Ancient DNA from chewing gums connects material culture and genetics of Mesolithic hunter-gatherers in Scandinavia

The discussion of an early postglacial dual-route colonization of the Scandinavian Peninsula is largely based on associating genomic data to an early dispersal of lithic technology from the East European Plain. However, a direct link between the two has been lacking. We tackle this problem by analysing human DNA from birch bark pitch mastics, “chewing gums”, from Huseby Klev, a site in western Sweden with eastern lithic technology. We generate genome- wide data for three individuals, and show their affinity to the Scandinavian hunter-gatherers, or more precisely, to individuals from postglacial Sweden. Our samples date to 9880-9540 calBP, expanding the temporal range of this genetic group as well as its distribution. Human DNA from mastics provides a clear connection between material culture and genetic data. We also propose that DNA from different types of mastics can be used to study environment, ecology, and oral microbiome of prehistoric populations.

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Genetic ancestry changes in Stone to Bronze Age transition in the East European plain

10.1101/2020.07.02.184507 ◽

2020 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Lehti Saag ◽

Sergey V. Vasilyev ◽

Liivi Varul ◽

Natalia V. Kosorukova ◽

Dmitri V. Gerasimov ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Western Europe ◽

Sequence Data ◽

Source Area ◽

East European Plain ◽

Hunter Gatherers ◽

Population Movements ◽

East European ◽

Genome Wide ◽

Clear Change

AbstractTransition from the Stone to the Bronze Age in Central and Western Europe was a period of major population movements originating from the Ponto-Caspian Steppe. Here, we report new genome-wide sequence data from 28 individuals from the territory north of this source area – from the under-studied Western part of present-day Russia, including Stone Age hunter-gatherers (10,800–4,250 cal BC) and Bronze Age farmers from the Corded Ware complex called Fatyanovo Culture (2,900–2,050 cal BC). We show that Eastern hunter-gatherer ancestry was present in Northwestern Russia already from around 10,000 BC. Furthermore, we see a clear change in ancestry with the arrival of farming – the Fatyanovo Culture individuals were genetically similar to other Corded Ware cultures, carrying a mixture of Steppe and European early farmer ancestry and thus likely originating from a fast migration towards the northeast from somewhere in the vicinity of modern-day Ukraine, which is the closest area where these ancestries coexisted from around 3,000 BC.

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Using Radiocarbon Dates and Tool Design Principles to Assess the Role of Composite Slotted Bone Tool Technology at the Intersection of Adaptation and Culture-History

Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory ◽

10.1007/s10816-021-09517-7 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Mikael A. Manninen ◽

Vitali Asheichyk ◽

Tõnno Jonuks ◽

Aivar Kriiska ◽

Grzegorz Osipowicz ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Path Dependence ◽

Lithic Technology ◽

East European Plain ◽

Bone Tools ◽

Radiocarbon Dates ◽

East European ◽

Culture History ◽

Historical Specificity ◽

Tool Technology ◽

Bone Tool

AbstractSlotted bone tools are an iconic example of composite tool technology in which change in one of the components does not require changing the design of the other parts. Commonly, slotted bone tools are seen through the lens of lithic technology, highlighting organizational aspects related to serial production of insets, reliability and maintainability. In this framework, slotted bone tool technology is associated with risk aversion in demanding environmental settings. Here, we provide the first overview of radiocarbon-dated slotted bone tools in northernmost Europe and the East European Plain, including 17 new direct dates on pitch glue, and show that the Late Pleistocene to Middle Holocene period of inset slotted bone tool use in this area shows marked variation and idiosyncrasy in associated lithic technology against a trend of continuously warming climate. We suggest that historical specificity and path-dependence, rather than convergent evolution, best explain the variability seen in slotted bone tool technology in the studied case, and that slotted bone tools in general formed an organizationally flexible, adaptable and hence likely adaptive technological solution that met a wide variety of cultural and technological demands.

