What evidence supports a middle-eastern origin for Brassica oleracea crops?

To date, several genetic diversity and population structure studies have been performed and published for domesticated B. oleracea, but some have been limited by low numbers of markers. More importantly, very few have included all the described B. oleracea morphotypes, and the ones that are included are often represented by a small number of accessions. What is generally lacking in these studies is data on genetic comparisons between modern hybrids and old landrace accessions.

Recently, scientists from Wageningen University analyzed the genetic diversity, genealogical relationships, and population structure among 912 accessions of B. oleracea and their wild relatives. They found that genetic diversity decreased from genebank accessions to modern hybrid accessions. Phylogenetic analysis showed evidence for two domestication lineages, the leafy head lineage (LHL) and the arrested inflorescence lineage (AIL), that arose with the onset of diversification and breeding of cabbages and cauliflowers around 400 BC in the Middle East. Different kales and wild B. oleracea were the likely progenitors of the diverse lineages (which include sprouts and kohlrabi in addition to AIL and LHL).

“Cauliflower is the least diverse morphotype and has the strongest genetic differentiation with other morphotypes, which points to a very strong genetic bottleneck. Genetic diversity reduced from landraces to modern hybrids for almost all morphotypes,” Dr. Guusje Bonnema said. This comprehensive Brassica C-group germplasm collection provides valuable genetic resources and a sound basis for B. oleracea breeding.

Bioarchaeological evidence of very early Islamic burials in the Levant

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IMAGE: EXCAVATION AT THE NEOLITHIC SITE OF TELL QARASSA IN MODERN-DAY SYRIA. A NEW STUDY COMBINING ARCHAEOLOGICAL, HISTORICAL AND BIOARCHAEOLOGICAL DATA PROVIDES NEW INSIGHTS INTO THE EARLY ISLAMIC PERIOD IN MODERN-DAY SYRIA. THE RESEARCH TEAM WAS PLANNING TO FOCUS ON A MUCH OLDER TIME PERIOD BUT CAME ACROSS WHAT THEY BELIEVE TO BE REMAINS OF EARLY MUSLIMS IN THE SYRIAN COUNTRYSIDE. view more 

CREDIT: JONATHAN SANTANA

A new study combining archaeological, historical and bioarchaeological data provides new insights into the early Islamic period in modern-day Syria. The research team was planning to focus on a much older time period but came across what they believe to be remains of early Muslims in the Syrian countryside.

The Middle East is well known as a region with a rich and fascinating history embracing a wide range of ethnicities, cultures and religious practices. While a great part of this diverse and dynamic history is known through historical records, the impressive material culture and archaeological sites in the region, until recently important bioarcheological data was more difficult to retrieve due to the poor preservation of organic materials in harsh environments. New technologies that are more capable of analysing degraded material, however, have changed this and stories from prehistoric to historic times have emerged, enriching our knowledge of this region at the crossroads between three continents. Now, a multinational and interdisciplinary team is presenting new bioarchaeological insights into the early Islamic period in modern-day Syria.

During 2009 and 2010, excavations at the Neolithic site of Tell Qarassa in modern-day Syria encountered a number of burials. These excavations were coordinated by a Spanish-French team integrating Syrian students in all archaeological campaigns, thereby contributing to their training in archaeology. The research was conducted with permission from and in constant coordination with the General Directorate of Antiquities and Museums (DGAM) of the Syrian Arab Republic. Shortly after these excavations, the Syrian civil war began, which continues to this day.
 
“With the goal of studying the first farming groups in the region, we subjected the remains of 14 humans to ancient DNA analysis,” says archaeogeneticist Cristina Valdiosera of the University of Burgos, Spain, who coordinated the study. “Only two individuals from upper layers of the site contained sufficient amounts of endogenous DNA and these came from graves that we assumed belonged to a later prehistoric period. After radiocarbon dating it became clear we had something unexpected and special.”

