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Excavations of the Eneolithic workshop site for making stone chopping tools the Fofanovo XIII on the western shore of Lake Onega (second half of the IV Millennium calBC) provided representative and faunistic assemblage consisting of relatively well preserved bones for the frst time in the Karelian archaeology. The assemblage makes it possible to study different aspects of the activity of the ancient population related to the exploitation of faunistic resources. The article presents the results of a seasonality estimation that is based on the analysis of the bone remains (vertebrae) of the absolutely prevailing in the assemblage specie – the zander. The authors’ analysis testifes that zander capturing was taking place during the snow-less season. This result confrms interpretation of the site as a specialized complex for seasonal specifc activities and for year-round habitation.

We here conduct ancient DNA analyses on 58 chicken bones from 15 archaeological sites (from the 9th to the 18th century AD) across the Volga region, the Leningrad region, the Pskov region, and the north of the Krasnoyarsk region to investigate genetic diversity of past chicken populations within this geographical area. We find all samples belong to sub-haplogroup E1, ubiquitous throughout the world and dominant in Europe, Africa and the Americas. This supports an introduction of chickens from the west, rather than a direct introduction from East Asia. Our study also demonstrates good endogenous DNA content, confirming species identification and sex of the individuals, thus highlighting the potential of genetic studies on archaeological remains in that region.

The processes of domestication and subsequent distribution of animals in Eurasia are closely related to human migrations and intercultural exchanges starting from the end of the Pleistocene. The development of methods for the isolation and analysis of ancient DNA from archaeological and paleontological remains has made it possible to take a new look at both the presumed core regions of domestication and the geography and dynamics of livestock distribution. This paper discusses the reports on the reconstruction of the migration processes of domestic animals in Eurasia using the analysis of ancient DNA performed by leading specialists from Great Britain, France, Finland, Ireland, and Russia at the international symposium on Domestic Animal Archaeogenomics (Bolgar, Republic of Tatarstan, March 2020). In addition to discussing the demographic history of different species of domestic animals, special attention was given to the development of methods for working with ancient DNA and the peculiarities of sample storage and handling. Summarizing the results of the symposium, the authors identified priority areas for future research. The interdisciplinary nature of research and the need to create broad scientific network that includes specialists from different fields were emphasized.

ABSTRACT This article presents research findings of bird remains from 22 archaeological sites of the 5th-17th centuries AD from the Middle Volga region of Russia. We identified 53 species: 50 wild species and three domestic. Remains of domestic chickens were most numerous. The predominance of bones of domestic birds and the variety of sizes at most archaeological sites of the 10th-17th centuries AD demonstrated that the people of the Middle Volga region had already developed domestic poultry keeping. Both domestic and wild birds were diverse and played an important role in the economy of the human populations in historic times in the Middle Volga region. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preliminary results of integrated archaeological and paleo-ecological research in the multilayer site Pestretsy 2 on the Mesha river (Middle Volga region) are discussed in the article. As a result of geology and geomorphology studies, it was found that cultural layers of the Bronze and Early Iron Ages occurred in the buried soil complex, which was coated by river fresh deposits formed in 19th–20th centuries. According paleo-geography data, the site was situated on elevated plot in the lake-marsh basin, the basin, which radiocarbon age is about 4 thousand years ago. The site seems to be the remnants of the Late Bronze long-term settlement (at least in excavated part) belonging to so called Zaymishche cultural type as shown by stratigraphy, planigraphy and stone artifacts data. The shouldered arrowhead with barbs and triangular stem of the Seyma type found in this layer allows us to refer it to the 18th–16thth centuries. As for the subsequent Ananyino and Azelino cultural layers, they were apparently short-term camps. Numerous faunal remains studied using archaeo-zoological methods, demonstrated animal husbandry practice houses adjoining (so called “forest”) type combined with highly developed hunting and seasonal fishing. Use-wear analysis of stone inventory confirms the authors conclusion.

Summarized research data of bird bone remains remnants from 23 archaeological sites located in the Middle Volga area and referring to the 5th–18th centuries AD are presented in the article. The material has been considered in accordance with four cultural-chronological periods: the 5th to 7th centuries AD (the Imenkovo culture); the 10th – first half of the 13th century (Volga Bulgaria); second half of the 13th to the 15th century (the Golden Horde period), and the mid-16th through 18th century (the Middle Volga river region within the Russian state). It has been found that the remains of birds from the medieval and post-medieval archaeological sites of the Middle Volga region reflect a wide specific diversity. The data about the time of domestic birds appearance in the Middle Volga region are provided. The quantitative ratio of bone remains of wild and domestic birds in the period from the Early to the Later Middle Ages and afterwards makes it possible to trace the tendency to the increase in the share of domestic birds. Bird utilization by different ethnic groups of the medieval population of the region was diverse: for food, for feathers and down, as well as in ritual and religious practice.

The first arrival dates of 31 species of migrant birds in the Tatarstan Republic of Russia were monitored for the 34-year period from 1989-2022. Trends in first arrival date were evaluated using regression against the year value. Patterns in arrival data with respect to species traits (habitat, migration distance, body weight, etc.) were evaluated using redundancy analysis. Relationships between first arrival dates and Tatarstan temperatures were also evaluated using regression methods of first-arrival date on monthly mean temperatures. Almost all (28 of 31) species revealed a significantly earlier migration arrival date; however, associations between arrival patterns and species traits were equivocal. Warmer temperatures were significantly associated with earlier arrival in 26 of the 31 species, but the relationship was insufficient to explain the average 11-day advance in species. For these species and in this location only the timing and location of arrival are well recorded; the exact wintering areas and migration routes, and the timing of these phases are less well understood. When these become better known, an investigation of the influence of environmental conditions (including temperature) on departure timing and passage timing and speed is recommended.

Dogs have been essential to life in the Siberian Arctic for over 9,500 y, and this tight link between people and dogs continues in Siberian communities. Although Arctic Siberian groups such as the Nenets received limited gene flow from neighboring groups, archaeological evidence suggests that metallurgy and new subsistence strategies emerged in Northwest Siberia around 2,000 y ago. It is unclear if the Siberian Arctic dog population was as continuous as the people of the region or if instead admixture occurred, possibly in relation to the influx of material culture from other parts of Eurasia. To address this question, we sequenced and analyzed the genomes of 20 ancient and historical Siberian and Eurasian Steppe dogs. Our analyses indicate that while Siberian dogs were genetically homogenous between 9,500 to 7,000 y ago, later introduction of dogs from the Eurasian Steppe and Europe led to substantial admixture. This is clearly the case in the Iamal-Nenets region (Northwestern Siberia) where dogs from the Iron Age period (∼2,000 y ago) possess substantially less ancestry related to European and Steppe dogs than dogs from the medieval period (∼1,000 y ago). Combined with findings of nonlocal materials recovered from these archaeological sites, including glass beads and metal items, these results indicate that Northwest Siberian communities were connected to a larger trade network through which they acquired genetically distinctive dogs from other regions. These exchanges were part of a series of major societal changes, including the rise of large-scale reindeer pastoralism ∼800 y ago., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interest., (Copyright © 2021 the Author(s). Published by PNAS.)