scholarly journals Male-biased migration from East Africa introduced pastoralism into southern Africa

BMC Biology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mário Vicente ◽  
Imke Lankheet ◽  
Thembi Russell ◽  
Nina Hollfelder ◽  
Vinet Coetzee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
African Ancestry ◽  
Human Migration ◽  
Western Cape ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
East African ◽  
Genome Wide

Abstract Background Hunter-gatherer lifestyles dominated the southern African landscape up to ~ 2000 years ago, when herding and farming groups started to arrive in the area. First, herding and livestock, likely of East African origin, appeared in southern Africa, preceding the arrival of the large-scale Bantu-speaking agro-pastoralist expansion that introduced West African-related genetic ancestry into the area. Present-day Khoekhoe-speaking Namaqua (or Nama in short) pastoralists show high proportions of East African admixture, linking the East African ancestry with Khoekhoe herders. Most other historical Khoekhoe populations have, however, disappeared over the last few centuries and their contribution to the genetic structure of present-day populations is not well understood. In our study, we analyzed genome-wide autosomal and full mitochondrial data from a population who trace their ancestry to the Khoekhoe-speaking Hessequa herders from the southern Cape region of what is now South Africa. Results We generated genome-wide data from 162 individuals and mitochondrial DNA data of a subset of 87 individuals, sampled in the Western Cape Province, South Africa, where the Hessequa population once lived. Using available comparative data from Khoe-speaking and related groups, we aligned genetic date estimates and admixture proportions to the archaeological proposed dates and routes for the arrival of the East African pastoralists in southern Africa. We identified several Afro-Asiatic-speaking pastoralist groups from Ethiopia and Tanzania who share high affinities with the East African ancestry present in southern Africa. We also found that the East African pastoralist expansion was heavily male-biased, akin to a pastoralist migration previously observed on the genetic level in ancient Europe, by which Pontic-Caspian Steppe pastoralist groups represented by the Yamnaya culture spread across the Eurasian continent during the late Neolithic/Bronze Age. Conclusion We propose that pastoralism in southern Africa arrived through male-biased migration of an East African Afro-Asiatic-related group(s) who introduced new subsistence and livestock practices to local southern African hunter-gatherers. Our results add to the understanding of historical human migration and mobility in Africa, connected to the spread of food-producing and livestock practices.

scholarly journals A Review of the Hereditary Component of Triple Negative Breast Cancer: High- and Moderate-Penetrance Breast Cancer Genes, Low-Penetrance Loci, and the Role of Nontraditional Genetic Elements

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darrell L. Ellsworth ◽  
Clesson E. Turner ◽  
Rachel E. Ellsworth
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Triple Negative Breast Cancer ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Triple Negative ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
African Ancestry ◽  
Genome Wide Association Studies ◽  
Genetic Elements ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Increased Risk

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), representing 10-15% of breast tumors diagnosed each year, is a clinically defined subtype of breast cancer associated with poor prognosis. The higher incidence of TNBC in certain populations such as young women and/or women of African ancestry and a unique pathological phenotype shared between TNBC and BRCA1-deficient tumors suggest that TNBC may be inherited through germline mutations. In this article, we describe genes and genetic elements, beyond BRCA1 and BRCA2, which have been associated with increased risk of TNBC. Multigene panel testing has identified high- and moderate-penetrance cancer predisposition genes associated with increased risk for TNBC. Development of large-scale genome-wide SNP assays coupled with genome-wide association studies (GWAS) has led to the discovery of low-penetrance TNBC-associated loci. Next-generation sequencing has identified variants in noncoding RNAs, viral integration sites, and genes in underexplored regions of the human genome that may contribute to the genetic underpinnings of TNBC. Advances in our understanding of the genetics of TNBC are driving improvements in risk assessment and patient management.