The graves dated to the Umayyad Era in the late 7th and early 8th centuries (the second caliphate). In light of these surprisingly recent dates, a reassessment of the burial style showed that it would be consistent with early Muslim burial practices. It would have been impossible to pinpoint this cultural identity without the radiocarbon dates as there were no previously known Muslim settlements or burial sites in the area and the archaeological site itself was only known as a prehistoric site.

“The genomic results were also surprising as the two individuals seemed genetically different from most ancient or modern-day Levantines. The most similar – though not identical – modern-day groups were Bedouins and Saudis, suggesting a possible connection to the Arabian Peninsula,” says evolutionary biologist Megha Srigyan, who conducted the data analysis during her Master’s studies at Uppsala University, Sweden.

“Most of our evidence is indirect but the different types of data, taken together, point to this man and woman belonging to transient groups far from home, suggesting the presence of early Muslims in the Syrian countryside,” says population geneticist Torsten Günther at Uppsala University, who co-coordinated the study.
 
The analysis of one man and one woman provided evidence of new cultural/religious practices arriving in the Levant.

“It is extraordinary that by studying just two individuals, we were able to uncover a small but remarkable piece of the colossal puzzle that makes up the history of the Levant,” says Cristina Valdiosera.

“In this particular case, there was no way we could have reached a conclusion without combining the archaeological, historical and bioarchaeological data, as each of these provided essential clues, highlighting the importance of a multidisciplinary approach,” Torsten Günther concludes.

The human remains recovered in Qarassa, as well as the rest of the archaeological material, were deposited at the Archaeological Museum of Sweida (Syria) and, from that moment, they have been under the responsibility of the Syrian DGAM, as per their regulations.

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JOURNAL

Communications Biology

DOI

10.1038/s42003-022-03508-4 

Prehistoric “Swiss Army knife” indicates early humans communicated

Archaeologists confirm strong social networks allowed early populations to prosper

 

IMAGE: FIG 1 MAP AND OBJECTS (C) DR PALOMA DE LA PENA view more 

CREDIT: DR PALOMA DE LA PENA

In a world first, a team of international scientists led by Australian Museum and University of Sydney archaeologist, Dr Amy Mosig Way have revealed that early humans across southern Africa made a particular type of stone tool - the backed artefact- in the same shape. Published in Scientific Reports the study clearly shows that the populations must have been in contact with each other.

The researchers reported that the Howiesons Poort backed artefacts, also known as the ‘stone Swiss Army knife’ of prehistory, were made to a similar template across great distances and multiple biomes. These artefacts were produced in enormous numbers across southern Africa at this time, roughly 65-60 thousand years ago.

Lead author Dr Way explained that these tools were made in many different shapes across the world and because the people across southern Africa all chose to make the tools look the same it indicates they must have been sharing information and communicating with each other, ie they were socially connected.

“People have walked out of Africa for hundreds of thousands of years, and we have evidence for early Homo sapiens in Greece and the Levant from around 200 thousand years ago. But these earlier exits were overprinted by the big exit around 60-70 thousand years ago, which involved the ancestors of all modern people who live outside of Africa today,” Dr Way said.

“Why was this exodus so successful where the earlier excursions were not? The main theory is that social networks were stronger at this time.  This analysis shows for the first time that these social connections were in place in southern Africa just before the big exodus,” Dr Way added.

Senior Research Associate, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, Cambridge University, Dr Paloma de la Peña, who studies the cultural behaviour of the early Homo sapiens, said the backed artefact has been associated with many different domestic activities such as cutting and scraping, and hunting activities (they were sometimes part of projectiles).

 

“While the making of the stone tool was not particularly difficult, the hafting of the stone to the handle through the use of glue and adhesives was hard, which highlights that they were sharing and communicating complex information with each other,” Dr de la Peña explained.                                                                                                                              

“What was also striking was that the abundance of tools made in the same shape coincided with great changes in the climatic conditions. We believe that this is a social response to the changing environment across southern Africa,” Dr de la Pena added.

Chief Scientist, Australian Museum, Professor Kristofer Helgen said that like us, ancient humans relied on cooperation and social networking, and this research provides early dated observation of this behaviour.

