Olaf Nehlich

An Aboriginal Australian Genome Reveals Separate Human Dispersals into Asia

Whole-genome data indicate that early modern humans expanded into Australia 62,000 to 75,000 years ago. We present an Aboriginal Australian genomic sequence obtained from a 100-year-old lock of hair donated by an Aboriginal man from southern Western Australia in the early 20th century. We detect no evidence of European admixture and estimate contamination levels to be below 0.5%. We show that Aboriginal Australians are descendants of an early human dispersal into eastern Asia, possibly 62,000 to 75,000 years ago. This dispersal is separate from the one that gave rise to modern Asians 25,000 to 38,000 years ago. We also find evidence of gene flow between populations of the two dispersal waves prior to the divergence of Native Americans from modern Asian ancestors. Our findings support the hypothesis that present-day Aboriginal Australians descend from the earliest humans to occupy Australia, likely representing one of the oldest continuous populations outside Africa.

2000 Years of Parallel Societies in Stone Age Central Europe

Farming or Fishing Evidence has been mounting that most modern European populations originated from the immigration of farmers who displaced the hunter-gatherers of the Mesolithic. Bollongino et al. (p. 479, published online 10 October) present analyses of palaeogenetic and isotopic data from Neolithic human skeletons from the Blätterhöhle burial site in Germany. The analyses identify a Neolithic freshwater fish–eating hunter-gatherer group, living contemporaneously and in close proximity to a Neolithic farming group. While there is some evidence that hunter-gatherer women may have admixed into the farming population, it appears likely that marriage or cultural boundaries between the groups persisted for over two millennia. Thus, the transition from the Mesolithic involved a more complex pattern of coexistence among humans of different genetic origins and cultures in the Neolithic, rather than a more abrupt transition. Genetic and isotopic evidence document changes occurring in Europe during the Neolithic era. Debate on the ancestry of Europeans centers on the interplay between Mesolithic foragers and Neolithic farmers. Foragers are generally believed to have disappeared shortly after the arrival of agriculture. To investigate the relation between foragers and farmers, we examined Mesolithic and Neolithic samples from the Blätterhöhle site. Mesolithic mitochondrial DNA sequences were typical of European foragers, whereas the Neolithic sample included additional lineages that are associated with early farmers. However, isotope analyses separate the Neolithic sample into two groups: one with an agriculturalist diet and one with a forager and freshwater fish diet, the latter carrying mitochondrial DNA sequences typical of Mesolithic hunter-gatherers. This indicates that the descendants of Mesolithic people maintained a foraging lifestyle in Central Europe for more than 2000 years after the arrival of farming societies.

Stable isotope dietary analysis of the Tianyuan 1 early modern human

We report here on the isotopic analysis of the diet of one of the oldest modern humans found in Eurasia, the Tianyuan 1 early modern human dating to ≈40,000 calendar years ago from Tianyuan Cave (Tianyuandong) in the Zhoukoudian region of China. Carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of the human and associated faunal remains indicate a diet high in animal protein, and the high nitrogen isotope values suggest the consumption of freshwater fish. To confirm this inference, we measured the sulfur isotope values of terrestrial and freshwater animals around the Zhoukoudian area and of the Tianyuan 1 human, which also support the interpretation of a substantial portion of the diet from freshwater fish. This analysis provides the direct evidence for the consumption of aquatic resources by early modern humans in China and has implications for early modern human subsistence and demography.

Multi-isotopic analysis reveals individual mobility and diet at the Early Iron Age monumental tumulus of Magdalenenberg, Germany.

For the Early Iron Age western Hallstatt culture, which includes the site of Magdalenenberg in southwest Germany, it has been proposed that people were mobile and maintained far reaching social and trading networks throughout Europe. We tested this hypothesis by analyzing multiple isotopes (strontium, oxygen, sulfur, carbon, and nitrogen) of the preserved skeletons from the Magdalenenberg elite cemetery to determine diets and to look for evidence of mobility. The analysis of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur isotope ratios in collagen of humans (n = 50) and associated domestic fauna (n = 10) indicates a terrestrial-based diet. There was a heterogeneous range of isotope values in both strontium (0.70725 to 0.71923, n = 76) and oxygen (13.4‰ to 18.5‰, n = 78) measured in tooth enamel. Although many of the individuals had values consistent with being from Hallstatt culture sites within southwest Germany, some individuals likely originated from further afield. Possible areas include the Alps of Switzerland and Austria or even locations in Italy. Our study strongly supports the assumption of far reaching social and economic networks in the western Hallstatt culture.

Quantitative diet reconstruction of a Neolithic population using a Bayesian mixing model (FRUITS): The case study of Ostorf (Germany)

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 (δ13 Ccollagen , δ15 Ncollagen , δ13 Cbioapatite , δ34 Smethione , 14 Ccollagen ). 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.

