Dental morphology of the Dawenkou Neolithic population in North China: implications for the origin and distribution of Sinodonty

We compare the incidence of 25 nonmetric dental traits of the people of the Neolithic Dawenkou culture (6300-4500 BP) sites in Shandong Province, North China with those of other East Asian populations. The Dawenkou teeth had an overwhelmingly greater resemblance to the Sinodont pattern typical of Northeast Asia than to the Sundadont pattern typical of Southeast Asia. Multidimensional scaling using Smith's mean measure of divergence (MMD) statistic place the Dawenkou sample near the Amur and the North China-Mongolia populations in the area of the plot indicating typical Sinodonty. The existence of the Sinodont population in Neolithic North China suggests a possible continuity of Sinodonty from the Upper Cave population at Zhoukoudian (about 34000-10000 BP) to the modern North Chinese. The presence of Sinodonty in Shandong Province shows that the Japan Sea and East China Sea were strong barriers to gene flow for at least 3000 years, because at this time the Jomonese of Japan were fully Sundadont. In addition, we suggest that the descendants of the Dawenkou population cannot be excluded as one of the source populations that contributed to sinodontification in Japan.     

内蒙古察右前旗庙子沟新石器时代人类牙齿的形态观察

本文所报道的新石器时代人类牙齿标本采集自内蒙古自治区乌兰察布盟察右前旗的庙子沟遗址。该遗址的年代相当于仰韶时代的晚期。所收集到的牙齿标本共计576枚(上颌274枚,下颌302枚),均系恒齿,分别属于31例个体。其中包括男性11例,女性15例,另外5例为未成年个体,性别不详。     

Dental morphology and ancestry in Albuquerque, New Mexico Hispanics

The term “Hispanic” groups people from Central and South America and the Caribbean, combining disparate cultures, languages, and ancestry, and masking biological differences. Historical and current admixture patterns within these populations and with indigenous and European-, African-, and/or Asian- derived populations complicate the biological picture. Although “Hispanic” has little biological meaning, it is used widely in epidemiology, disease management, and forensics as a biologically significant group. An interdisciplinary approach combining historical, cultural, and biological data can characterize regional and temporal differences between Hispanic populations.We examined biological distances with a population of central New Mexico Hispanics, as a case study of the local specificity of population history. We collected dental morphological trait frequencies from samples of recent Albuquerque-area Hispanic Americans and several ancestral and contemporary groups. To explore regional admixture patterns we calculated biological distances using the modified Mahalanobis D² statistic. Our results indicate that Albuquerque Hispanics are more similar to their European and African ancestral groups than to Native Americans in New Mexico. Additionally, their affinity to Native Americans is greater with prehistoric rather than contemporary samples. We argue that these results reflect a local rather than pan-Hispanic admixture pattern; they underscore that populations are better understood at the local and regional levels. It is undesirable to make sweeping biological generalizations for groups known to be geographically and genetically disparate. This research is part of a growing trend in biological research concerning Hispanics and other groups—an emphasis on local samples, informed by historical, cultural, and biological factors.     

Cattle cults of the Arabian Neolithic and early territorial societies

At the cusp of food production, Near Eastern societies adopted new territorial practices, including archaeologically visible sedentism and nonsedentary social defenses more challenging to identify archaeologically. New archaeological and paleoenvironmental evidence for Arabia's earliest-known sacrifices points to territorial maintenance in arid highland southern Yemen. Here sedentism was not an option prior to agriculture. Seasonally mobile pastoralists developed alternate practices to reify cohesive identities, maintain alliances, and defend territories. Archaeological and paleoenvironmental evidence implies cattle sacrifices were commemorated with a ring of more than 42 cattle skulls and a stone platform buried by 6,400-year-old floodplain sediments. Associated with numerous hearths, these cattle rites suggest feasting by a large gathering, with important sociopolitical ramifications for territories. A GIS analysis of the early Holocene landscape indicates constrained pasturage supporting small resident human populations. Cattle sacrifice in southern Arabia suggests a model of mid-Holocene Neolithic territorial pastoralism under environmental and cultural conditions that made sedentism unsusta     

Dental morphology and odontometry of the Tibetan immigrants

Dental features such as size, shape, cusp number and groove pattern, deflecting wrinkle, protostylid, form and size of dental arch and occlusion pattern, as well as crown diameters of maxillary and mandibular dentition of the Tibetan immigrants in India are described. Sex differences in various measurements are also noted. Overall reduction in size, presence of hypodontia of the third molar, and absence of Carabelli's trait are a distinct progressive/evolutionary trend in the Tibetan dentition, while presence of a shovel-shaped lingual surface of central and lateral incisors is a retrogressive/primitive condition. In some of the dental features Tibetans resemble Caucasoid and modern populations, in certain others they resemble other Mongoloid populations, and in still other features they resemble aboriginal populations and fossil hominids.     