“Examining why early human populations were successful is critical to understanding our evolutionary path. This research provides new insights into our understanding of those social networks and how they contributed to the expansion of modern humans across Eurasia,” Professor Helgen said                                                                                    

Dr Way said another fascinating fact about this particular tool – the backed artifact – is that it was made independently by many different groups of people across the world, including here in Australia.

“I compared some of the Australian shapes from five thousand years ago with the African shapes 65 thousand years ago (as they can’t possibly be related), to show the southern African tools all cluster within a much larger range of possible shapes,” Dr Way said.

 In southern Africa, previous research by Dr de la Peña has shown that backed artefacts were used as barbs in hunting technology. In Australia, Australian Museum Senior Fellow, archaeologist, Dr Val Attenbrow has shown that in addition to forming armatures in spears, these artefacts were also used for a variety of functions and purposes, such as working bone and hide and drilling and shaping wooden objects.

Pre-historic Wallacea - a melting pot of human genetic ancestries

 

IMAGE: CAVE ENTRANCE OF THE TOPOGARO 2 SITE, ONE OF THE CAVE SITES OF THE TOPOGARO COMPLEX LOCATED IN CENTRAL SULAWESI. TOPOGARO 2 HAS BEEN EXCAVATED SINCE 2016. HUMAN REMAINS FROM THE PAST 2,000 YEARS WERE FOUND IN THE UPPER LAYERS. view more 

CREDIT: © RINTARO ONO

The Wallacean islands have always been separated from Asia and Oceania by deep-sea waters. Yet, these tropical islands were a corridor for modern humans migrating into the Pleistocene Australia-New Guinea landmass (Sahul) and have been home to modern human groups for at least 47 thousand years. The archaeological record attests a major cultural transition across Wallacea that started around 3,500 years ago and is associated with the expansion of Austronesian-speaking farmers, who intermixed with local hunter-gatherer groups. However, previous genetic studies of modern-day inhabitants have yielded conflicting dates for this intermixing, ranging from 1,100 to nearly 5,000 years ago.

To shed light on the details of this expansion and the resulting human interactions, an international team of researchers analyzed DNA from 16 ancient individuals from different islands in Wallacea, greatly increasing the amount of ancient genomic data representing this region. “We found striking differences between regions in Wallacea and surprisingly, the ancestry of ancient individuals from the southern islands cannot be simply explained by admixture between Austronesian- and Papuan-related groups,” says Sandra Oliveira, one of the study’s lead authors.

Early ancestry contribution from Mainland Southeast Asia

The team identified an additional ancestry contribution from Mainland Southeast Asia, closest to present-day Austroasiatic speakers, and proposed that admixture occurred first between the Mainland Southeast Asian and Papuan-related ancestry and that gene flow from Austronesian-related groups occurred only later. “That Mainland Southeast Asian component is a great mystery to me. I suspect that we might be looking at small groups, perhaps of early farmers, who travelled a long way, left no archaeological or linguistic traces along the way, but who increased their population sizes after arrival," says Peter Bellwood, an author of the study who has conducted archaeological work in Island Southeast Asia for decades.

While the identity of the people who spread this ancestry is still unclear, the discovery of the Mainland Southeast Asian ancestry and its possible antiquity in the southern Wallacean islands has major implications for the understanding of the Neolithic dispersals into Island Southeast Asia. “This finding is very important for the archaeologists in the region,” adds Toetik Koesbardiati, an Indonesian anthropologist involved in the study. He adds, “We will certainly intensify our efforts to study this migration with other lines of evidence.”

Multiple admixture events throughout Wallacea

This work also revealed a closer relationship between the Austronesian-related ancestry of ancient individuals from northern Wallacea and the Pacific, compared to those from southern Wallacea - a pattern matched by linguistic evidence. Additionally, it shed light on the timing of the Asian-Papuan genetic admixture. “Previous studies based on present-day populations have reported widely different estimates, some of which preceeded the archaeological evidence for the Austronesian expansion, while others were much more recent. Since we now have ancient individuals from different time periods we can directly show that admixture occurred in multiple pulses or continuously since at least 3,000 years ago throughout Wallacea,” explains Mark Stoneking, a senior author of the study. He adds, “Future studies on older genomes might extend this date even further.”

