scholarly journals Genetic evidence suggests relationship between contemporary Bulgarian population and Iron Age steppe dwellers from Pontic-Caspian steppe

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Svetoslav Stamov ◽  
Todor Chobanov
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Dna Analysis ◽  
Caucasian Population ◽  
Population Genetic Analysis ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Ancient Dna Analysis ◽  
European Neolithic ◽  
Bulgarian Population ◽  
European Populations

AbstractAncient DNA analysis on the ancestry of European populations conducted in the last decade came to the puzzling conclusion that while all contemporary European populations can be best represented as an admixture of 3 ancestral populations –Early European Neolithic farmers (ENF), Western Hunter-Gatherers (WHG) and Ancestral North Eurasians (ANE), contemporary Bulgarians and few other SEE populations can also be represented as an admixture of two groups only – Early European Neolithic farmers and contemporary Caucasian people equally well.If modeled as an admixture of two groups only, the ANE component presented in contemporary Bulgarians would have arrived on the Balkans with hypothetical ANE (Ancestral North Eurasians)-rich Caucasian population.In this paper, we test the hypothesis that increased Caucasian component in contemporary SE Europeans, has been introduced on the Balkans by migrating Iron Age steppe dwellers from Pontic-Caspian steppe. We analyze available DNA datasets from both ancient and contemporary samples and identify a Caucasian signal, carried to Balkan populations by the nomadic dwellers of Early Medieval Saltovo-Mayaki Culture, located on the northern slope of Caucasus Mountains and adjacent steppe regions. We also identify two additional sources of Caucasian admixture in SEE populations, which are not specific to Bulgarian population only. Based on the results from our population genetic analysis we suggest that contemporary Bulgarians are an admixture of ancestral Slavonic groups, rich on locally absorbed EEF DNA and Proto Bulgarians, rich on Caucasian DNA and genetically related to the bearers of the Saltovo-Mayaki Culture from 8-10 century AD.

Ancient DNA Analysis of the Thulamela Remains: Deciphering the Migratory Patterns of a Southern African Population

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-172
Author(s):  
Molebogeng Bodiba ◽  
Maryna Steyn ◽  
Paulette Bloomer ◽  
Morongwa N. Mosothwane ◽  
Frank Rühli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Dna Analysis ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Genetic Groups ◽  
African Populations ◽  
Ancient Dna Analysis ◽  
Migratory Patterns ◽  
African Iron Age ◽  
Adna Analysis

Abstract Ancient DNA (aDNA) analysis was employed to obtain information on the population relationships of the two Thulamela individuals (AD 1400-1700) and six other skeletons from various archaeological sites of the southern African Iron Age – Tuli (Botswana), Nwanetsi, Makgope, Happy Rest and Stayt. Although sequences were short, it seems that the Thulamela female aligns somewhat more with eastern populations as opposed to the male who aligns more with western groups. This result is not surprising given that the two individuals were buried at the same site but their burials were hundreds of years apart. It was also possible to identify genetic links between the Iron Age individuals and modern southern African populations (e.g. some of the skeletons assessed showed maternal genetic similarities to present-day Sotho/Tswana groups) and to separate the samples into at least two genetic groups. Poor quality and quantity of DNA meant that only haplogroups, not subhaplogroups, of the individuals could be traced.

scholarly journals Human mitochondrial DNA lineages in Iron-Age Fennoscandia suggest incipient admixture and eastern introduction of farming-related maternal ancestry

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanni Översti ◽  
Kerttu Majander ◽  
Elina Salmela ◽  
Kati Salo ◽  
Laura Arppe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
High Mobility ◽  
Human Remains ◽  
Population History ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
East Europe ◽  
North East ◽  
Mtdna Diversity ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
Genetic Shift

AbstractHuman ancient DNA studies have revealed high mobility in Europe’s past, and have helped to decode the human history on the Eurasian continent. Northeastern Europe, especially north of the Baltic Sea, however, remains less well understood largely due to the lack of preserved human remains. Finland, with a divergent population history from most of Europe, offers a unique perspective to hunter-gatherer way of life, but thus far genetic information on prehistoric human groups in Finland is nearly absent. Here we report 103 complete ancient mitochondrial genomes from human remains dated to AD 300–1800, and explore mtDNA diversity associated with hunter-gatherers and Neolithic farmers. The results indicate largely unadmixed mtDNA pools of differing ancestries from Iron-Age on, suggesting a rather late genetic shift from hunter-gatherers towards farmers in North-East Europe. Furthermore, the data suggest eastern introduction of farmer-related haplogroups into Finland, contradicting contemporary genetic patterns in Finns.

scholarly journals Ritual complexity in a past community revealed by ancient DNA analysis of pre-colonial terracotta items from Northern Ghana

2017 ◽  
Vol 79 ◽  
pp. 10-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather A. Robinson ◽  
Timothy Insoll ◽  
Benjamin W. Kankpeyeng ◽  
Keri A. Brown ◽  
Terence A. Brown
Keyword(s):  
Ancient Dna ◽  
Dna Analysis ◽  
Northern Ghana ◽  
Ancient Dna Analysis

scholarly journals Combined hybridization capture and shotgun sequencing for ancient DNA analysis of extinct wild and domestic dromedary camel