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The Kargopol type ceramics – the first pottery of the northern part of the East European Plain|

Documenta Praehistorica ◽

10.4312/dp.46.11 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 46 ◽

pp. 174-182

Author(s):

Ekaterina Kashina ◽

Nataliya Yu. Petrova

Keyword(s):

Boreal Forest ◽

Small Group ◽

Wide Distribution ◽

Ceramic Production ◽

East European Plain ◽

Birch Bark ◽

Forest Zone ◽

East European

The small group of early ceramics was found between the 1930s and 1990s, but was previously underestimated as a source that points directly to the origins of ceramic production in the boreal forest zone c. 5500–5000 BC. The Kargopol type ceramics demonstrate very archaic technological traits: a straight rim with round holes below the rim and clay paste with sand temper. This type of ceramics had a wide distribution and was made uniformly, at least concerning vessel capacities and basic decoration patterns, probably reflecting the birch bark vessel features. We recognize this phenomenon as key to understand how the process of ceramic production emerged in the zone of Russian boreal forest.

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The Kargopol type ceramics – the first pottery of the northern part of the East European Plain|

Documenta Praehistorica ◽

10.4312/dp.46-11 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 46 ◽

pp. 174-182

Author(s):

Ekaterina Kashina ◽

Nataliya Yu. Petrova

Keyword(s):

Boreal Forest ◽

Small Group ◽

Wide Distribution ◽

Ceramic Production ◽

East European Plain ◽

Birch Bark ◽

Forest Zone ◽

East European

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Genetic ancestry changes in Stone to Bronze Age transition in the East European plain

Science Advances ◽

10.1126/sciadv.abd6535 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 7 (4) ◽

pp. eabd6535

Author(s):

Lehti Saag ◽

Sergey V. Vasilyev ◽

Liivi Varul ◽

Natalia V. Kosorukova ◽

Dmitri V. Gerasimov ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Western Europe ◽

Sequence Data ◽

East European Plain ◽

Stone Age ◽

Hunter Gatherers ◽

Population Movements ◽

East European ◽

Genome Wide ◽

Northwestern Russia

The transition from Stone to Bronze Age in Central and Western Europe was a period of major population movements originating from the Ponto-Caspian Steppe. Here, we report new genome-wide sequence data from 30 individuals north of this area, from the understudied western part of present-day Russia, including 3 Stone Age hunter-gatherers (10,800 to 4250 cal BCE) and 26 Bronze Age farmers from the Corded Ware complex Fatyanovo Culture (2900 to 2050 cal BCE). We show that Eastern hunter-gatherer ancestry was present in northwestern Russia already from around 10,000 BCE. Furthermore, we see a change in ancestry with the arrival of farming—Fatyanovo Culture individuals were genetically similar to other Corded Ware cultures, carrying a mixture of Steppe and European early farmer ancestry. Thus, they likely originate from a fast migration toward the northeast from somewhere near modern-day Ukraine—the closest area where these ancestries coexisted from around 3000 BCE.

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A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF CHANGING SEDIMENTATION CONDITIONS DURING THE LAST INTERGLACIAL-GLACIAL MACROCYCLE IN THE LOESS AREAS OF THE SOUTHERN EAST EUROPEAN PLAIN (THE AZOV SEA REGION) AND CENTRAL CHINA (LOESS PLATEAU)

Geomorphology RAS ◽

10.15356/0435-4281-2017-1-3-18 ◽

2017 ◽

pp. 3-18 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

A. A. VELICHKO ◽

T. YANG ◽

A. O. ALEKSEEV ◽

O. K. BORISOVA ◽

P. I. KALININ ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Comparative Analysis ◽

Loess Plateau ◽

Central China ◽

East European Plain ◽

Last Interglacial ◽

East European ◽

Azov Sea ◽

Sedimentation Conditions

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Geographical features of forest vegetation reflected at the level of the lower-rank syntaxa (evidence from the Russian part of the Upper Dnieper basin)

Vegetation of Russia ◽

10.31111/vegrus/2017.30.94 ◽

2017 ◽

pp. 94-108 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Yu. A. Semenishchenkov