On the 10-year anniversary of the Barrydale Giant Puppet Parade South Africa: A conversation between parade creative directors Aja Marneweck and Sudonia Kouter

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aja Marneweck
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Western Cape ◽  
Original Performance ◽  
Non Profit ◽  
Rural Town ◽  
Puppet Theatre ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The University

2020 marks the tenth anniversary of the Barrydale Giant Puppet Parade, a large-scale, experimental annual public puppetry event and performance in a small rural town in the Klein Karoo of South Africa. This multifaceted, collaborative puppet theatre-making process, which results annually in the creation of a parade and large-scale original performance, is co-organized by Net Vir Pret (a children’s school aftercare non-profit organisation based in the town of Barrydale) and the Laboratory of Kinetic Objects (LoKO) at the Centre for Humanities Research at the University of the Western Cape (CHR@UWC). The following conversation between the author (a Theatre Research Fellow at the CHR@UWC and creative director of the parade since 2014) and Sudonia Kouter (the Net vir Pret Aftercare manager and a key artistic contributor in the parade creative and directing teams) explores some of the experiences of meaning-making that arise in such a multi-layered and ambitious project.

scholarly journals Sedimentological evidence for seiching in a swell-dominated headland-bay system: Table Bay, Western Cape, South Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike Woodborne ◽  
Burg Flemming
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Standing Wave ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Logarithmic Spiral ◽  
Distribution Patterns ◽  
Western Cape ◽  
Sediment Distribution ◽  
Maximum Period ◽  
Hydrodynamic Processes ◽  
Robben Island

AbstractTable Bay, South Africa, is a typical headland-bay system with a shoreline that can be described by a logarithmic spiral. A peculiarity and unique feature of Table Bay is the juxtaposition of Robben Island opposite its headland. As a consequence, the bathymetry defines an ellipsoidal basin which was postulated to potentially resonate in the form of long-period standing waves (seiches). One aim of this study, therefore, was to investigate whether any evidence for such resonant oscillations could be detected in the geomorphology and sediment distribution patterns. Indeed, the ellipsoidal shape of the basin can be framed by two converging log-spirals with their centres located opposite each other, one off Robben Island and the other on the Cape Town side of the bay. The so-called apex line, which divides the two spirals into equal parts is aligned SW–NE, i.e. more or less parallel to the direction of ocean wave propagation. The distribution patterns of all sedimentary parameters were found to be characterised by a strikingly similar trend to either side of the apex line. This supports the hypothesis that the basin of Table Bay appears to resonate in the form of a mode 1 standing wave, with the node positioned above the apex line in the centre of the bay. The maximum period of such a standing wave was calculated to be around 37 min. The study demonstrates that large-scale sediment distribution patterns can reveal the existence of specific hydrodynamic processes in coastal embayments. It is recommended that this phenomenon be investigated in greater detail aimed at verifying the existence of resonant oscillations in Table Bay and, in the event, at establishing its precise nature and trigger mechanism.

scholarly journals Generalizability of GWA-Identified Genetic Risk Variants for Metabolic Traits to Populations from the Arabian Peninsula

Genes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 1637
Author(s):  
Prashantha Hebbar ◽  
Mohamed Abu-Farha ◽  
Jehad Abubaker ◽  
Arshad Mohamed Channanath ◽  
Fahd Al-Mulla ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Arabian Peninsula ◽  
Genetic Correlations ◽  
Human Migration ◽  
Metabolic Risk ◽  
Arab Population ◽  
Metabolic Traits ◽  
Risk Variants ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Gwa Studies

The Arabian Peninsula, located at the nexus of Africa, Europe, and Asia, was implicated in early human migration. The Arab population is characterized by consanguinity and endogamy leading to inbreeding. Global genome-wide association (GWA) studies on metabolic traits under-represent the Arab population. Replicability of GWA-identified association signals in the Arab population has not been satisfactorily explored. It is important to assess how well GWA-identified findings generalize if their clinical interpretations are to benefit the target population. Our recent study from Kuwait, which performed genome-wide imputation and meta-analysis, observed 304 (from 151 genes) of the 4746 GWA-identified metabolic risk variants replicable in the Arab population. A recent large GWA study from Qatar found replication of 30 GWA-identified lipid risk variants. These complementing studies from the Peninsula increase the confidence in generalizing metabolic risk loci to the Arab population. However, both the studies reported a low extent of transferability. In this review, we examine the observed low transferability in the context of differences in environment, genetic correlations (allele frequencies, linkage disequilibrium, effect sizes, and heritability), and phenotype variance. We emphasize the need for large-scale GWA studies on deeply phenotyped cohorts of at least 20,000 Arab individuals. The review further presents GWA-identified metabolic risk variants generalizable to the Arab population.

