Millet agriculture dispersed from Northeast China to the Russian Far East: integrating archaeology, genetics, and linguistics

Broomcorn and foxtail millets were being cultivated in the West Liao River basin in Northeast China by at least the sixth millennium BCE. However, when and how millet agriculture spread from there to the north and east remains poorly understood. Here, we trace the dispersal of millet agriculture from Northeast China to the Russian Far East and weigh demic against cultural diffusion as mechanisms for that dispersal. We compare two routes for the spread of millet into the Russian Far East discussed in previous research—an inland route across Manchuria, and a coastal/inland route initially following the Liaodong Peninsula and Yalu River—using an archaeological dataset including millet remains, pottery, stone tools, spindle whorls, jade and figurines. We then integrate the archaeological evidence with linguistic and genetic findings in an approach we term ‘triangulation’. We conclude that an expansion of agricultural societies in Northeast China during the Middle to Late Hongshan (4000–3000 BCE) coincided with the arrival of millet cultivation in eastern Heilongjiang and the Primorye province of the Russian Far East. Our findings support the inland, Manchuria route for the dispersal of millet to the Primorye and suggest that, as well as long-distance cultural exchange, demic diffusion was also involved. Our results are broadly compatible with the farming/language dispersal hypothesis and consistent with a link between the spread of millet farming and proto-Tungusic, the language ancestral to the contemporary Tungusic languages, in late Neolithic Northeast Asia. © 2020 The Author

Modelling landscape transformation at the Chalcolithic Tripolye mega-site of Maidanetske (Ukraine): Wood demand and availability

Wood was a crucial resource for prehistoric societies, for instance, as timber for house construction and as fuel. In the case of the exceptionally large Chalcolithic Tripolye ‘mega-sites’ in central Ukraine, thousands of burnt buildings, indicating huge population agglomerations, hint at such a massive use of wood that it raises questions about the carrying capacity of the sensitive forest-steppe environment. In this contribution, we investigate the wood demand for the mega-site of Maidanetske (3990–3640 BCE), as reconstructed based on wood charcoal data, wood imprints on daub and the archaeomagnetometry-based settlement plan. We developed a regional-scale model with a fuzzy approach and applied it in order to simulate the potential distribution and extent of woodlands before and after Chalcolithic occupation. The model is based upon the reconstructed ancient land surface, soil information derived from cores and the potential natural woodland cover reconstructed based on the requirements of the prevailing ancient tree species. Landscape scenarios derived from the model are contrasted and cross-checked with the archaeological empirical data. We aim to understand whether the demand for wood triggered the site development. Did deforestation and consequent soil degradation and lack of resources initiate the site’s abandonment? Or, alternatively, did the inhabitants develop sustainable woodland management strategies? Starting from the case study of Maidanetske, this study provides estimates of the extent of human impact on both carrying capacity and landscape transformations in the sensitive transitional foreststeppe environment. Overall, the results indicate that the inhabitants of the Chalcolithic site did not suffer from a significant shortage in the wood resource at any time of inhabitation in the contexts of the different scenarios provided by the model. An exception is given by the phase of maximum house construction and population within a scenario of dry climatic conditions

Human lifeways in Late Roman and Medieval Europe

The investigation of past human lifeways, which include subsistence practices, infant feeding strategies, small regional movements, and/or broader migrations, leads to obtaining a palimpsest of information on multiple and interconnected historical variables that engage with ancient societies. Even in modern times, how people behave in quotidian aspects can be associated with a shared system of values that is influenced by economic organisation, political agenda, social status, technological level, cultural views, ethics and religion. For example, nutrition is a biological necessity that grants the organism to grow, survive, and reproduce, but the varying consumption of different foods is, in most cases, driven by complex human choices. Also