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Interest in subsistence strategies practiced by the Kura-Araxes communities in Southern Caucasus and the highlands of the Near East has a long history, yet direct studies of paleodiet at the scale of the individual are few. We apply serial sampling of carbon and nitrogen isotopes in 17 teeth representing 11 comingled individuals at the Kura-Araxes early Bronze Age site Köhne Shahar (KSH) in northwestern Iran. Proteomic analyses of dental enamel show seven females and four males. Isotopic results indicate an agro-pastoral diet with little or no C4 millet. Individual isotopic biographies reveal a dietary life history that includes weaning between 1.5 and 3.7 years of age (average = 2.4 years), followed by a stable early childhood diet with little intra-individual variation through age 10 years. Isotopic shifts around 12–14 years of age suggest a change in diet that may correspond to marriage and the establishment of new household units focused more on plant foods. Gradual isotopic shifts between 14 and 20 years may represent such households developing livestock herds and increasing meat consumption. Stability in diet across this transition is consistent with village endogamy. Sex-linked differences in the age of weaning and childhood δ15N values hint at differences in learning and enculturation practices. Males and about half of females were weaned earlier but had access to greater amounts of meat, suggesting they were more involved in animal husbandry and/or production of animal products (e.g., cheese, yoghurt) outside the house. By contrast, the other half of females were weaned later in childhood, but ate significantly more plant foods, suggesting they were more involved in tending gardens and producing crafts and/or plant-based foods within the house, where they had greater access to breastmilk.

The enamel proteome includes a range of proteins that are well-preserved in archaeological settings but have so far received less study than those associated with sex-estimation of enamel. We look beyond sex-specific sequencing of amelogenin to investigate the potential of several serum proteins, including immunoglobulin gamma (IgG), the major immunoglobulin found in blood serum, and C-reactive protein (CRP), which is associated with inflammatory response, to provide insight into the health and stresses experienced by individuals in the past. We apply this approach to enamel samples from Mission-Period ancestral Ohlone interred at Asistencia San Pedro y San Pablo (CA-SMA-71/H; n = 11). For comparison, we also examine enamel from historic-period European-Americans interred in the City Cemetery in San Francisco (n = 12), and extracted third molars from present-day military cadets (n = 8). Results indicate that IgG is elevated among individuals at the asistencia relative to samples from present-day military cadets, and historic City Cemetery individuals (ANOVA with post-hoc Tukey Kramer tests, p < .02). Further, the inflammatory protein CRP, normally expressed at much lower levels than IgG, was present in 55% (6 of 11) of the asistencia samples, and in 17% (2 of 12) of the historic City Cemetery samples, but was not detected in enamel samples from present-day military cadets. While more studies are needed, we argue that the difference in IgG could reflect higher levels of chronic diseases such as tuberculosis among Ohlone living within the Mission system, and the presence of measurable amounts of CRP could relate to higher degrees of physical, social, and emotional stresses. To our knowledge, this is the first paleoproteomic study of immune proteins in tooth enamel. The ability to track immune responses during tooth formation could provide valuable and high-resolution information on ancient health and disease at the level of the individual over archaeological time-scales.

Small, disc-shaped shell beads are recorded as mortuary offerings in many Neolithic and Bronze Age burials in Southeast Asia. Yet the provenance of these artefacts is often obscure, as production processes involve the removal of diagnostic morphological features, negating taxonomic classification. Here, the authors report on the combined isotopic and morphological analysis of a subset of shell beads from the site of Ban Non Wat in north-east Thailand. In addition to identifying freshwater sources for nearly all the beads, the results suggest the presence of multiple shell production centres - each with access to distinct aqueous environments - and widespread exchange in the Bronze Age.

ObjectivesChimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) are patrilocal, with males remaining in their natal community and females dispersing when they reach sexual maturity. However, the details of female chimpanzee dispersal, such as their possible origin, are difficult to assess, even in habituated communities. This study investigates the utility of 87Sr/86Sr analysis for (1) assessing Sr baseline differences between chimpanzee territories and (2) identifying the status (immigrant or natal) of females of unknown origin within the territories of five neighboring communities in Taï National Park (Côte d'Ivoire).Materials and methodsTo create a local Sr isoscape for the Taï Chimpanzee Project (TCP) study area, we sampled environmental samples from TCP-established territories (n = 35). To assess dispersal patterns, 34 tooth enamel samples (one per individual) were selected from the Taï chimpanzee skeletal collection. 87Sr/86Sr analysis was performed on all 69 samples at the W.M. Keck Lab. The theoretical density and overlap of chimpanzee communities as well as generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) were used to test each question.Results87Sr/86Sr ratios for natal male chimpanzees ranged from 0.71662 to 0.72187, which is well within the corresponding environmental baseline range of 0.70774-0.73460. The local Sr isoscapes fit was estimated with the root-mean-square error value, which was 0.0048 (22% of the whole 87Sr/86Sr data range). GLMMs identified significant differences in 87Sr/86Sr ratios between natal and unknown North community origin groups, suggesting that after 1980, females of unknown origin could be immigrants to North community (n = 7, z-ratio = -4.08, p = 0.0001, power = 0.94).DiscussionThis study indicates that 87Sr/86This study indicates that 87Sr/86Sr analysis can successfully identify immigrant females in skeletal collections obtained from wild chimpanzee communities, enabling the tracking of female dispersal patterns historically. There are, however, significant limitations within the scope of this study, such as (1) the absence of reliable maps for the TCP study area, (2) limited capacity for environmental sampling, (3) small sample sizes, and (4) tooth formation in wild chimpanzees.

