Thomas Terberger

Genetic discontinuity between local hunter-gatherers and central Europe's first farmers

Cultivating Farmers Were the ancestors of modern Europeans the local hunter-gatherers who assimilated farming practices from neighboring cultures, or were they farmers who migrated from the Near East in the early Neolithic? By analyzing ancient hunter-gatherer skeletal DNA from 2300 to 13,400 B.C.E. Bramanti et al. (p. 137, published online 3 September) investigated the genetic relationship of European Ice Age hunter-gatherers, the first farmers of Europe, and modern Europeans. The results reject the hypothesis of direct continuity between hunter-gatherers and early farmers and between hunter-gatherers and modern Europeans. Major parts of central and northern Europe were colonized by incoming farmers 7500 years ago, who were not descended from the resident hunter-gatherers. Thus, migration rather than cultural diffusion was the driver of farming communities in Europe. Skeletal DNA shows the relationship between Ice Age hunter-gatherers, the first farmers, and modern Europeans. After the domestication of animals and crops in the Near East some 11,000 years ago, farming had reached much of central Europe by 7500 years before the present. The extent to which these early European farmers were immigrants or descendants of resident hunter-gatherers who had adopted farming has been widely debated. We compared new mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences from late European hunter-gatherer skeletons with those from early farmers and from modern Europeans. We find large genetic differences between all three groups that cannot be explained by population continuity alone. Most (82%) of the ancient hunter-gatherers share mtDNA types that are relatively rare in central Europeans today. Together, these analyses provide persuasive evidence that the first farmers were not the descendants of local hunter-gatherers but immigrated into central Europe at the onset of the Neolithic.

Hiatus or continuity? New results for the question of pleniglacial settlement in Central Europe

35). The text makes clear that the ‘north- ern Europe’ of the model includes large areas of western central Europe north of the Alps and extending to the British Isles as the most north- westerly outlier of Europe. The postulated lateglacial reoccupation of Europe, with origins in southwestern Europe, apparently reached the upper Rhineland (the Kesslerloch site) in a ‘pio- ncer phase’ at

The last Pleniglacial and the human settlement of Central Europe: new information from the Rhineland site of Wiesbaden-Igstadt

AMS and other dating methods have been applied to the problem of Upper Palaeolithic occupation in Central Europe. The results from the excavations at the Rhineland site of Wiesbaden-Igstadt provide an opportunity for comparison and discussion of whether central Europe was really subject to abandonment at various times during Glacial/Pleniglacial episodes.

Dietary habits and freshwater reservoir effects in bones from a Neolithic NE German cemetery

Within a project on Stone Age sites of NE Germany, 26 burials from the Ostorf cemetery and some further Neolithic sites have been analyzed by more than 40 accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dates. We here present the results of stable isotope and radiocarbon measurements together with reference 14C dates on grave goods from terrestrial animals such as tooth pendants found in 10 of the graves. Age differences between human individuals and their associated grave goods are used to calculate 14C reservoir effects. The resulting substantial reservoir effects have revealed misleadingly high 14C ages of their remains, which originally indicated a surprisingly early occurrence of graves and long-term use of this Neolithic burial site. We demonstrate that in order to 14C date the human bones from Ostorf cemetery, it is of utmost importance to distinguish between terrestrial- and freshwater-influenced diet. The latter may result in significantly higher than marine reservoir ages with apparent 14C ages up to ~800 yr too old. The carbon and nitrogen isotopic composition may provide a basis for or an indicator of necessary corrections of dates on humans where no datable grave goods of terrestrial origin such as tooth pendants or tusks are available. Based on the associated age control animals, there is no evidence that the dated earliest burials occurred any earlier than 3300 BC, in contrast to the original first impression of the grave site (~3800 BC).

Final Paleolithic and Mesolithic Research in Reunified Germany

During the past decade research into the German Final Paleolithic and Mesolithic has experienced an important revival. One clear sign of this renewed interest in the periods are the annual meetings of the “Arbeitsgruppe Mesolithikum” (Mesolithic Working Group) which have taken place every spring since 1992. At these meetings, which take place at changing venues, topical themes of Final Paleolithic and Mesolithic interest are presented by informal lectures and it is also possible to study regional collections (artifacts, raw materials) at first hand. Numerous contributions were subsequently published together in one volume (Conard and Kind (1998) Aktuelle Forschungen zum Mesolithikum/Current Mesolithic Research, Mo Vince, Tübingen). The present paper intends to complement that collection of papers with a synthesis of developments and perspectives and to present recent research highlights in the German Final Paleolithic and Mesolithic, together with a comprehensive bibliography, to a wider international audience.

