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This paper presents an bioarchaeological case study from Shirakavan. The skeletal remains belong to a male aged 40-45 years of age at death, with a stature above the average (177 cm). The presence of a horse skeleton in the discussed burial suggests that the human skeleton may have belonged to a horse rider. At the proximal end of the femur, there are some enthesopathies previously noted as common in horse riders. Analyses revealed a variety of pathologies, allowing inferences about the lifestyle and well-being of individual from Late Iron Age. The male suffered two cranial fractures, in nasal bones and frontal bone. Accidental falls involving facial injury may have contributed to antemortem tooth loss. Fractures ribs in the individual may be the result of direct blows to the chest or/from falling off of a horse. The clavicle injury observed in the individual discussed here can also be caused by a fall. There is degenerative pitting of the body of the neck vertebras indicating disc damage. Several vertebrae were asymmetrical (scoliosis). Perhaps mastoiditis was the leading cause of death at the individual from Shirakavan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During recent excavations at a Late Iron Age cemetery in Shirakavan, Armenia, a fairly complete skeleton of a male individual buried together with a horse was found. Several bones exhibited signs of healed trauma, including a small blunt force lesion on the frontal bone, broken nose, fractured clavicle and two ribs as well as traumatic synostosis of tibia and fibula. There was also quite evident degenerative joint disease in the cervical and lumbar vertebrae as well as peculiar morphology of the proximal femora suggesting high load to this part of the body. This observed pattern of lesions suggests an active life and may be the consequence of habitual horse riding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An individual whose skeleton was exhumed from tomb No. 2 at the Beniamin site showed healed trauma to the right midface, damage to the left frontal, parietal, temporal and occipital bones. We report of presence of osseous bridge on the left side of atlas, connecting posterior part of superior articular process to the posterior arch of atlas. Sulcus vertebrae for third part of vertebral artery over superior aspect of posterior arch of atlas, converted into foramen. This is a retrogressive and morphological phenomenon considered as Kimmerle anomaly. Double foramen transversarium were detected bilaterally in 2 cervical vertebrae (C5, C6). The course of vertebral artery may be distorted under such conditions. Many studies have reported an association between above anomalies (foramen arcuale, foramen transversarium) and neurological symptoms such as vertigo and migraine et all. It can be argued that woman entered a sedentary lifestyle. Her cause of death is likely to be related to severe trauma to the occipital bone during a fall. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ancient DNA research in the past decade has revealed that European population structure changed dramatically in the prehistoric period (14,000-3000 years before present, YBP), reflecting the widespread introduction of Neolithic farmer and Bronze Age Steppe ancestries. However, little is known about how population structure changed from the historical period onward (3000 YBP - present). To address this, we collected whole genomes from 204 individuals from Europe and the Mediterranean, many of which are the first historical period genomes from their region (e.g. Armenia and France). We found that most regions show remarkable inter-individual heterogeneity. At least 7% of historical individuals carry ancestry uncommon in the region where they were sampled, some indicating cross-Mediterranean contacts. Despite this high level of mobility, overall population structure across western Eurasia is relatively stable through the historical period up to the present, mirroring geography. We show that, under standard population genetics models with local panmixia, the observed level of dispersal would lead to a collapse of population structure. Persistent population structure thus suggests a lower effective migration rate than indicated by the observed dispersal. We hypothesize that this phenomenon can be explained by extensive transient dispersal arising from drastically improved transportation networks and the Roman Empire's mobilization of people for trade, labor, and military. This work highlights the utility of ancient DNA in elucidating finer scale human population dynamics in recent history., Competing Interests: MA, CW, SS, VO, HM, JS, OC, BZ, EP, KÖ, LD, PG, DF, ML, TA, SA, PA, CB, ŽB, AB, LB, PB, EB, DB, FC, MC, DD, ID, KE, MF, AG, GG, FG, SG, ZH, RJ, KV, GJ, IK, KK, HK, AK, SK, MK, VK, MK, DK, FL, ML, SL, TL, TL, WL, AS, VM, YC, NM, IM, NM, BM, LN, MN, AN, CN, JN, AO, JP, LP, DP, KP, SP, MR, MS, AS, AS, TS, MT, IT, DT, JT, DV, TW, DW, MŽ, MF, MČ, MŠ, DB, MN, AC, RP, JP No competing interests declared, ZG Reviewing editor, eLife, MB Affiliated with Palisada Ltd. The author has no financial interests to declare, JB, DL Affiliated with Kaducej Ltd. The author has no financial interests to declare, RM Affiliated with Skupina STIK. The author has no financial interests to declare, (© 2024, Antonio, Weiß, Gao et al.)