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Hybridization has frequently been observed between wild and domestic species and can substantially impact genetic diversity of both counterparts. Geese show some of the highest levels of interspecific hybridization across all bird orders, and two of the goose species in the genus Anser have been domesticated providing an excellent opportunity for a joint study of domestication and hybridization. Until now, knowledge of the details of the goose domestication process has come from archaeological findings and historical writings supplemented with a few studies based on mitochondrial DNA. Here, we used genome-wide markers to make the first genome-based inference of the timing of European goose domestication. We also analyzed the impact of hybridization on the genome-wide genetic variation in current populations of the European domestic goose and its wild progenitor: the graylag goose (Anser anser). Our dataset consisted of 58 wild graylags sampled around Eurasia and 75 domestic geese representing 14 breeds genotyped for 33,527 single nucleotide polymorphisms. Demographic reconstruction and clustering analysis suggested that divergence between wild and domestic geese around 5,300 generations ago was followed by long-term genetic exchange, and that graylag populations have 3.2–58.0% admixture proportions with domestic geese, with distinct geographic patterns. Surprisingly, many modern European breeds share considerable (> 10%) ancestry with the Chinese domestic geese that is derived from the swan goose Anser cygnoid. We show that the domestication process can progress despite continued and pervasive gene flow from the wild form.

The environmental archaeological evidence from the site of Flixborough (in particular the animal bone assemblage) provides a series of unique insights into Anglo-Saxon life in England during the 8th to 10th centuries. The research reveals detailed evidence for the local and regional environment, many aspects of the local and regional agricultural economy, changing resource exploitation strategies and the extent of possible trade and exchange networks. Perhaps the most important conclusions have been gleaned from the synthesis of these various lines of evidence, viewed in a broader archaeological context. Thus, bioarchaeological data from Flixborough have documented for the first time, in a detailed and systematic way, the significant shift in social and economic aspects of wider Anglo-Saxon life during the 9th century AD., and comment on the possible role of external factors such as the arrival of Scandinavians in the life and development of the settlement. The bioarchaeological evidence from Flixborough is also used to explore the tentative evidence revealed by more traditional archaeological materials for the presence during the 9th century of elements of monastic life. The vast majority of bioarchaeological evidence from Flixborough provides both direct and indirect evidence of the wealth and social standing of some of the inhabitants as well as a plethora of unique information about agricultural and provisioning practices associated with a major Anglo-Saxon estate centre. The environmental archaeological record from Flixborough is without doubt one of the most important datasets of the early medieval period, and one which will provide a key benchmark for future research into many aspects of early medieval archaeology.

Grey wolves (Canis lupus) are one of the few large terrestrial carnivores that maintained a wide geographic distribution across the Northern Hemisphere throughout the Pleistocene and Holocene. Recent genetic studies have suggested that, despite this continuous presence, major demographic changes occurred in wolf populations between the late Pleistocene and early Holocene, and that extant wolves trace their ancestry to a single late Pleistocene population. Both the geographic origin of this ancestral population and how it became widespread remain a mystery. Here we analyzed a large dataset of novel modern and ancient mitochondrial wolf genomes, spanning the last 50,000 years, using a spatially and temporally explicit modeling framework to show that contemporary wolf populations across the globe trace their ancestry to an expansion from Beringia at the end of the Last Glacial Maximum - a process most likely driven by the significant ecological changes that occurred across the Northern Hemisphere during this period. This study provides direct ancient genetic evidence that long-range migration has played an important role in the population history of a large carnivore and provides an insight into how wolves survived the wave of megafaunal extinctions at the end of the last glaciation. Moreover, because late Pleistocene grey wolves were the likely source from which all modern dogs trace their origins, the demographic history described in this study has fundamental implications for understanding the geographical origin of the dog.

Close-range photographic techniques - including photogrammetry - are becoming common tools for constructing three-dimensional (3D) models of artifacts, particularly in archaeological research. Whether models obtained through photogrammetry can be used for zooarchaeological studies requires a systematic examination. In the context of research into dog domestication, we explore whether 3D models of wolf crania, obtained through a photogrammetric approach, accurately describe the original cranium in term of colouration, texture and most importantly, geometry. To answer this question, we compared the topology of 3D models obtained with a high-resolution surface scanner (used as reference geometry) with models reconstructed from the same five wolf crania using photogrammetry. The pairs of models were then compared using both a visual, qualitative and two quantitative approaches. The latter, a geometric comparison computed the deviation map between the pairs of 3D models, which was then followed by a 3D landmark based geometric morphometric approach using corresponding analyses. Our results demonstrate that photogrammetry can produce 3D models with visually satisfying levels of morphological detail in terms of texture, colouration and geometry. In addition, the quantitative comparison of the models revealed an average distance between the two surfaces of 0.088 mm with an average standard deviation of 0.53 mm. The geometric morphometric analyses revealed the same degree of measurement error for the two series of scans (2.04% and 1.95%), with only 6.31% of the morphometric variation being due to the acquisition technique. Photogrammetry, therefore, offers a low cost, easily portable and simple to perform alternative to traditional surface scanning, affording advantages that make it a highly useful tool for zooarchaeological research.

