Foraging for Farmers? An evolutionary perspective on the process of Neolithisation in NW Europe – a case study from the Low Countries

Abstract: Recent studies emphasise the mosaic character of the process of neolithisation in northwestern Europe. However, some overarching motives influencing the uptake of farming can be identified across regions. We model the importance of evolutionary processes underlying neolithisation. We focus on the southern part of the Low Countries, where the uptake of agriculture takes distinct trajectories in different biomes. We analyse the transition in terms of fitness benefits that foraging and agriculture bestow on the actors involved. We suggest that different substrates offer different fitness benefits with regard to the uptake of farming and that these benefits differed between the sexes, leading to differing “optimal” strategies for males and females regarding whether and how to adopt Neolithic novelties

Maak van Herijking van de Canon van Nederland een archeologische verrijking

‘Wij’ kamen ooit met donkere huid en blauwe ogen van Afrika naar het huidige Nederland. Helaas zwijgt de Canon van Nederland hierover, zoal over veel van de prehistorie, stellen archeologen Luc Amkreutz en Gerrit Dusseldorp. NWOVidi 276-60-004Human Origin

A not so isolated fringe:Dutch later prehistoric (c. 2200 BCE-AD 0) bronze alloy networks from compositional analyses on metals and corrosion layers

Using a corpus of over 370 compositional analyses of Dutch Bronze Age and Iron Age (c. 2000 BCE AD 0) copper alloy artefacts, long-term patterns in the types of alloys used for specific bronze objects are identified. As the Low Countries are devoid of copper ores and alloying elements, a combination of typo(chrono) logical and compositional analysis is used to identify through which European contact networks (such as Atlantic, Central European or Nordic exchange networks) these alloys were obtained. We employ a methodology that (following Bray et al., 2015) defines alloy groups by presence of As, Sb, Ag and Ni over 0.1 %wt, but expanded this classification to include Pb and to track high-impurity (>1%wt) alloys. Due to interfering soil-derived iron hydroxides, and preferent dissolution of copper from the objects’ surface, the determination of tin is in most cases overestimated when using p-XRF, so Sn was not systematically reviewed. Objects were assigned a calendar age in years BCE to facilitate chronological sorting. Using this classification, we could show how different alloys (using different base ores) were used in different periods, and in different combinations. Moreover, particular alloys were used for different groups of functional types of objects. Also, we show diachronic differences in the influx of new (or less frequently mixed) alloys and chronological trends in the substitution of As by Sn as main alloying element in the Early Bronze Age as well as the rise of leaded alloys at the close of the Bronze Age. Combining information on the composition of the objects with their typological traits, allowed us to reconstruct the scales and geographic scopes of the European contact networks in which the copper alloys used throughout later prehistory were obtained

Neutron Resonance Capture Analysis (NRCA), elemental compositions of bronze age objects

Prehistory of Nortwestern Europ

Association between bone mineral density and autoantibodies in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Objective Autoantibodies, such as anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPAs), have been described as inducing bone loss in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), which can also be reflected by bone mineral density (BMD). We therefore examined the association between osteoporosis and autoantibodies in two independent RA cohorts.Methods Dual x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) of the lumbar spine and left hip was performed in 408 Dutch patients with early RA during 5 years of follow-up and in 198 Swedish patients with early RA during 10 years of follow-up. The longitudinal effect of ACPAs and other autoantibodies on several BMD measures was assessed using generalized estimating equations.Results In the Dutch cohort, significantly lower BMD at baseline was observed in ACPA-positive patients compared to ACPA-negative patients, with an estimated marginal mean BMD in the left hip of 0.92 g/cm(2) (95% confidence interval [95% CI] 0.91-0.93) versus 0.95 g/cm(2) (95% CI 0.93-0.97) (P = 0.01). In line with this, significantly lower Z scores at baseline were noted in the ACPA-positive group compared to the ACPA-negative group (estimated marginal mean Z score in the left hip of 0.18 [95% CI 0.08-0.29] versus 0.48 [95% CI 0.33-0.63]) (P < 0.01). However, despite clear differences at baseline, ACPA positivity was not associated with greater decrease in absolute BMD or Z scores over time. Furthermore, there was no association between BMD and higher levels of ACPAs or other autoantibodies (rheumatoid factor and anti-carbamylated protein antibodies). In the Swedish cohort, ACPA-positive patients tended to have a higher prevalence of osteopenia at baseline (P = 0.04), but again, ACPA positivity was not associated with an increased prevalence of osteopenia or osteoporosis over time.Conclusion The presence of ACPAs is associated with significantly lower BMD at baseline, but not with greater BMD loss over time in treated RA patients. These results suggest that ACPAs alone do not appear to contribute to bone loss after disease onset when disease activity is well-managed.Pathophysiology and treatment of rheumatic disease

Palaeogenomics of Upper Palaeolithic to Neolithic European hunter-gatherers

Modern humans have populated Europe for more than 45,000 years1,2. Our knowledge of the genetic relatedness and structure of ancient hunter-gatherers is however limited, owing to the scarceness and poor molecular preservation of human remains from that period3. Here we analyse 356 ancient hunter-gatherer genomes, including new genomic data for 116 individuals from 14 countries in western and central Eurasia, spanning between 35,000 and 5,000 years ago. We identify a genetic ancestry profile in individuals associated with Upper Palaeolithic Gravettian assemblages from western Europe that is distinct from contemporaneous groups related to this archaeological culture in central and southern Europe4, but resembles that of preceding individuals associated with the Aurignacian culture. This&nbsp;ancestry profile survived during the Last Glacial Maximum (25,000 to 19,000 years ago) in human populations from southwestern Europe associated with the Solutrean&nbsp;culture, and with&nbsp;the following Magdalenian culture&nbsp;that re-expanded northeastward after the Last Glacial Maximum. Conversely, we reveal a genetic turnover in southern Europe suggesting a local replacement of human groups around the time of the Last Glacial Maximum, accompanied by a north-to-south dispersal of populations associated with the Epigravettian culture. From at least 14,000 years ago, an ancestry related to this culture spread from the south across the rest of Europe, largely replacing the Magdalenian-associated gene pool. After a period of limited admixture that spanned the beginning of the Mesolithic, we find genetic interactions between western and eastern European hunter-gatherers,&nbsp;who were also characterized by marked differences in phenotypically relevant variants

