Ildikó Pap

Early dispersal of modern humans in Europe and implications for Neanderthal behaviour

The appearance of anatomically modern humans in Europe and the nature of the transition from the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic are matters of intense debate. Most researchers accept that before the arrival of anatomically modern humans, Neanderthals had adopted several ‘transitional’ technocomplexes. Two of these, the Uluzzian of southern Europe and the Châtelperronian of western Europe, are key to current interpretations regarding the timing of arrival of anatomically modern humans in the region and their potential interaction with Neanderthal populations. They are also central to current debates regarding the cognitive abilities of Neanderthals and the reasons behind their extinction. However, the actual fossil evidence associated with these assemblages is scant and fragmentary, and recent work has questioned the attribution of the Châtelperronian to Neanderthals on the basis of taphonomic mixing and lithic analysis. Here we reanalyse the deciduous molars from the Grotta del Cavallo (southern Italy), associated with the Uluzzian and originally classified as Neanderthal. Using two independent morphometric methods based on microtomographic data, we show that the Cavallo specimens can be attributed to anatomically modern humans. The secure context of the teeth provides crucial evidence that the makers of the Uluzzian technocomplex were therefore not Neanderthals. In addition, new chronometric data for the Uluzzian layers of Grotta del Cavallo obtained from associated shell beads and included within a Bayesian age model show that the teeth must date to ∼45,000–43,000 calendar years before present. The Cavallo human remains are therefore the oldest known European anatomically modern humans, confirming a rapid dispersal of modern humans across the continent before the Aurignacian and the disappearance of Neanderthals.

Genome flux and stasis in a five millennium transect of European prehistory

The Great Hungarian Plain was a crossroads of cultural transformations that have shaped European prehistory. Here we analyse a 5,000-year transect of human genomes, sampled from petrous bones giving consistently excellent endogenous DNA yields, from 13 Hungarian Neolithic, Copper, Bronze and Iron Age burials including two to high (~22 × ) and seven to ~1 × coverage, to investigate the impact of these on Europe’s genetic landscape. These data suggest genomic shifts with the advent of the Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Ages, with interleaved periods of genome stability. The earliest Neolithic context genome shows a European hunter-gatherer genetic signature and a restricted ancestral population size, suggesting direct contact between cultures after the arrival of the first farmers into Europe. The latest, Iron Age, sample reveals an eastern genomic influence concordant with introduced Steppe burial rites. We observe transition towards lighter pigmentation and surprisingly, no Neolithic presence of lactase persistence.

The elusive diploic veins: anthropological and anatomical perspective.

Diploic veins (Canales diploicae), which were identified in dogs by Dupuytren more than 200 years ago (Hecker [1845] Die anatomische Verhaltnisse und Krankheiten der Venae diploicae und Vasa emissaria. Erfahrungen und Abhandlungen im Gebiete der Chirurgie und Augenheilkunde. Erlangen), have remained inadequately understood and scantily referenced in the anatomical and anthropological literature. The tunnels formed by diploic veins are among the few known skeletal markers of soft tissue alteration. Protected by two bony laminae, diploic vein tunnels often resist postdepositional destruction and may provide a new way to assess living and extinct hominid populations. This basic research was carried out to enable future utilization of the diploic venous channels in anthropologic research. In the present study, diploic venous channels were observed radiographically in 108 human adults aged 19 years and above, 18 infants and children aged 1-18 years (Hamann-Todd Osteological Collection), eight fetuses aged 7-9 months (the Johns Hopkins Collection), and seven nonhuman primates (Hamann-Todd Osteological Collection). In addition, seven documented cases of parents and children were radiographed for genetic evaluation (Osteological Collection of The Hungarian Natural History Museum). Five distinct diploic distribution patterns were identified and described in this study. This was at variance with the impressions reported in dissection-based studies. Independence of diploic vein pattern from demographic (gender and age) and size factors and their tendency to be symmetrical make them amenable and reliable traits for skeletal population study. Diploic vein patterns appeared to be more complicated in humans than in nonhuman primates, raising the possibility of future phylogenetic applications.

