CELL PRESS—Indigenous people have been on the far northeastern edge of Canada for most of the last 10,000 years, moving in shortly after the ice retreated from the Last Glacial Maximum. Archaeological evidence suggests that people with distinct cultural traditions inhabited the region at least three different times with a possible hiatus for a period between 2,000 and 3,000 years ago.
Now, researchers who’ve examined genetic evidence from mitochondrial DNA provide evidence that two of those groups, known as the Maritime Archaic and Beothuk, brought different matrilines to the island, adding further support to the notion that those groups had distinct population histories. The findings are published in Current Biology on October 12.*
“Our paper suggests, based purely on mitochondrial DNA, that the Maritime Archaic were not the direct ancestors of the Beothuk and that the two groups did not share a very recent common ancestor,” says Ana Duggan of McMaster University. “This in turn implies that the island of Newfoundland was populated multiple times by distinct groups.”
The relationship between the older Maritime Archaic population and Beothuk hadn’t been clear from the archaeological record. With permission from the current-day indigenous community, Duggan and her colleagues, led by Hendrik Poinar, examined the mitochondrial genome diversity of 74 ancient remains from the island together with the archaeological record and dietary isotope profiles. All samples were collected from tiny amounts of bone or teeth.
The sample set included a Maritime Archaic subadult more than 7,700 years old found in the L’Anse Amour burial mound, the oldest known burial mound in North America and one of the first manifestations of the Maritime Archaic tradition. The majority of the Beothuk samples came from the Notre Dame Bay area, where the Beothuk retreated in response to European expansions. Most of those samples are from people that lived on the island within the last 300 years. The DNA evidence showed that the two groups didn’t share a common maternal ancestor in the recent past, but rather one that coalesces sometime in the more distant past.
“These data clearly suggest that the Maritime Archaic people are not the direct maternal ancestors of the Beothuk and thus that the population history of the island involves multiple independent arrivals by indigenous peoples followed by habitation for many generations,” the researchers write. “This shows the extremely rich population dynamics of early peoples on the furthest northeastern edge of the continent.”
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This schematic shows the settlement history of Newfoundland encompassing occupations by at least three distinct cultural groups: MA, Dorset Palaeoeskimo, and Beothuk. Credit: Produced by Deirdre Elliott with QGIS 2.18.44, and data from Stephen Hull and Natural Earth.
Funding and financial support was provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Insight Grant program, the Canada Research Chairs program (HNP), the Wilson Foundation, the Ontario Genomics Institute, Illumina Canada, Memorial University of Newfoundland, thee J.R. Smallwood Foundation, the Institute of Social and Economic Research, Beothuk Institute, McMaster University, and Robert Corsini (McMaster Class of 1967).
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For the people who have lived in the rural area of Góry in eastern Wielkopolska, Poland, the ancient tombs have been known for perhaps two hundred years, if not longer. Many of them were gradually dismantled by the locals, at least at the surface, to acquire stones for modern constructions. Others, however, remained hidden and thus less conspicuous within the forests, surviving to the present as earthen mounds, their interiors still intact, their secrets still buried. It has only been recently that archaeologists rediscovered them, with the help of LiDAR, the remote sensing technology that measures the distance to objects from the air to the surface by revealing them with a pulsed laser light, uncovering surface forms and features that have gone undetected or unrecognized by the naked eye on the ground. Their significance, from an archaeological and historical perspective, is high, because they are about 5,5000 years old — remnants of the European megalithic past.
“The earthen mounds of the Góry megaliths are up to 90 meters long and 1.5 meters high and are in a very good state,” reports a press release of the Foundation Development YES – Open Pit MinesNO (DY-OPMN), an organization dedicated to their preservation. “Only the outer stones had been removed through ages of farming in the region. The rest is virtually intact.” The Foundation reports that there are 15 tombs, including 14 long-barrow tombs of the Neolithic Funnelbeaker culture, and one Lusatian culture tomb dated to the Early Bronze age at about 3 thousand years ago. They have remained to this day largely unexplored and unexcavated by archaeologists, save for initial survey. But once investigated, they could emerge as one of the most important sites of megalithic culture in Europe, joining discoveries such as Grønsalen on the Isle of Man in Denmark, Brú na Bóinne in Newgrange, Ireland, West Kennet Long Barrow in England, La Roche aux Fées and the Carnac Stones in France, and the megalithic temples of Malta.
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Above and below: Barely visible on the landscape, for now, the Góry tombs remain secluded within their forest shroud. Credit Leszek Pazderski
Above and below: Reconstructed Funnelbeaker ceramic vases from a Neolithic settlement near the Góry site. (Most probably its inhabitants were the builders of the Góry megaliths). Credit: Krzysztof Gorczyca
But these tombs also sit atop a coal deposit — a deposit that Poland’s ZE PAK mining company(through the planned Ościsłowo open-pit mine) is very keen to exploit — and as soon as possible. It is a familiar story.There are others like this one out there: the Mes Aynak site in Afghanistan is one high profile example. In the Góry megaliths case, Poland’s historical monuments conservation authority has begun the process to formally place the site on the protected monuments list. This means that, for now, the tombs are protected until the decision is made. But if the decision goes against them, the mining company will be approved for a permit to begin their excavation, leading to the destruction of the tombs. If, on the other hand, the decision favors preservation of the tombs, then ZE PAK may need to rethink their plans.
The DY-OPMN organization is campaigning to get the news out to the public.“Are the Poles ready to sacrifice a priceless piece of European history, barely researched and still full of secrets?” state their representatives in the press release. “Do the short-term profits of one company justify such a sacrifice? Foundation “Development YES – Open Pit Mines NO” believes that the cultural heritage should be protected from destruction for future generations.”
They may have more than the protection of cultural treasures on their side in the case. “The planned Ościsłowo open-pit mine would [also] devastate the environment and economy of the Wielkopolska region,” they maintain.
For now, everyone waits.
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UNIVERSITY OF EXETER—Amazonian farmers discovered how to manipulate wild rice so the plants could provide more food 4,000 years ago, long before Europeans colonized America, archaeologists have discovered.
Experts from the UK and Brazil have found the first evidence that ancient South Americans learned how to grow bigger rice crops with larger grains, but this expertise may have been lost after 1492 when the indigenous population was decimated, research shows.
The evidence of the success of early rice farmers on the vast wetlands near the Guaporé River in Rondônia state, Brazil, could help modern day plant breeders develop rice crops which are less susceptible to disease and more adaptable to the effects of climate change than the Asian varieties. Different species of rice were first grown approximately 11,000 years ago in the Yangtze River, China, and around 2,000 years ago in West Africa.
The University of Exeter study, funded in part by the European Research Council, also shows how important the huge wetlands and tropical forests of lowland South America were in providing food for early human settlers in South America. Ancient inhabitants managed to domesticate cassava, peanuts and chilli peppers crops for food.
The archaeologists analyzed 16 samples of microscopic plant remains from ten different time periods found during excavations during 2014 led by the University of São Paulo in South West Amazonia. More phytoliths, hard, microscopic pieces of silica made by plant cells, were found at higher ground level, suggesting rice began to play a larger role in the diet of people who lived in the area – and more was farmed – as time went on.
Changes in the ratio of husk, leaf and stem remains found at different ground levels also suggest the Amazon residents became more efficient harvesters over time, bringing more grain and fewer leaves to the site. The rice grown, Oryza sp, also became bigger over time compared to the wild rice first cultivated by the South Americans. This area has been occupied by humans for at least 10,000 years.
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The team arriving at Monte Castelo and wild rice. Credit: University of Exeter
Professor Jose Iriarte, from the University of Exeter, who led the research, said: “This is the first study to identify when wild rice first began to be grown for food in South America. We have found people were growing crops with larger and larger seeds. Even though they were also eating wild and domesticated plants including maize, palm fruits, soursop and squash, wild rice was an important food, and people began to grow it at lake or river edges.
“During a time when the climate was getting wetter and the wetlands expanding, this critical seasonal resource that is ripe at the peak of the flooding season when other resources are dispersed and scarce, residents of Monte Castelo began to grow larger rice.”
Evidence for mid-Holocene rice domestication in the Americas by Lautaro Hilbert and Jose Iriarte from the University of Exeter, Elizabeth Veasey, Carlos Augusto Zimpel, Eduardo Goes Neves and Francisco Pugliese from the Universidade de São Paulo, Bronwen S. Whitney from Northumbria University and Myrtle Shock from the Universidade Federal do Oeste de Pará, is published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution.
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VISUAL SCIENCE—Visual Science and the RAS Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, with support from the All-Russian Science Festival “Nauka 0+”, have reconstructed the faces of the Sungir people—Homo sapiens who lived 30,000 years ago in Central Russia and are believed to be ancestors of today’s Northern and Eastern Europeans. The new virtual reality 3D animation brings the Sungir people to life. The scientifically accurate visualization is based on skeletal remains from the Sungir site, one of the northernmost Paleolithic settlements in Europe, as well as data from previous efforts to reconstruct the Sungir people’s appearance.
What is Sungir?
Located in the Vladimir region of central Russia, Sungir is by far the northernmost prehistoric settlement of early modern humans in Europe. It was first excavated by archaeologists in 1956.
More than 80,000 cultural and household artifacts have been found at the site, which is believed to have been a seasonal hunting camp. Many are made from mammoth bones, Arctic fox canines and stone. Beads, pendants, zoomorphic figurines, engravings and clothing have been among the findings.
Remains of nine people have been discovered at the site. The best-preserved belonged to two siblings, aged approximately 10 and 13. These were used to create the VR 3D animation.
Decades of research on the Sungir site have advanced our understanding of human development, migration, and the cultures of Paleolithic Europe.
To create the visualization, two Sungir skulls were laser-scanned and photographed in high definition. The data was then run through state-of-the-art 3D modeling software, where existing data and modern facial reconstruction techniques were applied. The VR animation outlines the steps involved, from marking reference points on the skulls to reconstructing the soft tissues of the head, nose and ear cartilages, to create the final “living” 3D portrait.
The VR animation is based on contemporary research as well as earlier sculptural reconstructions of Sungir people made by Mikhail Gerasimov’s method.
“In the mid-20th century, Soviet archaeologist and anthropologist Mikhail Gerasimov created the first scientifically accurate method for anthropological facial reconstruction based on a person’s skull,” said Sergey Vasilyev, Head of the Department of Physical Anthropology at RAS Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology. “Previously, scientists noted that there is a dependency between the shape of the skull and the elements of appearance. The anatomical and radiographic research methods used by Gerasimov allowed scientists to not only determine standards for the thickness of soft tissues along the face profile line, but also to reveal patterns in the distribution of the soft tissues’ thickness, depending on skull surface morphology development. The structure of particular facial elements was determined by individual morphological features of the skull. Gerasimov’s successors developed techniques to restore the nose and ears. The degree of reconstruction authenticity was determined by a number of facial reconstruction projects that used the skulls of modern people, whose lifetime portraits were available. The methodology was tested mainly on forensic material. The Gerasimov method is still in use in Russia, Europe and the United States. In recent years, reconstruction has become easier due to the introduction of ultrasound scanning and computer tomography.”
“As a scientist, I find this project extremely interesting,”added Viktor Sadovnichiy, rector of Moscow State University and the co-chairman of the All-Russian Science Festival “Nauka 0+. “This is a meeting of multiple scientific disciplines – history, archaeology, cutting- edge computer technology. The result is a work of the highest order, which will find an audience both among the Festival attendees, who will be able to immerse themselves in the world of the Paleolithic, as well as among pedigreed scientists, who will find confirmation of hypotheses that had been put forward earlier”
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An illustration of the reconstruction process. VR animation by Visual Science
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Two individuals, whose remains have been found at Sungir, were reconstructed using the cutting edge techniques. VR animation by Visual Science
Museums and schools around the world can access the visualization for free using Android apps compatible with Google Cardboard or any other VR headset at 4K resolution.
“Cutting-edge science combined with computer graphics is a powerful tool for promoting science among children and inspiring young people to learn about history and the natural world. The Sungir site is a global treasure. Special clothing and decorative elements suggest an amazingly high level of cultural development among Homo sapiens living 30,000 years ago. By visualizing these details with scientific rigor, we’re able to share Sungir with the widest possible audience.” — Ivan Konstantinov, CEO of Visual Science.
“I like Sungir VR-animation because the reconstruction was made with high precision and attention to details. The physiognomy of the children, shown in the visualization, recalls Dolni Vestonice 15—remains found at the upper paleolithic site in the Czech Republic” — Professor Jiri Svoboda, Sc.D., Head of Research Centre for Palaeolithics and Paleoanthropology at the Institute of Archaeology of the Czech Academy of Sciences.
Visual Science is an award-winning scientific visualization, communication and education studio. Founded in 2007, it develops 3D animations, educational videos, medical illustrations, interactive science apps, and more.
