times and we are eager to welcome people back to the cathedral once government lockdown measures are lifted.”

During this excavation, a host of other fascinating historic artifacts were unearthed which are currently being studied and dated. It is planned that some will be displayed as part of the new Lincoln Cathedral visitor centre, which is currently under construction due to complete later this year.

Senior manager at Allen Archaeology, Natasha Powers, said: “This burial is just one of the fascinating discoveries that our team has made during the Cathedral Connected project. We have revealed new evidence of Roman, Saxon, medieval, Tudor and Victorian activity within the site, and full analysis of the 50 or so burials that have been unearthed will provide us with a window into understanding the lives of the medieval population of Lincoln.”

The area between the West Front of the cathedral and the neighboring Exchequergate Arch, is known to have been used as a burial ground for not only the cathedral but the church of St Mary Magdalene, in nearby Bailgate. Part of the area of the Dean’s Green was also used as a burial ground for the cathedral, as were the many green spaces surrounding it.

The National Lottery-funded Connected project includes the delivery of vital restoration and renovation works to the iconic Lincoln Cathedral which are due to complete in 2022. The works will provide news spaces for all to enjoy, including a new visitor centre, and will help to protect and safeguard the cathedral for generations to come.

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Forensic facial reconstruction of the priest of Lincoln Cathedral. Courtesy Hew Morrison, Jennie Holland PR and Lincoln Cathedral Connected

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Article Source: Jennie Holland PR and Lincoln Cathedral Connected news release

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PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES—A large genomic dataset reveals ancient demographic events that accompanied the transition to agriculture and changes in metallurgic practices in France, according to a study*. The analysis of ancient genomes has revealed how demographic events such as migrations have spurred major cultural shifts and shaped the genetic makeup of present-day populations in Europe. However, such analysis for France has been limited to relatively few archeological sites and partial genomic data. Thierry Grange, Eva-Maria Geigl, Melanie Pruvost, and colleagues analyzed mitochondrial genomes and 120 genetic variants in the nuclear genomes of 243 individuals sampled from 54 French archeological sites representing a 7,000-year time span, from the Mesolithic period, before the onset of agriculture, to the Iron Age. Analysis of genomic data from three Mesolithic individuals revealed the late survival of Magdalenian-associated ancestry in hunter-gatherer populations beyond the Iberian Peninsula, suggesting that these populations expanded at the end of the Paleolithic period into regions that are more northerly than those previously reported. The first Neolithic people who migrated to France descended from Anatolian farmers, who later mixed with hunter-gatherer populations. At the onset of the Bronze Age, there was substantial gene flow from individuals deriving part of their ancestry from Pontic Steppe herders. According to the authors, the findings provide a comprehensive view of the genomic and demographic history of Europe during major cultural transitions.

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Samantha Brunel examining a skull in Institut Jacques Monod ‘s high containment laboratory (CNRS/Université de Paris) © Eva-Maria Geigl et Thierry Grange, Institut Jacques Monod (CNRS/Université de Paris)

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Article Source: PNAS news release

*”Ancient genomes from present-day France unveil 7,000 years of its demographic history,” by Samantha Brunel et al.

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UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER—Pinnacle Point, a series of archaeological sites that overlook a now submerged section of South Africa’s coastline and one of the world’s most important localities for the study of modern human origins, was as much of an Eden for animals as it was for early humans. Jamie Hodgkins, PhD, assistant professor of anthropology at University of Colorado Denver, and her team drilled ancient herbivore teeth to find that many local animals stayed put in the ecologically rich ecosystem, which may explain why humans flourished there, too.

Their study was published in a Quaternary Science Reviews special issue: The Palaeo-Agulhas Plain: a lost world and extinct ecosystem this month.

Home to the Earliest Modern Humans

Home to some of the richest evidence for the behavior and culture of the earliest clearly modern humans, the submerged shelf called the Palaeo-Agulhas Plain (PAP) once formed its own ecosystem. Co-author Curtis Marean, PhD, Arizona State University, has worked with teams of scientists for decades to reconstruct the locale back into the Pleistocene, the time period that spanned from 2.6 million to 11,700 years ago.