Implications of an early land plant spore assemblage for the late Silurian age of the Si Ka Formation,northern Vietnam

The first plant microfossil assemblage from the Si Ka Formation of the Song Cau Group, northern Vietnam is reported. It is composed of cryptospores in dyads and tetrads, trilete spores, tubular remains consisting of an association of smooth, banded, and externally thickened tubes, and cuticle-like fragments. The biostratigraphic assemblage of sporomorphs indicates a late Silurian (late Ludfordian) to Early Devonian (early Lochkovian) age. Further comparison with coeval reports using the characteristic features of the assemblage confines their age to the late Ludlow (late Ludfordian) to early Přídolí. This report presents the oldest spore assemblage from Vietnam and contributes to a broader understanding of its paleo-landscape during the late Silurian.     

Dental morphology of early Holocene foragers of North India: Non-metric trait frequencies and biological affinities

The biological affinities of semi-nomadic, early to mid-Holocene foragers of the mid-Ganga Plain, North India are undetermined, yet understanding their place in the population history of South Asia is important. Non-metric tooth trait frequencies are reported for three broadly contemporary, bio-culturally similar, and geographically proximate samples, collectively known as Mesolithic Lake Culture (MLC). The Arizona State University – Dental Anthropology System was used to score 43 tooth-trait combinations (23 maxillary; 21 mandibular). Non-metric trait frequencies are used to determine biological affinities of MLC to a global sample of living populations and to prehistoric and living groups of South Asia.     

A comparison of early Neolithic crop and weed assemblages from the Linearbandkeramik and the Bulgarian Neolithic cultures: differences and similarities

The spread of early agriculture from the Mediterranean to central Europe is still poorly understood. The new subsistence reached western central Europe during the second half of the 6th millennium cal b.c. This paper presents a comparison of crop and weed species from 33 Bandkeramik sites from Austria and Germany and six Bulgarian Neolithic sites. The aim is to investigate whether the early cultivation system brought in from the eastern Mediterranean was adapted to European conditions in Bulgaria or further West. Some characteristics of the potential weeds are interpreted with respect to the cultivation systems and the origin of the species.     

Mitochondrial DNA variation in Kets and Nganasans and the early peoples of Northern Eurasia

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variation was studied in 38 Kets and 24 Nganasans, the indigenous inhabitants of the north of the Yenisey River Basin and the Taimyr Peninsula. The results were compared with the analogous data obtained for 59 Kondinski and 39 Sos'vinski Mansi. As a whole, mitochondrial gene pool of Mansi, Nganasans, and Kets was characterized by unique combination of European-specific (H, H2, H3, H8, U2, U4, U5, U7, J2, and W) and Asian-specific (A, C, D, and Z) mtDNA haplogroups. Specific features of the haplogroup geographical distribution along with the results of phylogenetic reconstruction favor the hypothesis of the genetic trace left in Eastern Cis-Urals and the adjacent Siberian territories by early migrations from the Near East.     

张掖西城驿遗址新石器时代晚期-青铜时代人类冶金活动的元素地球化学记录

本文通过张掖西城驿遗址文化层沉积物及现代表土沉积物元素地球化学分析,结合高分辨率碳化植物种子¹⁴C 测年和最新考古发掘资料,揭示了西城驿遗址4200-3500 BP cal期间人类活动特征,佐证了不同文化阶段人类冶金活动强度变化。Rb/Sr比值、磁化率和重金属元素(Cu、Zn、Pb、As、Ni)含量变化过程显示,西城驿地区4200-4000 BP cal马厂文化时期人类活动增强,冶金活动开始出现;4000-3700 BP cal西城驿文化时期出现了冶金高峰期;四坝文化时期(3700-3500 BP cal)冶金活动强度相对减弱。     