Visual Science has completed hundreds of projects for companies and organizations around the world. They include Nobel Prize laureates, leading scientific publishers (Wiley, Elsevier, Macmillan Publishers, Springer), educational institutions (Cambridge University, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Monash University), top-20 pharmaceutical and biotech companies (Johnson & Johnson, Takeda, Novo Nordisk, Roche, Nycomed), advertising agencies, museums, and broadcasting companies.
Since 2010, our projects have attracted millions of views from 148 countries, and have been featured in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Nature, PBS, New Scientist, Mashable, National Geographic, Popular Science, Wired, Spiegel and other media outlets.
Visual Science created the first complete, scientifically accurate model of the HIV virus at the atomic level. The company’s 3D models of the HIV and Ebola viruses were awarded “Best Illustration” (2010) and “Honorable Mention – Infographics” (2011) respectively by Science Magazine and the National Science Foundation.
The company has an extensive network of expert consultants, including more than 70 scientists at world-leading research centers across the globe, from Harvard University (USA) to HKUST (Hong Kong).
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UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA—Humans migrated out of Africa as the climate shifted from wet to very dry about 60,000 years ago, according to research led by a University of Arizona geoscientist.
Genetic research indicates people migrated from Africa into Eurasia between 70,000 and 55,000 years ago. Previous researchers suggested the climate must have been wetter than it is now for people to migrate to Eurasia by crossing the Horn of Africa and the Middle East.
“There’s always been a question about whether climate change had any influence on when our species left Africa,” said Jessica Tierney, UA associate professor of geosciences. “Our data suggest that when most of our species left Africa, it was dry and not wet in northeast Africa.”
Tierney and her colleagues found that around 70,000 years ago, climate in the Horn of Africa shifted from a wet phase called “Green Sahara” to even drier than the region is now. The region also became colder.
The researchers traced the Horn of Africa’s climate 200,000 years into the past by analyzing a core of ocean sediment taken in the western end of the Gulf of Aden. Tierney said before this research there was no record of the climate of northeast Africa back to the time of human migration out of Africa.
“Our data say the migration comes after a big environmental change. Perhaps people left because the environment was deteriorating,” she said. “There was a big shift to dry and that could have been a motivating force for migration.”
“It’s interesting to think about how our ancestors interacted with climate,” she said.
The team’s paper, “A climatic context for the out-of-Africa migration,” is published online in Geology this week. Tierney’s co-authors are Peter deMenocal of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in Palisades, New York, and Paul Zander of the UA.
The National Science Foundation and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation funded the research.
Tierney and her colleagues had successfully revealed the Horn of Africa’s climate back to 40,000 years ago by studying cores of marine sediment. The team hoped to use the same means to reconstruct the region’s climate back to the time 55,000 to 70,000 years ago when our ancestors left Africa.
The first challenge was finding a core from that region with sediments that old. The researchers enlisted the help of the curators of the Lamont-Doherty Core Repository, which has sediment cores from every major ocean and sea. The curators found a core collected off the Horn of Africa in 1965 from the R/V Robert D. Conrad that might be suitable.
Co-author deMenocal studied and dated the layers of the 1965 core and found it had sediments going back as far as 200,000 years.
At the UA, Tierney and Paul Zander teased out temperature and rainfall records from the organic matter preserved in the sediment layers. The scientists took samples from the core about every four inches (10 cm), a distance that represented about every 1,600 years.
To construct a long-term temperature record for the Horn of Africa, the researchers analyzed the sediment layers for chemicals called alkenones made by a particular kind of marine algae. The algae change the composition of the alkenones depending on the water temperature. The ratio of the different alkenones indicates the sea surface temperature when the algae were alive and also reflects regional temperatures, Tierney said.
To figure out the region’s ancient rainfall patterns from the sediment core, the researchers analyzed the ancient leaf wax that had blown into the ocean from terrestrial plants. Because plants alter the chemical composition of the wax on their leaves depending on how dry or wet the climate is, the leaf wax from the sediment core’s layers provides a record of past fluctuations in rainfall.
The analyses showed that the time people migrated out of Africa coincided with a big shift to a much drier and colder climate, Tierney said.
The team’s findings are corroborated by research from other investigators who reconstructed past regional climate by using data gathered from a cave formation in Israel and a sediment core from the eastern Mediterranean. Those findings suggest that it was dry everywhere in northeast Africa, she said.
“Our main point is kind of simple,” Tierney said. “We think it was dry when people left Africa and went on to other parts of the world, and that the transition from a Green Sahara to dry was a motivating force for people to leave.”
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The Lamont-Doherty Core Repository contains one of the world’s most unique and important collection of scientific samples from the deep sea. Sediment cores from every major ocean and sea are archived here. The repository provides for long-term curation and archiving of samples and cores to ensure their preservation and usefulness to current and future generations of scientists. Credit: Courtesy Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
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ST JOHN’S COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE—Early humans seem to have recognised the dangers of inbreeding at least 34,000 years ago, and developed surprisingly sophisticated social and mating networks to avoid it, new research has found.
The study, reported in the journal Science, examined genetic information from the remains of anatomically modern humans who lived during the Upper Palaeolithic, a period when modern humans from Africa first colonised western Eurasia. The results suggest that people deliberately sought partners beyond their immediate family, and that they were probably connected to a wider network of groups from within which mates were chosen, in order to avoid becoming inbred.
This suggests that our distant ancestors are likely to have been aware of the dangers of inbreeding, and purposely avoided it at a surprisingly early stage in prehistory.
The symbolism, complexity and time invested in the objects and jewellery found buried with the remains also suggests that it is possible that they developed rules, ceremonies and rituals to accompany the exchange of mates between groups, which perhaps foreshadowed modern marriage ceremonies, and may have been similar to those still practised by hunter-gatherer communities in parts of the world today.
The study’s authors also hint that the early development of more complex mating systems may at least partly explain why anatomically modern humans proved successful while other species, such as Neanderthals, did not. However, more ancient genomic information from both early humans and Neanderthals is needed to test this idea.
The research was carried out by an international team of academics, led by the University of Cambridge, UK, and the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. They sequenced the genomes of four individuals from Sunghir, a famous Upper Palaeolithic site in Russia, which is believed to have been inhabited about 34,000 years ago.
The human fossils buried at Sunghir represent a rare and highly valuable, source of information because very unusually for finds from this period, the people buried there appear to have lived at the same time and were buried together. To the researchers’ surprise, however, these individuals were not closely related in genetic terms; at the very most, they were second cousins. This is true even in the case of two children who were buried head-to-head in the same grave.
Professor Eske Willerslev, who holds posts both as a Fellow at St John’s College, Cambridge, and at the University of Copenhagen, was the senior author on the study. “What this means is that even people in the Upper Palaeolithic, who were living in tiny groups, understood the importance of avoiding inbreeding,” he said. “The data that we have suggest that it was being purposely avoided.”
“This means that they must have developed a system for this purpose. If small hunter-gatherer bands were mixing at random, we would see much greater evidence of inbreeding than we have here.”
Early humans and other hominins such as Neanderthals appear to have lived in small family units. The small population size made inbreeding likely, but among anatomically modern humans it eventually ceased to be commonplace; when this happened, however, is unclear.
“Small family bands are likely to have interconnected with larger networks, facilitating the exchange of people between groups in order to maintain diversity,” Professor Martin Sikora, from the Centre for GeoGenetics at the University of Copenhagen, said.
Sunghir contains the burials of one adult male and two younger individuals, accompanied by the symbolically-modified incomplete remains of another adult, as well as a spectacular array of grave goods. The researchers were able to sequence the complete genomes of the four individuals, all of whom were probably living on the site at the same time. These data were compared with information from a large number of both modern and ancient human genomes.
They found that the four individuals studied were genetically no closer than second cousins, while an adult femur filled with red ochre found in the children’s’ grave would have belonged to an individual no closer than great-great grandfather of the boys. “This goes against what many would have predicted,” Willerslev said. “I think many researchers had assumed that the people of Sunghir were very closely related, especially the two youngsters from the same grave.”
The people at Sunghir may have been part of a network similar to that of modern day hunter-gatherers, such as Aboriginal Australians and some historical Native American societies. Like their Upper Palaeolithic ancestors, these people live in fairly small groups of around 25 people, but they are also less directly connected to a larger community of perhaps 200 people, within which there are rules governing with whom individuals can form partnerships.
“Most non-human primate societies are organised around single-sex kin where one of the sexes remains resident and the other migrates to another group, minimising inbreeding” says Professor Marta Mirazón Lahr, from the Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies at the University of Cambridge. “At some point, early human societies changed their mating system into one in which a large number of the individuals that form small hunter-gatherer units are non-kin. The results from Sunghir show that Upper Palaeolithic human groups could use sophisticated cultural systems to sustain very small group sizes by embedding them in a wide social network of other groups.”
By comparison, genomic sequencing of a Neanderthal individual from the Altai Mountains who lived around 50,000 years ago indicates that inbreeding was not avoided. This leads the researchers to speculate that an early, systematic approach to preventing inbreeding may have helped anatomically modern humans to thrive, compared with other hominins.
This should be treated with caution, however: “We don’t know why the Altai Neanderthal groups were inbred,” Sikora said. “Maybe they were isolated and that was the only option; or maybe they really did fail to develop an available network of connections. We will need more genomic data of diverse Neanderthal populations to be sure.”
Willerslev also highlights a possible link with the unusual sophistication of the ornaments and cultural objects found at Sunghir. Group-specific cultural expressions may have been used to establish distinctions between bands of early humans, providing a means of identifying who to mate with and who to avoid as partners.
“The ornamentation is incredible and there is no evidence of anything like that with Neanderthals and other archaic humans,” Willerslev added. “When you put the evidence together, it seems to be speaking to us about the really big questions; what made these people who they were as a species, and who we are as a result.”
The research paper, Ancient genomes show social and reproductive behaviour of early Upper Paleolithic foragers, is published in the October 5 issue of Science.
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Detail of one of the burials from Sunghir, in Russia. The new study sequenced the genomes of individuals from the site and discovered that they were, at most, second cousins, indicating that they had developed sexual partnerships beyond their immediate social and family group. Wikimedia Commons
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AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE—Two new studies on ancient genomes provide valuable insights into the lives of our ancestors and their cousins, the Neandertals. First, scientists have sequenced a new genome of a female Neandertal, which is only the second genome of the species to be fully sequenced with such a high level of quality. The advancement confirms a number of theories about Neandertals, but also reveals new genetic contributions of the species to modern-day humans. Neandertals are the closest evolutionary relatives of all present-day humans and therefore provide a unique perspective on human biology and history. Five Neandertal genomes have been sequenced to date, yet only one yielded high-quality data, an individual found in Siberia known as the “Altai Neandertal.” Three less well-defined genomes come from individuals found in a cave, Vindija, in Croatia, and one from Mezmaiskaya Cave, in Russia. Here, Kay Prüfer and colleagues successfully analyzed billions of DNA fragments sampled from a new individual in the Croatian cave, dubbed Vindija 33.19, a female who lived roughly 52,000 years ago. Similar to previous findings, the genetic data suggest that Neandertals lived in small and isolated populations of about 3,000 individuals. The previously sequenced Altai Neandertal genome suggested that the individual’s parents were half-siblings, prompting scientists to wonder if Neandertals commonly interbred with family members – yet the new Vindija genome does not have similar incestual patterns, suggesting that the extreme inbreeding between the parents of the Altai Neandertal may not have been ubiquitous among Neandertals. Vindija 33.19 does appear to share a maternal ancestor with two of the three other individuals from the Croatian cave who were genetically sequenced, however. The authors use the Vindija 33.19 genome to analyze divergences and gene flow among Neandertals, Denisovans (another extinct species of hominin), and modern humans. Among many findings, they report that early modern human gene flow into Neandertal populations occurred between 130,000 and 145,000 years ago, before the Croatian and Siberian Neandertals diverged. Based on the new high-quality genome, the authors estimate that modern non-African populations carry between 1.8-2.6% Neandertal DNA, which is higher than previous estimates of 1.5-2.1%. Lastly, they identify a wealth of new gene variants in the Neandertal genome that are influential in modern day humans, including variants related to plasma levels of LDL cholesterol and vitamin D, eating disorders, visceral fat accumulation, rheumatoid arthritis, schizophrenia and responses to antipsychotic drugs. A second study by Martin Sikora et al. focuses on the genomes of four archaic, anatomically modern humans that were found at the Sunghir burial site, in Russia. The genomes provide a rare glimpse into the social organization of humans during the Upper Paleolithic period. The individuals, who lived sometime between 34,600 and 33,600 years ago, are all male and unrelated to each other. Furthermore, the researchers did not find inbreeding signatures, as seen with the Altai Neandertal. Given the genetic diversity of these individuals, despite being a part of a small genetic population, the authors suggest that they likely mated outside of their hunter-gatherer clans. The authors also highlight ways in which these genomes compare and mix with Neandertal genomes.