In this study, the researchers looked specifically at antelope migratory patterns at Pinnacle Point. This series of cave sites that sit on the modern South African coast offers archaeological materials from humans who were living and hunting there back to 170,000 years ago.

“During glacial cycles, the coastal shelf was exposed,” said Hodgkins. “There would have been a huge amount of land in front of the cave sites. We thought it was likely that humans and carnivores were hunting animals as they migrated east and west over the exposed shelve.”

A Lack of Migratory Pattern

Hodgkins and her team wanted to understand those migratory patterns. They studied the carbon and oxygen isotopes within the tooth enamel of many large herbivores, including Redunca, or reedbuck, a nonmigratory antelope. Tooth enamel can reveal a pattern of migration by tracking changing levels of carbon from the plants an animal eats as its teeth grow.

In general, wetter, cooler environments are home to C3 plants; hotter, drier environments are home to C4 plants. Animals like lush vegetation, which means they tend to follow the rain patterns: in this case east for summer rain (C4 grasses), and west for winter rain (C3 grasses). If animals were migrating between summer and winter rainfall zones, their tooth enamel would register that annual C3 and C4 plant rotation as a sinusoidal curve as their teeth grew.

A) Map of South Africa (SA) showing the distribution of C4 grasses associated with the percentage of summer rain from east to west along the coast, and with the winter rainfall zone in the west (modified from Vogel, 1978); B) A map of SA showing the area of the Greater Cape Floristic Region with the expanded PAP and hypothesized animals migration (i.e. It is hypothesized that animals would have been undertaking long-distance migrations between the east coast in summer rainfall zone and west coast in the winter rainfall zone)

But when Hodgkins and her team used the nonmigratory reedbuck as their control animal, they found that the enamel from its typically migratory pals–like the wildebeest, hartebeest, and springbok–showed no discernible migratory pattern. Most animals seemed happy right where they were.

“They weren’t struggling at Pinnacle Point,” says Hodgkins. “We now know that powerful river systems supplied the expanded coast, thus animals didn’t have to be migratory. It was a great location, resource-wise. During interglacials when the coast moved closer to the caves humans had shellfish and other marine resources, and when the coast expanded in glacial times hunters had access to a rich, terrestrial environment. Hunters wouldn’t need to be as mobile with all of these herbivores wandering around.”

Thriving in an Ecogeological Haven

Hodgkins’ team’s findings of this prehistoric Eden echoed another recent discovery. Seventy-four-thousand years ago, one of Earth’s largest known eruptions at Mount Toba in Sumatra, Indonesia, created a global winter, causing population crashes. In 2018, researchers from Marean’s group found that humans at Pinnacle Point not only survived, but thrived in the haven.

Hodgkins says this is just a first attempt at using isotopic data to test the hypothesis of east and west migration patterns at these sites and further research will be done.

“It is quite possible that animal migration patterns changed as the coastline moved in and out during glacial and interglacial cycles,” said Hodgkins.

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Antelope in South Africa

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Article Source: UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER news release

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BMC (BIOMED CENTRAL)—Genetic adaptations of early Italian ancestors to environmental changes, such as those that occurred soon after the Last Glacial Maximum, may explain some of the genetic differences between northern and southern Italian populations today, according to a study published in BMC Biology. The research suggests that northern and southern Italian populations may have begun to diverge genetically as early as 19,000-12,000 years ago and constitutes the earliest known evidence of genetic divergence in Italy so far.

A team of researchers at the University of Bologna sequenced the genomes of 38 unrelated participants from different regions in Italy, each the third generation of their family native to each region. The genomes were selected as representative of known genetic differences across the Italian population and over 17 million distinct genetic variants were found between individuals. The authors compared these variations with existing genetic data from 35 populations across Europe and the Mediterranean and with variants previously observed in 559 ancient human remains, dating from the Upper Palaeolithic (approx. 40,000 years ago) to the Bronze Age (approx. 4,000 years ago).

