Peter Magee

Ancient and modern DNA reveal dynamics of domestication and cross-continental dispersal of the dromedary

Significance The dromedary is one of the largest domesticates, sustainably used in arid and hostile environments. It provides food and transport to millions of people in marginal agricultural areas. We show how important long-distance and back-and-forth movements in ancient caravan routes shaped the species’ genetic diversity. Using a global sample set and ancient mitochondrial DNA analyses, we describe the population structure in modern dromedaries and their wild extinct ancestors. Phylogenetic analyses of ancient and modern dromedaries suggest a history of restocking from wild animals from the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. Dromedaries now extend the list of species for which classic models of domestication from a single center and from wild conspecific individuals in isolation are rejected. Dromedaries have been fundamental to the development of human societies in arid landscapes and for long-distance trade across hostile hot terrains for 3,000 y. Today they continue to be an important livestock resource in marginal agro-ecological zones. However, the history of dromedary domestication and the influence of ancient trading networks on their genetic structure have remained elusive. We combined ancient DNA sequences of wild and early-domesticated dromedary samples from arid regions with nuclear microsatellite and mitochondrial genotype information from 1,083 extant animals collected across the species’ range. We observe little phylogeographic signal in the modern population, indicative of extensive gene flow and virtually affecting all regions except East Africa, where dromedary populations have remained relatively isolated. In agreement with archaeological findings, we identify wild dromedaries from the southeast Arabian Peninsula among the founders of the domestic dromedary gene pool. Approximate Bayesian computations further support the “restocking from the wild” hypothesis, with an initial domestication followed by introgression from individuals from wild, now-extinct populations. Compared with other livestock, which show a long history of gene flow with their wild ancestors, we find a high initial diversity relative to the native distribution of the wild ancestor on the Arabian Peninsula and to the brief coexistence of early-domesticated and wild individuals. This study also demonstrates the potential to retrieve ancient DNA sequences from osseous remains excavated in hot and dry desert environments.

Revisiting Indian Rouletted Ware and the Impact of Indian Ocean Trade in Early Historic South Asia

Indian Rouletted Ware pottery is the iconic marker of the overseas reach of the subcontinent at the turn of the first millennium AD. In the mid twentieth century this was naturally seen as prompted by the contemporary Roman Empire, while the later post-colonial discourse has emphasised the independence and long life of Indian initiatives. In this new analysis the author demonstrates a more complex socio-economic situation. While Greyware is distributed long term over south India, Rouletted ware is made in at least two regional centres for coastal communities using a new ceramic language, one appropriate to an emerging international merchant class.

Seeing through the dunes: Geophysical investigations at Muweilah, an Iron Age site in the United Arab Emirates

Abstract Geophysical techniques have been developed and used in the investigation of archaeological sites predominantly in temperate climates in northern Europe and North America; relatively little geophysical work has been undertaken on sites in arid environments. This article presents a magnetometry survey of the Iron Age (ca. 1300–300 B.C.) site of Muweilah, United Arab Emirates and examines the problems specific to geophysical investigations in arid environments such as large mobile sand dunes. Initially, a background to the archaeology of the United Arab Emirates is provided with an emphasis on the significance of the site of Muweilah in the context of the Iron Age II (ca. 1100–600 B.C.) period in SE Arabia. This is followed by a discussion of the advantages of employing magnetometry on a site such as Muweilah. Having detailed the methods employed and the practical limitations experienced, the results of the magnetometry survey and subsequent test-excavations are provided. A number of positive and negative anomalies were recorded and investigated through excavation. The results indicate that Muweilah is a settlement of significant size. The methodological and archaeological implications of these results are discussed. In conclusion, we show how the results of the geophysical survey significantly augment the current understanding of the site of Muweilah and provide the foundations for future informed archaeological excavations.

Methodologies for the investigation of corroded iron objects: examples from prehistoric sites in South-eastern Arabia and Western Iran

ABSTRACT Ancient iron objects from early Iron Age archaeological sites are almost always severely corroded, which can severely limit the possibilities for their archaeometallurgical analysis. In this paper, a range of corroded iron objects from different sites and regions of the ancient Near East are investigated with the purpose of developing an integrated scientific approach to the investigation of such materials, outlining the capabilities and major technical limitations of currently available techniques. Specific objectives of the research include: (1) Assessing the state of degradation of ancient ferrous objects in respect to the portion of remnant carburized areas preserved; (2) Identifying metallographic structures and evaluating the carbon content from the observation of remnant carburized areas; (3) Developing an understanding of the representativeness of remnant carburized areas in corroded ferrous samples; and (4) Exploring the validity and technical constraints of SEM-EDS analyses of slag inclusions in corroded iron artefacts for the determination of provenance. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

DECONSTRUCTING THE DESTRUCTION OF HASANLU : ARCHAEOLOGY, IMPERIALISM AND THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE IRANIAN IRON AGE

The destruction of Hasanlu IVb at or near 800 BC has remained a fix-point for Iranian and near eastern archaeology for nearly half a century. In this paper the methodological basis for this interpretation are analyzed. Moving from this, a complete stratigraphical and statistical re-analysis of the carbon-14 data from Hasanlu IVB is presented. When combined, these avenues of analysis show that a destruction date in the eighth century BC is not only not negated by the evidence, but jibes with long-held stylistic analysis of some of the Hasanlu IVb artifacts.

Reply to Marom et al.: Mitochondrial panmixia in dromedaries predates ancient caravan trading

In their note, Marom et al. (1) correctly point out that the phylogeographic pattern emerging from the (mito)genetic signatures in modern dromedary breeds and ancient wild and domestic dromedaries may help illuminate the organization of caravan trade. With the latter not being the focus of our paper, however, we did not address this aspect in full detail but concluded that transcontinental and crosscontinental transportation of bulk goods using dromedaries would offer the most plausible explanation for the lack of patterning in our data (2). As far as we understand, the authors do not challenge our conclusions but support our argument that camel caravans played a role in dispersal and genetic admixture. … [↵][1]1To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: pamela.burger{at}vetmeduni.ac.at. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1

Late Arabian Littoral

There is no specific evidence on the climate during this period. It can be assumed that it was not that radically different than today.