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Ancient genomes extraction process in the lab. Shown here is a Neandertal bone. Wikimedia Commons
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UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE—Two herpes simplex viruses infect primates from unknown evolutionary depths. In modern humans these viruses manifest as cold sores (HSV1) and genital herpes (HSV2).
Unlike HSV1, however, the earliest proto-humans did not take HSV2 with them when our ancient lineage split from chimpanzee precursors around 7 million years ago. Humanity dodged the genital herpes bullet – almost.
Somewhere between 3 and 1.4 million years ago, HSV2 jumped the species barrier from African apes back into human ancestors – probably through an intermediate hominin species unrelated to humans. Hominin is the zoological ‘tribe’ to which our species belongs.
Now, a team of scientists from Cambridge and Oxford Brookes universities believe they may have identified the culprit: Paranthropus boisei, a heavyset bipedal hominin with a smallish brain and dish-like face.
In a study published today in the journal Virus Evolution, they suggest that P. boisei most likely contracted HSV2 through scavenging ancestral chimp meat where savannah met forest – the infection seeping in via bites or open sores.
Hominins with HSV1 may have been initially protected from HSV2, which also occupied the mouth. That is until HSV2 “adapted to a different mucosal niche” say the scientists. A niche located in the genitals.
Close contact between P. boisei and our ancestor Homo erectus would have been fairly common around sources of water, such as Kenya’s Lake Turkana. This provided the opportunity for HSV2 to boomerang into our bloodline.
The appearance of Homo erectus around 2 million years ago was accompanied by evidence of hunting and butchery. Once again, consuming “infected material” would have transmitted the virus – only this time it was P. boisei being devoured.
“Herpes infect everything from humans to coral, with each species having its own specific set of viruses,” said senior author Dr Charlotte Houldcroft, a virologist from Cambridge’s Department of Archaeology.
“For these viruses to jump species barriers they need a lucky genetic mutation combined with significant fluid exchange. In the case of early hominins, this means through consumption or intercourse – or possibly both.”
“By modelling the available data, from fossil records to viral genetics, we believe that Paranthropus boisei was the species in the right place at the right time to both contract HSV2 from ancestral chimpanzees, and transmit it to our earliest ancestors, probably Homo erectus.”
When researchers from University of California, San Diego, published findings suggesting HSV2 had jumped between hominin species, Houldcroft became curious.
While discussing genital herpes over dinner at Kings College, Cambridge, with fellow academic Dr Krishna Kumar, an idea formed. Kumar, an engineer who uses Bayesian network modelling to predict city-scale infrastructure requirements, suggested applying his techniques to the question of ancient HSV2.
Houldcroft and her collaborator Dr Simon Underdown, a human evolution researcher from Oxford Brookes, collated data ranging from fossil finds to herpes DNA and ancient African climates. Using Kumar’s model, the team generated HSV2 transmission probabilities for the mosaic of hominin species that roamed Africa during “deep time”.
“Climate fluctuations over millennia caused forests and lakes to expand and contract,” said Underdown. “Layering climate data with fossil locations helped us determine the species most likely to come into contact with ancestral chimpanzees in the forests, as well as other hominins at water sources.”
Some promising leads turned out to be dead ends. Australopithecus afarensis had the highest probability of proximity to ancestral chimps, but geography also ruled it out of transmitting to human ancestors.
Ultimately, the researchers discovered the key player in all the scenarios with higher probabilities to be Paranthropus boisei. A genetic fit virally who was found in the right places to be the herpes intermediary, with Homo erectus – and eventually us – the unfortunate recipients.
“Once HSV2 gains entry to a species it stays, easily transferred from mother to baby, as well as through blood, saliva and sex,” said Houldcroft.
“HSV2 is ideally suited to low density populations. The genital herpes virus would have crept across Africa the way it creeps down nerve endings in our sex organs – slowly but surely.”
The team believe their methodology can be used to unravel the transmission mysteries of other ancient diseases – such as human pubic lice, also introduced via an intermediate hominin from ancestral gorillas over 3 million years ago.
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A cast of a P. boisei skull, used for teaching at Cambridge University. Credit: Louise Walsh
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UNIVERSITY OF COPENHAGEN – FACULTY OF HUMANITIES—5,000 years ago, the Yamnaya culture migrated into Europe from the Caspian steppe. In addition to innovations such as the wagon and dairy production, they brought a new language – Indo-European – that replaced most local languages the following millennia. But local cultures also influenced the new language, particularly in southern Scandinavia, where Neolithic farmers made lasting contributions to Indo-European vocabulary before their own language went extinct, new research shows.
Most historical linguists agree that words such as ‘wheel’, ‘wagon’, ‘horse’, ‘sheep’, ‘cow’, ‘milk’ and ‘wool’ can be attributed to the Yamnaya people who migrated into Europe from the Caspian steppe 5,000 years ago. The nomadic and pastoral Yamnayans introduced their material culture to the local peoples through a new language known as Proto-Indo-European, from which most European languages descend.
However, not all words in the European languages are of Proto-Indo-European origin, linguists say; there are words for flora and fauna, which must have been incorporated into Indo-European from local cultures. But where could such cultural exchange have taken place? According to a new study* published in American Journal of Archaeology by archaeologist Rune Iversen and linguist Guus Kroonen from the University of Copenhagen, southern Scandinavia 2,800 BC provides an ideal setting for such an exchange:
“The archaeological evidence tells us that between 2,800 and 2,600 BC two very different cultures co-existed in southern Scandinavia: there was the local, Neolithic culture known as the Funnel Beaker Culture with its characteristic funnel-shaped ceramics and collective burial practices and the new Single Grave Culture influenced by the Yamnaya culture. The Funnel Beaker Culture was eventually superseded by the Single Grave Culture, but the transition took hundreds of years in the eastern part of southern Scandinavia, and the two cultures must have influenced each other during this time, “says archaeologist Rune Iversen, who has specialised in this particular transitional period.
Peas, beans, turnips and shrimps
Historical linguist Guus Kroonen points to a number of words for local flora and fauna and important plant domesticates that the incoming speakers of Indo-European could not have brought with them to southern Scandinavia.
“There is a cluster of words in European languages such as Danish, English, and German – the Germanic languages – which stand out because they do not conform to the established sound changes of Indo-European vocabulary. It is words like sturgeon, shrimp, pea, bean and turnip that cannot be reconstructed to the Proto-Indo-European ancestor,” Guus Kroonen explains and adds:
“This tells us that these words must have entered Indo-European after it had spread from the Caspian steppe to the various parts of Europe. In other words: the new Single Grave Culture is likely to have adopted much farming and hunting terminology from the local Funnel Beaker Culture that inhabited southern Scandinavia and Denmark till around 2,600 BC. When Indo-European in Northern Europe developed into Proto-Germanic, the terminology for local flora and fauna was preserved, which is why we know and can study the terms today.”
Guus Kroonen adds that this farming terminology may be vestiges of a now extinct language spoken by the people who initially brought farming to Europe from Anatolia 9,000-6,000 years ago.
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This is a schematic impression of how the different Indo-European branches may have absorbed lexical items (circles) from previously spoken languages in the linguistically complex setting of Europe from the third millennium BC. Credit: University of Copenhagen
This is the distribution of the earliest Single Grave culture burials in southern Scandinavia, ca. 2850-2800. The Single Grave Culture co-existed with the local Funnel Beaker Culture, which inhabited the island of Zealand, for 200 years. Credit: University of Copenhagen
*Rune Iversen’s and Guus Kroonen’s paper, Talking Neolithic: Linguistic and Archaeological Perspectives on How Indo-European Was Implemented in Southern Scandinavia in American Journal of Archaeology.
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UPPSALA UNIVERSITY—A genomic analysis of ancient human remains from KwaZulu-Natal revealed that southern Africa has an important role to play in writing the history of humankind. A research team from Uppsala University, Sweden, the Universities of Johannesburg and the Witwatersrand, South Africa, presents their results in the September 28th early online issue of Science.
The team sequenced the genomes of seven individuals who lived in southern Africa 2300-300 years ago. The three oldest individuals dating to 2300-1800 years ago were genetically related to the descendants of the southern Khoe-San groups, and the four younger individuals who lived 500-300 years ago were genetically related to current-day South African Bantu-speaking groups. “This illustrates the population replacement that occurred in southern Africa”, says co-first author Carina Schlebusch, population geneticist at Uppsala University.
The authors estimate the divergence among modern humans to have occurred between 350,000 and 260,000 years ago, based on the ancient Stone Age hunter-gatherer genomes. The deepest split time of 350,000 years ago represents a comparison between an ancient Stone Age hunter-gatherer boy from Ballito Bay on the east coast of South Africa and the West African Mandinka. “This means that modern humans emerged earlier than previously thought”, says Mattias Jakobsson, population geneticist at Uppsala University who headed the project together with Stone Age archaeologist Marlize Lombard at the University of Johannesburg.
The fossil record of east Africa, and in particular the Omo and Herto fossils have often been used to set the emergence of anatomically modern humans to about 180,000 years ago. The deeper estimate for modern human divergence at 350,000-260,000 years ago coincides with the Florisbad and Hoedjiespunt fossils, contemporaries of the small-brained Homo naledi in southern Africa. “It now seems that at least two or three Homo species occupied the southern African landscape during this time period, which also represents the early phases of the Middle Stone Age”, says Marlize Lombard. It will be interesting to see in the future if we find any evidence of interaction between these groups.
“We did not find any evidence of deep structure or archaic admixture among southern African Stone Age hunter-gatherers. Instead, we see some evidence for deep structure in the West African population, but that affects only a small fraction of their genome and is about the same age as the deepest divergence among all humans”, says Mattias Jakobsson.
The authors also found that all current-day Khoe-San populations admixed with migrant East African pastoralists a little over a thousand years ago. “We could not detect this widespread East African admixture previously since we did not have an un-admixed San group to use as reference. Now that we have access to ancient DNA of people who lived on the landscape before the East African migration, we are able to detect the admixture percentages in all San groups. The admixture percentages in the Khoekhoe, historically identified as pastoralists, are higher than previously estimated”, says Carina Schlebusch.
Of the Iron Age individuals, three carry at least one Duffy null allele, protecting against malaria, and two have at least one sleeping-sickness-resistance variant in the APOL1 gene. The Stone Age individuals do not carry these protective alleles. “This tells us that Iron Age farmers carried these disease-resistance variants when they migrated to southern Africa”, says co-first author Helena Malmström, archaeo-geneticist at Uppsala University.
Marlize Lombard said that “archaeological deposits dating to the time of the split by 350,000-260,000 years ago, attest to South Africa being populated by tool-making hunter-gatherers at the time. Although human fossils are sparse, those of Florisbad and Hoedjiespunt are seen as transitional to modern humans.” These fossils may therefore be ancestral to the Ballito Bay boy and other San hunter-gatherers who lived in southern Africa 2000 years ago.
The transition from archaic to modern humans might not have occurred in one place in Africa but in several, including southern Africa and northern Africa as recently reported. “Thus, both palaeo-anthropological and genetic evidence increasingly points to multiregional origins of anatomically modern humans in Africa, i.e. Homo sapiens did not originate in one place in Africa, but might have evolved from older forms in several places on the continent with gene flow between groups from different places”, says Carina Schlebusch.
“It is remarkable that we can now sequence entire genomes of ancient human remains from tropical areas, such as the southeast coast of South Africa”, says Helena Malmström. This is promising for our several ongoing investigations in Africa.
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Dr. Helena Malmström conducting on-site sampling of bone material in a mobil sampling lab. Credit: Uppsala University
Demographic model of African history and estimated divergences. Vertical colored lines represent migration, with down-pointing triangles representing admixture into another group. Southern African hunter-gatherers are shown by red symbols, and Iron Age farmers as green symbols. Extracted from figure 3. Credit: Uppsala University
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Cumulatively these findings shed new light on our species’ deep African history and show that there is still much more to learn about our process of becoming modern humans and that the interplay between genetics and archaeology has an increasingly important role to play.
This article source: Edited from the Uppsala University news release
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PLOS—An isotopic analysis of megalithic graves and caves in Spain may suggest the existence of a degree of differentiation in the lifeways of people buried in these different funerary sites, according to a study* published September 27, 2017 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Teresa Fernández-Crespo and Rick Schulting from the University of the Basque Country, Spain, and the University of Oxford, UK.
Previous research on the burial practices of the Western European Neolithic has revealed variation in burial location and treatment, but their significance is difficult to interpret. To further investigate the meaning behind different burial practices within the same location and period, the authors of the present study analyzed the bone collagen carbon and nitrogen isotope measurements of 166 individuals from a series of broadly contemporary Late Neolithic (3500 to 2900 cal BC) mortuary monuments and caves, closely situated together in north-central Spain.