Prof. Marco Sazzini, lead author of the study said: “When comparing sequences between modern and ancient genome samples, we found early genetic divergence between the ancestors of northern and southern Italian groups dating back to the Late Glacial, around 19,000-12,000 years ago. Migrations during the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods, thousands of years later, then further differentiated their gene pools. Divergence between these ancestral populations may have occurred as a result of temperature rises and subsequent shrinking of glaciers across Northern Italy during this time, allowing ancestors who survived the glaciation period to move north, separating from groups who remained in the south.”

Further analyses also revealed signatures ascribable to specific biological adaptations in northern and southern Italian genomes suggestive of habitation in differing climates. The genetic history of northern Italians showed changes in the genes responsible for regulating insulin, body-heat production and fat metabolism, whilst southern Italians showed adaptations in genes regulating the production of melanin and responses to pathogens.

Prof. Sazzini said: “Our findings suggest that the ancestors of northern Italians adapted to lower environmental temperatures and the related high-calorie diets by optimising their energy metabolism. This adaptation may play a role in the lower prevalence of Type 2 Diabetes recorded in Northern Italy today. Conversely, southern Italian ancestors adapted to a warmer climate with higher UV levels by increasing melanin production, which may explain the lower incidence rates of skin cancers recorded across Southern regions. The genomes of southern Italians also showed changes in the genes encoding mucins, which play a role in protection against pathogens, and genetic variants linked to a longer lifespan. Further research in this area may help us understand how the observed genetic differences can impact population health or predisposition to a number of diseases.”

The authors caution that although correlations may be drawn between evolutionary adaptations and current disease prevalence among populations, they are unable to prove causation, or rule out the possibility that more recent gene flow from populations exposed to diverse environmental conditions outside of Italy may have also contributed to the different genetic signatures seen between northern and southern Italians today.

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Hans, Pixabay

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Article Source: BMC (BIOMED CENTRAL) news release

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INSTITUTE FOR BASIC SCIENCE—Climate scientists from the IBS Center for Climate Physics discover that, contrary to previously held beliefs, Neanderthal extinction was neither caused by abrupt glacial climate shifts, nor by interbreeding with Homo sapiens. According to new supercomputer model simulations, only competition between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens can explain the rapid demise of Neanderthals around 43 to 38 thousand years ago.

Neanderthals lived in Eurasia for at least 300,000 years. Then, around 43 to 38 thousand years ago they quickly disappeared off the face of the earth, leaving only weak genetic traces in present-day Homo sapiens populations. It is well established that their extinction coincided with a period of rapidly fluctuating climatic conditions, as well as with the arrival of Homo sapiens in Europe. However, determining which of these factors was the dominant cause has remained one of the biggest challenges of evolutionary anthropology.

To quantify which processes played a major role in the collapse of Neanderthal populations one needs to use mathematical models that can realistically simulate the migration of Neanderthals and Homo sapiens, their interactions, competition and interbreeding in a changing climatic environment. Such models did not exist previously.

In a new paper published in the journal Quaternary Science Review, Axel Timmermann, Director of the IBS Center for Climate Physics at Pusan National University, presents the first realistic computer model simulation of the extinction of Neanderthals across Eurasia. The model, which is comprised of several thousands of lines of computer code and is run on the IBS supercomputer Aleph, solves a series of mathematical equations that describe how Neanderthals and Homo sapiens moved in a time-varying glacial landscape and under shifting temperature, rainfall and vegetation patterns. In the model both hominin groups compete for the same food resources and a small fraction is allowed to interbreed. The key parameters of the model are obtained from realistic climate computer model simulations, genetic and demographic data.