infant feeding practices are a particular aspect of nutrition. Infants cannot provide nourishment for themselves but they have to rely on their parents' choices, including how and when being breastfed. Breastmilk is a safe and easily digestible source of calories and macronutrients for neonates but when this is lacking or reduced to a short time, neonates may face serious health issues. Weaning is the process that involves breastmilk paired with complementary food. Breastfeeding and weaning timings are nowadays an important research topic in archaeology, considering that these may vary significantly across sites or even families, following a mixture of cultural norms, economic affordability and medical knowledge. Human and animal spatial mobility at different geographic scales may also impact human subsistence practices plus other lifeway aspects that are shared in a given community. Smaller regional movements at individual level may be associated with socio-economic phenomena, whereas broader mass migrations may instead affect local cultural traditions, bring in new technologies, religions and political systems, and adapt to novel farming economies. This cumulative dissertation includes multiple scientific publications with the aim of exploring spatiotemporal shifts in human lifeways across late Roman and medieval Europe. Given the existence of multiple historical variables, a higher resolution in reconstructing past human lifeways can be obtained through a transdisciplinary multi-proxy approach. Whenever disparate proxies are available, these can be compared and contrasted. This is particularly applicable to Roman and medieval Europe, given that a high level of archaeological preservation is often paired with a large number of written documents and treaties. In addition, archaeobotanical, zooarchaeological, and bioarchaeological studies for these periods are increasing and this provides hence the possibility of exploring high-resolution diachronic and synchronic changes in diet, resource management, and spatial mobility. During the period interested by this dissertation, i.e. Late Roman to late Medieval (c. third-fifteenth centuries), several historical events affected European regions at different rates and scales. Political transitions can be observed in reunification attempts made after the fall of the western part of the Roman Empire, such as the Carolingian (751-919 CE) and Holy Roman (962-1806 CE) empires. Moreover, new ‘proto-national’ kingdoms were established. The migration of several Germanic and Slavic tribes interested Europe at least for the whole Late Antique and Early Middle Ages (broadly 300-1000 CE). This created a combination of socio-cultural and legislative systems based on the previous Roman substrate and adapted to shared traditions from these incoming populations. Religions, their denominations and multiple dogmatic aspects (e.g. fasting rules) also had a central role in Late Roman and Medieval society. From Charlemagne’s coronation on Christmas night in 800 CE, the most effective temporal power expressed by a religious head was that of the Pope, who played a role of balance and sometimes of leadership among Christian states. Other particular dynamics involved climatic events on a limited temporal range (e.g. the volcanic winter of 536) or on a broader scale (e.g. the Medieval Warm Period). Finally, pandemics such as the ‘Justinian Plague’ (541-544 CE) or the ‘Black Death’ (1346-1353 CE) also are well documented historical events that impacted European societies. All of the above historical developments marked this age as an extremely heterogeneous period in European history and, for this reason, synchronic and diachronic shifts in past human diets, infant feeding practices, animal and crop management strategies, and spatial mobility are expected to reflect these events. A large array of archaeological methods can nowadays be employed to detect these shifts. In this dissertation, stable isotope analysis is used as the main research proxy and combined with other sources of evidence to obtain the highest resolution available. Stable isotope ratios measured on osteological human or animal remains, and on charred plant organic samples, have been used in archaeology to answer multiple archaeological questions. These include, but are not limited to, the reconstruction of human diets, the investigation of animal and crop management practices, the recognition of probable dwelling places for given individuals, and/or the inspection of breastfeeding and weaning timings in past populations. As such, human lifeways were here approached through ‘Big Data’ collections, meta-analyses, Bayesian