Local hunter-gatherers’ genetic ancestry was largely replaced

The team also searched for genetic similarities between the newly reported ancient Wallaceans and a previously published pre-Neolithic individual from Sulawesi, another island in Wallacea. “All Wallacean individuals sequenced in this study are more similar to present-day New Guinean groups than to the earlier local population, suggesting that these two regions were more closely connected in ancient times than previously imagined,” says Cosimo Posth, another senior author of the study. He concludes, “These results also confirm that the genetic ancestry of Wallacean hunter-gatherers has been largely replaced.”

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JOURNAL

Nature Ecology & Evolution

DOI

10.1038/s41559-022-01775-2 

New evidence about when, where, and how chickens were domesticated

 ew research transforms our understanding of the circumstances and timing of the domestication of chickens, their spread across Asia into the west, and reveals the changing way in which they were perceived in societies over the past 3,500 years.

Experts have found that an association with rice farming likely started a process that has led to chickens becoming one of the world's most numerous animals. They have also found evidence that chickens were initially regarded as exotica, and only several centuries later used as a source of 'food'.

Previous efforts have claimed that chickens were domesticated up to 10,000 years ago in China, Southeast Asia, or India, and that chickens were present in Europe over 7,000 years ago.

The new studies show this is wrong, and that the driving force behind chicken domestication was the arrival of dry rice farming into southeast Asia where their wild ancestor, the red jungle fowl, lived. Dry rice farming acted as a magnet drawing wild jungle fowl down from the trees, and kickstarting a closer relationship between people and the jungle fowl that resulted in chickens.

This domestication process was underway by around 1,500 BC in the Southeast Asia peninsula. The research suggests that chickens were then transported first across Asia and then throughout the Mediterranean along routes used by early Greek, Etruscan and Phoenician maritime traders.

During the Iron Age in Europe, chickens were venerated and generally not regarded as food. The studies have shown that several of the earliest chickens are buried alone and un-butchered, and many are also found buried with people. Males were often buried with cockerels and females with hens. The Roman Empire then helped to popularise chickens and eggs as food. For example, in Britain, chickens were not regularly consumed until the third century AD, mostly in urban and military sites.

The international team of experts re-evaluated chicken remains found in more than 600 sites in 89 countries. They examined the skeletons, burial location and historical records regarding the societies and cultures where the bones were found. The oldest bones of a definite domestic chicken were found at Neolithic Ban Non Wat in central Thailand, and date to between 1,650 and 1,250 BC.

The team also used radiocarbon dating to establish the age of 23 of the proposed earliest chickens found in western Eurasia and north-west Africa. Most of the bones were far more recent than previously thought. The results dispel claims of chickens in Europe before the first millennium BC and indicate that they did not arrive until around 800 BC. Then, after arriving in the Mediterranean region, it took almost 1,000 years longer for chickens to become established in the colder climates of Scotland, Ireland, Scandinavia and Iceland.

The two studies, published in the journals Antiquity and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, were carried out by academics at the universities of Exeter, Munich, Cardiff, Oxford, Bournemouth, Toulouse, and universities and institutes in Germany, France and Argentina.

Professor Naomi Sykes, from the University of Exeter, said: "Eating chickens is so common that people think we have never not eaten them. Our evidence shows that our past relationship with chickens was far more complex, and that for centuries chickens were celebrated and venerated."

Professor Greger Larson, from the University of Oxford, said: "This comprehensive re-evaluation of chickens firstly demonstrates how wrong our understanding of the time and place of chicken domestication was. And even more excitingly, we show how the arrival of dry rice agriculture acted as a catalyst for both the chicken domestication process and its global dispersal."