“This is the first time we can quantify the drivers of Neanderthal extinction,” said Timmermann. “In the computer model I can turn on and off different processes, such as abrupt climate change, interbreeding or competition” he said. By comparing the results with existing paleo-anthropological, genetic and archeological data, Timmermann demonstrated that a realistic extinction in the computer model is only possible if Homo sapiens had significant advantages over Neanderthals in terms of exploiting existing food resources. Even though the model does not specify the details, possible reasons for the superiority of Homo sapiens could have been associated with better hunting techniques, stronger resistance to pathogens or higher level of fecundity.

What exactly caused the rapid Neanderthal demise has remained elusive for a long time. This new computer modeling approach identifies competitive exclusion as the likely reason for the disappearance of our cousins. “Neanderthals lived in Eurasia for the last 300,000 years and experienced and adapted to abrupt climate shifts that were even more dramatic than those that occurred during the time of Neanderthal disappearance. It is not a coincidence that Neanderthals vanished just at the time when Homo sapiens started to spread into Europe” says Timmermann. He adds “The new computer model simulations show clearly that this event was the first major extinction caused by our own species”.

A research team at the IBS Center for Climate Physics is now improving the computer model to also include megafauna and implement more realistic climate forcings. “This is a new field of research in which climate scientists can interact with mathematicians, geneticists, archaeologists and anthropologists”, said Axel Timmermann.

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Computer simulations of population density of Neanderthals (left) and Homo sapiens (right) 43,000 years ago (upper) and 38,000 years ago (lower). Orange/green circles indicate archeological sites of Neanderthals/Homo sapiens during 5,000-year-long intervals centered around 43 and 38 thousand years before present. IBS

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Article Source: INSTITUTE FOR BASIC SCIENCE news release

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MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE FOR THE SCIENCE OF HUMAN HISTORY—Using human population genetics, ancient pathogen genomics and isotope analysis, a team of researchers assessed the population history of the Lake Baikal region, finding the deepest connection to date between the peoples of Siberia and the Americas. The current study, published in the journal Cell, also demonstrates human mobility, and hence connectivity, across Eurasia during the Early Bronze Age.

Modern humans have lived near Lake Baikal since the Upper Paleolithic, and have left behind a rich archaeological record. Ancient genomes from the region have revealed multiple genetic turnovers and admixture events, indicating that the transition from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age was facilitated by human mobility and complex cultural interactions. The nature and timing of these interactions, however, remains largely unknown.

A new study published in the journal Cell reports the findings of 19 newly sequenced ancient human genomes from the region of Lake Baikal, including one of the oldest reported from that region. Led by the Department of Archaeogenetics at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, the study illuminates the population history of the region, revealing deep connections with the First Peoples of the Americas, dating as far back as the Upper Paleolithic period, as well as connectivity across Eurasia during the Early Bronze Age.

The deepest link between peoples

“This study reveals the deepest link between Upper Paleolithic Siberians and First Americans,” says He Yu, first author of the study. “We believe this could shed light on future studies about Native American population history.”

Past studies have indicated a connection between Siberian and American populations, but a 14,000-year-old individual analyzed in this study is the oldest to carry the mixed ancestry present in Native Americans. Using an extremely fragmented tooth excavated in 1962 at the Ust-Kyahta-3 site, re-searchers generated a shotgun-sequenced genome enabled by cutting edge techniques in molecular biology.

This individual from southern Siberia, along with a younger Mesolithic one from northeastern Siberia, shares the same genetic mixture of Ancient North Eurasian (ANE) and Northeast Asian (NEA) ancestry found in Native Americans, and suggests that the ancestry which later gave rise to Native Americans in North- and South America was much more widely distributed than previously assumed. Evidence suggests that this population experienced frequent genetic contacts with NEA populations, resulting in varying admixture proportions across time and space.

“The Upper Paleolithic genome will provide a legacy to study human genetic history in the future,” says Cosimo Posth, a senior author of the paper. Further genetic evidence from Upper Paleolithic Siberian groups is necessary to determine when and where the ancestral gene pool of Native Americans came together.

A web of prehistoric connections

In addition to this transcontinental connection, the study presents connectivity within Eurasia as evidenced in both human and pathogen genomes as well as stable isotope analysis. Combining these lines of evidence, the researchers were able to produce a detailed description of the population history in the Lake Baikal region.