The researchers’ isotopic analysis of both megalithic graves and caves suggests a similar C3 plant-based human diet, mostly consisting of wheat and barley, as well as a substantial amount of protein from cattle and sheep. However, the study surprisingly reveals significant carbon isotope differences between people interred in both funerary site-types. These differences seem to be correlated with elevation, temperature, and precipitation, implying that land use was partitioned on a surprisingly local scale. The authors propose two possible explanations. The first is that this division of land could indicate different socioeconomic classes within the same community, with the lower classes being interred in caves with restricted access to agricultural resources, while the individuals of higher status in the community were buried in monumental graves whose construction would involve a considerable investment of labor. Alternatively, they also consider the possibility that this partitioning of the landscape may involve different populations performing different funerary practices and following distinct subsistence economies in some respect.
Further research on tooth dentine and enamel will explore the age at which the isotopic differences first appeared and investigate different patterns of mobility and landscape-use in the study area. This study offers new insights into different mortuary practices and specifically how they related to lifeways, particularly dietary and subsistence practices, and implications for the emergence of socioeconomic inequality in the Western European Neolithic.
“Using carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis of human and animal remains, our study has identified meaningful differences between those buried in caves and megalithic graves in the Late Neolithic of north-central Spain,” says Teresa Fernández-Crespo. “This implies that, despite living in close proximity, these communities had distinct lifeways involving a partitioning of the landscape.”
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Megalithic graves analysed (Chabola de la Hechicera), and in the background, the Cantabria mountain range, where the caves included in the study are located. Credit: Teresa Fernández-Crespo / UPV/EHU
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DARTMOUTH COLLEGE—A Dartmouth-led study has demonstrated how the latest aerial thermal imagery is transforming archaeology due to advancements in technology. Today’s thermal cameras, commercial drones and photogrammetric software has introduced a new realm of possibilities for collecting site data. The findings, published in Advances in Archaeological Practice, serve as a manual on how to use aerial thermography, as the co-authors hope to inspire other researchers to apply this methodology in their work.
Archaeologists have long used thermal infrared images to locate buried architecture and other cultural landscape elements. The thermal infrared radiation associated with such archaeological features depends on several variables, including the make-up of the soil, its moisture content and vegetation cover. Past conventional geophysics methods, such as fieldwalking, enabled archaeologists to obtain field data across one hectare of a site per day. But now, aerial thermography makes it possible to gather field survey data across a much larger area in much less time.
New aerial thermography has other advantages, as well. Older cameras were unable to record full spectrum data or temperature data for every pixel of an image. Today’s radiometric thermal cameras coupled with small inexpensive, easy to fly drones, which can be controlled by a smartphone or tablet, have made aerial thermography more accurate, comprehensive and accessible. Mapping multiple aerial images together has also become easier through new photogrammetric software, which automatically aligns images and features ortho-image capabilities, which corrects an image to make the scale uniform.
The researchers conducted case studies at six archaeological sites in North America, the Mediterranean and the Middle East, to assess the effectiveness of aerial thermal surveys. They analyzed how weather, environment, time of day, ground cover, and archaeological features may affect the results, and compared their findings to earlier research and historical images.
For example, at an ancestral Pueblo settlement in Blue J, N.M, the researchers were able to map detailed architectural plans of a dozen ancient house compounds—a discovery enabled by the site’s optimal conditions, the soil matrix, low density ground cover, and the environmental conditions at the time of the aerial thermography. They were also able to recognize traces of long-removed historic buildings and pathways at the Shaker Village in Enfield, N.H.
“A lot of what we’ve learned from our research to date shows how much local environmental conditions and the timing of surveys can impact how well thermal imagery will reveal archaeological remains. Yet, the more we understand these issues, the better we are able to deploy the technology. I think our results demonstrate aerial thermography’s potential to transform how we explore archaeological landscapes in many parts of the world,” says Jesse Casana, an associate professor of anthropology at Dartmouth, who has been using drones in aerial thermography for five years in his archaeological research.
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Figure 4 from the paper/File photos from 2014: A Chaco-era room block (LA 170609) at Blue J, NM as it appears in (a) 5:18 a.m. thermal image; (b) architectural plan produced by test excavations; (c) a color image, and thermal images from (d) 6:18 a.m.; (e) 7:18 a.m.; and (f) 9:58 p.m. (Images by Jesse Casana, John Kantner, Adam Wiewel, and Jackson Cothren). Images are by Jesse Casana, John Kanter, Adam Wiewel, and Jackson Cothren. 2014 Archaeological Aerial Thermography: A Case Study at the Chaco-Era Blue J Community, New Mexico. Journal of Archaeological Science. 45:207-219
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Figure 10 from the paper. (a) Color orthoimage of a survey area at the Enfield Shaker Village, New Hampshire, showing location of historic buildings indicated on a 1917 map; (b) magnetic gradiometry survey data; (c) raw thermal imagery collected with a radiometric thermal camera; and (d) thermal imagery processed to show only values present in the lawn. (Images by Jesse Casana, Austin Chad Hill and Elise Laugier). Images by Jesse Casana.
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FRONTIERS—Easter Island, known as Rapa Nui by its inhabitants, has been surrounded in mystery ever since the Europeans first landed in 1722. Early visitors estimated a population of just 1,500-3,000, which seemed at odds with the nearly nine hundred giant statues dotted around the Island. How did this small community construct, transport and erect these large rock figures?
A new study, published in the open-access journal Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, hopes to unravel this mystery by giving the best estimate yet of the maximum population size sustained by Easter Island in its heyday.
“Despite its almost complete isolation, the inhabitants of Easter Island created a complicated social structure and these amazing works of art before a dramatic change occurred,” says Dr. Cedric Puleston, lead author of this study, based at the Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, USA. “We’ve tried to solve one piece of the puzzle – to figure out the maximum population size before it fell. It appears the island could have supported 17,500 people at its peak, which represents the upper end of the range of previous estimates.”
He adds, “If the population fell from 17,500 to the small number that missionaries counted many years after European contact, it presents a very different picture from the maximum population of 3,000 or less that some have suggested.”
Previous archaeological evidence implies the indigenous people numbered far greater than the 1,500-3,000 individuals encountered in the 18th century. The population history of the island remains highly controversial. In addition to internal conflict, the population crash has been attributed to “ecocide,” in which the Island’s resources were exhausted by its inhabitants, reducing its ability to support human life.
Puleston and his colleagues examined the agricultural potential of the Island before these events occurred, to calculate how many people the Island could sustain.
“The project, funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, involved a number of really good researchers, including archaeologists, a local expert in Rapa Nui culture, a soil scientist, a biogeochemist, and a population biologist, to get a thorough picture of what the island was like before European contact,” he explains.
“We examined detailed maps, took soil samples around the Island, placed weather stations, used population models and estimated sweet potato production. When we had doubts about one of these factors we looked at the range of its potential values to work out different scenarios.”
They found 19% of the Island could have been used to grow sweet potatoes, which was the main food crop. By using information on how birth and death rates at various ages depend on food availability, the researchers calculated the population size that level of production could sustain.
“The result is a wide range of possible maximum population sizes, but to get the smallest values you have to assume the worst of everything,” says Puleston. “If we compare our agriculture estimates with other Polynesian Islands, a population of 17,500 people on this size of island is entirely reasonable.”
He concludes, “Easter Island is fascinating because it represents an extreme example of a natural experiment in human adaptation, which began when people from a single cultural group spread quickly across the islands of the Pacific. The different environments they encountered on these islands generated a tremendous amount of variation in human behavior. As an extremely unusual case, in both its cultural achievements and its ecological transformation, Easter Island is remarkable and important. It retains an air of mystery, but it’s a real place and has a real history lived by real people. Dispelling that mystery brings us closer to understanding the nature of humanity.”
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HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL—The first large-scale study of ancient human DNA from sub-Saharan Africa opens a long-awaited window into the identity of prehistoric populations in the region and how they moved around and replaced one another over the past 8,000 years.
The findings, published Sept. 21 in Cell by an international research team led by Harvard Medical School, answer several longstanding mysteries and uncover surprising details about sub-Saharan African ancestry — including genetic adaptations for a hunter-gatherer lifestyle and the first glimpses of population distribution before farmers and animal herders swept across the continent about 3,000 years ago.
“The last few thousand years were an incredibly rich and formative period that is key to understanding how populations in Africa got to where they are today,” said David Reich, professor of genetics at HMS and a senior associate member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. “Ancestry during this time period is such an unexplored landscape that everything we learned was new.”
Reich shares senior authorship of the study with Ron Pinhasi of the University of Vienna and Johannes Krause of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History and the University of Tübingen in Germany.
“Ancient DNA is the only tool we have for characterizing past genomic diversity. It teaches us things we don’t know about history from archaeology and linguistics and can help us better understand present-day populations,” said Pontus Skoglund, a postdoctoral researcher in the Reich lab and the study’s first author. “We need to ensure we use it for the benefit of all populations around the world, perhaps especially Africa, which contains the greatest human genetic diversity in the world but has been underserved by the genomics community.”
Long time coming
Although ancient-DNA research has revealed insights into the population histories of many areas of the world, delving into the deep ancestry of African groups wasn’t possible until recently because genetic material degrades too rapidly in warm, humid climates.
Technological advances–including the discovery by Pinhasi and colleagues that DNA persists longer in small, dense ear bones–are now beginning to break the climate barrier. Last year, Reich and colleagues used the new techniques to generate the first genome-wide data from the earliest farmers in the Near East, who lived between 8,000 and 12,000 years ago.
In the new study, Skoglund and team, including colleagues from South Africa, Malawi, Tanzania and Kenya, coaxed DNA from the remains of 15 ancient sub-Saharan Africans. The individuals came from a variety of geographic regions and ranged in age from about 500 to 8,500 years old.
The researchers compared these ancient genomes—along with the only other known ancient genome from the region, previously published in 2015—against those of nearly 600 present-day people from 59 African populations and 300 people from 142 non-African groups.
With each analysis, revelations rolled in.
“We are peeling back the first layers of the agricultural transition south of the Sahara,” said Skoglund. “Already we can see that there was a whole different landscape of populations just 2,000 or 3,000 years ago.”
Genomic time-lapse
Almost half of the team’s samples came from Malawi, providing a series of genomic snapshots from the same location across thousands of years.
The time-series divulged the existence of an ancient hunter-gatherer population the researchers hadn’t expected.
When agriculture spread in Europe and East Asia, farmers and animal herders expanded into new areas and mixed with the hunter-gatherers who lived there. Present-day populations thus inherited DNA from both groups.
The new study found evidence for similar movement and mixing in other parts of Africa, but after farmers reached Malawi, hunter-gatherers seem to have disappeared without contributing any detectable ancestry to the people who live there today.
“It looks like there was a complete population replacement,” said Reich. “We haven’t seen clear evidence for an event like this anywhere else.”
The Malawi snapshots also helped identify a population that spanned from the southern tip of Africa all the way to the equator about 1,400 years ago before fading away. That mysterious group shared ancestry with today’s Khoe-San people in southern Africa and left a few DNA traces in people from a group of islands thousands of miles away, off the coast of Tanzania.
“It’s amazing to see these populations in the DNA that don’t exist anymore,” said Reich. “It’s clear that gathering additional DNA samples will teach us much more.”
“The Khoe-San are such a genetically distinctive people, it was a surprise to find a closely related ancestor so far north just a couple of thousand years ago,” Reich added.
The new study also found that West Africans can trace their lineage back to a human ancestor that may have split off from other African populations even earlier than the Khoe-San.
Missing links
The research similarly shed light on the origins of another unique group, the Hadza people of East Africa.
“They have a distinct appearance, language and genetics, and some people speculated that, like the Khoe-San, they might represent a very early diverging group from other African populations,” said Reich. “Our study shows that instead, they’re somehow in the middle of everything.”
The Hadza, according to genomic comparisons, are today more closely related to non-Africans than to other Africans. The researchers hypothesize that the Hadza are direct descendants of the group that migrated out of Africa, and possibly spread within Africa as well, after about 50,000 years ago.
Another discovery lay in wait in East Africa.
Scientists had predicted the existence of an ancient population based on the observation that present-day people in southern Africa share ancestry with people in the Near East. The 3,000-year-old remains of a young girl in Tanzania provided the missing evidence.
Reich and colleagues suspect that the girl belonged to a herding population that contributed significant ancestry to present-day people from Ethiopia and Somalia down to South Africa. The ancient population was about one-third Eurasian, and the researchers were able to further pinpoint that ancestry to the Levant region.
“With this sample in hand, we can now say more about who these people were,” said Skoglund.
The finding put one mystery to rest while raising another: Present-day people in the Horn of Africa have additional Near Eastern ancestry that can’t be explained by the group to which the young girl belonged.
Natural selection
Finally, the study took a first step in using ancient DNA to understand genetic adaptation in African populations.
It required “squeezing water out of a stone” because the researchers were working with so few ancient samples, said Reich, but Skoglund was able to identify two regions of the genome that appear to have undergone natural selection in southern Africans.