Fossils of large animals have long influenced social practices and ideologies in human societies, including the fantastic myths of giants, heroes, and gods in ancient Greece. It has been estimated that purposeful fossil collecting in Greece began in the Late Bronze Age. However, previous archaeological finds of fossils from mainland Greece were not well documented in secure contexts that dated this far back in time. Herein, we present a newly recognized fossilized astragalus bone recently found in the legacy collections of the archaeological site of Mycenae. It was originally recovered by excavations in the 1970s and recently reanalyzed at the Mycenae Museum. Our analysis explored the available evidence of the find location, the state of fossil preservation, and the species represented. The results suggest that a fossilized rhinoceros (Stephanorhinus) astragalus was collected in the past, possibly from afar. Evidence indicates it was brought to Mycenae, where it was deposited near an interesting array of artifacts in a basement storage area of the Southwest Quarter, sometime in the thirteenth century BCE. This find represents the earliest secure evidence of large animal fossil use by people in mainland Greece, dating to the Late Bronze Age.

Rock glaciers are common landforms in mountainous areas of the western US. The motion of active rock glaciers is a key indicator of ice content, offering connections to climate and hydrologic systems. Here, we quantified the movement of six rock glaciers in the La Sal and Uinta Mountains of Utah through repeat differential GPS surveying. Networks of 10–41 points on each rock glacier were surveyed in September 2021; July 2022; September 2022; and July 2023. We found that all features are moving with average annual rates of motion from 1.5 ± 0.8 to 18.5 ± 7.5 cm/yr. Rock glaciers move up to 3× faster in the summer than in the winter, and rates of motion were greater in 2023 after a winter with above-average snowfall, emphasizing the role of liquid water availability. Velocities of individual points in the winter of 2021–22 are positively correlated with velocities during the winter of 2022–23, suggesting that spatial variability of motion is not stochastic, but rather reflects internal properties of each rock glacier. Bottom temperature of snow measurements during winter, and the temperature of springs discharging water in summer, suggest that these rock glaciers contain modern permafrost. Radiocarbon data document advance of one rock glacier during the Little Ice Age. Our GPS dataset reveals complicated patterns of rock glacier movement, and the network of survey points we established will be a valuable baseline for detecting future cryosphere change in these mountains.

Apart from northern and central China, the fossil record of the latest Miocene and Early Pliocene of Asia is not well documented and the record of South China during this interval is especially poor. Shuitangba, a site in Yunnan Province, offers a rare window into the paleoenvironment of the latest Miocene in southwestern China. Over 2400 vertebrate and macrobotanical specimens have been recovered from the site. The faunal assemblage is dominated by aquatic avian taxa and many of the mammalian taxa are those that indicate densely vegetated, water-margin habitats. Pollen and carpological remains indicate a temperate to subtropical, broad-leaved/coniferous forest around standing water, with more open areas containing grasses and herbs. Analyses of clay minerals, chemical weathering, and enamel stable isotopes suggest that Shuitangba was warmer and more humid than today, possibly with more pronounced seasonality. Results of community structure analysis indicate that the Shuitangba mammalian community was different from those of other Late Miocene Chinese sites in the high proportions of aquatic-dependent mammalian taxa. While Shuitangba shared mammalian faunal elements with other Late Miocene sites in Yunnan, it was still faunally distinct. Further, Shuitangba was depauperate in its mammalian fauna, which may have been a result of the depositional setting rather than a true reflection of regional faunal diversity.

The Holocene (beginning around 12,000 years ago) encompassed some of the most significant changes in human evolution, with far-reaching consequences for the dietary, physical and mental health of present-day populations. Using a dataset of more than 1,600 imputed ancient genomes1, we modelled the selection landscape during the transition from hunting and gathering, to farming and pastoralism across West Eurasia. We identify key selection signals related to metabolism, including that selection at the FADS cluster began earlier than previously reported and that selection near the LCT locus predates the emergence of the lactase persistence allele by thousands of years. We also find strong selection in the HLA region, possibly due to increased exposure to pathogens during the Bronze Age. Using ancient individuals to infer local ancestry tracts in over 400,000 samples from the UK Biobank, we identify widespread differences in the distribution of Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age ancestries across Eurasia. By calculating ancestry-specific polygenic risk scores, we show that height differences between Northern and Southern Europe are associated with differential Steppe ancestry, rather than selection, and that risk alleles for mood-related phenotypes are enriched for Neolithic farmer ancestry, whereas risk alleles for diabetes and Alzheimer's disease are enriched for Western hunter-gatherer ancestry. Our results indicate that ancient selection and migration were large contributors to the distribution of phenotypic diversity in present-day Europeans.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neuro-inflammatory and neurodegenerative disease that is most prevalent in Northern Europe. Although it is known that inherited risk for MS is located within or in close proximity to immune-related genes, it is unknown when, where and how this genetic risk originated1. Here, by using a large ancient genome dataset from the Mesolithic period to the Bronze Age2, along with new Medieval and post-Medieval genomes, we show that the genetic risk for MS rose among pastoralists from the Pontic steppe and was brought into Europe by the Yamnaya-related migration approximately 5,000 years ago. We further show that these MS-associated immunogenetic variants underwent positive selection both within the steppe population and later in Europe, probably driven by pathogenic challenges coinciding with changes in diet, lifestyle and population density. This study highlights the critical importance of the Neolithic period and Bronze Age as determinants of modern immune responses and their subsequent effect on the risk of developing MS in a changing environment.