Investigation of diachronic dietary patterns on the islands of Ibiza and Formentera, Spain: Evidence from sulfur stable isotope ratio analysis

We present sulfur isotope ratio measurements of bone collagen from animals (n = 75) and humans (n = 120) from five sites dating to four chronological periods (Chalcolithic, Punic, Late Antiquity-Early Byzantine, and Islamic) from the Balearic Islands of Ibiza and Formentera, Spain. This study is a follow up to previously published δ(13)C and δ(15)N values by [Fuller et al.: Am J Phys Anthropol 143 (2010) 512-522] and focuses on using δ(34)S values to better understand the dietary patterns of these populations through time and to possibly identify immigrants to these islands. The range of δ(34)S values (10.5-17.8‰) observed for the animals was relatively broad, which suggests that a significant sea spray effect has added marine sulfates to the soils of Formentera and Ibiza. The mean δ(34)S values of the different human populations were found to be: Chalcolithic (16.5 ± 1.4‰), Punic rural (13.6 ± 1.7‰), Punic urban (12.9 ± 1.8‰), Late Antiquity-Early Byzantine (12.3 ± 2.1‰), and Islamic (9.1 ± 2.7‰). These human δ(34)S results are similar to the animal data, a finding that supports the notion that there was little marine protein consumption by these societies and that the diet was mainly based on terrestrial resources. During the Punic and Late Antiquity-Early Byzantine periods the δ(34)S values were used to identify individuals in the population who likely were not born or raised on the islands. In addition, 18 of the 20 individuals analyzed from the Islamic period have δ(34)S values that indicate that they were immigrants to Ibiza who died before acquiring the new local sulfur isotopic signature.

Maritime adaptations and dietary variation in prehistoric Western Alaska: Stable isotope analysis of permafrost‐preserved human hair

The reconstruction of diet and subsistence strategies is integral in understanding early human colonizations and cultural adaptations, especially in the Arctic-one of the last areas of North America to be permanently inhabited. However, evidence for early subsistence practices in Western Alaska varies, particularly with regards to the emergence, importance, and intensity of sea mammal hunting. Here, we present stable carbon and nitrogen isotope data from permafrost-preserved human hair from two new prehistoric sites in Western Alaska, providing a direct measure of diet. The isotope evidence indicates a heavy reliance on sea mammal protein among the earlier Norton-period group (1,750 ± 40 cal BP), confirming that the complex hunting technologies required to intensively exploit these animals were most likely already in place in this region by at least the beginning of 1st millennium AD. In contrast, analysis of the more recent Thule-period hair samples (650 ± 40 cal BP; 570 ± 30 cal BP) reveals a more mixed diet, including terrestrial animal protein. Sequential isotope analysis of two longer human hair locks indicates seasonal differences in diet in a single Norton-period individual but demonstrates little dietary variation in a Thule-period individual. These analyses provide direct evidence for dietary differences among Alaskas early Eskimo groups and confirm the antiquity of specialized sea mammal hunting and procurement technologies. The results of this study have implications for our understanding of human adaptation to maritime and high-latitude environments, and the geographical and temporal complexity in early Arctic subsistence.

Climate-driven environmental changes around 8,200 years ago favoured increases in cetacean strandings and Mediterranean hunter-gatherers exploited them.

Cetacean mass strandings occur regularly worldwide, yet the compounded effects of natural and anthropogenic factors often complicate our understanding of these phenomena. Evidence of past stranding episodes may, thus, be essential to establish the potential influence of climate change. Investigations on bones from the site of Grotta dell’Uzzo in North West Sicily (Italy) show that the rapid climate change around 8,200 years ago coincided with increased strandings in the Mediterranean Sea. Stable isotope analyses on collagen from a large sample of remains recovered at this cave indicate that Mesolithic hunter-gatherers relied little on marine resources. A human and a red fox dating to the 8.2-kyr-BP climatic event, however, acquired at least one third of their protein from cetaceans. Numerous carcasses should have been available annually, for at least a decade, to obtain these proportions of meat. Our findings imply that climate-driven environmental changes, caused by global warming, may represent a serious threat to cetaceans in the near future.

British Iron Age chariot burials of the Arras culture: a multi-isotope approach to investigating mobility levels and subsistence practices

Iron Age chariot burials in the UK are rare and restricted in their distribution. Historically it has been suggested that their Arras culture affinities with Continental Europe, particularly with the Paris basin in France, may be indicative of migration. The majority of them are found on chalk and the putative source region is also chalk. This has meant that a study using only strontium isotopes to identify mobile individuals is problematic. Here we present a range of isotope ratio data (strontium, oxygen, carbon, nitrogen and sulphur) for seven chariot burials from Wetwang, Garton Station and Kirkburn. The majority of them are of men and women who were born and lived locally, although the individual from Kirkburn is likely to have spent his childhood elsewhere. They do, however, differ quite subtly from others in the local population, probably in their relationship to a local land-use pattern operating between two distinct biospheres.

Inter- and intraspecies variability in stable isotope ratio values of archaeological freshwater fish remains from Switzerland (11th–19th centuries AD)

This paper presents carbon and nitrogen isotopic results from several Swiss freshwater fish (Esox lucius, Perca fluviatilis, Barbus barbus, Rutilus rutilus and other Cyprinidae) in order to provide information about their trophic level, feeding habits and provenance. Freshwater fish remains are regularly recovered from archaeological contexts in Switzerland, which attests to the importance of these aquatic food resources to past communities. However, it can be difficult to determine the effect of freshwater fish consumption in human bone isotope signatures by stable isotope ratio analysis. Therefore, an establishment of baseline isotope signatures of freshwater fish by region and time is necessary. Additionally, freshwater fish isotope analysis can serve as a backdrop for research on former aquatic isotopic ecology. We measured carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios of 140 freshwater fish bone samples from sites dating between the 11th and 19th centuries AD. Suitable C:N ratios (2·9–3·6) were obtained from 56 of the samples, a rather low success rate that may be the result of diagenetic contamination and insufficient sample weight (<20 mg). A high inter- and intraspecies variability of freshwater fish isotope signature was observed. The δ15N results indicate a size and age-related trophic level effect. Heterogeneous carbon isotope signatures from samples from the same site could indicate spatial variation in isotope values within a single ecosystem or alternatively represent the use of different fishing grounds.