modelling, and newly generated measurements. Also non-isotopic proxies were employed, as several forms of archaeological evidence can be included in a model to increase the accuracy and precision of the reconstruction. Using this transdisciplinary, multi-proxy, and multi-scale approach, changes in human subsistence practices, infant feeding strategies, and spatial mobility were detected both at regional level (e.g. archaeological sites) and following broader spatiotemporal coordinates. An important point within this work is hence the multi-scale approach. Depending on the research question, an analysis can be carried out at different scales. ‘Big Data’ meta-analyses can in fact attest shifts and/or the spread of given archaeological data that are otherwise invisible or underestimated at site level. Different scales can provide for different resolutions and interpretative limitations. In particular, the wider the scale, the higher is the possibility of observing how human lifeways shifted (or did not) across a more restricted number of historical variables. A ‘Big Data’ meta-analysis reduces in fact the impact of diverging behaviours on the final interpretation, hence allowing the detection of main trends. Novel statistical models have been recently proposed to investigate these. Developing machine learning programs and artificial intelligence implementations will also likely allow refining historical correlations. However, this is valid whenever a chosen scale is adequate to the amount and typology of data that is available. In this dissertation, some of the ‘Big Data’ spatio-temporal Bayesian options available from https://isomemoapp.com/ (IsoMemo) were presented here for the first time. Moreover, the use of the latest version of FRUITS (now ReSources), a Bayesian dietary mixing model, was also introduced as a potential high-resolution application of Bayesian softwares on different scales. In addition, the model OsteoBioR was employed on a selected case study to compare infant feeding practices on a local scale. Publications composing this cumulative dissertation are preceded by an extensive introduction on human lifeways, stable isotopes, Bayesian modelling tools, database production and brief summary of the articles. Conclusive thoughts, constraints of the project, and future research directions are also included. This dissertation consists of six articles. Three of these relate to database production and these are: 1) Amalthea, a database for incremental dentine stable isotope analysis; 2) the Tooth formation age dataset for early childhood bioarchaeological and medical studies, a non-isotopic database that can be used as a reference for addressing early childhood diets; 3) the Compendium Isotoporum Medii Aevi (CIMA), a database collecting all isotopic measurements on human, faunal and plant samples from medieval Europe (more than 50000). As a general rule, data collections can highlight research gaps and provide for large data archives that can be used to compare new measurements. However, as mentioned, these compilations can provide for large scale spatiotemporal data meta-analyses concerning diet, farming economies, spatial mobility and infant feeding practices. Preliminary results have shown potential links between shifts in human lifeways trends and historical developments during the late Roman and medieval ages. This is also enhanced by the designing of a well-characterised metadata structure that includes several archaeological, historical, and biological variables. For example, shifting human dietary practices compared across imperial, late antique, and early medieval Rome were associated with demographic decrease, collapse of the political and economic Roman structure, and new adaptative farming economies. A large regional dietary variability was also observed on an European scale, suggesting that different climates, environments, political agenda, socio-economic systems, and cultural traditions had different impacts on human communities. An additional ‘Big Data’ meta-analysis using Bayesian modelling of pollen variables on a continental scale was also included in this dissertation. This showed how mortality rates of the Black Death were overestimated in the historiographic reconstruction. Two selected case studies also compose this dissertation. These allowed observing shifting human lifeways on a local scale. Here, stable isotopes and Bayesian modelling options could be employed to explore past infant feeding practices in the Roman site of Bainesse (UK), and human diets, farming economies, and spatial mobility in southern Italy. These case-studies revealed smaller