2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 300-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elmira Mohandesan ◽  
Camilla F. Speller ◽  
Joris Peters ◽  
Hans-Peter Uerpmann ◽  
Margarethe Uerpmann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ancient Dna ◽  
Dna Analysis ◽  
Shotgun Sequencing ◽  
Dromedary Camel ◽  
Hybridization Capture ◽  
Ancient Dna Analysis

scholarly journals Keeping the Frontier: Steps “Towards Neolithization” in the Eastern Gulf of Finland

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1244-1257
Author(s):  
Dmitriy V. Gerasimov
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Driving Forces ◽  
Cultural Development ◽  
Gulf Of Finland ◽  
Forest Zone ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Sociocultural Development ◽  
The Face ◽  
Early Farming

Abstract This article is an attempt to understand the driving forces behind the process of Neolithization in the Eastern Europe Forest zone, where the consumption economy existed till the Bronze or even till the Early Iron Age. Main peculiarities of the sociocultural development in the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland region (EGF) on the transition from Mesolithic to farming societies (sixth – first ka. BC) are discussed in relation to the changes in material culture, subsistence strategy, communication system and settlement pattern. The process of neolithization lasted there for several thousand years. Overview of the dynamics of the social and cultural development in the region revealed several phases of substantial changes in archeological materials (presumably reflecting considerable sociocultural changes). These changes happened later than in the neighboring territories and were preceded by dramatic environmental transformations that affected prehistoric communities in the coastal zone. For the population of the region, innovations could be considered as not “steps toward,” but “retreat in the face of” neolithization. Resistance of the population of EGF to the innovations could be based on environmental conditions that were extremely favorable for hunter–gatherers’ subsistence, but made farming (especially early farming) rather risky.

scholarly journals Historical picture of development of early iron age in the Serbian Danube basin

Balcanica ◽  
2004 ◽  
pp. 7-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikola Tasic
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
The Other ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Historical Survey ◽  
Danube Basin ◽  
Central European ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Pannonian Plain ◽  
The One ◽  
North Western

The paper offers a historical survey of the development of Early Iron Age cultures in Danubian Serbia, its characteristics, relations with contemporary cultures of the Pannonian Plain, the Balkans, Carpathian Romania (Transylvania) and the Romanian Banat. It describes the genesis of individual cultures, their styles, typological features and interrelationships. Danubian Serbia is seen as a contact zone reflecting influences of the Central European Urnenfelder culture on the one hand, and those of the Gornea-Kalakaca and the Bosut-Basarabi complex on the other. The latter?s penetration into the central Balkans south of the Sava and Danube rivers has been registered in the Morava valley, eastern Serbia north-western Bulgaria and as far south as northern Macedonia. The terminal Early Iron Age is marked by the occurrence of Scythian finds in the southern Banat, Backa or around the confluence of the Sava and the Danube (e.g. Ritopek), and by representative finds of the Srem group in Srem and around the confluence of the Tisa and Danube rivers. The powerful penetration of Celtic tribes from Central Europe into the southern Pannonian Plain marked the end of the Early Iron Age.

scholarly journals Tusk or Bone? An Example of Ivory Substitute in the Wildlife Trade

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 40-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret E. Sims ◽  
Barry W. Baker ◽  
Robert M. Hoesch
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Species Identification ◽  
Dna Analysis ◽  
Wildlife Trade ◽  
Bone Tools ◽  
Wildlife Forensics ◽  
Ancient Dna Analysis ◽  
Modern Context ◽  
Morphological Species ◽  
Ivory Trade

Bone carvings (and other ivory substitutes) are common in the modern-day lucrative international ivory trade.  Souvenirs for unknowing travelers and market shoppers can be made of non-biological material (plastic "ivory" beads) or skillfully crafted natural objects made to resemble something other than their true origin.  Many of these items are received at the U. S. National Fish and Wildlife Forensics Laboratory (NFWFL) for species identification as part of law enforcement investigations.  Morphologists at the Lab often receive uniquely carved ivory items that have been imported with little or no documentation.  In recent years, analysts examined several purported ivory tusks suspected to be walrus, a protected marine mammal.  After examination, the Lab determined their origin as carved leg bones of cattle using principles and methods of zooarchaeology and ancient DNA analysis.  The naturally long and straight ungulate metapodials had been cut, carved, filled, stained, and polished to closely resemble unmodified ivory tusks.  Morphological species identification of these bones proved to be a challenge since diagnostic characters of the bones had been altered and country of origin was unknown. Genetic analysis showed that the bones originated from cattle.  While bone is commonly used as a substitute for ivory, this style of artifact was not previously documented in the wildlife trade prior to our analysis.  Archaeological ethnobiologists commonly encounter bone tools and other forms of material culture from prehistoric and historic contexts; in this case bone tools come from a modern context, thus the application of methods common in zooarchaeology are situated in wildlife forensics.  In addition, results reported here pertain to cross-cultural ivory trade and conservation science.

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