Burrow morphology and utilization of the goby (Parapocryptes serperaster) in the Mekong Delta,Vietnam

Some fish species living in mudflats construct burrows for dwelling and hiding. The goby Parapocryptes serperaster is a burrowing fish in mudflats of many estuaries in South East Asia. This study was carried out in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam, to examine burrow morphology and usage by this species. Morphology of the burrows constructed by P. serperaster was investigated by resin castings in situ to obtain the physical structure and configuration of each burrow. Fish from the burrows were caught and measured before burrow casts were made. Fish burrows comprised several openings, a few branching tunnels and multi-bulbous chambers. The surface openings were circular, and the shapes of branching tunnels were nearly round. The burrows had interconnected tunnels and various short cul-de-sac side branches. The burrow structure differed between fish sizes, but burrow dimensions were positively correlated with fish size, indicating that larger fish can make larger and more sophisticated burrow. The burrow structure and dimensions were not different between the dry and wet seasons. Laboratory observations showed that P. serperaster used body movements to dig burrows in the sediment. Burrows could provide a low-tide retreat and protection from predators, but were not used for spawning and feeding for this goby species. This study indicates that the burrowing activity of gobies is an important adaptation for living in shallow and muddy habitats.     

中国黄土高原北部地区新石器-青铜时代农业结构演变及其对区域生态环境的适应

本文分析并测定了从15个位于黄土高原北部的遗址中浮选的炭化植物遗存的年代及数量,讨论了该地区新石器-青铜时代农业结构的变化、发展及自适应。研究表明,该地区粟的占比随着遗址年代的推移呈现出上升趋势,证明了先民的农业技术随时间变化而发展;受季风降水特征影响,东南部灌丛草原区粟的占比随时间变化上升趋势明显,西北部干草原区则变化较弱,证明环境的差异也造成了农业模式的不同;在干旱气候条件限制下,自中全新世以来黄土高原北部地区的主要作物始终为粟和黍,粟作农业奠定了黄土高原乃至中国北方的文明基础。     

Functional morphology,biomechanics and the retrodiction of early hominin diets

A fundamental axiom that underlies evolutionary biomechanics maintains that natural selection has adapted skeletal and dental morphologies to facilitate function in intelligible ways. Because selection is held to result in the improvement of functional design, it is thought possible to predict the adaptive significance of a morphological feature from a design criterion. This rationale has been widely applied to the interpretation of morphological complexes in the paleontological record for which no strict extant analogues exist. In particular, biomechanical models have been used to infer the dietary habits of extinct hominin taxa from aspects of craniodental morphology. Many of these models are hampered by missing data and loosely justified assumptions. Craniodental morphologies may indicate more about what an extinct species was capable of processing intra-orally – and probably more about its phylogenetic history – than the constitution of its diet. Even a dedicated leaf-eating hominin cannot be expected to have possessed bilophodont molars. The dietary retrodictions based on comparative anatomical that have been proffered for Plio-Pleistocene hominin species are reviewed here. We argue that the application of finite element analysis to these fossils has not revealed convincing evidence of specific feeding behaviors. Indeed, the conclusions from these biomechanical models are often incongruent with data from stable light isotopes, microwear and phytolith analysis; nor do they conform with observations on the dietary repertoires and feeding behaviors of extant primates. For example, the sooty mangabey (Cercocebus atys) is a committed hard object feeder, but suffers no deleterious consequences from the “poor design” of its facial skeleton for processing hard foods. Because primates are adept at behaviorally circumventing mechanical problems, it is perhaps useful to consider the breadth of any fossil hominin's feeding repertoire in the context of behaviors that enable mechanical problems to be dealt with prior to ingestion.     