intra- and inter-site variations that suggested the existence of multiple local variables influencing human lifeways. For example, in Roman Bainesse (UK), some striking correlation between ancient medical recommendations and infant feeding practices as revealed through isotopes, suggested that the former could have been known, even at the northern frontier of the Roman empire. This is likely linked to military and commercial mobility in the area. However, the completion age of weaning varied across individuals and this still indicates that given choices could be influenced by other factors. This was associated with family traditions and/or socio-economic status. In Tertiveri (Italy), a moderate consumption of C4 plants (likely millet) detected through isotopes is an interesting anomaly in respect to what is observed from other archaeological indicators in the region. This was connected to a local economy based on transhumance routes. Moreover, historical developments, likely linked with military expeditions, were associated with mobile individuals found in Tertiveri, who appear to have travelled from outside the region. Overall, this dissertation proved that, at different scales and using multiple proxies, human lifeways in late Roman and medieval Europe were extremely heterogeneous. This was expected at site level, as many local variables and single human choices can influence subsistence practices, farming economies, infant feeding strategies, and mobility patterns. However, preliminary ‘Big Data’ Bayesian meta-analyses carried out on large volumes of isotopic data and combined with known evidence obtained from zooarchaeology, archaeobotany, anthropology, and written sources have revealed this point as valid even on a wider scale. This is not necessarily an a priori consequence of differences in the local scale, given that large human trends would overshadow smaller local differences. More likely, this instead confirms that human societies are impacted as a whole by main historical developments and environmental differences. This indicates hence that human lifeways do not only respond to biological inputs. At the state of the arts, it is hard to estimate which historical and/or environmental variables impacted late Roman and Medieval human lifeways the most. A direction to follow will be that of including into the analysis machine learning softwares applied to ‘Big Data’. Future research concerning Roman and Medieval Europe and its margins is therefore suggested to employ a similar multi-scale and multi-proxy transdisciplinary approach to investigate human lifeways.Die Untersuchung vergangener menschlicher Lebensweisen, zu denen Subsistenzpraktiken, Ernährungsstrategien für Kleinkinder, kleine regionale Bewegungen und/oder größere Migrationen gehören, führt zu einem Palimpsest von Informationen über vielfältige und miteinander verknüpfte historische Variablen, die sich mit alten Gesellschaften befassen. Selbst in der Neuzeit kann das alltägliche Verhalten der Menschen mit einem gemeinsamen Wertesystem in Verbindung gebracht werden, das von wirtschaftlicher Organisation, politischer Agenda, sozialem Status, technologischem Niveau, kulturellen Ansichten, Ethik und Religion beeinflusst wird. So ist zum Beispiel die Ernährung eine biologische Notwendigkeit, die dem Organismus Wachstum, Überleben und Fortpflanzung ermöglicht. Der unterschiedliche Verzehr verschiedener Nahrungsmittel wird aber in den meisten Fällen durch komplexe menschliche Entscheidungen bestimmt. Auch die Ernährung von Säuglingen ist ein besonderer Aspekt der Ernährung. Säuglinge können sich nicht selbst ernähren, sondern sind auf die Entscheidungen ihrer Eltern angewiesen, unter anderem darauf, wie und wann sie gestillt werden. Muttermilch ist eine sichere und leicht verdauliche Kalorien- und Makronährstoffquelle für Neugeborene. Doch wenn sie fehlt oder auf eine kurze Zeit reduziert wird, können Neugeborene ernsthafte gesundheitliche Probleme bekommen. Bei der Entwöhnung wird die Muttermilch mit Beikost kombiniert. Die Still- und Entwöhnungszeiten sind heutzutage ein wichtiges Forschungsthema in der Archäologie, da sie von Fundort zu Fundort und sogar von Familie zu Familie stark variieren können. Dies ist auf eine Mischung aus kulturellen Normen, wirtschaftlicher Erschwinglichkeit und medizinischem Wissen zurückzuführen. Die räumliche Mobilität von Menschen und Tieren auf verschiedenen geografischen Ebenen kann sich auch auf die menschlichen Subsistenzpraktiken und andere Aspekte der Lebensweise auswirken, die in einer bestimmten Gemeinschaft geteilt werden. Kleinere regionale Bewegungen auf individueller Ebene können mit