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ABSTRACT Objectives The island cemetery site of Ostorf (Germany) consists of individual human graves containing Funnel Beaker ceramics dating to the Early or Middle Neolithic. However, previous isotope and radiocarbon analysis demonstrated that the Ostorf individuals had a diet rich in freshwater fish. The present study was undertaken to quantitatively reconstruct the diet of the Ostorf population and establish if dietary habits are consistent with the traditional characterization of a Neolithic diet. Methods Quantitative diet reconstruction was achieved through a novel approach consisting of the use of the Bayesian mixing model Food Reconstruction Using Isotopic Transferred Signals (FRUITS) to model isotope measurements from multiple dietary proxies (δ13Ccollagen, δ15Ncollagen, δ13Cbioapatite, δ34Smethione, 14Ccollagen). The accuracy of model estimates was verified by comparing the agreement between observed and estimated human dietary radiocarbon reservoir effects. Results Quantitative diet reconstruction estimates confirm that the Ostorf individuals had a high protein intake due to the consumption of fish and terrestrial animal products. However, FRUITS estimates also show that plant foods represented a significant source of calories. Observed and estimated human dietary radiocarbon reservoir effects are in good agreement provided that the aquatic reservoir effect at Lake Ostorf is taken as reference. Conclusions The Ostorf population apparently adopted elements associated with a Neolithic culture but adapted to available local food resources and implemented a subsistence strategy that involved a large proportion of fish and terrestrial meat consumption. This case study exemplifies the diversity of subsistence strategies followed during the Neolithic. Am J Phys Anthropol 158:325-340, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long-term environmental changes in some areas of Central Europe are still poorly documented due to the lack of archives suitable for well-established paleoecological approaches. However, paleorecords of such areas would provide important insights into the Holocene vegetation history of Central Europe. To contribute to fill this gap, we conducted soil charcoal analyses to investigate fire and forest history for the eastern Harz Mountains (Germany). Soil from 15 sequences at three investigation sites was analyzed, and charcoal assemblages were extracted. The taxonomic analysis shows Holocene woodland composition changes, from post-glacial pioneer woodland, dominated by pine, to broad-leaf closed forests, dominated by oak, and succeeded by beech. The temporal distribution of accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS)-14C datings of single charcoal pieces indicates that fire events occurred regionally synchronous, mainly in the late-Pleistocene/early-Holocene and late-Holocene periods. The radiocarbon dating is supported by the description of the sampled soil sequences, which permits the identification of late-Pleistocene/early-Holocene in situ formed soil horizons, as well as evidences late-Holocene erosion-sedimentation processes. Climate seems to have triggered late-Pleistocene/early-Holocene fire events. In contrast, the increase of fires, at both local and regional scales, during the late Holocene in low flammable broad-leaf forests is interpreted as related to human activities. Finally, it is highlighted that the species spectrum of the extracted charcoal assemblages and the radiocarbon ages obtained fits regional and over-regional data, also concerning the soil charcoal concentrations that appear to be included in regional and global ranges of soil charcoal pools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Four accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) facilities undertook an interlaboratory exercise designed to examine the reliability and reproducibility of radiocarbon determinations on bone by dating a sample of elk (Alces alces) from Miesenheim IV. This specimen is derived from a secure geological context directly beneath the Laacher See tephra, which provides a precise terminus ante quem of ~11,060 yr BP (~13,050 cal yr BP). Regrettably, the results of the intercomparison exercise were complicated by evident contamination of the bone sample by exogenous organic material. This contaminant, probably humic acid, resulted in a wide span of ages (10,010 ± 30 to 11,100 ± 45 BP). The only method that yielded an accurate determination, consistent with the age of the tephra, was Oxford's single amino acid technique, which targets hydroxyproline. An acid hydrolysis step seems to have been crucial in breaking the bonds between the bone collagen and the contaminant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, several case studies have demonstrated the presence of human radiocarbon dietary reservoir effects in inland contexts. Freshwater reservoir effects present a high degree of variability, making it difficult to define local reservoir effect reference values necessary for correcting chronologies based on 14C dating of human bone material. Here, we investigate the hypothesis that 14C ages of edible freshwater species are delimited by the 14C ages of the main water carbon pools (DIC, POC, and DOC). Water, plant, algae, bivalve, and fish samples were collected from lakes Schwerin and Ostorf (Germany). 