Major migration events in Holocene Eurasia have been characterized genetically at broad regional scales1-4. However, insights into the population dynamics in the contact zones are hampered by a lack of ancient genomic data sampled at high spatiotemporal resolution5-7. Here, to address this, we analysed shotgun-sequenced genomes from 100 skeletons spanning 7,300 years of the Mesolithic period, Neolithic period and Early Bronze Age in Denmark and integrated these with proxies for diet (13C and 15N content), mobility (87Sr/86Sr ratio) and vegetation cover (pollen). We observe that Danish Mesolithic individuals of the Maglemose, Kongemose and Ertebølle cultures form a distinct genetic cluster related to other Western European hunter-gatherers. Despite shifts in material culture they displayed genetic homogeneity from around 10,500 to 5,900 calibrated years before present, when Neolithic farmers with Anatolian-derived ancestry arrived. Although the Neolithic transition was delayed by more than a millennium relative to Central Europe, it was very abrupt and resulted in a population turnover with limited genetic contribution from local hunter-gatherers. The succeeding Neolithic population, associated with the Funnel Beaker culture, persisted for only about 1,000 years before immigrants with eastern Steppe-derived ancestry arrived. This second and equally rapid population replacement gave rise to the Single Grave culture with an ancestry profile more similar to present-day Danes. In our multiproxy dataset, these major demographic events are manifested as parallel shifts in genotype, phenotype, diet and land use.

Now extinct, Thicktail chub (Gila crassicauda) was endemic to central California and was a key component of local fisheries before the 1800s. Little is known about their biology, behavior, ecology, or role in precontact Native American fisheries. Archaeological sites contain large numbers of thicktail chub bones and represent a key source of data to fill our considerable gap in knowledge. We developed regression equations to convert thicktail chub skeletal elements to estimates of standard length (SL). Bones from two contemporaneous precontact Late Period (ca 700 -200 cal BP) sites, CA-CCO-138, and CA-CCO-647, in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, show that precontact thicktail chub achieved a maximum standard length (SL) of 306 mm. Bone size distributions suggest spearing was the most likely capture technique, likely during a spring-summer nearshore fishery. The results contribute vital information to thicktail chub historical ecology and their key role in precontact Indigenous fisheries.

Historical and ethnographic sources depict use of portable braced shaft weapons, or pikes, in megafauna hunting and defense during Late Holocene millennia in North and South America, Africa, Eurasia and Southeast Asia. Given the predominance of megafauna in Late Pleistocene North America during the centuries when Clovis points appeared and spread across much of the continent (13,050-12,650 cal BP), braced weapons may have been used in hunting of megaherbivores and defense against megacarnivores. Drawing from historical examples of pike use against lions, jaguars, boars, grizzlies, carabao and warhorses we consider the possibility of a fluted lithic pike. Associated osseous rods have been problematic as Clovis foreshafts due to the bevel angle and the apparent weakness of the splint haft when great strength is needed for deep penetration in megafauna hunting. However our review of Late Holocene pike use in megafauna encounters indicates the sharp tip becomes less important after hide or armor has been pierced because compression is sustained. Thus, foreshaft collapse after hide entry may not limit but rather increase the efficacy of the braced weapon. We conduct preliminary static experiments to model a fluted pike that adjusts during compression such that haft collapse and point detachment (when point jams on impact with bone) preserve the fluted biface, beveled rod and wooden mainshaft tip. In addition to Clovis point attributes and association with osseous rods, potential archaeological correlates of Clovis pike use include the high frequency of Clovis point isolates and concentrations of complete points with unbutchered mammoth remains at sites such as Naco in Arizona.

The phenomenon of lithic miniaturization during the Late Pleistocene at times coincided with increased artifact standardization and cutting edge efficiency-likely reflecting the use of small, sharp artifacts as interchangeable inserts for composite cutting tools and hunting weapons. During Marine Isotope Stage 2, Upper Paleolithic toolmakers in northern East Asia specifically used pressure techniques to make small, highly standardized lithic artifacts called microblades. However, little is currently known about how microblades affected the cutting edge efficiency of the toolkits they were a part of. We applied three methods of analyzing cutting edge efficiency to two Upper Paleolithic assemblages recently excavated from Tolbor-17, Mongolia, that document the periods before and after the introduction of microblade technology to the Tolbor Valley. A model incorporating allometric relationships between blank cutting edge length and mass suggests no difference in efficiency between the two periods, while two more conventional approaches both indicate a significant increase. The potential for improved cutting edge efficiency is only observed when the microblade sample is artificially inflated via simulation. Our results highlight challenges related to detecting and interpreting archaeological differences in cutting edge efficiency at the assemblage level.