sozioökonomischen Phänomenen in Verbindung gebracht werden, während breitere Massenmigrationen stattdessen lokale kulturelle Traditionen beeinflussen, neue Technologien, Religionen und politische Systeme einführen und sich an neue landwirtschaftliche Wirtschaftsformen anpassen können. Diese und weitere Fragestellungen können u. a. mit Hilfe der Analyse stabiler Isotope beantwortet werden. Die vorliegende kumulative Dissertation umfasst insgesamt sechs wissenschaftliche Veröffentlichungen sowie in der Einleitung weitere bislang unpublizierte Daten. Ziel der Arbeit ist es, raum-zeitliche Verschiebungen in der menschlichen Lebensweise im spätrömischen und mittelalterlichen Europa zu untersuchen. Dabei fokusiert diese Dissertation auf einen grundlegenden Aspekt der Lebensweise - die Ernährungsweise der Menschen. Außerdem wird auch die Mobilität im Raum angesprochen. Angesichts der Existenz zahlreicher historischer Variablen kann eine höhere Auflösung bei der Rekonstruktion vergangener menschlicher Lebensweisen durch einen transdisziplinären Multi-Proxy-Ansatz erreicht werden. Wann immer unterschiedliche Proxies verfügbar sind, können diese verglichen und gegenübergestellt werden. Dies gilt insbesondere für das römische und mittelalterliche Europa, da ein hohes Maß an archäologischer Erhaltung oft mit einer großen Menge an schriftlichen Dokumenten und Verträgen einhergeht. Darüber hinaus nehmen archäobotanische, zooarchäologische und bioarchäologische Studien für diese Zeiträume zu, was die Möglichkeit bietet, hochauflösende diachrone und synchrone Veränderungen der Ernährung, des Ressourcenmanagements und der räumlichen Mobilität zu untersuchen. Während des Zeitraums, der für diese Dissertation von Interesse ist, d. h. von der spätrömischen Zeit bis zum späten Mittelalter (ca. viertes bis fünfzehntes Jahrhundert), wirkten sich mehrere historische Ereignisse in unterschiedlichem Tempo und Ausmaß auf europäische Regionen aus. Politische Übergänge lassen sich an den Wiedervereinigungsversuchen nach dem Untergang des westlichen Teils des Römischen Reiches beobachten, wie z. B. das Karolingerreich (751-919 n. Chr.) und das Heilige Römische Reich (962-1806 n. Chr.). Darüber hinaus wurden neue „proto-nationale“ Königreiche gegründet. Die Einwanderung verschiedener germanischer und – später – slawischer Stämme prägte Europa zumindest in der gesamten Spätantike und im frühen Mittelalter (im Wesentlichen 300-1000 n. Chr.). Dies führte zu einer Kombination aus soziokulturellen und rechtlichen Systemen, die auf dem früheren römischen Substrat basierten und an die gemeinsamen Traditionen dieser neuen Völker angepasst wurden. Auch die Religionen, ihre Konfessionen und zahlreiche dogmatische Aspekte (z. B. Fastenregeln) spielten in der spätrömischen und mittelalterlichen Gesellschaft eine zentrale Rolle. Seit der Krönung Karls des Großen in der Weihnachtsnacht des Jahres 800 war die wirksamste weltliche Macht, die von einem religiösen Oberhaupt ausgeübt wurde, die des Papstes, der eine ausgleichende und manchmal auch eine führende Rolle unter den christlichen Staaten spielte. Andere besondere Dynamiken betrafen klimatische Ereignisse von begrenzter zeitlicher Reichweite (z. B. der Vulkanwinter von 536) oder von größerem Ausmaß (z. B. die mittelalterliche Warmzeit). Schließlich sind auch Pandemien wie die „Justinianische Pest“ (541-544) oder der „Schwarze Tod“ (1346-1353) gut dokumentierte historische Ereignisse, die die europäischen Gesellschaften nachhaltig beeinflussten. Alle oben genannten historischen Entwicklungen kennzeichnen dieses Zeitalter als eine äußerst heterogene Periode in der europäischen Geschichte, und aus diesem Grund wird erwartet, dass synchrone und diachrone Verschiebungen in den früheren menschlichen Ernährungsgewohnheiten, in der Kinderernährung, in den Strategien der Tier- und Pflanzenhaltung und in der räumlichen Mobilität diese Ereignisse widerspiegeln. Heutzutage kann eine breite Palette archäologischer Methoden eingesetzt werden, um diese Veränderungen nachzuweisen. In dieser Dissertation wird die Analyse stabiler Isotope als wichtigstes Forschungsmittel eingesetzt und mit anderen Beweismitteln kombiniert, um die größtmögliche Auflösung zu erzielen. Stabile Isotopenverhältnisse, die an osteologischen menschlichen oder tierischen Überresten und an verkohlten organischen Pflanzenproben gemessen wurden, sind in der Archäologie zur Beantwortung zahlreicher archäologischer Fragen verwendet worden. Dazu gehören u. a. die Rekonstruktion menschlicher Ernährungsgewohnheiten, die Untersuchung von Praktiken der Tierhaltung und des Pflanzenanbaus, das Erkennen wahrscheinlicher Wohnorte bestimmter