One adaptation increased protection from ultraviolet radiation, which the researchers propose could be related to life in the Kalahari Desert. The other variant was located on genes related to taste buds, which the researchers point out can help people detect poisons in plants.
The researchers hope that their study encourages more investigation into the diverse genetic landscape of human populations in Africa, both past and present. Reich also said he hopes the work reminds people that African history didn’t end 50,000 years ago when groups of humans began migrating into the Near East and beyond.
“The late Stone Age in Africa is like a black hole, research-wise,” said Reich. “Ancient DNA can address that gap.”
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Mount Hora in Malawi, where the oldest DNA in the study, from a woman who lived more than 8,000 years ago, was obtained. Credit: Jessica C. Thompson/Emory University
Funding for this research was provided by the National Institutes of Health (grant GM100233), the National Science Foundation (HOMINID BCS-1032255 and BCS-1613577), the DFG/German Research Foundation (KR 4015/1-1), the Max Planck Society, the National Research Foundation of South Africa, the South African Medical Research Council, European Research Council starting grants SEALINKS (206148) and ADNABIOARC (263441), a Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator Award (100719/Z/12/Z), the Wenner-Gren Foundation and the Swedish Research Council (VR grant 2014-453). Reich is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator.
There were a total of 44 study authors from institutions in 11 countries.
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A new analysis of a well-preserved, remarkably complete Neanderthal child’s skeleton reveals that Neanderthals may have had a more extended period of brain growth compared to modern humans. An understanding of our Neanderthal cousins can provide important insights into our own biology. Of particular interest are differences in brain size, as the Neanderthal fossil record has thus far indicated that they had a larger cranial capacity than that of modern humans.
Some studies have proposed that the larger brain in Neanderthals can be explained by a faster rate of early postnatal growth, yet others have proposed a longer growth rate instead. Here, Antonio Rosas and colleagues describe a juvenile Neanderthal skeleton from the 49,000-year-old site of El Sidrón, in Spain. The specimen, dubbed El Sidrón J1, exhibits an exceptionally well-preserved mix of baby and adult teeth, providing a rare opportunity to estimate an age at death from daily dental incremental markings preserved in the teeth – leading the team to estimate that the child died at 7.69 years of age. Analysis of El Sidrón J1 also reveals that some vertebrae had still not fused in the 7-year-old Neanderthal, yet these same vertebrae tend to fuse in modern day humans around the ages of 4 to 6. Interestingly, the brain of El Sidrón J1 was roughly 87.5% of the size of an average adult Neanderthal brain upon death, whereas modern humans tend to have on average 95% of adult brain weight by that same age. The authors suggest that the unique pattern of vertebral maturation and extended brain growth might reflect the broad Neanderthal body form and physiology, rather than a fundamental difference in the overall pace of growth in Neanderthals.
It is important to note that, while Rosas and colleagues have identified these differences between the Neanderthal and the modern human, or Homo sapiens, for the most part, their growth development is very similar.
The El Sidrón Cave is a limestone karst cave system located in Asturias, northwestern Spain. Here, Paleolithic rock art and more than a dozen fossils of Neanderthals and 53 associated stone tools were found. The discovery was initially made accidentally in 1994, eventually revealing the remains of what scientists identified to be 13 individuals, including adolescent boys, a younger juvenile, women, and infants, dated to about 49,000 years ago. Analysis of the bones suggested that they may have been dropped into the cave in a single ancient event via a collapse of nearby fissures above the site, or by the influx of storm water.
The first sequencing of the Neanderthal Y chromosome was successfully achieved using a bone sample taken from the El Sidrón Cave. The results of DNA analysis indicated that Neanderthals diverged from a common ancestor with modern humans around 590,000 years ago.
Other research on the El Sidrón Neanderthals has shown that their diet consisted primarily of pine nuts, moss and mushrooms, unlike the primarily carnivorous diet of other Neanderthals.
Regarding this most recent study, Rosas and colleagues emphasize that this is really ony a first step, and future research will entail analyzing the remains of Neanderthals from the site and other sites, to increase the overall sample size under study to either qualify or further verify or validate their findings.
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Researchers working inside the El Sidrón cave. Credit: Paleoanthropology group MNCN – CSIC
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Antonio Rosas inside the El Sidrón cave. Credit: Joan Costa – CSIC Communication
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Antonio Rosas beside the Neanderthal child’s skeleton. Credit: Andrés Diaz – CSIC Communication
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DE GRUYTER OPEN—Name one civilization located in the Americas that pre-dates the arrival of Europeans. You probably replied with the Aztecs, the Inca or perhaps the Maya. A new paper, published in De Gruyter’s open access journal Open Archeology by Michael E. Smith of Arizona State University, shows how this view of American civilizations is narrow. It is entitled “The Teotihuacan Anomaly: The Historical Trajectory of Urban Design in Ancient Central Mexico”.
Smith, using a map produced by the Teotihuacan mapping project, conducted a comparative analysis of the city with earlier and later Mesoamerican urban centers and has proved, for the first time, the uniqueness of the city. The paper outlines how the urban design of the city of Teotihuacan differed from past and subsequent cities, only to be rediscovered and partially modeled many centuries later by the Aztecs.
Teotihuacan was in touch with other Mesoamerican civilizations and at the height of its influence between 100 – 650 AD it was the largest city in the Americas and one of the largest in the world. It is unclear who the builders of the city were and what relation they had to the peoples which followed. It is possible they were related to the Nahua or Totonac peoples. It is also unclear why the city was abandoned. There are several theories which include foreign invasion, a civil war, an ecological catastrophe, or some combination of all three.
The Aztecs, who reached the height of their power about a thousand years later, held Teotihuacan in reverence. The site of Teotihuacan is located about forty kilometers from the site of the Aztec capital. They claimed to be the descendants of the Teotihuacans. That may or may not be true, but the Teotihuacans had a huge influence on the later Aztec culture. The name Teotihuacan comes from the Aztec language, and means ‘the birthplace of the gods’ and they believed it was the location of the creation of the universe. But the paper outlines how the influence of this ancient culture on the Aztecs was not limited only to their cultural beliefs, but also how it affected the urban design of their capital city, and also how unparalleled that original design was. Most ancient cities throughout Mesoamerica followed the same planning principles, and they included the same kinds of buildings. Each city usually had a well-planned central area which included temples, a royal palace, a ballcourt, and a plaza that was surrounded by a much more chaotic (in terms of planning) residential area. Teotihuacan most likely had no royal palace, no ballcourt, and no central areas. It was much larger than cities before it, and the residential areas were much better planned than its predecessors, and it had an innovation unique in world history – the apartment compound. Buildings with one entrance that contained many households had been rare before the industrial revolution and those that did exist were for the poor. Teotihuacan’s were spacious and comfortable.
“Teotihuacan stood alone as the only city using a new and very different set of planning principles, and its apartment compounds represent a unique form of urban residence not just in Mesoamerica but in world urban history,” said Michael E. Smith.
All of these features were unique in Central America before and after, until the Aztecs drew their inspiration for their capital Tenochtitlan from Teotihuacan using many of the same features.
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The Sun Pyramid in Teotihuacan. Credit: (CC BY-SA 3.0 license) by Ricardo David Sánchez
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WELLCOME TRUST SANGER INSTITUTE—The first large-scale genetic study of people in Papua New Guinea has shown that different groups within the country are genetically highly different from each other. Scientists at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and their colleagues at the University of Oxford and the Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research reveal that the people there have remained genetically independent from Europe and Asia for most of the last 50,000 years, and that people from the country’s isolated highlands region have been completely independent even until the present day.
Reported today (15 September) in Science, the study also gives insights into how the development of agriculture and cultural events such as the Bronze or Iron Age could affect the genetic structure of human societies.
Papua New Guinea is a country in the southwestern Pacific with some of the earliest archaeological evidence of human existence outside Africa. Largely free from Western influence and with fascinating cultural diversity, it has been of enormous interest to anthropologists and other scientists seeking to understand human cultures and evolution.
With approximately 850 domestic languages, which account for over 10 per cent of the world’s total, Papua New Guinea is the most linguistically diverse country in the world. To discover if the linguistic and cultural diversity was echoed in the genetic structure of the population, researchers studied the genomes of 381 Papuan New Guinean people from 85 different language groups within the country.
The researchers looked at more than a million genetic positions in the genome of each individual, and compared them to investigate genetic similarities and differences. They found that groups of people speaking different languages were surprisingly genetically distinct from each other.
Anders Bergström, the first author on the paper from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, said: “This is the first large-scale study of genetic diversity and population history in Papua New Guinea. Our study revealed that the genetic differences between groups of people there are generally very strong, often much stronger even than between major populations within all of Europe or all of East Asia.”
Professor Stephen J. Oppenheimer, second author of the paper from the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, said: “We found a striking difference between the groups of people who live in the mountainous highlands and those in the lowlands, with genetic separation dating back 10,000-20,000 years between the two. This makes sense culturally, as the highland groups historically have kept to themselves, but such a strong genetic barrier between otherwise geographically close groups is still very unusual and fascinating.”
Human evolution in Europe and Asia has been greatly influenced by the development of agriculture around 10,000 years ago. When small bands of hunter-gatherers settled into villages and started farming, they expanded and over time gave rise to more genetically homogenous (similar) societies. However, despite the independent development of agriculture in Papua New Guinea at about the same time, the same process of homogenization did not occur here. This may indicate that other historical processes in Europe and Asia, such as the later Bronze and Iron Ages, were the key events that shaped the current genetic structure of those populations.
Dr Chris Tyler-Smith, corresponding author on the paper from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, said: “Using genetics, we were able to see that people on the island of New Guinea evolved independently from rest of the world for much of the last 50,000 years. This study allows us to glimpse a different version of human evolution from that in Europe and Asia, one in which there was agriculture but no later Bronze Age or Iron Age. Papua New Guinea might show the genetic, cultural and linguistic diversity that many settled human societies would have had before these technological transformations.”
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The highlands of Papua New Guinea. eGuide Travel, Wikimedia Commons
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This report presents the past four years of our adaptation and implementation of the construction program PlanGrid as a digital field registration system at the Tel Burna Archaeological Project (Israel). In this report, we will discuss the following: (1) the benefits of using PlanGrid with tablets and smartphones; (2) details related to our specific adaptation at Tel Burna; (3) this past season’s innovation of replacing traditional architectural top plans with photographs taken with a camera attached to an overhead apparatus; and (4) instructions on how other projects may implement PlanGrid as a digital archaeological tool.
Introduction
In recent years, many archaeological projects have adapted their field registration methods to incorporate new technological innovations in order to improve the accuracy, efficiency, and publication of their projects. With the advent of cheaper and reliable forms of hardware (e.g., iPads, Window Surface, etc.), these tools have increasingly been implemented for various purposes in both the field and laboratory (see discussion in McKinny and Shai, in press). At the same time, many new digital programs and applications have been developed to handle the considerable data-management, field-registration, and digitization needs of an archaeological project (REVEAL – Gay et al., 2010; e.g., Codifi – Prins et al., 2014; Archfield – Smith and Levy, 2014).
Over the last few seasons, the Tel Burna Archaeological Project has taken part in this discipline-wide endeavor through our adaptation of PlanGrid as a replacement for our hand-written paper forms and plans. PlanGrid is a widely-used construction app that has revolutionized the construction industry by creating a cloud-based, intuitive blueprint and project management tool (e.g., Miller, 2015). Significantly, many of the main features that allow PlanGrid to streamline workflow within a construction project have a parallel application for an archaeological excavation. These include the following: architectural plan management; searchable and adaptable annotations; archived field photos that can be linked to specific data; scaled field measurements; well-defined and useable administrator tools; simple report compilations in both CSV and annotated PDF formats; and reliable cloud storage across multiple devices with or without an internet connection. Below, we will discuss each of these benefits within the context of our adaptation of PlanGrid at Tel Burna.
The benefits of using PlanGrid with tablets and smartphones
Laptops, tablets, and even smartphones are becoming more and more commonplace at archaeological excavations all over the world. In particular, tablets such as the more recent generations of iPad or the Windows Surface give archaeologists a tool that provides an adequately sized screen, long battery life, a built-in camera, durability, and affordability. PlanGrid is designed to provide its highest level of functionality with a tablet or smartphone and was initially only available on an iPad.
PlanGrid on an iPad works exceptionally well. This is clearly due to the fact that the program has passed the test of being a useable paperless alternative in the construction industry. Since PlanGrid is an app designed around a for-profit cloud-based service, users are assured of both program stability and constant improvement and development. As archaeologists who are concerned with preserving cultural heritage through digital means, PlanGrid’s popularity in the construction industry ensures us that the program will be around for many years to come. In addition to PlanGrid’s stability, it is also inexpensive. This is a major benefit since archaeological projects are often underfunded. Regarding cost, PlanGrid’s free 50 sheet cloud fits the needs of our project, but they also offer several inexpensive options that include storage for many more sheets. The combination of a stable, constantly improving cloud-based program at no cost made PlanGrid an attractive option as a field registration tool at Tel Burna.