The long-standing assumption that aboveground plant litter inputs have a substantial influence on soil organic carbon storage (SOC) and dynamics has been challenged by a new paradigm for SOC formation and persistence. We tested the importance of plant litter chemistry on SOC storage, distribution, composition, and age by comparing two highly contrasting ecosystems: an old-growth coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) forest, with highly aromatic litter, and an adjacent coastal prairie, with more easily decomposed litter. We hypothesized that if plant litter chemistry was the primary driver, redwood would store more and older SOC that was less microbially processed than prairie. Total soil carbon stocks to 110 cm depth were higher in prairie (35 kg C m-2) than redwood (28 kg C m-2). Radiocarbon values indicated shorter SOC residence times in redwood than prairie throughout the profile. Higher amounts of pyrogenic carbon and a higher degree of microbial processing of SOC appear to be instrumental for soil carbon storage and persistence in prairie, while differences in fine-root carbon inputs likely contribute to younger SOC in redwood. We conclude that at these sites fire residues, root inputs, and soil properties influence soil carbon dynamics to a greater degree than the properties of aboveground litter.

Abstract: Dental data can reveal evidence for a past population's oral health, nutrition, and certain cultural activities. This study aims to explore oral health and dental attrition during the late Bronze Age in order to explore health outcomes in different subgroups as well as aspects of foodways and changes in subsistence strategies during the second millennium BCE in northwest China. To do this, the skeletal remains of adult individuals associated with the Siwa material culture (1400–1100 BC) from the Mogou site (n = 28) were macroscopically assessed and compared with previously published data derived from a subsample of individuals associated with Qijia period material culture complex (1750–1400 BC) from the same site. The results show that the Siwa‐period population experienced a high frequency of carious lesions and antemortem tooth loss associated with advanced attrition (of both molars and nonmolar teeth), which did not vary significantly by sex. Females had a higher prevalence of carious lesions and antemortem tooth loss than did males, while males had a higher prevalence of dental calculus. These male/female health outcomes are also attested during the earlier Qijia period at the Mogou site. The Siwa period differs from the Qijia in that females experienced slightly worse attrition than their predecessors. Overall, oral health does not diverge significantly between the Qijia and Siwa periods, suggesting that the factors that contributed to oral health including dietary practices may have persisted diachronically for individuals buried at this site.

The natural environment of the Gansu-Qinghai region in northwest China exhibits spatial variation, resulting in distinct adaptive strategies among populations in different geographical areas. In this study, we analyzed the diachronic trend and regional variations in caries prevalence among 10 different middle and late-Holocene groups by examining dental caries data to explore the correlation between different adaptation strategies and caries frequency. Frequency data was used to compare dental caries between populations, and the Chi-square test was employed to detect statistical differences. A multidisciplinary approach was employed to investigate the relationship between these changes and the adaptive strategies adopted by the populations in this region. The result shows that there was a gradual increase in caries prevalence over time in eastern Gansu, which corresponded with development of millet farming and social hierarchy. In the Hexi Corridor, caries prevalence exhibited fluctuations attributable to climate variability, human migration, and regime change. The research proposes that changes in adaptive strategies due to various social and environmental factors are reflected in human teeth, while also presenting a novel endeavor of aggregating a large, multisite bioarchaeological dataset in order to investigate the interactions between Holocene populations and palaeoenvironments in northwest China.

Data from the marriage of paleomagnetism and archaeology (archaeomagnetism) are the backbone of attempts to create geomagnetic field models for ancient times. Paleointensity experimental design has been the focus of intensive efforts and the requirements and shortcomings are increasingly well understood. Some archaeological materials have excellent age control from inscriptions, which can be tied to a given decade or even a specific year in some cases. In this study, we analyzed fired mud bricks used for the construction of the Ishtar Gate, the entrance complex to the ancient city of Babylon in Southern Mesopotamia. We were able to extract reliable intensity data from all three phases of the gate, the earliest of which includes bricks inscribed with the name of King Nebuchadnezzar II (605 to 562 BCE). These results (1) add high quality intensity data to a region relatively unexplored so far (Southern Mesopotamia), (2) contribute to a better understanding of paleosecular variation in this region, and the development of an archaeomagnetic dating reference for one of the key regions in the history of human civilizations; (3) demonstrate the potential of inscribed bricks (glazed and unglazed), a common material in ancient Mesopotamia, to archaeomagnetic studies; and (4) suggest that the gate complex was constructed some time after the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem, and that there were no substantial chronological gaps in the construction of each consecutive phase. The best fit of our data (averaging 136±2.1 ZAm2) with those of the reference curve (the Levantine Archaeomagnetic Curve) is 569 BCE.

This study presents 32 high-resolution geomagnetic intensity data points from Mesopotamia, spanning the 3rd to the 1st millennia BCE. These data contribute to rectifying geographic disparities in the resolution of the global archaeointensity curve that have hampered our understanding of geomagnetic field dynamics and the viability of applying archaeomagnetism as a method of absolute dating of archaeological objects. A lack of precise and well-dated intensity data in the region has also limited our ability to identify short-term fluctuations in the geomagnetic field, such as the Levantine Iron Age geomagnetic Anomaly (LIAA), a period of high field intensity from ca. 1050 to 550 BCE. This phenomenon has hitherto not been well-demonstrated in Mesopotamia, contrary to predictions from regional geomagnetic models. To address these issues, this study presents precise archaeomagnetic results from 32 inscribed baked bricks, tightly dated to the reigns of 12 Mesopotamian kings through interpretation of their inscriptions. Results confirm the presence of the high field values of the LIAA in Mesopotamia during the first millennium BCE and drastically increase the resolution of the archaeointensity curve for the 3rd-1st millennia BCE. This research establishes a baseline for the use of archaeomagnetic analysis as an absolute dating technique for archaeological materials from Mesopotamia.