Dr Julia Best, from Cardiff University said: "This is the first time that radiocarbon dating has been used on this scale to determine the significance of chickens in early societies. Our results demonstrate the need to directly date proposed early specimens, as this allows us the clearest picture yet of our early interactions with chickens."

Professor Joris Peters, from LMU Munich and the Bavarian State Collection of Palaeoanatomy, said: "With their overall highly adaptable but essentially cereal-based diet, sea routes played a particularly important role in the spread of chickens to Asia, Oceania, Africa and Europe."

Dr Ophélie Lebrasseur, from the CNRS/Université Toulouse Paul Sabatier and the Instituto Nacional de Antropología y Pensamiento Latinoamericano, said: "The fact that chickens are so ubiquitous and popular today, and yet were domesticated relatively recently is startling. Our research highlights the importance of robust osteological comparisons, secure stratigraphic dating and placing early finds within their broader cultural and environmental context."

Professor Mark Maltby, from Bournemouth University, said, "These studies show the value of museums and the importance of archaeological materials to reveal our past."

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Story Source:

Materials provided by University of Exeter. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

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Journal References:

1. Julia Best, Sean Doherty, Ian Armit, Zlatozar Boev, Lindsey Büster, Barry Cunliffe, Alison Foster, Ben Frimet, Sheila Hamilton-Dyer, Tom Higham, Ophélie Lebrasseur, Holly Miller, Joris Peters, Michaël Seigle, Caroline Skelton, Rob Symmons, Richard Thomas, Angela Trentacoste, Mark Maltby, Greger Larson, Naomi Sykes. Redefining the timing and circumstances of the chicken's introduction to Europe and north-west Africa. Antiquity, 2022; 1 DOI: 10.15184/aqy.2021.90
2. Joris Peters, Ophélie Lebrasseur, Evan K. Irving-Pease, Ptolemaios Dimitrios Paxinos, Julia Best, Riley Smallman, Cécile Callou, Armelle Gardeisen, Simon Trixl, Laurent Frantz, Naomi Sykes, Dorian Q. Fuller, Greger Larson. The biocultural origins and dispersal of domestic chickens. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2022; 119 (24) DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2121978119

Rock art cave in Spain was used by ancient humans for over 50,000 years

 A cave in southern Spain was used by ancient humans as a canvas for artwork and as a burial place for over 50,000 years, according to a study published June 1, 2022 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by José Ramos-Muñoz of the University of Cadiz, Spain, and colleagues.

Cueva de Ardales, a cave in Málaga, Spain, is famous for containing over 1,000 paintings and engravings made by prehistoric people, as well as artifacts and human remains. However, the nature of human usage of this cave has not been well-understood. In this study, the authors present the results of the first excavations in this cave, which shed light on the history of human culture in the Iberian Peninsula.

A combination of radiometric dating and analysis of remains and artifacts within the cave provide evidence that the site’s first occupants were likely Neanderthals over 65,000 years ago. Modern humans arrived later, around 35,000 years ago, and used the cave sporadically until as recently as the beginning of the Copper Age. The oldest rock art in the cave consists of abstract signs such as dots, finger tips, and hand-stencils created with red pigment, while later artwork depicts figurative paintings such as animals. Human remains indicate the use of the cave as a burial place in the Holocene, but evidence of domestic activities is extremely poor, suggesting humans were not living in the cave.

These results confirm the importance of Cueva de Ardales as a site of high symbolic value. This site provides an incredible history of human activity in Spain, and along with similar sites – there are more than 30 other caves in the region with similar paintings – makes the Iberian Peninsula a key locality for investigating the deep history of European culture.

The authors add: “Our research presents a well-stratified series of more than 50 radiometric dates in Cueva de Ardales that confirm the antiquity of Palaeolithic art from over 58,000 years ago. It also confirms that the cave was a place of special activities linked to art, as numerous fragments of ochre were discovered in the Middle Palaeolithic levels."

 the freely available article in PLOS ONE: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0266788

Industrial manufacturing of wool and wool textiles in the Bronze Age Italy

Montale in northern Italy can have been one of the earliest centres in Europe for production of wool during the Bronze Age. Production may also have been on an industrial scale. Archaeologist Serena Sabatini has drawn this conclusion after having analysed archaeological finds in the form of textile tools and teeth from sheep and goats.