Skeletal evidence for health and disease in the Iron Age of northeastern Hungary

As part of a project to examine health trends in northeastern Hungary, 171 individuals originating from two Iron Age sites were examined. The analysis produced data comparable with those previously published from the Bronze Age in the same area. Comparison suggests slight temporal increases in most indicators of morbidity.

A migration-driven model for the historical spread of leprosy in medieval Eastern and Central Europe

Leprosy was rare in Europe during the Roman period, yet its prevalence increased dramatically in medieval times. We examined human remains, with paleopathological lesions indicative of leprosy, dated to the 6th-11th century AD, from Central and Eastern Europe and Byzantine Anatolia. Analysis of ancient DNA and bacterial cell wall lipid biomarkers revealed Mycobacterium leprae in skeletal remains from 6th-8th century Northern Italy, 7th-11th century Hungary, 8th-9th century Austria, the Slavic Greater Moravian Empire of the 9th-10th century and 8th-10th century Byzantine samples from Northern Anatolia. These data were analyzed alongside findings published by others. M. leprae is an obligate human pathogen that has undergone an evolutionary bottleneck followed by clonal expansion. Therefore M. leprae genotypes and sub-genotypes give information about the human populations they have infected and their migration. Although data are limited, genotyping demonstrates that historical M. leprae from Byzantine Anatolia, Eastern and Central Europe resembles modern strains in Asia Minor rather than the recently characterized historical strains from North West Europe. The westward migration of peoples from Central Asia in the first millennium may have introduced different M. leprae strains into medieval Europe and certainly would have facilitated the spread of any existing leprosy. The subsequent decline of M. leprae in Europe may be due to increased host resistance. However, molecular evidence of historical leprosy and tuberculosis co-infections suggests that death from tuberculosis in leprosy patients was also a factor.

Evolutionary changes in the genome of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and the human genome from 9000 years BP until modern times

The demonstration of Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA in ancient skeletons gives researchers an insight into its evolution. Findings of the last two decades sketched the biological relationships between the various species of tubercle bacilli, the time scale involved, their possible origin and dispersal. This paper includes the available evidence and on-going research. In the submerged Eastern Mediterranean Neolithic village of Atlit Yam (9000 BP), a human lineage of M. tuberculosis, defined by the TbD1 deletion in its genome, was demonstrated. An infected infant at the site provides an example of active tuberculosis in a human with a naïve immune system. Over 4000 years later tuberculosis was found in Jericho. Urbanization increases population density encouraging M. tuberculosis/human co-evolution. As susceptible humans die of tuberculosis, survivors develop genetic resistance to disease. Thus in 18th century Hungarian mummies from Vác, 65% were positive for tuberculosis yet a 95-year-old woman had clearly survived a childhood Ghon lesion. Whole genome studies are in progress, to detect changes over the millennia both in bacterial virulence and also host susceptibility/resistance genes that determine the NRAMP protein and Killer Cell Immunoglobulin-like Receptors (KIRs). This paper surveys present evidence and includes initial findings.

Enamel thickness variation of deciduous first and second upper molars in modern humans and Neanderthals

Enamel thickness and dental tissue proportions have been recognized as effective taxonomic discriminators between Neanderthal and modern humans teeth. However, most of the research on this topic focused on permanent teeth, and little information is available for the deciduous dentition. Moreover, although worn teeth are more frequently found than unworn teeth, published data for worn teeth are scarce and methods for the assessment of their enamel thickness need to be developed. Here, we addressed this issue by studying the 2D average enamel thickness (AET) and 2D relative enamel thickness (RET) of Neanderthal and modern humans unworn to moderately worn upper first deciduous molars (dm(1)s) and upper second deciduous molars (dm(2)s). In particular, we used 3D μCT data to investigate the mesial section for dm(1)s and both mesial and buccal sections for dm(2)s. Our results confirmed previous findings of an Neanderthal derived condition of thin enamel, and thinner enamel in dm(1)s than dm(2)s in both Neanderthal and modern humans. We demonstrated that the Neanderthal 2D RET indices are significantly lower than those of modern humans at similar wear stages in both dm(1)s and dm(2)s (p < 0.05). The discriminant analysis showed that using 2D RET from dm(1) and dm(2) sections at different wear stages up to 93% of the individuals are correctly classified. Moreover, we showed that the dm(2) buccal sections, although non-conventionally used, might have an advantage on mesial sections since they distinguish as well as mesial sections but tend to be less worn. Therefore, the 2D analysis of enamel thickness is suggested as a means for taxonomic discrimination between modern humans and Neanderthal unworn to moderately worn upper deciduous molars.