Archaeological data recovered from Wikalokal, a site in southeast San Diego County, is combined with Kumeyaay ethnohistoric data to investigate native subsistence stress adaptation. Archaeological data provide evidence for late-prehistoric foraging practice shifts toward greater emphasis on gathering and less emphasis on large-game hunting and an associated increase in storage. Ethnohistoric data suggest extensive residential mobility and kin-based resource sharing over a broad range of ecological zones.

"Se acabó la guerra en Colombia". Era una tarde de agosto de 2016. Estaba pasando el rato con amigos en las afueras de Cali cuando el presidente Juan Manuel Santos anunció en la televisión, el final del conflicto armado de más de cincuenta años con las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC). Después de años de conversaciones, respaldadas por los gobiernos noruego y cubano, los diálogos del acuerdo de paz estaban llegando a su fin. Yo había planeado visitar a mi amiga en el otro lado de la ciudad para acompañar la locución televisiva del anuncio presidencial, y para "celebrar" el evento histórico con su familia. En un marcado contraste con mi ingenuo entusiasmo, doña Teresa, una caleña blanca-mestiza de unos cincuenta años, me dijo que......

Abstract: Skeletal fluorosis is a systemic chronic disease caused by long‐term intake of excessive fluoride, which accumulates in bone tissue and causes changes to the bone and periosteal tissue. Skeletal fluorosis is rarely considered in paleopathological analyses, but in areas with relatively high fluoride in the environment, it may be an important cause of bone hyperplasia. In this study, we observed pathological lesions consistent with fluorosis on two human skeletons from the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644 CE) excavated from a cemetery in western Henan Province. By using an electron microprobe to measure the fluoride content in the teeth, and by considering the living conditions in the area during the Ming Dynasty, we conclude that the remains show evidence of skeletal fluorosis. We also consider the content of fluoride in the local groundwater, the local way of life, and other factors, to identify potential causes of skeletal fluorosis in this population and demonstrate that environmental factors were the main cause. This offers insight into the relationship between humans and their environments in China, especially western Henan Province, in the historical past. It also demonstrates the unique contributions bioarchaeology can make to environmental health studies and studies of the history of health.

PURPOSE: Herein lies a brief historical review of the practice of artificial cranial deformation (ACD) in Tiwanaku, Bolivia, a pre-Columbian archeological ruin once regarded as one of the most powerful pre-Inca regions whose influence extended into present-day Peru and Chile from 600 to 1000 AD. We describe the history, purpose, and implications of ACD from both a neuroanatomical and cultural perspective. METHODS: A literature review was conducted through PubMed on the history of artificial cranial deformation in South America, concentrating on the Tiwanaku region. The authors searched all available data with no specific time reference, using the mentioned keywords: ACD, neuroanatomical implications of ACD, cultural and social functions of ACD, Tiwanaku society, and Andean civilization. RESULTS: Early Andean civilization was hierarchical and stratified. In Tiwanaku, the practice of ACD served to delineate ones social class, caste, lineage, and vocation. This was especially useful for warriors, who distinguished their fellow combatants from insurgents by differences in their cranial structure. ACD was usually conducted within the first few months of an infants life before morphogenetic features became permanent. Two popular cranial styles-tabular and annular-were achieved by applying various mechanical apparatus and resulted in several cranial shapes (conical, box-like, flattened, etc.). Neuroanatomically, each deformation technique and the duration for which mechanical stress was applied influenced the solidification of cranial bones and shaped the frontal, occipital, parietal, and temporal bones differently. Cognitive deficits and plagiocephalic defects were recorded in limitation and may have been overlooked as the eras occupational demands were more labor-intensive than knowledge-driven. CONCLUSION: In Tiwanaku, the custom of ACD was used to demonstrate group identity, with alterations of the cranial shape corresponding to a particular headdress. ACD was used to distinguish an individuals social identity, separating different groups of society into castes, classes, and slaves (Brain, 1979). The custom has also been used to mark territory and emphasize ethnic differences among groups, with potential cognitive implications that were largely unrecorded.

Among mammals, post-reproductive life spans are currently documented only in humans and a few species of toothed whales. Here we show that a post-reproductive life span exists among wild chimpanzees in the Ngogo community of Kibale National Park, Uganda. Post-reproductive representation was 0.195, indicating that a female who reached adulthood could expect to live about one-fifth of her adult life in a post-reproductive state, around half as long as human hunter-gatherers. Post-reproductive females exhibited hormonal signatures of menopause, including sharply increasing gonadotropins after age 50. We discuss whether post-reproductive life spans in wild chimpanzees occur only rarely, as a short-term response to favorable ecological conditions, or instead are an evolved species-typical trait as well as the implications of these alternatives for our understanding of the evolution of post-reproductive life spans.

