The social organization of the first fully sedentary societies that emerged during the Neolithic period in Southwest Asia remains enigmatic,1 mainly because material culture studies provide limited ...insight into this issue. However, because Neolithic Anatolian communities often buried their dead beneath domestic buildings,2 household composition and social structure can be studied through these human remains. Here, we describe genetic relatedness among co-burials associated with domestic buildings in Neolithic Anatolia using 59 ancient genomes, including 22 new genomes from Aşıklı Höyük and Çatalhöyük. We infer pedigree relationships by simultaneously analyzing multiple types of information, including autosomal and X chromosome kinship coefficients, maternal markers, and radiocarbon dating. In two early Neolithic villages dating to the 9th and 8th millennia BCE, Aşıklı Höyük and Boncuklu, we discover that siblings and parent-offspring pairings were frequent within domestic structures, which provides the first direct indication of close genetic relationships among co-burials. In contrast, in the 7th millennium BCE sites of Çatalhöyük and Barcın, where we study subadults interred within and around houses, we find close genetic relatives to be rare. Hence, genetic relatedness may not have played a major role in the choice of burial location at these latter two sites, at least for subadults. This supports the hypothesis that in Çatalhöyük,3–5 and possibly in some other Neolithic communities, domestic structures may have served as burial location for social units incorporating biologically unrelated individuals. Our results underscore the diversity of kin structures in Neolithic communities during this important phase of sociocultural development.
•Genetic kinship estimated from co-buried individuals’ genomes in Neolithic Anatolia•Close relatives are common among co-burials in Aşıklı and Boncuklu•Many unrelated infants found buried in the same building in Çatalhöyük and Barcın•Neolithic societies in Southwest Asia may have held diverse concepts of kinship
Yaka et al. use ancient genomes from Neolithic Anatolia and present evidence for diverse concepts of social kinship in Neolithic societies. In some communities, like Çatalhöyük, many genetically unrelated infants were buried together inside the same buildings, whereas in other sites, people buried together were frequently close biological kin.
To provide a historic snapshot as regards the evolution of headache treatment throughout the human history, i.e. starting from trepanation to perisutural botulinum toxin (BoNT) injections. Ancient ...surgeons had aimed to reach the cranium with trepanation (a surgical operation) for headache. As BoNT inhibits the release of nociceptive and pro-inflammatory neuropeptides, it has been recently suggested as an effective alternative in the prophylactic treatment of chronic migraine headache. Chronic migraine is a complex neurological disorder for which the underlying pathophysiology is yet not totally explained. According to the generally accepted hypotheses, peripheral neurogenic activation and central trigeminal sensitization are the two main mechanisms through which its pain develops. Since the headache most commonly occurs around the perisutural areas, and as the primary pathogenesis stem from the meningeal nerve fibers; collateral sensorial branches of the meningeal nerves can be optimal paths to transport BoNT inside the cranium. Concerning the therapeutic efficacy, we anticipate that perisutural injections would be technically challenging with blind techniques and actually possible only if performed under an imaging guidance, e.g. very conveniently with high frequency ultrasound.
We present a spatiotemporal picture of human genetic diversity in Anatolia, Iran, Levant, South Caucasus, and the Aegean, a broad region that experienced the earliest Neolithic transition and the ...emergence of complex hierarchical societies. Combining 35 new ancient shotgun genomes with 382 ancient and 23 present-day published genomes, we found that genetic diversity within each region steadily increased through the Holocene. We further observed that the inferred sources of gene flow shifted in time. In the first half of the Holocene, Southwest Asian and the East Mediterranean populations homogenized among themselves. Starting with the Bronze Age, however, regional populations diverged from each other, most likely driven by gene flow from external sources, which we term “the expanding mobility model.” Interestingly, this increase in inter-regional divergence can be captured by outgroup-f3-based genetic distances, but not by the commonly used FST statistic, due to the sensitivity of FST, but not outgroup-f3, to within-population diversity. Finally, we report a temporal trend of increasing male bias in admixture events through the Holocene.
•Genetic diversity in Southwest Asia increased continuously through the Holocene•Regional populations admixed among themselves with the Neolithic•After the Bronze Age, populations diverged from each other via distant gene flow•Male-to-female bias increased over time in inter-regional human movements
Koptekin et al. use ancient genomes to infer population movements in Southwest Asia through 10,000 years, which saw the emergence of agriculture and later of complex societies with distant connections. The authors propose “the expanding mobility model,” where migration ranges increased over time, accompanied by growing male bias in movements.