河南鹿台遗址炭化植物遗存揭示的新石器时代晚期的人类生计活动

鹿台遗址出土了丰富的炭化植物遗存,作物组合显示仰韶时期农业经济是单纯的种植粟黍的旱作农业,龙山时期农作物新品种开始出现,作物种植结构趋于多样化。基于龙山时期成熟粟类作物和不成熟粟类作物的量化分析,鹿台遗址龙山时期聚落很可能存在作物加工活动,不同阶段的加工活动可能是在聚落内不同区域,以小规模的核心家庭为基础开展。综合相关研究,豫北地区仰韶时期仍是单一的种植小米的旱作农业经济,稻作农业并未影响到这一区域,龙山时期水稻、大豆和小麦等新农作物开始出现,农业多样化逐渐显现。与此同时,豫北地区龙山时期不同遗址在农作物种植结构方面存在些许差异,这一差异很可能与遗址微观地貌、聚落和特定人群的主观选择有关。鹿台遗址炭化植物遗存研究深化了对中原地区新石器时代晚期环境、生业与社会关系的认识。     

Monuments, power and personhood in the British Neolithic

Recent research on British Neolithic monuments describes how the ordering of space within these sites contributed to the production and maintenance of dominant discourses. This article argues that aspects of this work are implicitly built on conceptions of personhood specific to post-Enlightenment thought, resulting in a somewhat static and one-dimensional conception of power relations during the period. One way out of this problem is provided by anthropological and feminist literature in which an alternative characterization of the self as inherently fluid and relational has been outlined. This facilitates a shifting and contextual conception of power relations which can be reconciled more easily with the evidence from Neolithic monuments for the continuous creation and reinterpretation of spatial meanings.     

Ovarian morphology,plasma progesterone concentrations and early embryo survival in the sow

Sixty-five Large White sows were used to examine relationships between ovarian morphology and embryo survival at 30 days gestation and plasma progesterone concentration before and after service.The total mass of luteal tissue was positively correlated with the number of corpora lutea on the ovaries (r = 0.68), and formed a fairly constant proportion of ovarian mass at 30 days gestation. The mean number of embryos per sow was 11.2 ± 0.76, and embryo survival rate was estimated to be 76.5%. There was a positive correlation between ovulation rate and number of embryos at 30 days of pregnancy (r = 0.39). The survival rate of embryos was inversely related (r = ?0.66) to the mean distance between embryos in the uterus. The means of plasma progesterone levels on days 11, 12 and 13 after service were positively correlated with the means of progesterone levels on days 9, 10, 11 and 12 of the cycle before service, the number of corpora lutea, the total mass of luteal tissue and the total mass of the ovaries, but not to numbers of embryos.     

Heavy Metal Concentration in Sediments of the Nhue River and its Water-Irrigated Farmland Soil in the Suburbs of Hanoi,Vietnam

The heavy metal pollution of sediment in the Nhue River, which receives wastewater from the To Lich and Kim Nguu River system, was investigated together with the effects of use of this water for irrigation of the surrounding farmland. Eighty soil samples and 40 sediment samples were collected from six locations in the Nhue River and two locations in the To Lich River for chemical and physical analyses. The results showed that the sediments in the Nhue River are heavily polluted by metals (71–420 mg/kg for Cu, 77–433 mg/kg for Pb, 150–350 mg/kg for Zn, 0.7–8.7 mg/kg for Cd, 80– 583 mg/kg for Cr, and 32–70 mg/kg for Ni). There were positive correlations between heavy metal concentration and both clay and organic matter contents in the sediment samples. The concentrations of all metals in soil samples were much higher than the background levels in the farmland, Cd, Cu, and Pb, exceeding Vietnamese standards for agricultural grounds.     

Archaeobotanical analysis of some early Neolithic settlements in the Kujawy region, central Poland, with potential plant gathering activities emphasised

Neolithic settlements in the Kujawy region of central Poland are represented by seven archaeological sites which have botanical material archaeologically dated to the Linear Pottery culture (LBK) (ca. 5400-5000 cal. B.C.) and the Lengyel culture (ca. 4400-4000 cal. B.C.). The composition of plant remains suggests that Stipa pennata s.l. played a certain role in the economy of the Neolithic settlers. The presence of this xerothermic grass is best explained by local gathering rather than distant transport or coming into the sediment by chance. The finding of Hierochlo? cf. australis grains represents the first identification of this plant in archaeobotanical material from Poland. This, now rare, plant contains coumarin and for this reason could have been useful in prehistory. Other plants such as Bromus spp., Chenopodium album type, Fallopia convolvulus and Galium spp. were found in large quantities, and although common weeds now, they could also have been collected by the Neolithic settlers. Plants such as Corylus avellana and Vaccinium vitis-idaea that are typically considered to be collected as foods are present in the studied material but in very small quantities. Received September 17, 2001 / Accepted March 13, 2002