Thick successions of middle and late Cenozoic sedimentary rocks occur in the Linxia Basin of China. These deposits comprise an archive recording spatiotemporal patterns of mountain uplift, erosion, basin deformation, and associated changes in the monsoon, as a result of the growth of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau. The Linxia Basin is also world famous for its abundant and diverse vertebrate fossils that shed light on Cenozoic terrestrial ecosystem evolution; however, previous studies of these important fossils have been beset by issues related to commercial excavation and associated difficulties in ascertaining provenance, with many specimens in private collections. Despite years of intensive studies by geologists from Lanzhou University and vertebrate paleontologists from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), aspects of basin stratigraphy and chronology still remain controversial. The heart of these controversies often revolves around questions of imprecise fossil provenance and related casual references of fossils as age tie-points, different interpretations of lithostratigraphic units at different localities across the basin, and ultimately different age determinations. In this special issue, entitled Biostratigraphy, Chronostratigraphy and Vertebrate Paleontology of the Linxia Basin, we report the findings of an IVPP project, funded by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which addresses these controversies, proposes a new age model for basin, and develops understanding of the fossil assemblages. In this introduction to the special issue, we review the tectonic context for basin evolution and chronology as well as lithostratigraphy, paleoenvironments and climates. While issues of provenance remain challenging and will continue to burden Chinese vertebrate paleontologists into the future, our findings shed new light on the vertebrate paleontology of the Linxia Basin, and unique circumstances in which it developed.

SLC22A10 is classified as an orphan transporter with unknown substrates and function. Here we describe the discovery of the substrate specificity and functional characteristics of SLC22A10. The human SLC22A10 tagged with green fluorescent protein was found to be absent from the plasma membrane, in contrast to the SLC22A10 orthologs found in great apes. Estradiol-17β-glucuronide accumulated in cells expressing great ape SLC22A10 orthologs (over 4-fold, p

ObjectivesThe mortuary record at Middle Period site Kalawwasa Rummeytak (CA-SCL-134) (2600-1225 cal BP) in California's southern Santa Clara Valley shows pronounced wealth inequality; Olivella shell bead wealth, as well as other grave goods, are concentrated in the burials of several older adult females. The concentration of wealth among women, along with regional strontium isotopic evidence of male-biased residential shifts in early adulthood, suggests a matrilineal kinship system that practiced matrilocal post-marital residence patterns. We suggest local resource enhancement effects incentivized keeping women in their natal communities and investing more in female offspring.Materials and methodsWith the consent of, and in collaboration with, the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area, this paper employs isotopic analysis (δ15 N and δ13 C, 86 Sr/87 Sr) to examine duration of exclusive breastfeeding, weaning age (complete cessation of breastmilk consumption), early childhood diet, and lifetime residential mobility of individuals interred at Kalawwasa Rummeytak to test the assumption that the site inhabitants favored matrilocality and that female offspring received greater levels of investment in groups with female wealth/status attainment. First molars, third molars, and bone was sampled from 22 individuals.ResultsThe average weaning age for females at Kalawwasa Rummeytak is 36.3 months ± 9.7 (1 SD), or just over 3 years. The average weaning age for males is 31.2 ± 7.9 months (1 SD), or about 2.6 years. Infants at the site were provisioned with supplemental foods dominated by C3 plants and terrestrial herbivores, as well as anadromous fish. After weaning, individuals consumed a diet dominated by acorns, C3 plants, and terrestrial herbivores, with periodic inclusion of anadromous fish. 30% of the sampled population of females exhibit local first molar 87 Sr/86 Sr values, suggesting that Kalawwasa Rummeytak is their natal community. None of the males interred at the site are locals.DiscussionDespite the small sample size often unavoidable in archaeological contexts, we find possible female-biased parental investment strategies. Cessation of breastfeeding (weaning) was, on average, 5 months earlier for males compared to females. There are no differences between females and males in the consumption of supplemental or post-weaning foods. Strontium data suggest a flexible postmarital residence system that favored matrilocality. This may have incentivized greater investment in female offspring.

Genetic data contain a record of our evolutionary history. The availability of large-scale datasets of human populations from various geographic areas and timescales, coupled with advances in the computational methods to analyze these data, has transformed our ability to use genetic data to learn about our evolutionary past. Here, we review some of the widely used statistical methods to explore and characterize population relationships and history using genomic data. We describe the intuition behind commonly used approaches, their interpretation, and important limitations. For illustration, we apply some of these techniques to genome-wide autosomal data from 929 individuals representing 53 worldwide populations that are part of the Human Genome Diversity Project. Finally, we discuss the new frontiers in genomic methods to learn about population history. In sum, this review highlights the power (and limitations) of DNA to infer features of human evolutionary history, complementing the knowledge gleaned from other disciplines, such as archaeology, anthropology, and linguistics.

Structural variants (SVs)-including duplications, deletions, and inversions of DNA-can have significant genomic and functional impacts but are technically difficult to identify and assay compared with single-nucleotide variants. With the aid of new genomic technologies, it has become clear that SVs account for significant differences across and within species. This phenomenon is particularly well-documented for humans and other primates due to the wealth of sequence data available. In great apes, SVs affect a larger number of nucleotides than single-nucleotide variants, with many identified SVs exhibiting population and species specificity. In this review, we highlight the importance of SVs in human evolution by (1) how they have shaped great ape genomes resulting in sensitized regions associated with traits and diseases, (2) their impact on gene functions and regulation, which subsequently has played a role in natural selection, and (3) the role of gene duplications in human brain evolution. We further discuss how to incorporate SVs in research, including the strengths and limitations of various genomic approaches. Finally, we propose future considerations in integrating existing data and biospecimens with the ever-expanding SV compendium propelled by biotechnology advancements.

