Land-use patterns and cultural change in the Middle to Late Bronze Age in Ireland: inferences from pollen records

In Ireland, the Middle to Late Bronze Age (1500–600 cal b.c.) is characterised by alternating phases of prolific metalwork production (the Bishopsland and Dowris Phases) and apparent recessions (the Roscommon Phase and the Late Bronze Age-Iron Age transition). In this paper, these changes in material culture are placed in a socio-economic context by examining contemporary settlement and land-use patterns reconstructed from the pollen record. The vegetation histories of six tephrochronologically linked sites are presented, which provide high-resolution and chronologically well-resolved insights into changes in landscape use over the Middle to Late Bronze Age. The records are compared with published pollen records in an attempt to discern if there are trends in woodland clearance and abandonment from which changes in settlement patterns can be inferred. The results suggest that prolific metalworking industries correlate chronologically with expansion of farming activity, which indicates that they were supported by a productive subsistence economy. Conversely, declines in metalwork production occur during periods when farming activity was generally less extensive and perhaps more centralised, and it is proposed that disparate socio-economic or political factors, rather than a collapse of the subsistence economy, lie behind the demise of metalworking industries.     

新疆喀什下坂地墓地青铜时代人群颅骨的测量性状

下坂地墓地青铜时代居民是帕米尔高原区早期人群的代表。通过颅骨测量性状特征对该人群来源和流向问题的讨论,为建立欧亚大陆青铜时代人群的流动、变迁史提供了新的素材。与欧亚大陆青铜时代时空相关人群对比分析的结果表明,下坂地青铜组居民的祖先人群,可能是来自东欧南部草原地带的洞室墓文化居民。他们在安德罗诺沃文化的繁盛期,自东欧草原地带迁徙到帕米尔高原区,逐渐发展为安德罗诺沃文化的一个地方变体。     

Tracing past human male movements in northern/eastern Africa and western Eurasia: new clues from Y-chromosomal haplogroups E-M78 and J-M12

Detailed population data were obtained on the distribution of novel biallelic markers that finely dissect the human Y-chromosome haplogroup E-M78. Among 6,501 Y chromosomes sampled in 81 human populations worldwide, we found 517 E-M78 chromosomes and assigned them to 10 subhaplogroups. Eleven microsatellite loci were used to further evaluate subhaplogroup internal diversification. The geographic and quantitative analyses of haplogroup and microsatellite diversity is strongly suggestive of a northeastern African origin of E-M78, with a corridor for bidirectional migrations between northeastern and eastern Africa (at least 2 episodes between 23.9-17.3 ky and 18.0-5.9 ky ago), trans-Mediterranean migrations directly from northern Africa to Europe (mainly in the last 13.0 ky), and flow from northeastern Africa to western Asia between 20.0 and 6.8 ky ago. A single clade within E-M78 (E-V13) highlights a range expansion in the Bronze Age of southeastern Europe, which is also detected by haplogroup J-M12. Phylogeography pattern of molecular radiation and coalescence estimates for both haplogroups are similar and reveal that the genetic landscape of this region is, to a large extent, the consequence of a recent population growth in situ rather than the result of a mere flow of western Asian migrants in the early Neolithic. Our results not only provide a refinement of previous evolutionary hypotheses but also well-defined time frames for past human movements both in northern/eastern Africa and western Eurasia.     

Evidence for bronze age cannibalism in El Mirador Cave (Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain)

During excavations of the Bronze Age levels at El Mirador Cave, a hole containing human remains was found. Taphonomic analysis revealed the existence of cutmarks, human toothmarks, cooking damage, and deliberate breakage in most of the remains recovered, suggesting a clear case of gastronomic cannibalism. The piled distribution of the remains, the uneven skeletal representation, and the chronological difference between the pit and the remains suggest that these bones were subsequently buried by a human group that inhabited into the cave later in time. Evidence of gastronomic cannibalism has already been documented in Gran Dolina, another site in the Sierra de Atapuerca, on remains of Homo antecessor with an age of 800 ky (Fernández-Jalvo et al.: Science 271 (1996) 277-278; Fernández-Jalvo et al.: J Hum Evol 37 (1999) 591-622).     

Periodontal disease in the Mycenean (1450–1150 BC) population of Aghia Triada, W. Peloponnese, Greece

This study investigates the incidence of periodontitis in a Mycenaean population unearthed at the cemetery of Aghia Triada (West Peloponnese, Greece) during the 1989–1997 field season. The material consists of 172 dry skulls. Demographic parameters of sex and age were difficult to be assigned due to the bad state of preservation of the skeletal material. The ratio was 50 males, 48 females, 65 unidentified and 9 children, and we estimated an average age of 38 years. In this work we used traditional and modern methods to determine the incidence of periodontitis in the archeological human dental bone. We also recorded other dental diseases, such as ante mortem tooth loss, caries and attrition. The results showed that periodontitis has affected 35% of the jaws. A notable percentage of the individuals — 24% — lost three or more teeth during their lifetime and a total 53% of the population had extracted teeth before death. This paper points out that the ancient jaws present a high proportion of ante-mortem tooth loss, attrition and deep caries, whereas the frequency of periodontitis does not seem to differ from that of other prehistoric samples.     

Archaeophytes in Britain

The concept of 'archaeophytes' (alien taxa which became established in a study area before AD  1500) is widely used in floristic analyses in central and northern Europe, but few authors have applied it to the British flora. Six criteria for the recognition of archaeophytes are outlined, drawing upon evidence of fossil and recent history, current habitat and European and extra-European distribution. These are used to identify 157 probable archaeophytes in Britain. Only five of these are known from fossil records from the Neolithic; most are first recorded in archaeological contexts in the Late Bronze Age, Iron Age, Roman or Medieval periods. As a group, archaeophytes (unlike neophytes) have declined in Britain in the 20th century. Comparison of the accepted status of these species in the Czech Republic, Germany, Poland and Finland demonstrates that over 50% are treated as archaeophytes in central Europe, but in Finland many are absent or only present as casual introductions. Species regarded as archaeophytes in these countries but as natives in Britain are also reviewed. The indirect nature of the evidence used to identify archaeophytes means that it is usually impossible to be certain about the history of a species; in particular, archaeophytes which have successfully invaded semi-natural habitats are likely to be overlooked as natives. The suggestion that a species is an archaeophyte is best regarded as a hypothesis to be tested by further studies. There is considerable scope for archaeological investigations aimed at addressing these botanical problems.  © 2004 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society , 2004, 145 , 257−294.     

The Arrival of Siberian Ancestry Connecting the Eastern Baltic to Uralic Speakers further East

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The genomic history of the Aegean palatial civilizations

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Environmental impact of neolithic and bronze age farming in the eastern Pyrenees forelands, based on multidisciplinary investigations at La Caune de Bélesta (Bélesta Cave), near Perpignan, France

Results of multidisciplinary studies, involving anthracology, archaeology and geoarchaeology, that have been carried out on Neolithic to Bronze Age deposits from Bélesta Cave, eastern Pyrenees, are reported. These show that the type of human activity, i.e. pastoralism alone or a more diversified farming economy, and continuity/discontinuity of occupation are the main factors that determine the structure and evolution of the Holocene vegetation in the region. Neolithic pastoral activities were not continuous and so did not have an enduring influence on the natural environment. The more continuous and diversified exploitation associated with Bronze Age cultures was responsible for the development and maintenance of the low garrigues.