scholarly journals The Arrival of Steppe and Iranian Related Ancestry in the Islands of the Western Mediterranean

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel M. Fernandes ◽  
Alissa Mittnik ◽  
Iñigo Olalde ◽  
Iosif Lazaridis ◽  
Olivia Cheronet ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
African Ancestry ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
Balearic Islands ◽  
The People ◽  
Y Chromosomes ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Middle Bronze Age ◽  
Reported Data ◽  
Number Of Individuals

A series of studies have documented how Steppe pastoralist-related ancestry reached central Europe by at least 2500 BCE, while Iranian farmer-related ancestry was present in Aegean Europe by at least 1900 BCE. However, the spread of these ancestries into the western Mediterranean where they have contributed to many populations living today remains poorly understood. We generated genome-wide ancient DNA from the Balearic Islands, Sicily, and Sardinia, increasing the number of individuals with reported data from these islands from 3 to 52. We obtained data from the oldest skeleton excavated from the Balearic islands (dating to ∼2400 BCE), and show that this individual had substantial Steppe pastoralist-derived ancestry; however, later Balearic individuals had less Steppe heritage reflecting geographic heterogeneity or immigration from groups with more European first farmer-related ancestry. In Sicily, Steppe pastoralist ancestry arrived by ∼2200 BCE and likely came at least in part from Spain as it was associated with Iberian-specific Y chromosomes. In Sicily, Iranian-related ancestry also arrived by the Middle Bronze Age, thus revealing that this ancestry type, which was ubiquitous in the Aegean by this time, also spread further west prior to the classical period of Greek expansion. In Sardinia, we find no evidence of either eastern ancestry type in the Nuragic Bronze Age, but show that Iranian-related ancestry arrived by at least ∼300 BCE and Steppe ancestry arrived by ∼300 CE, joined at that time or later by North African ancestry. These results falsify the view that the people of Sardinia are isolated descendants of Europe’s first farmers. Instead, our results show that the island’s admixture history since the Bronze Age is as complex as that in many other parts of Europe.

scholarly journals Notes on the taxonomy of Potamonautes obesus (A Milne-Edwards, 1868) and Potamonautes calcaratus (Gordon, 1929) (Brachyura: Potamoidea: Potamonautidae) from eastern and southern Africa

Zootaxa ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 418 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
SADIE K. REED ◽  
NEIL CUMBERLIDGE
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Large Series ◽  
Type Material ◽  
Valid Species ◽  
Freshwater Crab ◽  
East African ◽  
Related Taxon ◽  
Eastern And Southern Africa ◽  
De Man

The East African freshwater crab Potamonautes obesus (A Milne-Edwards, 1868) (family Potamonautidae) is redescribed from a large series of specimens from Tanzania and Somalia, and Potamon (Potamonautes) bottegoi de Man, 1898 is judged to be a junior objective synonym of P. obesus. The related taxon, Potamonautes calcaratus (Gordon, 1929) from Mozambique and South Africa, is recognised here as a valid species and is redescribed from type material. The distributions of P. obesus and P. calcaratus are described and discussed.

scholarly journals History of ‘swine fever’ in Southern Africa

2013 ◽  
Vol 84 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary-Louise Penrith
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
African Swine Fever ◽  
Classical Swine Fever ◽  
Western Cape ◽  
Eastern Cape ◽  
African Region ◽  
African Countries ◽  
The North ◽  
History Of

The histories of the two swine fevers in southern Africa differ widely. Classical swine fever (hog cholera) has been known in the northern hemisphere since 1830 and it is probable that early cases of ‘swine fever’ in European settlers’ pigs in southern Africa were accepted to be that disease. It was only in 1921 that the first description of African swine fever as an entity different from classical swine fever was published after the disease had been studied in settlers’ pigs in Kenya. Shortly after that, reports of African swine fever in settlers’ pigs emerged from South Africa and Angola. In South Africa, the report related to pigs in the north-eastern part of the country. Previously (in 1905 or earlier) a disease assumed to be classical swine fever caused high mortality among pigs in the Western Cape and was only eradicated in 1918. African swine fever was found over the following years to be endemic in most southern African countries. Classical swine fever, however, apart from an introduction with subsequent endemic establishment in Madagascar and a number of introductions into Mauritius, the last one in 2000, had apparently remained absent from the region until it was diagnosed in the Western and subsequently the Eastern Cape of South Africa in 2005. It was eradicated by 2007. The history of these diseases in the southern African region demonstrates their importance and their potential for spread over long distances, emphasising the need for improved management of both diseases wherever they occur.