A burial dating to the 1st century BCE was found in 1999 in the Isles of Scilly, south-west England. As well as being the most richly furnished burial in the region, it has grave goods considered to have oppositional gender associations: martial items (sword, shield) plus a bronze mirror. The inability to determine sex from the poorly surviving skeletal remains, using morphological or the available genomic methods at the time of its discovery, has been recognised as a key difficulty in the interpretation of this significant burial for Iron Age studies. Here, we apply high throughput DNA sequencing and analysis of dental enamel peptides to the highly degraded human remains in efforts to determine sex. The former effectively showed that no useable aDNA survived in the remains; the latter identified the sex as female with ca. 96% probability. This demonstrates the value of dental enamel peptide analysis for establishing the sex of ancient remains in circumstances where survival of skeletal remains is marginal and when diagenesis has effectively eliminated aDNA. Understanding symbolism in ancient burial rites, and hence making inferences concerning the social identities of the deceased is very difficult. These difficulties are not resolvable by biomolecular analyses. However, the sex identified from the proteomic work adds to the reconstruction of the biological identity of the interred individual, and helps to provide a firmer basis upon which debates concerning her social identity can be conducted. We discuss the funerary treatment of the interred individual in terms of her possible social persona, especially the meaning of the martial items for her potential role in Iron Age warfare.

When evolution leads to differences in body size, organs generally scale along. A well-known example of the tight relationship between organ and body size is the scaling of mammalian molar teeth. To investigate how teeth scale during development and evolution, we compared molar development from initiation through final size in the mouse and the rat. Whereas the linear dimensions of the rat molars are twice that of the mouse molars, their shapes are largely the same. Here, we focus on the first lower molars that are considered the most reliable dental proxy for size-related patterns due to their low within-species variability. We found that scaling of the molars starts early, and that the rat molar is patterned equally as fast but in a larger size than the mouse molar. Using transcriptomics, we discovered that a known regulator of body size, insulin-like growth factor 1 (Igf1), is more highly expressed in the rat molars compared to the mouse molars. Ex vivo and in vivo mouse models demonstrated that modulation of the IGF pathway reproduces several aspects of the observed scaling process. Furthermore, analysis of IGF1-treated mouse molars and computational modeling indicate that IGF signaling scales teeth by simultaneously enhancing growth and by inhibiting the cusp-patterning program, thereby providing a relatively simple mechanism for scaling teeth during development and evolution. Finally, comparative data from shrews to elephants suggest that this scaling mechanism regulates the minimum tooth size possible, as well as the patterning potential of large teeth.

In the Shanshenmiaozui (SSMZ) fauna from Nihewan Basin, Canis chihliensis, Nyctereutes sp., Homotherium sp., Acinonyx sp., Lynx shansius and Pachycrocuta licenti have been identified. C. chihliensis is the dominant and best represented species whose fossil materials include crania, mandibles and postcranials, including nearly complete manus and pes. The giant cheetah Acinonyx sp. is only represented by postcranial skeletons (scapula, radius, proximal ulna and an almost complete manus), which represent the richest collection for its kind ever known in China. Nyctereutes sp. is only represented by a partial cranium and distal part of a humerus. Homotherium sp. is only represented by a partial lower m1. Lynx shansius is represented by a nearly complete mandible with p3 and m1 preserved in situ. The fossil materials of Pachycrocuta licenti include a juvenile mandible with dp2–4 and m1 attached, an isolated dp4 and a partial ascending ramus. The SSMZ carnivoran guild resembles those of the classic Nihewan fauna (CNF) and the Dmanisi fauna, which means they probably have a similar geologic age or slightly younger of the SSMZ fauna; and they also share the same open grassland/shrubland habitat. The postcranial bones of C. chihliensis and Acinonyx sp. from SSMZ represent the first records for their kinds in China.

Figurative depictions in art first occur ca. 50,000 years ago in Europe, Africa, and Southeast Asia. Considered by most as an advanced form of symbolic behavior, they are restricted to our species. Here, we report a piece of ornament interpreted as a phallus-like representation. It was found in a 42,000 ca.-year-old Upper Paleolithic archaeological layer at the open-air archaeological site of Tolbor-21, in Mongolia. Mineralogical, microscopic, and rugosimetric analyses points toward the allochthonous origin of the pendant and a complex functional history. Three-dimensional phallic pendants are unknown in the Paleolithic record, and this discovery predates the earliest known sexed anthropomorphic representation. It attests that hunter-gatherer communities used sex anatomical attributes as symbols at a very early stage of their dispersal in the region. The pendant was produced during a period that overlaps with age estimates for early introgression events between Homo sapiens and Denisovans, and in a region where such encounters are plausible.

In the hyper-arid core of the Atacama Desert in northern Chile dozens of Terminal Pleistocene archaeological sites  been identified in an area that previously held seasonal surface water channels, riparian vegetation, and a wetland landscape. These sites shed light on the early peopling of western South America because the onset of hyper-aridity during the early Holocene resulted in severe decline in habitat for most plant and animal life, including humans. The extreme aridity also allowed for the preservation of horse, ground sloth, camelid, rodent, and bird remains that might correspond to different time frames but are being exposed by wind erosion along with other fossilized botanical remains.As sand dunes are actively covering and uncovering the surface, in 2018  we carried out geophysical research at Quebrada Mani where some of these archaeological and paleontological features have been exposed and dated to between 12.5 to 11.2k cal BP. In this poster we assess some of the challenges in interpreting the past aeolian landscape using geophysical (GPR and gradiometer) and geomorphic methods to assess site and landscape dynamics including the potential preservation of certain features.