In light of this, we chose the combination of an iPad as our field registration tool at Tel Burna. While any later generation iPad will work with PlanGrid, we recommend purchasing iPads with cellular capabilities even if the project does not plan on purchasing a data plan for the device. The cellular feature has two main advantages. First, a project may later decide that they need internet access. Second, the cellular capability comes with a high level GPS chip that makes all photos taken on the device geo-referenced.
During a typical excavation season, we will work in at least three areas, which means that we need at least one device for each area supervisor. Briefly defined, our adaptation of PlanGrid involves uploading a separate architectural top plan for each day of excavation and annotating that plan with our own built-in Locus/Wall and Basket forms on an iPad. Since we do not have internet accessibility at our site, area supervisors register their particular area with PlanGrid on their iPad throughout the day. Upon returning to the excavation camp, each supervisor syncs their data to the cloud, downloads the available data from the other areas, and repeats the process for the next day of excavation.
The benefits of replacing hand-drawn top plans with “aerial” photos and PlanGrid
Over the past two seasons, we have added an additional layer to our recording system as we have replaced daily hand-drawn top plans with “aerial” photos of each excavation square. While aerial or drone images are very common in archaeological excavations, it is very difficult if not impossible to remove and replace shade over an excavation area (a necessity in July in the southern part of Israel) in order for a drone to fly over and take aerial images. Our solution to this problem was to take “aerial” photos beneath the shade using an apparatus that allowed us to take photos with enough elevation to capture all four corners of our 4 x 4 meter excavations. These photos are achieved simply by attaching a DSLR camera with a wide angled lens to a 5.5-meter-long pole (via a GorillaPod flexible tripod and some well-placed tape), which is then raised above the excavation square to take a straight-down photograph. After each square has been photographed, these photos are simply placed within the excavation square in Photoshop and the entire plan is uploaded (as a PDF) to PlanGrid. This process is repeated each day of excavation.
The Tel Burna Archaeological Project
The site of Tel Burna is located in the Judean foothills (Shephelah) a geographical region between the southern Coastal Plain in the west and the Highlands toward the east. A wide range of evidence, including Egyptian, Assyrian and Babylonian texts; biblical passages; epigraphic and material cultural finds, attest to the importance of this region as a borderland in the Bronze and, particularly, in the Iron Age, when Judahites and Philistines settled on opposite sides of the border. Since 2009, Tel Burna has undergone eight seasons of archaeological investigation under the direction of Itzhaq Shai of Ariel University. The first five seasons of excavations were under the academic affiliation of the Institute of Archaeology of Bar Ilan University, but the last two years, the excavation has been affiliated with the Institute of Archaeology of Ariel University.
Surveys at Tel Burna have shown that the site was inhabited from the Early Bronze until the Byzantine period, but occupation on the tell’s summit ceased during the Persian Period. According to the surveys and the preliminary results of the excavation, the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age II are the most significant periods of occupation at Tel Burna (Shai and Uziel, 2014; Uziel and Shai, 2010). Thus far, we have opened five areas and revealed occupational levels ranging from the 13th-5th centuries BCE. In Areas A1 and B2, we have revealed segments of a large casemate fortification that was in use during the Iron II that seems to be related to the border fortifications of the Kingdom of Judah, i.e. the Iron Age II (Shai et al., 2012). In Area A2, our team has uncovered a large 8th century BCE building on the summit with finds from the 9th-early 6th centuries BCE (Shai et al., 2014, 2015a). In Area C, we exposed several agricultural installations that seem to date from the Early Bronze Age until the Iron Age II. In Area B1, we are excavating a 13th century BCE public building with many imported and cultic finds (Shai et al., 2015b). For the purposes of this paper, we will use Area B1 as a test case for illustrating our adaptation of PlanGrid for use as an archaeological field registration tool.
Area B1 – a large cultic building from the Late Bronze Age
Excavations in Area B1 have uncovered parts of a large building (Building 29305). The architectural remains were found only a few centimeters below the surface. The plan of the structure exposed thus far indicates that it had a large courtyard, constructed directly on the bedrock. The western side of Building 29305 is defined by a 1.4 m wide wall that runs southeast–northwest for a length of 15 m. Near the western wall on courtyard 33211, we found many different locally made and foreign objects. Among these finds were two ceramic cultic masks, several goblets or chalices, a unique three-cupped Cypriot votive vessel, a glyptic cylinder seal in the Mittani style, an Egyptian scarab, two Cypriot wavy-band pithoi, alongside many other finds (Shai et al., 2015b; Sharp et al., 2015). (See Fig 1)
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Fig 1
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We will now use this general archaeological context from Area B1 at Tel Burna to illustrate our adaptation of PlanGrid as a field registration tool:
A guide to adapt PlanGrid as a field registration tool using Area B1 as a test case
This section provides a step-by-step guide on how to setup PlanGrid on an archaeological project by using screenshots of fieldwork in Area B1 at Tel Burna as a case study.
2. Choose a pricing option athttps://app.plangrid.com/en/pricing. You will need to decide if you would like to have a separate PlanGrid account for each season, which means using PlanGrid would be free if your project’s needs are below the 50-sheet threshold, or if you would like to store all your sheets and annotations for your entire project. For the first option, you will need to set up a separate email account and profile credentials for each season.
3. Start a “new project.” Start a new project and name it after the specific archaeological area within the project (e.g., 2016 Tel Burna Area B1). At Tel Burna, each of our devices is signed into the same account, however, a hierarchal workflow (i.e., view-only, administrator credentials) is available if this is necessary for a given project.
4. Customize your project’s stamp/issue list to fit your field registration system.This is accomplished by selecting the punching glove on the tool bar, then selecting “customize stamps.” These issue buttons will serve as the tagged basket and locus forms (or other variations from other recording systems). In theory, the issue list should be customized to match your existing registration system (e.g., “L” represents locus). Note: this step only has to be completed in the initial setup for the excavation season and the customized stamp/issue list can be shared with each “project” (i.e., each excavation area) as long as it remains under the same PlanGrid profile.
5. Create your top plan. This step will largely depend on your project’s method of creating a top plan. At Tel Burna, we overlay an “aerial” photograph (extended over the excavation square – see above for description) over our architect’s hand-drawn plans. Once we have taken these photos of each square, we add it to the top plan in Photoshop and then export the slide as a PDF. This process is then repeated each day. It is helpful if your top plans remain the same size, so that relevant annotations may be copied from one day of excavation to the next.
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Fig 2
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6. Upload your PDF drawing top plan of the excavation area to PlanGrid. This PDF top plan counts as one sheet against your 50-sheet free account. For this step, you will want to include the excavation date, area, and project so that the drawing is displayed properly in the dashboard and may be easily located in a search, although the sheet names can be edited in the browser version of PlanGrid. Note: steps 5-12 are repeated for each day of excavation.
7. Create template stamps for your basket, locus and other field registration forms. This process involves selecting the appropriate stamp (e.g., “L” for Locus) and adding a pre-defined list of data fields from your existing registration system (e.g., stratigraphy, matrix, stratum, etc.) to the “description” stamp template. To make stamps easily distinguishable, users may want to select a specific color for the stamp template (e.g., baskets are black, loci are red, and walls are green). This is accomplished by choosing a color from the tool bar either before creating the template or simply changing the color while the button or text has been selected. These template stamps should be placed in a location on the top plan where they can be easily copied throughout the day as new loci and baskets are opened.
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Fig 3
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8. Register your area by annotating your plan with your pre-defined stamps. This step is the main work of PlanGrid and requires a more detailed explanation. Users should copy and paste their template stamps as the need arises. These stamps should be placed where either the defined archaeological feature (locus/wall) or find (basket/bucket) was excavated. In order to accomplish this, it is helpful to zoom in to the exact area on the top plan before adding your annotation. The resolution of the annotation (i.e., the zoom level) is preserved when viewing the plan on a tablet or smartphone and is helpful for illustrating the archaeological features of an excavation square. Once the annotation has been added and while still at the appropriate zoom level, it is advisable to add a graphic representation of the stamp. If you are using a color-coded system you will want to match the color of the graphic with the stamp (e.g., in our system – a locus number and stamp will both be in red). In addition, there are several font sizes to choose from that may also help distinguish different types of data/stamps. At Tel Burna, we use the following annotation system: blue with the smallest font size to represent levels (no stamp needed), black with the smallest font size for baskets, red with the second smallest font size for loci (or pink if we want to distinguish different types of locus features), and green with the second smallest font size for walls. Once the stamp has received a graphic title and been properly sized and colored, it is ready for data entry, which is accomplished by clicking/touching the stamp and filling in the appropriate details.
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Fig 4
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9. Fill in a form within a pre-defined stamp. Upon opening the form, users should do the following: (1) rename the stamp to the name of the locus or basket number; (2) write the name of the locus (for baskets) or square (for loci) under the data field title “room”; (3) fill in all of the appropriate details in the description section of the form, which will be populated by data field titles from your template; and (4) add a photo or photos of the locus and basket. Within the form, you also have the option to change your stamp symbol, move, copy or add a comment to your annotation. In order for photos to be attached to a specific stamp, the photos must be taken by selecting “add photo” at the bottom of the form. The “camera” button on the tool bar does not link the photos to stamps. The data within these stamps forms (including the photos) will be used to create the annotated PDF and CSV reports. Please note that there are several features in this section that we have not used in our adaption (e.g., push master, assigned to, and layers).
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Fig 5
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10. Measure within PlanGrid. PlanGrid has a built-in measuring tool that once scaled to a known measurement on the plan can measure distances and surface areas. This is a helpful feature when filling out details within the locus form.
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Fig 6
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11. Sync PlanGrid to the cloud and back up your work. Upon finishing the day’s excavation and returning to the excavation camp, users should connect their device to the internet and sync their data to the cloud. Since each excavation area (or sub-area) is assigned to work on a separate part of the project and all users are signed into the same account, all of that day’s registration data will be synced to the exact location where it was placed by the area supervisor. This is also an ideal time to send the excavation director or appropriate staff member a backup of that day’s registration. There are several options for this backup including a snapshot, a PDF of the entire sheet, a PDF packet report (includes snapshot and photos taken with the camera tool), and issue packet (a PDF that includes all of the issues on the sheet). Of these, the issue packet is our preferred option.
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Fig 7
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12. Use PlanGrid for preliminary analysis. At Tel Burna, we use PlanGrid during our daily pottery analysis. Since the pottery basket has the same number on both the physical tag and in PlanGrid, we need to search for that basket number within PlanGrid. This is accomplished either by going directly to the plan from the relevant day of excavation or by selecting the “issues drawer” icon in the upper-right hand corner of the sheets gallery. Using the latter option, one would then select “issues log,” which will allow you to search the entire area for the specific basket. Once selected, the issue will be displayed with the plan in the background, which allows for the archaeologist to immediately determine the context of the pottery basket. This feature also works for other stamps (e.g., locus) and can be used to search the entire project for any word or phrase. Once we have analyzed a pottery basket, we select “closed” from within the form in order to easily distinguish baskets that we have analyzed. Likewise, loci should be “closed” through the same process. We also prefer to distinguish the accompanying locus graphic title by making the title have a box around it, which is an option when choosing the text’s font size.
13. Prepare for the next day of excavation. Repeat steps 5-6, in order to create a top plan for the next day of excavation. Once you have created the plan for the following day, open up the current day’s plan and select all relevant annotations that should appear on the subsequent day’s plan. In order to do this, select the lasso tool at the top of the tool bar. The lasso tool allows you to select annotations by either selecting all, running your finger or stylus through annotations, or “lassoing” annotations by encircling them with a circle. Once the annotations have been selected, select “copy” and then navigate to the next day’s drawings, tap the screen and select “past in place.” This will paste the selected annotations in the same location as the previous day, assuming that your top plan is the same size. If you have changed the size of your top plan, you will need to manually move each annotation (see step 9) to its desired location. After you have copied the annotations to the next day’s plan, you should then update the relevant annotations for the next day’s work (e.g., changing levels, opening new loci, etc.)
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Fig 10
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14. Compile a report. One of the best features of PlanGrid is that it easily creates reports in CSV or PDF formats. Reports can only be created in the browser version of PlanGrid within the “issues” section of the dashboard. There are several filtering options within the “report” system (e.g., sheet, keywords, content, etc.) that allows a user to select the specific data that they need to export. In our adaptation, we use the CSV export in order to transfer the data from PlanGrid to our database system. This process is straightforward, but requires some data manipulation because the majority of our locus and basket data is within a single cell entitled “description,” which includes our fixed locus and basket templates. The exported PDF reports are very useful for sending data to specialists and creating end of season excavation reports for the archaeological governing authorities (e.g., the Israel Antiquities Authority). These reports are automatically collated and each “issue” (i.e., basket or locus) includes a small window showing the location of the issue on the top plan, all of the written data within the form, and any photos taken within the locus or basket form.