The dog was the first domesticated animal but it remains uncertain when the domestication process began and whether it occurred just once or multiple times across the Northern Hemisphere. To ascertain the value of modern genetic data to elucidate the origins of dog domestication, we analyzed 49,024 autosomal SNPs in 1,375 dogs (representing 35 breeds) and 19 wolves. After combining our data with previously published data,we contrasted the genetic signatures of 121 breeds with a worldwide archeological assessment of the earliest dog remains. Correlating the earliest archeological dogswith the geographic locations of 14 so-called >ancient> breeds (defined by their genetic differentiation) resulted in a counterintuitive pattern. First, none of the ancient breeds derive fromregionswhere the oldest archeological remains have been found. Second, three of the ancient breeds (Basenjis, Dingoes, and New Guinea Singing Dogs) come from regions outside the natural range of Canis lupus (the dog's wild ancestor) and where dogs were introduced more than 10,000 y after domestication. These results demonstrate that the unifying characteristic among all genetically distinct so-called ancient breeds is a lack of recent admixturewith other breeds likely facilitated by geographic and cultural isolation. Furthermore, these genetically distinct ancient breeds only appear so because of their relative isolation, suggesting that studies of modern breeds have yet to shed light on dog origins. We conclude by assessing the limitations of past studies and how next-generation sequencing of modern and ancient individuals may unravel the history of dog domestication.

Accounts of the Late Iron Age economy of the areas around the southern part of the North Sea typically do not refer to fishing as an important contribution to subsistence (e.g. Bloemers and Van Dorp 1991; Green 1992; Van Heeringen 1992; Cunliffe 1995; Champion and Collis 1996). In the case of freshwater fishing, most texts seem to assume implicitly (by referring to older periods and common sense) that some food procurement did occur in inland waters, but how important this activity was remains unclear. The evaluation of marine resource exploitation is even more problematic for the Late Iron Age. We do not really know to what extent people were fishing in the sea, and, when they did, whether this fishing was practised in the estuaries, along the coast, or in open waters. In any case, the evidence is very scarce, but whether this is proof for a lack of interest in marine and freshwater resources needs to be more fully evaluated. If some Late Iron Age peoples in north-west Europe did not incorporate aquatic resources as a significant part of their subsistence strategies, it remains unclear why this would have been the case. Was this because of ecological conditions, different economic options, a lack of economic specialisation, a lack of technology, or other reasons? The following paper reviews the Iron Age zooarchaeological record for three countries bordering the North Sea (England, Belgium, and the Netherlands) in order to evaluate more fully the possible nature and extent of fish exploitation.

Tell Brak in Syria is one of the largest and most important multi-period sites in northern Mesopotamia. Excavations in 1994-1996 cast new light on everyday life at the settlement through several phases of occupation from the early 4th millennium BC to the 2nd millennium BC. This monograph provides an account of the architecture, artefacts, and environmental evidence, supported by a program of radiocarbon dating. The results emphasize the indigenous nature of cultural development in Upper Mesopotamia during these millennia. Among the highlights are a small temple dating to the Ninevite 5 period (earlier 3rd millennium BC), which provides new insights into a phenomenon that has hitherto been little explored; and an exceptional hoard of precious materials and artefacts that underlines the importance of Tell Brak in the later 3rd millennium BC. The report is completed by studies of subsistence, diet, economy, use of space, and craft activities, which focus on the variabilities and continuities in daily life that underlay the shifting political and cultural forces. These studies highlight the unique position of Tell Brak in the long-term ebb and flow of regional interactions across Mesopotamia.

The presence and diversity of wild bird remains recovered from archaeological sites can be used to explore questions beyond mere subsistence strategies and wildfowling techniques. A survey of 26 avian assemblages from English Anglo-Saxon vertebrate assemblages (broadly classified into settlement types) was undertaken in order to assess if interpretable patterns of data, reflecting attributes linked to the broader nature and character of settlements and their inhabitants, could be recovered. A more limited range of species were noted from ecclesiastical rural and early trading emporia (wics) compared with the high status estate and urban centres. A case study (using data from the well stratified assemblage from Flixborough, UK), supported broad conclusions drawn from the original survey by highlighting a possible ecclesiastical avian ‘signature’ at this site during the 9th century, with elements associated with high status identified from the 8th and 10th centuries. Further, more detailed, consideration of individual avian species (particularly Gruidae, Ardeidae and raptors) also suggest their association with particular categories of sites and their significance in identifying high status pursuits such as falconry.

This report describes the partial and semi-articulated remains of an aurochs (Bos primigenius), discovered in 1992 eroding out of the foreshore of the river Humber near North Ferriby. The remains are of an unknown date, but following comparative and biometrical analysis, appear to be those of an adult cow. Bones from an articulated fore-limb were recovered in excellent condition, whilst the cranium and horncore stumps, as well as several rib and vertebral fragments (showing excellent preservation), deriving from a separate individual and placed in position so as to appear to belong to the eroded skull. It is unclear whether these represent another aurochs (possibly a bull) or are the remains of a later domestic long-horned individual and whether they were placed there in antiquity or in more recent times. Of potential importance also is the identification of a pathological lesion on a proximal rib fragment which may be of infectious origin.

The stable isotope ratios of carbon (d13C), nitrogen (d15N) and sulphur (d34S) are measured to examine human diet, social stratification, mobility and animal husbandry practices. Three locations comprising four sites from the Yellow River Valleys of north China are investigated: Nancheng (Hebei Province), Xishan (Gansu Province), Liyi and Shanren (Shaanxi Province), and this work represents one of the largest and most detailed isotopic research projects ever conducted in China. This thesis focused on time periods and cultures that were previously underrepresented, in the literature such as the early Bronze/Iron Ages to the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC). Further, this thesis found new evidence concerning dietary patterns, social stratification (or lack thereof), animal husbandry practices and human mobility during these formative pre-Qin Empire periods.