This poster, presented at the 2023 Annual Meeting of the Society for California Archaeology, describes the first season of the UC Berkeley Archaeological Research Facility Field School. The 2022 ARF Field School recruited students from a broad range of backgrounds and several nearby colleges with the goal of increasing the discipline’s diversity with 10 new archaeological technicians and graduate students.

This paper identifies time calibration points for accurately rooting and dating the phylogeny of Arawakan, the largest Indigenous linguistic family of the Americas. We present and model a methodology for extracting calibration points from the archaeological record, based on principles of geographical overlap between archaeological sites and Arawakan peoples, and on continuity in material culture between archaeological finds and modern Arawakan practices. Based on a consensus model of the expansion of the Arawakan family from Central Amazonia, we focus on archaeological finds in Arawakan expansion zones, where Arawakan material culture abruptly appears in a given region, and where only a single major Arawakan subgroup/clade is present. We find 12 calibration points from archaeological sites in Arawakan expansion zones and also identify more recent calibration points from the historical record based on first mentions of ethnonyms and early sources of lexical data.

Evidence for a reduction in stature between Mesolithic foragers and Neolithic farmers has been interpreted as reflective of declines in health, however, our current understanding of this trend fails to account for the complexity of cultural and dietary transitions or the possible causes of phenotypic change. The agricultural transition was extended in primary centers of domestication and abrupt in regions characterized by demic diffusion. In regions such as Northern Europe where foreign domesticates were difficult to establish, there is strong evidence for natural selection for lactase persistence in relation to dairying. We employ broad-scale analyses of diachronic variation in stature and body mass in the Levant, Europe, the Nile Valley, South Asia, and China, to test three hypotheses about the timing of subsistence shifts and human body size, that: 1) the adoption of agriculture led to a decrease in stature, 2) there were different trajectories in regions of in situ domestication or cultural diffusion of agriculture; and 3) increases in stature and body mass are observed in regions with evidence for selection for lactase persistence. Our results demonstrate that 1) decreases in stature preceded the origins of agriculture in some regions; 2) the Levant and China, regions of in situ domestication of species and an extended period of mixed foraging and agricultural subsistence, had stable stature and body mass over time; and 3) stature and body mass increases in Central and Northern Europe coincide with the timing of selective sweeps for lactase persistence, providing support for the "Lactase Growth Hypothesis."

Climate change is an indisputable threat to human health, especially for societies already confronted with rising social inequality, political and economic uncertainty, and a cascade of concurrent environmental challenges. Archaeological data about past climate and environment provide an important source of evidence about the potential challenges humans face and the long-term outcomes of alternative short-term adaptive strategies. Evidence from well-dated archaeological human skeletons and mummified remains speaks directly to patterns of human health over time through changing circumstances. Here, we describe variation in human epidemiological patterns in the context of past rapid climate change (RCC) events and other periods of past environmental change. Case studies confirm that human communities responded to environmental changes in diverse ways depending on historical, sociocultural, and biological contingencies. Certain factors, such as social inequality and disproportionate access to resources in large, complex societies may influence the probability of major sociopolitical disruptions and reorganizations-commonly known as "collapse." This survey of Holocene human-environmental relations demonstrates how flexibility, variation, and maintenance of Indigenous knowledge can be mitigating factors in the face of environmental challenges. Although contemporary climate change is more rapid and of greater magnitude than the RCC events and other environmental changes we discuss here, these lessons from the past provide clarity about potential priorities for equitable, sustainable development and the constraints of modernity we must address.

Did Beringian environments represent an ecological barrier to humans until less than 15 000 years ago or was access to the Americas controlled by the spatial-temporal distribution of North American ice sheets? Beringian environments varied with respect to climate and biota, especially in the two major areas of exposed continental shelf. The East Siberian Arctic Shelf ('Great Arctic Plain' (GAP)) supported a dry steppe-tundra biome inhabited by a diverse large-mammal community, while the southern Bering-Chukchi Platform ('Bering Land Bridge' (BLB)) supported mesic tundra and probably a lower large-mammal biomass. A human population with west Eurasian roots occupied the GAP before the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and may have accessed mid-latitude North America via an interior ice-free corridor. Re-opening of the corridor less than 14 000 years ago indicates that the primary ancestors of living First Peoples, who already had spread widely in the Americas at this time, probably dispersed from the NW Pacific coast. A genetic 'arctic signal' in non-arctic First Peoples suggests that their parent population inhabited the GAP during the LGM, before their split from the former. We infer a shift from GAP terrestrial to a subarctic maritime economy on the southern BLB coast before dispersal in the Americas from the NW Pacific coast.

Pottery recovered from 2012 to 2019 at Nim li Punit, Toledo District, demonstrates that it was occupied from AD 150/250 to AD 830+. We identify long-term changes in the kinds of material produced, used, and discarded over the 600- to 700-year occupation of the site. During the last century of the Classic period, Nim li Punit witnessed a decline in the diversity of ceramic practice. This could reflect a shift in feasting behavior, perhaps due to the political and demographic instability experienced throughout Maya lowlands during the eighth century. Alternatively, this could be the result of new networks of alliance and exchange that arose during this turbulent time. A third possibility is that distinct communities of potters occupied Nim li Punit at different times. To test these different interpretations, we track changes in the ceramic collection at the type: variety level. We discuss similarities and differences seen in the pottery of Nim li Punit and that of other political centers of the Southern Belize Region, and note design and style elements that are shared with other parts of the Maya world.