The presence of Eastern European steppe-related ancestry is evidence of contact between southern Siberian and western Eurasian steppe populations in the preamble to the Early Bronze Age, an era characterized by increasing social and technological complexity. The surprising presence of Yersinia pestis, the plague-causing pathogen, points to further wide-ranging contacts.

Although spreading of Y. pestis was postulated to be facilitated by migrations from the steppe, the two individuals here identified with the pathogen were genetically northeastern Asian-like. Isotope analysis of one of the infected individuals revealed a non-local signal, suggesting origins outside the region of discovery. In addition, the strains of Y. pestis the pair carried is most closely related to a contemporaneous strain identified in an individual from the Baltic region of northeastern Europe, further supporting the high mobility of those Bronze age pathogens and likely also people.

“This easternmost appearance of ancient Y. pestis strains is likely suggestive of long-range mobility during the Bronze Age,” says Maria Spyrou, one of the study’s coauthors. “In the future, with the generation of additional data we hope to delineate the spreading patterns of plague in more detail,” concludes Johannes Krause, senior author of the study.

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Excavation in 1976 of the Ust’-Kyakhta-3 site located on right bank of the Selenga River in the vicinity of Ust-Kyakhta village in the Kyakhtinski Region of the Republic of Buryatia (Russia). A. P. Okladnikov

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Recent view on the Selenga River close to the archeological site Ust-Kyakhta-3. G. Pavlenok

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The fragmented tooth of individual UKY001 excavated from an archeological layer at the Ust-Kyakhta-3 site dated to the Upper Paleolithic, around 14,000 years old. G. Pavlenok (Published in Pavlenok, G.D., and Zubova, A. V. (2019). New Dental Finds Associated with the Paleolithic Selenga Culture, Western Trans-Baikal Region. Archaeol. Ethnol. Anthropol. Eurasia 47.)

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Article Source: MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE FOR THE SCIENCE OF HUMAN HISTORY news release

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UNIVERSITY OF KENT—Research by anthropologists at the University of Kent has identified hand use behavior in fossil human relatives that is consistent with modern humans.

The human lineage can be defined by a transition in hand use. Early human ancestors used their hands to move around in the trees, like living primates do today, whereas modern human hands have evolved to primarily perform precision grips.

However, new research led by Dr Christopher Dunmore, Dr Matthew Skinner and Professor Tracy Kivell from Kent’s School of Anthropology and Conservation has revealed that the hand of an ancient human relative was used for both human-like manipulation as well as climbing.

Their discovery came from analyzing and comparing the internal bony structures of fossil knuckle and thumb joints from the hands of several fossil species from South Africa, eastern Africa and Europe. These included: Australopithecus sediba, Australopithecus africanus, Australopithecus afarensis, Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens dated between 12 thousand and three million years old.

The knuckles at the base of Australopithecus sediba‘s fingers were found to have an internal trabecular structure consistent with branch grasping, but that of their thumb joints is consistent with human-like manipulation. This unique combination is different to that found in the other Australopithecus species studied and provides direct evidence that ape-like features of this species were actually used, probably during climbing. Furthermore, it supports the idea that the transition to walking on two legs was gradual in this late surviving member of the Australopithecus genus.

Dr Dunmore said: ‘Internal bone structures are shaped by frequent behaviors during life. Therefore, our findings can support further research into the internal structure of hands in relation to stone tool use and production. This approach may also be used to investigate how other fossil hominin species moved around and to what degree climbing might have remained an important part of their lifestyle.’

Professor Kivell said: ‘The internal bone structure can reveal hidden evidence that gives us insight into how our fossil human relatives behaved. We were really excited to see this particular hand-use pattern in Australopithecus sediba as it was so different from other australopiths. The fossil record is revealing more and more diversity in the ways our ancestors moved around, and interacted with, their environments – the human evolutionary story is even more complex and interesting than we previously thought.’