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Fig 11
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Conclusion
Tel Burna’s adaptation of PlanGrid has been a very useful and affordable tool for our archaeological field registration. This method together with our “aerial” photos has many advantages over paper forms that allow our project to produce better and more accurate archaeological data at a faster pace than traditional methods (i.e., hand-drawn plans and hand-written forms). Over the course of four seasons (2012-2016), we have continued to refine our PlanGrid adaptation and achieved better results in each season we have used the software. Moreover, PlanGrid itself has been constantly updated and improved by its developers, which indicates that our archaeological adaptation of the system will continue to improve as new features are added to PlanGrid. One of the defining characteristics of the system is that it provides a flawless and effortless data synchronization across multiple devices. After four seasons, we have yet to lose any data despite the fact that we work in difficult field conditions and often have a poor internet connection at the excavation camp. In light of the fact that the software itself is free, PlanGrid would seem to be a particularly useful tool for a small scale excavation on a limited budget. On the other hand, it should be noted that PlanGrid is not a database, however, the data from PlanGrid can easily be exported in a CSV file for importation into an existing archaeological database.
We understand that there are many new digital archaeological recording systems (e.g., Codifi, Archfield, etc.), and we are open to the possibility of testing and implementing these types of systems at Tel Burna. Still, based on our very positive experience with PlanGrid over the last four seasons we highly recommend its use as an archaeological field registration tool.
Gay, E., Cooper, D., Kimia, B., Taubin, G., Cabrini, D., Karumuri, S., Doutre, W., Liu, S., Galor, K., Sanders, D., 2010. REVEAL intermediate report, in: Proceedings of CVPR Workshop on Applications of Computer Vision in Archaeology (ACVA’10). IEEE, pp. 1–6.
McKinny, C., Shai, I., in press. Using Tools in Ways in Which They Were Not Intended: A Test Case of the Use of PlanGrid for Field Registration at Tel Burna, in: Levy, T.E., Jones, I. (Eds.), Cyber-Archaeology and Grand Narratives: Digital Technology and Deep-Time Perspectives on Culture Change in the Middle East. Springer.
Miller, R., 2015. PlanGrid Lands $40 Million Investment To Expand Product. TechCrunch.
Prins, A.B., Adams, M.J., Homsher, R.S., Ashley, M., 2014. Digital Archaeological Fieldwork and the Jezreel Valley Regional Project, Israel. East. Archaeol. 77, 192–197. doi:10.5615/neareastarch.77.3.0192
Shai, I., Ben-Shlomo, D., Cassuto, D., Uziel, J., 2015a. Tel Burna in Iron Age II: A Fortified City on Judah’s Western Border. Judah Samaria Res. Stud. 24, 27–34.
Shai, I., Cassuto, D., Dagan, A., Uziel, J., 2012. The Fortifications at Tel Burna: Date, Function and Meaning. Isr. Explor. J. 62, 141–157.
Shai, I., Dagan, A., Riehl, S., Orendi, A., Uziel, J., Suriano, M., 2014. A Private Stamped Seal Handle from Tel Burna, Israel. Z. Dtsch. Paläst.-Ver. 130, 121–137.
Shai, I., McKinny, C., Uziel, J., 2015b. Late Bronze Age Cultic Activity in Ancient Canaan: A View from Tel Burna. Bull. Am. Sch. Orient. Res. 115–133.
Shai, I., Uziel, J., 2014. Addressing Survey Methodology in the Southern Levant: Applying Different Methods for the Survey of Tel Burna, Israel. Isr. Explor. J. 64, 172–190.
Sharp, C., McKinny, C., Shai, I., 2015. Late Bronze Age Figurines from Tel Burna. Strata Bull. Anglo-Isr. Archaeol. Soc. 33, 61–76.
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Uziel, J., Shai, I., 2010. The Settlement History of Tel Burna: Results of the Surface Survey. Tel Aviv 37, 227–245.
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Marek Titien Olszewski is Associate Professor, PhD from the Sorbonne, lecturer at the Institute of Archaeology, University of Warsaw, specialist in Roman archaeology and iconography, and an expert on ancient mosaics, Roman archaeology and Syria (UNESCO). He sits on the board of the AIEMA (Association Internationale pour l’Etude de la Mosaïque Antiqua).
Houmam Saad has a PhD in archaeology and is on the staff of the Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums of Syria (DGAMS). He is also an associate of the French Academy of Sciences (CNRS) and a specialist in the archaeology of Syria.
Beyond the devastation and tragedy of human lives precipitated by the conflict in Syria, priceless representations of ancient culture and history have likewise fallen victim to a seemingly never-ending maelstrom of destruction. Ancient monuments and art have either been destroyed, damaged, or lost as chaos persists in a region that has for thousands of years seen the footprint of a parade of civilizations. Missing but not forgotten among these cultural victims is one very important Roman mosaic — a floor mosaic that tells a history of the great ancient city of Apamea, an important Greek and Roman hub of the Levant. Like many other splendid and unique mosaic floors, this one was unfortunately cut from its bedding, smuggled abroad and sold on the black market to a foreign collector by an organized group of professional antiquities thieves. However, the panel was photographed with a cell phone by an anonymous person. The images were passed on to specialists by pure coincidence, and today it is one of the most valuable objects wanted by INTERPOL.
The uniqueness of this Roman mosaic, discovered and stolen in 2011, warrants its presentation here, based on the presumption that the panel originated most probably from Apamea, one of the most important classical sites in Syria.
A Slice of Material History
The panel was likely part of a larger work from a very large hall of a wealthy residence belonging to perhaps the most important person in the local and Roman administration officiating in Apamea. This rectangular figural panel, an estimated 19 m2 in size, was surrounded with a geometrical frame. It comprised different scenes arranged in three zones, one above the other, the one in the middle wider than the other two, which are otherwise of the same dimensions. The scenes are historical, extremely rare on Roman mosaics. They tell the story of the founding of Pella/Apamea and further development of this city on the Orontes river. Three main groups of scenes can be distinguished: (1) the foundation of Pella-on-the-Orontes by the legendary Archippos, (2) the (re)foundation of the city as Apamea-on-the-Orontes (earlier Pella-on-the-Orontes) by Seleucus I Nikator and the simultaneous financial generosity of his wife, Apama, for the development of the new Seleucid colony in 300 BC, and (3) the raising of the town fortifications around monumental public buildings and an illustration of the daily life of a joyous people living in the rich Apamean agglomeration and hinterland. Features of style date the panels to the 4th century AD.
The photographic image shows that the lower zone and about half of the central zone of the mosaic floor were not preserved. The rest of the panel is in good condition, save for a few minor losses.
The religious act of the foundation of Pella-on-the-Orontes
The upper zone of this floor mosaic is filled with a scene composed of ten figures. On one side there are five Macedonian light cavalrymen – strong men with their horses, shields and spears. On the other side, there is a religious scene, a cult offering being made by five figures, three of which are identified by inscriptions in Greek. Archippos, the legendary founder of Pella-on-the-Orontes, is shown with a patter in his right hand, held above the bodies of sacrificial bulls. He is accompanied on either side by two of the Diadochi, successors of Alexander the Great, namely Antipater and his son Kassander. All three are dressed in rich tunics, pallia and diadems. Crowning the scene is an eagle with spread wings symbolizing Zeus.
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Fig. 1. Upper zone of the mosaic from Apamea. Representation of a cult offering made by Archippos before the diadochi Antipater and his son Kassander, and the Macedonian cavalry, occasioned by the founding of the Macedonian colony of Pella-on-the-Orontes. Anonymous photographer, image modified and sharpened by D. Zielińska.
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The (re)foundation of Apamea – the royal generosity of Seleucus and Apama
The central zone presents scenes that can be divided into three groups: (1) six richly attired people around a large table (mensa argentaria), (2) a city with monumental buildings, and (3) craftsmen and workers building the fortifications. Silver and gold coins cover the tabletop. All the figures standing and sitting around the table have Greek captions. One of them is Seleucus I Nikator, recognized also by the bull’s horns. He holds in his hands an architect’s measure, symbol of the king as founder of the city (ktistes). Antipater is looking on. Sitting at the table are Archippos, Apama – first wife of Seleucus, Kassander and Antiochus I Soter, son of Seleucus, who became a very powerful ruler. They are all dressed exquisitely like Hellenistic rulers should be, in tunics and pallia, and they wear diadems. Apama has her head draped and wears a chiton and himation.
The city is surrounded by huge defense walls. Apama contributes an enormous sum of money for the construction of the city. Seleucus is shown as the founder, whereas the other diadochi are present and express with gestures their solidarity with the queen and her act of generosity, suggesting at the same time their personal contribution to the development of the town. A temple on a high podium rises behind Seleucus; one can see the roof with a tympanum in front, set on five columns; a few columns can also be seen in the side elevation. Behind the general and the rulers there is a large oval building with two structures on the long axis of the central inner courtyard. It is a hippodrome or Roman circus with a semi-oval base (meta) with three colonettes topped by an egg-shaped form, standing at either end of the spina or central axis. The circus is adjoined by a number of buildings, including one of monumental size. Inside the walls there are many different buildings beside the monumental temple, but the mosaic is fragmentary in this spot. At the bottom one can discern a large ox pulling something very heavy. Away from the town walls, on a small fragment, there is a semi-nude female figure personifying the springs that filled the Orontes (Belos) river, resting her arm on a vessel (?) with water pouring from it (?). Two builders are shown working on the fortifications. Outside the wall there are three other builders pushing one of the large dressed stone blocks and a fourth depicted walking.
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Fig. 2. Central zone of the mosaic from Apamea. (Re)foundation of Pella/Apamea-on-the-Orontes by Seleucus I Nikator and the donation of Apama for the development and fortification of the town. Other participants of the scene include Archippos, Antipater, Kassander and Antiochus I Soter. The representation of the town of Apamea shows its main buildings. In the bottom zone, the hinterland of the city of Apamea with a noria and baths. Anonymous photographer, image modified and sharpened by D. Zielińska.
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Apamea: prosperity and joy of suburban life
The third zone at the bottom of the panel depicts scenes showing the prosperity of the hinterland of the city of Apamea, possibly the plain of Ghȃb or other nearby regions on the Orontes. A splendid Roman bath catches the eye here, as does a noria on a river, which is most probably the Orontes. Two entrances can be seen, one leading most probably to the apodyterium (cloakroom), the other onto a ramp leading to a large pool. Three children are playing on the ramp and in the pool, while two women leading small children are entering the cloakroom. A fowler is hunting birds next to the baths and a man carrying a load can be seen on the road.
The mosaic as a new historical source for the history of Apamea
The hypothesis that this mosaic was one of a series of panels showing cities of the Tetrapolis founded by Seleucus I Nikator in 300 BC decorating a rich private house or a public building belonging to a high official of Apamea seems possible. The dating of the mosaic brings to mind the oration made by Libanios in honor of Antioch in AD 356.
It is noteworthy that the diadoch Antigonos, who is believed to be the “founder” of Pella-on-the-Orontes in modern scholarly literature, is not present in this panel, whereas Antipater and Kassander were shown twice as active contributors to the development of the Macedonian colony. The unknown source that inspired the creators of the mosaic in question gave Archippos (he is confirmed by Pseudo-Oppian) as the founder and suggested that Macedonian veterans colonized the city, possibly after the Battle of Issos in 333 BC. The colony gained in importance in the times of Antipater when he was regent of the empire in 321- 319 BC., and in the time when Kassander commanded the Macedonian cavalry stationed in Pella. The cavalry depicted in the mosaic as well as the way in which they are shown recall some iconographic scenes from the period of the Diadochi, e.g., the wall paintings from the tomb of Agios Athanasios from Thessaloniki and the sarcophagus of Alexander the Great from Sidon, today in the Archaeological Museum in Istanbul.
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Fig. 3. Macedonian cavalryman with his horses from the tomb of Agios Athanasios in Thessaloniki, dated to the end of the 4th century BC (after H. Brecoulaki, La peinture funéraire de Macédoine. Emplois et functions de la couleur, IVe-IIe siècle aavant J.-C., Athens-Paris 2006, pl. 96.2).