14C and isotopic measurements were performed on the floral and faunal species and on water DIC, POC, and DOC. The results demonstrate the potential of the study area for large and variable freshwater reservoir effects. In the case of Lake Schwerin, the working hypothesis was verified as the 14C ages of faunal and floral species were delimited by the 14C ages of water DIC and POC, probably associated with 2 extreme categories of food chains (grazing and detritus). While the results obtained confirm the working hypothesis and suggest a relatively straightforward interpretation, further research is necessary to investigate possible spatial and seasonal variations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The woodland history of the forest of Stodthagen (northern Germany) was investigated by using complementary palaeobotanical indicators. Six soil profiles from the study plot were sampled, the wood charcoal pieces extracted from the soil samples were quantified, taxonomically identified, and some were radiocarbon dated. Peat sequences from a small adjacent mire were also sampled and the pollen, microcharcoal, and macrocharcoal were analysed. The pollen record shows a continuous forestation during the Holocene, with small indication of a disturbance phase during the late Holocene. This continuity of the woodland presence is confirmed by the weak quantity of macrocharcoal, indicating that fire did not have a serious impact during the Holocene in terms of canopy opening, despite the identification of three local fire events. However, large amounts of wood charcoal pieces were found in the soil samples allowing the identification of at least one more fire event, dated in the Iron Age, unrecorded in the charcoal signal from the peat sequences. The taxonomical charcoal assemblage is in agreement with the pollen data. This innovative multiproxy approach allows the assessment of the ancient and continual presence of a woodland at the study site, which highlights the biological and patrimonial interest of the area and justifies the ongoing conservation management of the woodland. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: During the last twelve years the ELSA Project (Eifel Laminated Sediment Archive) at Mainz University has drilled a total of about 52 cores from 27 maar lakes and filled-in maar basins in the Eifel/Germany. Dating has been completed for the Holocene cores using 6 different methods (210Pb and 137Cs activities, palynostratigraphy, event markers, varve counting, 14C). In general, the different methods consistently complement one another within error margins. Event correlation was used for relating typical lithological changes with historically known events such as the two major Holocene flood events at 1342 AD and ca 800 BC. Dating of MIS2–MIS3 core sections is based on greyscale tuning, radiocarbon and OSL dating, magnetostratigraphy and tephrochronology. The lithological changes in the sediment cores demonstrate a sequence of events similar to the North Atlantic rapid climate variability of the Last Glacial Cycle. The warmest of the MIS3 interstadials was GI14, when a forest with abundant spruce covered the Eifel area from 55 to 48 ka BP, i.e. during a time when also other climate archives in Europe suggested very warm conditions. The forest of this “Early Stage 3 warm phase” developed subsequently into a steppe with scattered birch and pine, and finally into a glacial desert at around 25 ka BP. Evidence for Mono Lake and Laschamp geomagnetic excursions is found in two long cores. Several large eruptions during Middle and Late Pleistocene (Ulmener Maar – 11,000 varve years BP, Laacher See – 12,900 varve years BP, Mosenberg volcanoes/Meerfelder Maar 41–45 cal ka BP, Dümpel Maar 116 ka BP, Glees Maar – 151 ka BP) produced distinct ash-layers crucial for inter-core and inter-site correlations. The oldest investigated maar of the Eifel is 40Ar/39Ar dated to the time older than 520 ka BP. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Understanding the origins of gut microbial community structure is critical for the identification and interpretation of potential fitness-related traits for the host. The presence of community clusters characterized by differences in the abundance of signature taxa, referred to as enterotypes, is a debated concept first reported in humans and later extended to other mammalian hosts. In this study, we provide a thorough assessment of their existence in wild house mice using a panel of evaluation criteria. We identify support for two clusters that are compositionally similar to clusters identified in humans, chimpanzees, and laboratory mice, characterized by differences in Bacteroides, Robinsoniella, and unclassified genera belonging to the family Lachnospiraceae. To further evaluate these clusters, we (i) monitored community changes associated with moving mice from the natural to a laboratory environment, (ii) performed functional metagenomic sequencing, and (iii) subjected wild-caught samples to stable isotope analysis to reconstruct dietary patterns. This process reveals differences in the proportions of genes involved in carbohydrate versus protein metabolism in the functional metagenome, as well as differences in plant- versus meat-derived food sources between clusters. In conjunction with wild-caught mice quickly changing their enterotype classification upon transfer to a standard laboratory chow diet, these results provide strong evidence that dietary history contributes to the presence of enterotype-like clustering in wild mice.