The question of the presence of organized violence in the Neolithic settlements in Middle East has been debated. This paper presents possible examples of organized violence from the Neolithic period, ...representing early examples of settlements in Anatolia, to the Early Bronze Age, which provides the early instances of central authority. Most injuries detected among Neolithic populations in Anatolia have been associated with daily activities. Although individual examples of interpersonal violence exist among Neolithic and Chalcolithic populations in Anatolia, but they are far from representing organized violence. On the other hand the Early Bronze Age populations present clear evidence of perimortem wounds, mass burials, high frequency of cranial fractures, walls surrounding cities, and metal weapons in Anatolia. This suggests an increased evidence of organized violence in EBA Anatolia. Based on bioarchaeological data, it is concluded that violence in these settlements resulted from one or more ecological and social factors. However, each settlement might have peculiar reason for fighting.
Upper Mesopotamia played a key role in the Neolithic Transition in Southwest Asia through marked innovations in symbolism, technology, and diet. We present 13 ancient genomes (c. 8500 to 7500 cal ...BCE) from Pre-Pottery Neolithic Çayönü in the Tigris basin together with bioarchaeological and material culture data. Our findings reveal that Çayönü was a genetically diverse population, carrying mixed ancestry from western and eastern Fertile Crescent, and that the community received immigrants. Our results further suggest that the community was organized along biological family lines. We document bodily interventions such as head shaping and cauterization among the individuals examined, reflecting Çayönü’s cultural ingenuity. Last, we identify Upper Mesopotamia as the likely source of eastern gene flow into Neolithic Anatolia, in line with material culture evidence. We hypothesize that Upper Mesopotamia’s cultural dynamism during the Neolithic Transition was the product not only of its fertile lands but also of its interregional demographic connections.
Neolithic Upper Mesopotamia was a center of cultural innovation; ancient genomes now reveal that it was also a migration hub.
Asterion is the junction of lambdoid, parietomastoid and occipitomastoid sutures and it corresponds to the location of the posterolateral fontanelle. It is close related to the location of junction ...of transverse and sigmoid sinuses. Mastoid process, posterior end of zygomatic arch, external occipital protuberance and lambda are bony features in close proximity of asterion. In the present study we measured the distance between asterion and each of aforementioned bony points. Twenty human dry skulls were included in this study. Distance between asterion and mastoid process was 43.65 ± 6.75 mm on the leftside and 45.01± 6.04mm on the right side. Distance between asterion and posterior end of zygomatic arch was 43.97 ± 7.37 mm on the leftside and 43.95± 7.02 mm on the right side. Distance between asterion and external occipital protuberance was 62.59 ± 8.83 mm on the leftside and 54.75 ±5.57mm on the right side. Distance between asterion and lambda was 81.40 ± 7.36 mm on the leftside and 82 ± 4.96 mm on the right side. In 84 % of the cases asterion was at the junction of transverse and sigmoid sinuses. In 12% of the cases asterion was below the junction of transverse and sigmoid sinuses. In 4 % of the cases asterion was above the junction of transverse and sigmoid sinuses. Asterion is the essential point to indicate safety zone for surgical approach and to determine sex and age. It is of great interest of anatomists, anthropologists, forensic experts, radiologists and neurosurgeons
At Aşıklı Höyük, one of the earliest Pre-pottery Neolithic mound sites in Central Anatolia, a shift in animal utilization from broad-spectrum exploitation of diverse animal species to a concentration ...on managed caprines has been observed. Changes in the balance of meat to plant foods over the same time frame remain an open question. In this study, carbon and nitrogen isotopic analyses of bulk collagen and compound-specific nitrogen isotopic analysis of amino acids were undertaken for the human remains to elucidate the dietary impact of the hunting to herding transition over a span of about 1000 years. The results showed that animal protein consumption did not change very much as managed sheep became the main source of meat. The contribution of animal protein to the total human diet at Aşıklı Höyük is similar to comparison data on later Neolithic farmers in Anatolia measured in previous studies. The early development of ungulate management and the increasing focus on just a few prey species do not appear to have forced drastic changes in the extent human carnivory from the early Pre-pottery Neolithic to the early Pottery Neolithic. However, human individuals showed similar isotopic compositions within the same buildings at Aşıklı, suggesting variation in food consumption by household.
•This study reconstructs the diets of early pastoral societies in southwest Asia.•At Aşıklı Höyük, a shift of subsistence from hunting to sheep herding was observed.•Nitrogen isotopic analysis of amino acids provides new information on the rate of animal protein intake.•The animal protein consumption did not change despite major change from hunting economy to highly dependent on managed sheep.•The similarity of the human isotopiccompositions is greatest by building and suggests uniform diets within households.
Mobility in Neolithic Central Anatolia Pilloud, Marin A.; Somel, Mehmet; Haddow, Scott D. ...
American journal of physical anthropology,
2017, Letnik:
162, Številka:
S64
Journal Article
PDF