New insights on the wooden weapons from the Paleolithic site of Schöningen

The Paleolithic site of Schöningen is famous for the earliest known, completely preserved wooden weapons. Here we present recent results of an ongoing analysis of the nine spears, one lance, a double pointed stick, and a burnt stick dating to the Holsteinian, c. 300 kyr. Macroscopic and microscopic analyses, as well as studies of thin sections, contribute to a better understanding of the manufacture of the wooden weapons. They were deposited in organic sediments at a former lakeshore among numerous bones of butchered horses. In general, the spears are extremely well-preserved and show no or little sign of taphonomic alteration, although some of the weapons are broken and parts were slightly moved, probably by water action. The excellent preservation conditions provide considerable information on the operational sequence of production. The hunters selected thin trunks of spruce or pine and initially stripped off the bark. Traces of cutting, scraping, and smoothing can be observed on the spear surfaces in detail. In the case of spear X, repeated use of the weapon is implied by re-sharpening of the tip. Analyses of wood anatomy provide information on climatic conditions and contribute to the better understanding of the development of the site.

Stone age skull surgery in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern: a systematic study.

OBJECTIVE Trephination of the cranial vault is the oldest known surgical procedure and has often been reported in the literature. The present study was performed to study the incidence, the techniques used, and possible indications for trephinations in the region of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the most northeastern German state. METHODS One hundred thirteen of a total of 115 Neolithic (c. 2000-3500 BC) skulls and eight smaller skull fragments found in the region of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern were examined. Defects and abrasions were detected in 31 of these skulls and underwent further examination (careful microscopic and/or endoscopic examination, three-dimensional computed tomography, and x-rays). RESULTS Six skulls showed defects resulting from trephination, mainly located along the midline or in the left parieto-occipital region. There was good osteological evidence that at least five of these operations had been survived. Two different techniques for trephination (circular cuts and scraping) had been used. CONCLUSION From the present study, we conclude that the incidence of trephination in Neolithic skulls in our region is at least 5% and that these operations had been survived in singular cases. There is increasing evidence that these procedures were intended to be curative.

A Bronze Age battlefield? Weapons and trauma in the Tollense Valley, north-eastern Germany

Chance discoveries of weapons, horse bones and human skeletal remains along the banks of the River Tollense led to a campaign of research which has identified them as the debris from a Bronze Age battle. The resources of war included horses, arrowheads and wooden clubs, and the dead had suffered blows indicating face-to-face combat. This surprisingly modern and decidedly vicious struggle took place over the swampy braided streams of the river in an area of settled, possibly coveted, territory. Washed along by the current, the bodies and weapons came to rest on a single alluvial surface.

Radiocarbon Dating the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic Transition: The Demise of the Last Neanderthals and the First Appearance of Anatomically Modern Humans in Europe

Only a precise chronological/stratigraphical framework can enable an understanding of the dynamics of change underlying the replacement of Neanderthals by Anatomically Modern Humans and the emergence of what are recognized as Upper Palaeolithic technologies and behaviour. This paper therefore examines the European radiocarbon-based chronometric record for the period between ca. 40.0 and 30.0 ka 14C BP with reference to the stratigraphic evidence. The following testable hypotheses are proposed:

The Homo aurignaciensis hauseri from Combe-Capelle: a Mesolithic burial.

On August 26, 1909, a laborer, employed by Otto Hauser discovered a human skull at the site of Roc de Combe-Capelle in the department of the Dordogne (southwestern France). Hauser, who was absent from the site at the time, was immediately made aware of the important nature of the remains, which were discovered about 2 m below the surface (Hauser, 1924). In the subsequent weeks, he organized the excavation of the burial with the support of anthropologist Hermann Klaatsch. The find was rather welldocumented for that time and according to a series of photographs, the skeleton, estimated to be between 40 and 50 years of age, was lying in a flexed position, turned to the right, in a NeS direction (Fig. 1). Hauser and Klaatsch proposed that the burial was connected with the lowermost ‘Aurignacian’ layer. This was the only identified early Upper Paleolithic assemblage recognized at this time, as corroborated by a number of supposed grave goods and 16 mollusc shells, mostly perforated, which were found close to the skull (Klaatsch and Hauser, 1910). Otto Hauser was also a businessman and within a few weeks he made Combe-Capelle well-known as an early modern human burial site. Hauser offered to sell the find, together with the Neandertal specimen found in 1908 at Le Moustier (France), for 160,000 Goldmark. The Berlin Museum arranged to purchase the finds, with the support of donors such as Kaiser Wilhelm II, and both burials were on display in the German capital from 1910 onwards. On February 3, 1945, the postcranial remains of the skeletons were destroyed during the bombing of the MartinGropius building, while the skulls were safely deposited in the storage rooms (Hoffmann, 2003). In 1955, a few burnt human bones