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Malapa cave, where Australopithecus sediba was found. Lee Berger

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The skull of MH1 (A. sediba specimen) at the site. Photo by Brett Eloff, courtesy Lee Berger

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The Malapa Hominin 2 (MH2) articulated in situ, where it was found in the cave. Peter Schmid, courtesy Tracy Kivell

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The MH2 hand in palmar (left) and dorsal views (right). Peter Schmid, courtesy Tracy Kivell

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Article Source: A UNIVERSITY OF KENT news release

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ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY—Archaeological sites on the far southern shores of South Africa hold the world’s richest records for the behavioral and cultural origins of our species. At this location, scientists have discovered the earliest evidence for symbolic behavior, complex pyrotechnology, projectile weapons and the first use of foods from the sea.

The Arizona State University Institute of Human Origins (IHO) field study site of Pinnacle Point sits at the center of this record, both geographically and scientifically, having contributed much of the evidence for these milestones on the evolutionary road to being a modern human.

The scientists working on these sites, led by IHO Associate Director Curtis Marean, have always faced a dilemma in understanding the context of these evolutionary milestones — much of the landscape used by these ancient people is now submerged undersea and thus poorly known to us. Marean is a Foundation Professor with the ASU School of Human Evolution and Social Change and Honorary Professor with Nelson Mandela University in South Africa.

The archaeological records come from caves and rockshelters that now look out on to the sea, and in fact, walking to many of the sites today involves dodging high tides and waves. However, through most of the last 200,000 years, lowered sea levels during glacial phases, when the ice sucks up the water, exposed a vast plain. The coast was sometimes as much as 90 km distant! Our archaeological data shows that this was the prime foraging habitat for these early modern humans, and until recently, we knew nothing about.

That has now changed with the publication of 22 articles in a special issue of Quaternary Science Reviews titled “The Palaeo-Agulhas Plain: A lost world and extinct ecosystem.” About ten years ago, Marean began building a transdisciplinary international team to tackle the problem of building an ecology of this ancient landscape. ASU, Nelson Mandela University, the University of Cape Town, and the University of California at Riverside anchored the research team. Funded primarily by a $1 million National Science Foundation grant to Marean, with significant funding and resources from the Hyde Family Foundations, the John Templeton Foundation, ASU, IHO, and XSEDE, they developed an entirely new way to reconstruct “paleoecologies” or ancient ecosystems.

This began with using the high-resolution South African regional climate model — running on U.S. and South African supercomputers — to simulate glacial climate conditions. The researchers used this climate output to drive a new vegetation model developed by project scientists to recreate the vegetation on this paleoscape. They then used a wide variety of studies such as marine geophysics, deep-water diving for sample collection, isotopic studies of stalagmites and many other transdisciplinary avenues of research to validate and adjust this model output. They also created a human “agent-based model” through modern studies of human foraging of plants, animals, and seafoods, simulating how ancient people lived on this now extinct paleoscape.

“Pulling the threads of all this research into one special issue illustrates all of this science,” said Curtis Marean. “It represents a unique example of a truly transdisciplinary paleoscience effort, and a new model for going forward with our search to recreate the nature of past ecosystems. Importantly, our results help us understand why the archaeological records from these South African sites consistently reveal early and complex levels of human behavior and culture. The Palaeo-Agulhas Plain, when exposed, was a ‘Serengeti of the South”‘ positioned next to some of the richest coastlines in the world. This unique confluence of food from the land and sea cultivated the complex cultures revealed by the archaeology and provided safe harbor for humans during the glacial cycles that revealed that plain and made much of the rest of the world unwelcoming to human life.”

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Looking out at the Palaeo-Agulhas Plain from the cave entrance at the Pinnacle Point, South Africa, research site–left, 200,000 years ago during glacial phases and lower sea levels, and right, today where the ocean is within yards of the cave entrances at high tides. Erich Fisher

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Article Source: ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY news release

If you liked this article, you may also like Where Hominins Became Human, published previously in Popular Archaeology.

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