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The mosaic depicts historical events of the highest importance for the city of Apamea: after 333 BC and then in 300 BC. Meetings of rulers and generals, whose rule impacted the development of the colony and city, occurred between 321 and 261 BC (death of Antiochus I Soter). This points to the allegorical nature of the mosaic, emphasizing the circumstances of the founding and development of the city of Apamea. This narrative corresponds to an unknown and more detailed and complementary story of the origins of the town. The mosaic was inspired by unknown sources, perhaps Hellenistic pictures complemented with elements contemporary with the city of the 4th century AD. A possible source is the lost work of Euphorion of Chalcis describing the origins and development of Apamea. The mosaic is of exceptional significance for the history and iconography of the Diadochi. This is the first portrait of Apama, first wife of Seleucus I Nikator, to be preserved in Classical art. The panel is also an exceptional source for reconstructing the urban architecture of Apamea. For the first time we are treated to a view of the famous temple of Belos(?), the hippodrome (circus), suburban baths and a representation of the noria a whole one hundred years earlier than the oldest known iconographical image of this installation known to date, from Apamea from the mid 5th century AD. One may also observe certain parallels with the iconography of buildings from a later mosaic of Megalopsychia from Yakto in Antioch. The mosaic is exceptional in its expression and is part of a series of exceptionally rare historical mosaics.
As one of the most important works of ancient art, the mosaic is part of the Syrian national heritage and should be returned one day to the place where it belongs, that is, the archaeological museum in Apamea.
Summing up, one should note that many mosaic panels from the Syrian Apamea have been plundered by organized bands of professional thieves of ancient artifacts and works of art. These thieves are also propagating false information regarding stolen works of art, suggesting that they are forgeries. It is unfortunate that some restorers, not necessarily specialized in ancient art and Roman mosaics, originating from countries neighboring with Syria, are receptive to such disinformation. Information that objects of real antiquity are forgeries is meant to protect future dishonest buyers of such objects from the Interpol and local police.
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The mosaic panel was first identified in 2016 by permission of the Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums of Syria (DGAMS) and its director, Prof. Maamoun Abdulkarim. The co-authors would like to express their deep gratitude.
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The Diadochi shown on the mosaic from Apamea:
Antiochus I Soter (“the Savior”) – 324–261 BC; king 281–261 BC
Antipater – 397–319 BC; regent of the empire 323–319 BC
Apama – ? –299 BC; wife of Seleucus I Nikator
Kassander – 350–297 BC; regent of Macedonia 317–305 BC; king of Macedonia 305–297 BC
Seleucus I Nikator (“Victor”) 358–281 BC; king of the Seleucid empire 305–281 BC
Bibliography:
OLSZEWSKI M. T., SAAD H., 2016 (in press), « Origin of Apamea of Syria on the Roman mosaic wanted by Interpol. New Roman Source to Hellenistic and Roman History of Apamea », Archeologia (Warsaw), 66.
INTERPOL calls for vigilance on looting of ancient mosaics in Syria :
Fig. 1. Upper zone of the mosaic from Apamea. Representation of a cult offering made by Archippos before the diadochi Antipater and his son Kassander, and the Macedonian cavalry, occasioned by the founding of the Macedonian colony of Pella-on-the-Orontes. Anonymous photographer, image modified and sharpened by D. Zielińska.
Fig. 2. Central zone of the mosaic from Apamea. (Re)foundation of Pella/Apamea on the Orontes by Seleucus I Nikator and the donation of Apama for the development and fortification of the town. Other participants of the scene include Archippos, Antipater, Kassander and Antiochus I Soter. The representation of the town of Apamea shows its main buildings. In the bottom zone, the hinterland of the city of Apamea with a noria and baths. Anonymous photographer, image modified and sharpened by D. Zielińska.
Fig. 3. Macedonian cavalryman with his horses from the tomb of Agios Athanasios in Thessaloniki, dated to the end of the 4th century BC (after H. Brecoulaki, La peinture funéraire de Macédoine. Emplois et functions de la couleur, IVe-IIe siècle aavant J.-C., Athens-Paris 2006, pl. 96.2).
Just north of the bustling city of Trujillo, a distinctively imposing 30-meter-high mound of earth and stone overlooks the Pacific coast along the edge of the Chicama Valley. Unlike Trujillo, it is a quiet place. Agricultural fields dress its backdrop nearby. It has a name — Huaca Prieta, which, in Spanish, means “dark mound”. To the casual passer-by it strikes the impressive image of a distinctive greyish natural hill rising prominently behind the beach. But aside from its imposing physical appearance, Huaca Prieta stands apart for another very dramatic reason: within the underlying terrace that defines its foundation lies an archaeological record of human occupation that goes back as long ago as nearly 15,000 years B.P., with the astounding discovery of this very early occupation only recently coming to light.
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Huaca Prieta means “dark mound”, which was built on a low late Pleistocene terrace between 7,800-3,500 years ago and since then used as a burial place for later cultures. Today it is used for shaman rituals. Buried in the terrace below the mound are maritime and terrestrial cultural remains dated from about 14,500 to 8,000 years ago. Courtesy Tom Dillehay
Archaeologists first began uncovering the mystery of the mound when excavations began under Junius B. Bird in 1946–1947. He and his team excavated three test pits. Among their finds were complex textiles with designs representing mythological humans, snakes, crabs and condors, as well as stone artifacts such as pebble tools and flakes. While excavating, they encountered the remains of underground structures, some of them featuring burials constructed of cobblestones and an ash-water mix. Evidence also emerged, with objects such as fish net weights and fish bones, that suggested the ancient inhabitants were fishers and gathered shellfish, with organic remains also indicating they were agriculturalists, growing beans, squash, gourds, tubers, peppers, cotton and fruit.
But the latest, and perhaps most remarkable, chapter at Huaca Prieta did not unfold until 2006, when anthropologist Tom Dillehay of Vanderbilt University began excavations and investigations of the site with the late Peruvian archaeologist, Duccio Bonavia, and a multi-disciplinary team of scientists and specialists. (Dillehay is best known for his work and discoveries at Monte Verde in Chile, where evidence of early human settlement more than 14,000 years old was found in 1975, challenging the long-held Clovis theory that suggested the first human arrival in the Americas was no older than 13,000 years ago). “I was always fascinated by the work of Junius Bird at the site and by the incredibly distinct color and form of the mound located next to the ocean,” said Dillehay of the site. “I had never seen anything like it.”Dillehay had been working on the north coast of Peru since 1976 and continued to visit the site, but a series of unanswered questions, and a tip from geologists who had previously examined the site suggesting it could possibly contain cultural material deep into prehistory, inspired him to renew investigations.
As a scientist, however, Dillehay’s interest went far beyond the prospect of discovering deep history. “The objectives were simply to better understand the economy, stratigraphy and chronology of the site with new questions and methods,” he continued. “We also planned a detailed interdisciplinary study focused on paleoecology and outlying settlement patterns in the area, including other Preceramic sites, and we wanted to produce detailed quantification and qualification of the faunal and floral remains.”
His investigations slowly made their way to accomplishing these goals. But little did he know what treasures awaited him and his team as they carefully and systematically dug their way down through the mound. “We had expected many of the findings, but we found many more and diverse items than Bird had found,” said Dillehay. The team uncovered exotic materials, as well as food and non-food remains, and countless flecks of charcoal that suggested, in the context of associated artifacts, ritual fires.“Bird thought the mound was residential, like a midden,” said Dillehay, “but it was almost exclusively ritual and mortuary.” Many other well-preserved organic remains were uncovered, including textiles, cordage, and ornate baskets. The basket remnants consisted of diverse materials, including a local reed still used by basket makers today. Some of the baskets were remarkably sophisticated, featuring segments made from domesticated cotton, colored with what was determined to be one of the oldest dyes known in the Americas. Indeed, in 2016, 6,000-year-old dyed cotton fabric was discovered. Analysis showed that it was indigotin, an indigoid dye, the earliest documented use of indigo dye to date, predating the use of indigo in Egypt by 1,500 years. In addition, stone tools, including a variety of hooks and objects likely used for deep-sea fishing, were also found.
But equally exciting was the dating of the site, particularly the lower layers.
“We were very surprised when we started getting early dates underneath the mound and especially on the south end of the mound where Bird never excavated,” exclaimed Dillehay in his correspondence with Popular Archaeology. Radiocarbon dating techniques showed human occupation as early as nearly 15,000 years ago.
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Workers taking bucket loads of excavated sedimentsfrom a deep excavation unit to screens for sifting. Courtesy Tom Dillehay
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Archaeologists working at the 30 m depth level at Huaca Prieta. Courtesy Tom Dillehay
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An Early Society
It is no longer extraordinary to discover evidence of a human presence in the Americas before 13,000 years ago. A number of discoveries at disparate locations have attested to this — such as Blue Fish caves in the Yukon territory of Canada where archaeological remains suggest humans at about 24,000 years ago, Meadowcroft Rockshelter in western Pennsylvania, where stone tools were found to be as much as 16,000+ years old, and Monte Verde in Chile, the site of Dillehay’s excavations beginning in the 1970’s, with evidence suggesting human occupation as long ago as 18,500 B.P. These sites and discoveries name only a few that have emerged in recent years. The findings have supported the formulation of new paradigms for human migration into the Americas, adding the possibility that humans crossed by water, along coastal routes, in addition to the traditionally accepted inland routes (such as passage through the ice-free corridor from ancient Beringia after leaving Asia).
Perhaps the biggest takeaway from the Huaca Prieta investigations thus far, outside of the early dates, is the realization that a relatively sophisticated society was emerging in the region long before the earliest great civilizations were taking shape in other areas of the world. Part of the foundation of that early civilization as exemplified by Huaca Prieta was in part because of the exploitation of multiple streams of resources, combining maritime and agricultural-based economies into an integrated strategy for survival and creating an economic surplus as the basis for the early, structured, urbanized centers that followed.
“These strings of events that we have uncovered demonstrate that these people had a remarkable capacity to utilize different types of food resources, which led to a larger society size and everything that goes along with it such as the emergence of bureaucracy and highly organized religion,” said James Adovasio, co-author of the recently published study on Huaca Prieta and a world-acclaimed archaeologist at Florida Atlantic University. (It was Adovasio who conducted the pioneering work at the Meadowcroft Rockshelter in Pennsylvania, where some of the earliest evidence of human occupation in the Americas was found).
Adovasio is one of the world’s leading experts in the analysis of ancient textiles and basketry. He focused particularly on the extensive collection of basket remnants excavated at the site.
“To make these complicated textiles and baskets indicates that there was a standardized or organized manufacturing process in place and that all of these artifacts were much fancier than they needed to be for that time period,” said Adovasio. “Like so many of the materials that were excavated, even the baskets reflect a level of complexity that signals a more sophisticated society as well as the desire for and a means for showing social stature. All of these things together tell us that these early humans were engaged in very complicated social relationships with each other and that these fancy objects all bespeak that kind of social messaging.”*
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Various unifacial flakes from basalt and andesite cobbles, dating between ~14,500-13,500 years ago. Courtesy Tom Dillehay
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Above: Some of the exotic ritual offerings dated between 7,000-4,500 yrs ago: a, Spondylus fragment; b-c, turquoise fragments; d, malachite; e, Scleractinia sp. coral; f, rock crystals; g, ceramic fragments. Courtesy Tom Dillehay
Textiles: Early cotton fibers were dated to around 6,200 yrs ago. The textiles shown here are dated to 5,500-4,000 yrs ago: a, Specimen 2009.154.02.B before (left) and after (right) it was washed with hexametasulfate to remove paste and reveal dark-blue warp stripes (left: photo by the author; right: photo by Lauren Badams); b, comparison of Specimen 2009.114.12 before (left) and after (right) washing it with hexametasulfate, revealing a gold color (photos by Lauren Badams); c, Specimen 2009.001.11 (front, back, and detail) of tapestry band with gold camelid hair; d, Specimen 2009.052.01.B, which was dyed with indigo (photo by Lauren Badams); e, Specimen 2009.114.08, which has overall red color (photo by Lauren Badams). Courtesy Tom Dillehay
Basket remnants retrieved from the site were made from diverse materials including a local reed that is still used today by modern basket makers. More elaborate baskets included segments made from domesticated cotton and were colored using some of the oldest dyes known in the New World. Credit: Florida Atlantic University’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute
James M. Adovasio, Ph.D., D.Sc., co-author of the study and a world acclaimed archaeologist at FAU’s Harbor Branch, with a basket artifact from the site. Adovasio is one of the world’s foremost authorities on ancient textiles and materials such as those used in basketry. Credit: Florida Atlantic University’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute
Above: a, photograph of burial HP08-01 on the south rim of the sunken circular plaza; b, cobblestone architecture of Tomb 8 containing HP08-01 on the rim of the circular plaza. Courtesy Tom Dillehay
Moving forward, Dillehay, Adovasio and colleagues are convinced that Huaca Prieta, and sites like it, will open new windows on our understanding of how and why remarkably early monumental civilizations arose along the Peruvian coast, in addition to a better understanding of the full chronology of civilization in Peru.
“Huaca Prieta is located on the Sangamon terrace**, which also contains later occupations all the way up to the Colonial period, so that area has the entire history of Peru there,” said Dillehay. “As for the peopling of the Americas, the early material simply adds another site to the now longer list of Pre-Clovis locales in the New World.”
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