Dairying, diseases and the evolution of lactase persistence in Europe

Update notice Author Correction: Dairying, diseases and the evolution of lactase persistence in Europe (Nature, (2022), 608, 7922, (336-345), 10.1038/s41586-022-05010-7) Nature, Volume 609, Issue 7927, Pages E9, 15 September 2022In European and many African, Middle Eastern and southern Asian populations, lactase persistence (LP) is the most strongly selected monogenic trait to have evolved over the past 10,000 years(1). Although the selection of LP and the consumption of prehistoric milk must be linked, considerable uncertainty remains concerning their spatiotemporal configuration and specific interactions(2,3). Here we provide detailed distributions of milk exploitation across Europe over the past 9,000 years using around 7,000 pottery fat residues from more than 550 archaeological sites. European milk use was widespread from the Neolithic period onwards but varied spatially and temporally in intensity. Notably, LP selection varying with levels of prehistoric milk exploitation is no better at explaining LP allele frequency trajectoriesthan uniform selection since the Neolithic period. In the UK Biobank(4,5) cohort of 500,000 contemporary Europeans, LP genotype was only weakly associated with milk consumption and did not show consistent associations with improved fitness or health indicators. This suggests that other reasons for the beneficial effects of LP should be considered for its rapid frequency increase. We propose that lactase non-persistent individuals consumed milk when it became available but, under conditions of famine and/or increased pathogen exposure, this was disadvantageous, driving LP selection in prehistoric Europe. Comparison of model likelihoods indicates that population fluctuations, settlement density and wild animal exploitation-proxies for these drivers-provide better explanations of LP selection than the extent of milk exploitation. These findings offer new perspectives on prehistoric milk exploitation and LP evolution.Peer reviewe

Palaeogenomics of Upper Palaeolithic to Neolithic European hunter-gatherers

: Modern humans have populated Europe for more than 45,000 years1,2. Our knowledge of the genetic relatedness and structure of ancient hunter-gatherers is however limited, owing to the scarceness and poor molecular preservation of human remains from that period3. Here we analyse 356 ancient hunter-gatherer genomes, including new genomic data for 116 individuals from 14 countries in western and central Eurasia, spanning between 35,000 and 5,000 years ago. We identify a genetic ancestry profile in individuals associated with Upper Palaeolithic Gravettian assemblages from western Europe that is distinct from contemporaneous groups related to this archaeological culture in central and southern Europe4, but resembles that of preceding individuals associated with the Aurignacian culture. This&nbsp;ancestry profile survived during the Last Glacial Maximum (25,000 to 19,000 years ago) in human populations from southwestern Europe associated with the Solutrean&nbsp;culture, and with&nbsp;the following Magdalenian culture&nbsp;that re-expanded northeastward after the Last Glacial Maximum. Conversely, we reveal a genetic turnover in southern Europe suggesting a local replacement of human groups around the time of the Last Glacial Maximum, accompanied by a north-to-south dispersal of populations associated with the Epigravettian culture. From at least 14,000 years ago, an ancestry related to this culture spread from the south across the rest of Europe, largely replacing the Magdalenian-associated gene pool. After a period of limited admixture that spanned the beginning of the Mesolithic, we find genetic interactions between western and eastern European hunter-gatherers,&nbsp;who were also characterized by marked differences in phenotypically relevant variants

Palaeogenomics of Upper Palaeolithic to Neolithic European hunter-gatherers

Publisher Copyright: © 2023, The Author(s).Modern humans have populated Europe for more than 45,000 years1,2. Our knowledge of the genetic relatedness and structure of ancient hunter-gatherers is however limited, owing to the scarceness and poor molecular preservation of human remains from that period3. Here we analyse 356 ancient hunter-gatherer genomes, including new genomic data for 116 individuals from 14 countries in western and central Eurasia, spanning between 35,000 and 5,000 years ago. We identify a genetic ancestry profile in individuals associated with Upper Palaeolithic Gravettian assemblages from western Europe that is distinct from contemporaneous groups related to this archaeological culture in central and southern Europe4, but resembles that of preceding individuals associated with the Aurignacian culture. This ancestry profile survived during the Last Glacial Maximum (25,000 to 19,000 years ago) in human populations from southwestern Europe associated with the Solutrean culture, and with the following Magdalenian culture that re-expanded northeastward after the Last Glacial Maximum. Conversely, we reveal a genetic turnover in southern Europe suggesting a local replacement of human groups around the time of the Last Glacial Maximum, accompanied by a north-to-south dispersal of populations associated with the Epigravettian culture. From at least 14,000 years ago, an ancestry related to this culture spread from the south across the rest of Europe, largely replacing the Magdalenian-associated gene pool. After a period of limited admixture that spanned the beginning of the Mesolithic, we find genetic interactions between western and eastern European hunter-gatherers, who were also characterized by marked differences in phenotypically relevant variants.Peer reviewe