New species and new collection records of aquatic beetles in the genus Ochthebius Leach from southern Africa (Coleoptera: Hydraenidae)

Zootaxa ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 3093 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
PHILIP D. PERKINS
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
New Species ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Western Cape ◽  
Western Cape Province ◽  
African Species ◽  
North West ◽  
Distribution Maps ◽  
Water Beetle ◽  
Kwazulu Natal

The southern African species of the water beetle genus Ochthebius Leach, 1815, are reviewed. Eight new species are described, and new collection records are given for eight previously described species, based on the examination and databasing of 8,919 specimens from 253 localities/events. Male genitalia of the new species are illustrated, and high resolution habitus images of the holotypes of new species are provided. Distribution maps are given for the 18 species of Ochthebius now known from southern Africa, including Namibia, South Africa, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, the extreme southern part of Angola, and the southern part of Mozambique. New species of Ochthebius are: O. anchorus (South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal Province, Oribi Gorge); O. bicomicus (South Africa, Western Cape Province, 22 mi. N. Nelspoort); O. bupunctus (Namibia, Kaokoveld, Kunene River, Swartbooisdrift); O. endroedyi (South Africa, North West Province, Barberspan); O. granulinus (South Africa, Western Cape Province, Elandsdrift); O. involatus (South Africa, Western Cape Province, near Kommetje); O. sitiensis (Namibia, Okau Fountain, 12.5 km inland); and O. zulu (South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal Province, Nqutu).

The Collfryn Hillslope Enclosure, Llansantffraid Deuddwr, Powys: Excavations 1980–1982

1989 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Britnell ◽  
Jenny Britnell ◽  
Timothy C. Darvill ◽  
Stephen Greep ◽  
Elizabeth Healey ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Extended Family ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Drainage Ditches ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
15Th Century ◽  
High Social Status

The report on partial rescue excavations of the Collfryn enclosure between 1980–82 presents a summary of the first large-scale investigation of one of the numerous semi-defensive cropmark and earthwork enclosure sites in the upper Severn valley in mid-Wales. Earlier prehistoric activity of an ephemeral nature is represented by a scattering of Mesolithic and Late Neolithic or early Bronze Age flintwork, and by a pit containing sherds of several different Beaker vessels. The first enclosed settlement, constructed in about the 3rd century bc probably consisted of three widely-spaced concentric ditches, associated with banks of simple dump construction, having a single gated entranceway on the downhill side. It covered an area of about 2.5 ha and appears to have been of a relatively high social status, and appropriate in size for a single extended-family group. This was subsequently reduced in about the 1st century bc to a double-ditched enclosure, by the recutting of the original inner ditch and the cutting of a new ditch immediately outside it. The habitation area between the 3rd and 1st centuries bc probably focused on timber buildings in the central enclosure of about 0.4 ha, whose gradually evolving pattern appears to have comprised between 3–4 roundhouses and 4–5 four-posters at any one time. Little excavation was undertaken between the outer ditches of the first phase settlement, but these are assumed to have been used as stock enclosures. A mixed farming economy is suggested by cattle, sheep/goat and pig remains, and remains of glume wheats, barley and oats. Industries included small-scale iron and bronze-working. The Iron Age settlement was essentially aceramic, although there are significant quantities of a coarse, oxidized ceramic probably representing salt traded from production centres in the Cheshire Plain. The entranceway was remodelled in about the late 1st or early 2nd, century AD by means of a timber-lined passage linked to a new gate on the line of the inner bank. There is equivocal evidence of continued occupation within the inner enclosure continuing until at least the mid-4th century AD, possibly at a comparatively low social level, associated with domestic structures of uncertain form sited on earlier roundhouse platforms, and including some four-posters and possible six-posters. Drainage ditches were dug across parts of the site during the Medieval and post-Medieval periods, which were associated with various structures, including a corn-drying kiln inserted into the inner enclosure bank in the 15th century.

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