Individuen und/oder die Untersuchung von Still- und Entwöhnungszeiten in früheren Bevölkerungen. Die menschlichen Lebenswege wurden hier durch „Big Data“-Sammlungen, Meta-Analysen, Bayes‘sche Modellierung und umfangreiche eigene Isotopenanalysen untersucht. Es wurden auch nicht-isotopische Proxies verwendet, da mehrere Formen archäologischer Beweise in ein Modell einbezogen werden können, um die Genauigkeit und Präzision der Rekonstruktion zu erhöhen. Mithilfe dieses transdisziplinären, Multi-Proxy- und Multiskalen-Ansatzes konnten Veränderungen in den menschlichen Subsistenzpraktiken, den Ernährungsstrategien für Kleinkinder und der räumlichen Mobilität sowohl auf regionaler Ebene (z. B. spezifische archäologische Fundorte) als auch in größeren räumlich-zeitlichen Koordinaten nachgewiesen werden. Ein wichtiger Punkt in dieser Arbeit ist daher der Multiskalenansatz. Je nach Forschungsfrage kann eine Analyse auf verschiedenen Skalen durchgeführt werden. Big-Data-Meta-Analysen können in der Tat Verschiebungen und/oder die Verbreitung bestimmter archäologischer Daten belegen, die ansonsten auf Standortebene unsichtbar sind oder unterschätzt werden. Unterschiedliche Maßstäbe können zu unterschiedlichen Auflösungen und Interpretationseinschränkungen führen. Je größer der Maßstab, desto größer ist die Möglichkeit zu beobachten, wie sich menschliche Lebensweisen über eine begrenzte Anzahl historischer Variablen hinweg verändert haben (oder auch nicht). Eine „Big Data“-Meta-Analyse verringert die Auswirkungen abweichender Verhaltensweisen auf die endgültige Interpretation und ermöglicht somit die Erkennung der wichtigsten Trends. Kürzlich wurden neuartige statistische Modelle vorgeschlagen, um diese zu untersuchen. Die Entwicklung von Programmen für maschinelles Lernen und die Implementierung künstlicher Intelligenz wird es wahrscheinlich auch ermöglichen, historische Korrelationen zu verfeinern. Dies gilt jedoch immer dann, wenn die gewählte Skala der Menge und Art der verfügbaren Daten angemessen ist. In dieser Dissertation wurden einige der räumlich-zeitlichen Bayes'schen „Big Data“-Optionen von https://isomemoapp.com/ (IsoMemo) zum ersten Mal vorgestellt. Darüber hinaus wurde die Verwendung der neuesten Version von FRUITS (jetzt ReSources), einem Bayes‘schen Ernährungsmischungsmodell, als mögliche hochauflösende Anwendung von Bay

THE WESTERN TENNESSEE SHELL MOUND ARCHAIC: PREHISTORIC OCCUPATION IN THE LOWER TENNESSEE RIVER VALLEY BETWEEN 9000 AND 2500 CAL YR BP

Data from seven Middle and Late Archaic sites in western Tennessee dating to ca. 8900 – 3200 cal BP are used explore how shell middens and mounds were created and used. The study sites – Eva (40BN12), Big Sandy (40HY18), Kays Landing (40HY13), Cherry (40BN74), Ledbetter Landing (40BN25), McDaniel (40BN77), and Oak View (40DR1) – were excavated during the Great Depression prior to the construction of the Kentucky Dam by the Tennessee Valley Authority. A high-resolution chronology of site use was developed, based on existing older radiocarbon assays and 50 new AMS determinations. These chronological data were used in conjunction with analyses of curated collections at the Frank H. McClung Museum to produce a synthesis of human occupation, including shell fish use, in this part of the Tennessee River Valley. The temporal data also formed the basis for in-depth examination of the composition of, and variation in, artifact assemblages, cultural features, and burial populations through time to assess changes in the intensity and manner of site use. Results indicate that shellfishing appeared in western Tennessee by the mid-9th millennium cal BP, and continued sporadically throughout the Middle and Late Archaic periods until at least the mid-3rd millennium cal BP. Shell-bearing sites accumulated over many centuries. Although raw numbers of artifacts and human burials recovered from them are impressive, when contextualized within a temporal span of many centuries, they suggest periodic, or even sporadic, occupation rather than continuous use. It has been suggested, based on burial numbers, that freshwater shell-bearing sites resulted from feasting and other activities associated with funerary rituals. However, average annual burial rates for the study sites, when compared with modern and historic ethnographic data on hunter-gatherer mortality rates, suggest that these burial populations represent only a tiny fraction of the total number of deaths that would have occurred during the time the sites formed, and may be better interpreted as the long-term aggregated result of occasional deaths among groups who periodically occupied these sites