"We understood that this was an intense production because of the large amounts of textile tools at the settlement. We then analysed the teeth to better understand how the production of wool was organised."

Archaeology is increasingly using methods from the natural sciences. Serena Sabatini, archaeologist and associate professor at the Department of Historical Studies, works with researchers at the Danish National Museum to utilise strontium isotope analyses in her research.

Within the research project “Bronze Age wool economy: production, trade, environment, husbandry and society”, she collected teeth from sheep/goats from the Bronze Age settlement at Montale in northern Italy. The material was analysed to measure the strontium isotope values contained in those bones.

Analyses reveal the answers

Strontium is a mineral that is present in both food and water, and it is absorbed in human, animal and plant tissues. 

“Strontium values in teeth and the temporal bone accumulate in childhood and do not change in adulthood. This allows the determination of whether individuals spend their childhood in the area where they were buried or if they moved there as an adult or adolescent. It is similar for animals, and in this research project we have analysed teeth from sheep and goats to investigate animal mobility in the landscape,” says Serena Sabatini.

During the Bronze Age, one considers that both people and animals likely ate food and drank water from the surrounding area. Thus, the values that can be recorded in their bones and tissues likely correspond to specific areas where they were born or grew up and moved to.

Large scale wool production

The results of the analyses show that most of the animals were raised in the Montale area where they also died; thus, they were likely closely managed by the community living at the site. This in turn confirms previous theories about their importance in large-scale local wool production.

“We should also be aware that sheep during the Bronze Age did not produce as much wool as today’s sheep", says Serena Sabatini.

Previous research from the Mediterranean area, where written sources were available, shows that it took a full year to produce 3 kilograms of wool. This required a mixed flock of ten sheep, with both adults and lambs. To be able to weave a simple cloth of 3.5 metres by 3.5 metres required 4 kilograms of raw wool.

“You can understand immediately that organising an economically sustainable and profitable production of wool fibres required managing large numbers of sheep flocks.”

The history of wool

Interest in the study of textile production, particularly wool production, throughout history has been increasing in recent years.

“The purpose of this project is to reveal the importance of wool and the production of wool textiles in the European Bronze Age,” says Serena Sabatini.

Recent studies indicate that during the 2nd millennia BCE certain continental centres, like Montale in northern Italy that was part of the Terramare culture, succeeded in understanding the economic importance of wool.

“Thanks to particularly favourable social and environmental conditions, they were able to specialise in the production of wool and likely exported wool, wool yarn or perhaps even woven wool textiles. They were then able to trade wool and textiles for goods not available in the area.!

The study is published in the Journal of Archaeological Science. Investigating sheep mobility at Montale, Italy, through strontium isotope analyses.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2021.103298

Contact:
Serena Sabatini, associate professor in archaeology at the Department of Historical Studies.
Phone: +46 (0)31-786 52 17, email: serena.sabatini@archaeology.gu.se

Facts: The research project “Bronze Age wool economy: production, trade, environment, husbandry and society”.

The research project “Bronze Age wool economy: production, trade, environment, husbandry and society” was funded by Riksbankens Jubileumsfond and took place 2016–2019. Sophia Bergerbrant was the project leader.

The main goal was to understand and interpret the impact of introducing wool textiles in Europe on sheep husbandry, the economy, trade, the environment and society at large. The study draws upon well-documented material from Hungary and northern Italy that have indications of extensive textile production.

 The ‘Terramare’ culture in the Po Valley, Italy

• The term Terramare culture is used to define the Bronze Age societies that inhabited the central part of the Po Valley between c. 1600 BCE and 1200 BCE.
• The name Terramare comes from terra marna, which is the local dialect’s term to define the dark and fertile soil that characterised the numerous small hills of the Po plain. The hills turned out to be remains of Bronze Age settlements.