Ancient DNA analysis – an established technique in charting the evolution of tuberculosis and leprosy

Many tuberculosis and leprosy infections are latent or paucibacillary, suggesting a long time-scale for host and pathogen co-existence. Palaeopathology enables recognition of archaeological cases and PCR detects pathogen ancient DNA (aDNA). Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium leprae cell wall lipids are more stable than aDNA and restrict permeability, thereby possibly aiding long-term persistence of pathogen aDNA. Amplification of aDNA, using specific PCR primers designed for short fragments and linked to fluorescent probes, gives good results, especially when designed to target multi-copy loci. Such studies have confirmed tuberculosis and leprosy, including co-infections. Many tuberculosis cases have non-specific or no visible skeletal pathology, consistent with the natural history of this disease. M. tuberculosis and M. leprae are obligate parasites, closely associated with their human host following recent clonal distribution. Therefore genotyping based on single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) can indicate their origins, spread and phylogeny. Knowledge of extant genetic lineages at particular times in past human populations can be obtained from well-preserved specimens where molecular typing is possible, using deletion analysis, microsatellite analysis and whole genome sequencing. Such studies have identified non-bovine tuberculosis from a Pleistocene bison from 17,500 years BP, human tuberculosis from 9000 years ago and leprosy from over 2000 years ago.

Genetic structure of the early Hungarian conquerors inferred from mtDNA haplotypes and Y-chromosome haplogroups in a small cemetery.

We applied ancient DNA methods to shed light on the origin of ancient Hungarians and their relation to modern populations. Hungarians moved into the Carpathian Basin from the Eurasian Pontic steppes in the year 895 AD as a confederation of seven tribes, but their further origin remains obscure. Here, we present 17 mtDNA haplotypes and four Y-chromosome haplogroups, which portray the genetic composition of an entire small cemetery of the first generation Hungarians. Using novel algorithms to compare these mitochondrial DNA haplogroups with other ancient and modern Eurasian data, we revealed that a significant portion of the Hungarians probably originated from a long ago consolidated gene pool in Central Asia-South Siberia, which still persists in modern Hungarians. Another genetic layer of the early Hungarians was obtained during their westward migrations by admixing with various populations of European origin, and an important component of these was derived from the Caucasus region. Most of the modern populations, which are genetically closest relatives of ancient Hungarians, today speak non-Indo-European languages. Our results contribute to our understanding of the peopling of Europe by providing ancient DNA data from a still genetically poorly studied period of medieval human migrations.

Two positive tuberculosis cases in the late Nigrovits family, 18th century, Vác, Hungary

Two mummies of the Hungarian mummy collection from Vác were the subjects of anthropological, paleopathological, radiological, paleomicrobiological, paleohistological and paleoproteomic studies. Both individuals belonged to the same family. The father, József Nigrovits (No 29), died at the age of 55 on the 11th of November 1793; his son, Antal Nigrovits (No 54), died on the 16th of July 1803, at the age of 22. They lived in the 18th century in Vác, a small town in northern Hungary. The macroscopic examination of the son showed a severely deformed neck and back region; the father has no visible mark of any illnesses. As earlier researches showed that tuberculosis was widespread in the community, the etiology of these deformities was examined. The paleomicrobiological results found that both individuals were infected with tuberculosis. Although they suffered from TB, the CT scan data of the bodies and their 3D reconstructions showed no skeletal evidence of tuberculosis. The deformity of the son turned to be a developmental abnormality of unknown origin, but no Potts gibbus was present.