Genomic ancestry, diet and microbiomes of Upper Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers from San Teodoro cave (Sicily, Italy)

Recent improvements in the analysis of ancient biomolecules from human remains and associated dental calculus have provided new insights into the prehistoric diet and past genetic diversity of our species. Here we present a multi-omics study, integrating genomic and proteomic analyses of two post-Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) individuals from San Teodoro cave (Italy), to reconstruct their lifestyle and the post-LGM resettlement of Europe. Our analyses show genetic homogeneity in Sicily during the Palaeolithic, representing a hitherto unknown Italian genetic lineage within the previously identified Villabruna cluster. We argue that this lineage took refuge in Italy during the LGM, followed by a subsequent spread to central-western Europe. Multi-omics analysis of dental calculus showed a diet rich of animal proteins which is also reflected on the oral microbiome composition. Our results demonstrate the power of using a multi-omics approach in the study of prehistoric human populations.

Dental Caries, Prehistoric Diet, and the Pithouse-to-Pueblo Transition in Southwestern Colorado

Researchers in different parts of the southwestern United States continue to debate whether the end of the Basketmaker period coincides with a general shift from supplemental to intensive maize agriculture across the U.S. Southwest. In some areas this transition appears to have occurred earlier, with heavy reliance on agriculture appearing by the Basketmaker II period. In this study, evidence from dental caries in southwestern Colorado populations supports the latter view, suggesting that Basketmaker subsistence in this area included a heavy reliance on agricultural products. Dental caries frequencies in both Basketmaker and post-Basketmaker samples are well within the expected range for full-time agriculturalists. Although there is no significant association between time period and caries rate, frequencies of interproximal caries and numbers of carious teeth per individual may indicate maize-processing differences between samples obtained from the two temporal periods. Differences in the intensity of maize production, rather than consumption, may contribute to the current lack of agreement on the timing of Southwestern agricultural dependence.