Keyword(s):

Forest Vegetation ◽

East European Plain ◽

Early 20Th Century ◽

Suggested Approach ◽

Central European ◽

Classification Schemes ◽

East European ◽

Lower Rank ◽

Geographical Variations ◽

European Part Of Russia

Phytogeographical features of forest vegetation at the level of lower-rank syntaxa were being discussed in literature since the early 20th century (Cajander, 1903; Sukachev, 1926; Braun-Blanquet, 1964; Kral et al., 1975; Kleopov, 1990; Bulokhov, 2003; Ellenberg, 2009), however, phytocoenologists still have no uniform interpretation and geographical maintenance of lower classification units. Forest vegetation of the European part of Russia is well studied according to Braun-Blanquet approach with association as a system of geographical subassociations. The paper offers the approaches to the reflection of geographical variations of the natural forest vegetation in the basin of the Upper Dnieper (central part of the East European Plain) at the level of lower-rank syntaxa The xeromesophytic oak woods in the basin of the Upper Dnieper belong to the East European ass. Lathyro nigri–Quercetum roboris Bulokhov et Solomeshch 2003. Floristic differentiation of this association from the similar Central European ass. Potentillo-Quercetum is given. These two associations have large blocks of geographically significant differential species that does not allow to consider them as a part of one association. The suggested approach allows to define the chorological content of units of lower syntaxonomical ranks and make regional classification schemes comparable to each other.

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Eastern Europe’s “Transitional Industry”?: Deconstructing the Early Streletskian

Journal of Paleolithic Archaeology ◽

10.1007/s41982-021-00076-7 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

Author(s):

R. Dinnis ◽

A. Bessudnov ◽

N. Reynolds ◽

T. Devièse ◽

A. Dudin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Modern Human ◽

East European Plain ◽

Upper Palaeolithic ◽

Radiocarbon Dates ◽

East European ◽

Archaeological Material ◽

Younger Age ◽

Layer V ◽

Precise Relationship ◽

Early Upper

AbstractThe Streletskian is central to understanding the onset of the Upper Palaeolithic on the East European Plain. Early Streletskian assemblages are frequently seen as marking the Neanderthal-anatomically modern human (AMH) anthropological transition, as well as the Middle-to-Upper Palaeolithic archaeological transition. The age of key Streletskian assemblages, however, remains unclear, and there are outstanding questions over how they relate to Middle and Early Upper Palaeolithic facies. The three oldest Streletskian layers—Kostenki 1 Layer V, Kostenki 6 and Kostenki 12 Layer III—were excavated by A. N. Rogachev in the mid-20th century. Here, we re-examine these layers in light of problems noted during Rogachev’s campaigns and later excavations. Layer V in the northern part of Kostenki 1 is the most likely assemblage to be unmixed. A new radiocarbon date of 35,100 ± 500 BP (OxA- X-2717-21) for this assemblage agrees with Rogachev’s stratigraphic interpretation and contradicts later claims of a younger age. More ancient radiocarbon dates for Kostenki 1 Layer V are from areas lacking diagnostic Streletskian points. The Kostenki 6 assemblage’s stratigraphic context is extremely poor, but new radiocarbon dates are consistent with Rogachev’s view that the archaeological material was deposited prior to the CI tephra (i.e. >34.3 ka BP). Multiple lines of evidence indicate that Kostenki 12 Layer III contains material of different ages. Despite some uncertainty over the precise relationship between the dated sample and diagnostic lithic material, Kostenki 1 Layer V (North) therefore currently provides the best age estimate for an early Streletskian context. This age is younger than fully Upper Palaeolithic assemblages elsewhere at Kostenki. Other “Streletskian” assemblages and Streletskian points from younger contexts at Kostenki are briefly reviewed, with possible explanations for their chronostratigraphic distribution considered. We caution that the cultural taxon Streletskian should not be applied to assemblages based simply on the presence of bifacially worked artefacts.

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