La explotación de las plantas y los inicios de la agricultura en el Próximo Oriente: 20 años de investigación arqueobotánica

Este trabajo aborda el desarrollo de la investigación arqueobotánica en el Próximo Oriente en las dos últimas décadas. El artículo se centra en los avances conseguidos en el estudio de la explotación de las plantas en periodos pre-agrarios así como en los orígenes de la agricultura. Se discuten los principales yacimientos paleolíticos y epipaleolíticos en los que se documenta el uso de las plantas, y se abordan temas como el cultivo pre-doméstico y la domesticación de las plantasThis paper deals with the development of Near Eastern archaeobotany during the past two decades. It focuses on the advances of the discipline, particularly on the progress made in pre-agrarian plant use and the origins of agriculture. The main Palaeolithic and Epipalaeolithic sites where plant use has been well attested are discussed while issues such as pre-domestic cultivation and plant domestication are also analyze

Astrocytes in Alzheimer’s Disease: Pathological Significance and Molecular Pathways

Astrocytes perform a wide variety of essential functions defining normal operation of the nervous system and are active contributors to the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s among others. Recent data provide compelling evidence that distinct astrocyte states are associated with specific stages of Alzheimer´s disease. The advent of transcriptomics technologies enables rapid progress in the characterisation of such pathological astrocyte states. In this review, we provide an overview of the origin, main functions, molecular and morphological features of astrocytes in physiological as well as pathological conditions related to Alzheimer´s disease. We will also explore the main roles of astrocytes in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer´s disease and summarize main transcriptional changes and altered molecular pathways observed in astrocytes during the course of the disease.This work was supported by the FEDER/Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación—Agencia Estatal de Investigación grant RTI2018-101850-A-I00 to A.M.A. (Spain), and a start-up grant from the IKERBASQUE Basque Foundation of Science to A.M.A

Preliminary analysis of the Late Natufian ground stone from Shubayqa 1, Jordan

Shubayqa 1 is a newly identified early and late Natufian site in the harra desert of northeastern Jordan. In addition to buildings, and rich chipped stone, faunal, and botanical assemblages, the site has produced a large collection of ground stone tools. This paper presents the result of a preliminary study of the ground stone artefacts associated with the late Natufian phase. Results indicate that while the assemblage is overall very similar to other Natufian sites in the Mediterranean zone, there are also some notable differences. Although grinding rather than pounding tools appear to be more important at the site, many tools were seemingly involved in both grinding and pounding activities. We hypothesize that this dual function could be explained by the processing of rhizome tubers, which were found in abundance at the site, and which may have represented an important food source for the inhabitants. In addition, we argue that the relationship between ground stone tools and cereal processing has been overemphasized and the processing of other plant food resources, in this case tubers could have been equally significant. While the processing of plant foods was one function, many tools are also associated with pigment stains, suggesting that they were involved in the processing of non-vegetal matter

Identifying the chaîne opératoire of club-rush (Bolboschoenus glaucus (Lam.) S.G.Sm) tuber exploitation during the Early Natufian in the Black Desert (northeastern Jordan)

Club-rush (Bolboschoenus spp. (Asch.) Palla) is one of the most common edible wild plant taxa found at Epipaleolithic and Neolithic sites in southwest Asia. At the Early Natufian site of Shubayqa 1 (Black Desert, Jordan) thousands of club-rush rhizome-tuber remains and hundreds of fragments of prepared meals were found. The evidence indicated that the underground storage organs of this plant were recurrently used as a source of food 14,600 years ago. To determine how Early Natufian communities gathered, processed and transformed club-rush tubers into food, we designed an interdisciplinary study that combined experimental archaeology, archaeobotany, and ground and chipped stone tool analyses. We conducted more than 50 specific experiments over three years, and based on the experimental materials produced we inferred that 1) the best season for club-rush rhizome-tuber collection in the region was spring-summer time; 2) that the primary method to harvest the plant would have been uprooting; and 3) that the most efficient approaches to obtain perfectly peeled and clean rhizome-tubers could have entailed drying, roasting and gentle grinding of the tubers. Overall, our work provides important information to reconstruct the chaîne opératoire for club-rush tuber exploitation in the past. The experimental data and modern reference datasets allow us to interpret the archaeological material found at Shubayqa 1, and start identifying some of the activities that Natufian communities in the Black Desert undertook in relation to the exploitation of this particular source of food.Funding to carry out the experiments described in this paper was provided by the H.P. Mindefondet for Dansk Palæstinaforskning, Ingeniør Svend G. Fiedler og Hustrus legat til fremme af botanisk og arkæologisk forskning, the Danish Institute in Damascus, and the “Changing Foodways Project” granted by the Danish council for Independent Research (grant nos. DFF-4001-00068, DFF-801-00133B) to Dr. T. Richter, University of Copenhagen. Permission to conduct excavations at Shubayqa 1 was granted to Dr. T. Richter under license agreement with the Department of Antiquities of Jordan. Data analyses, interpretation and writing were carried out under A. Arranz-Otaegui’s Marie Sklodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship (“FOUNDERS”, MSCAIF grant no. 840228) and Juan de la Cierva Incorporación grant (IJC2019-039647-I). Ingeniør Svend G. Fiedler og Hustrus legat til fremme af botanisk og arkæologisk forskning and the Danish Institute in Damascus provided additional funding for ground stone analysis conducted by P. N. Pedersen. Note that the funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. We also want to thank Department of Antiquities of Jordan, the Qasr Burqu’ staff, and several members of the Shubayqa Archaeological Project, including T. Richter, A. Shakaiteer, A. Ruter, L. Yeomans, and M. Bangsborg Thuessen among many others, for helping us in the various stages of the work over these years

Archaeobotanical evidence reveals the origins of bread 14,400 years ago in northeastern Jordan.

The origins of bread have long been associated with the emergence of agriculture and cereal domestication during the Neolithic in southwest Asia. In this study we analyze a total of 24 charred food remains from Shubayqa 1, a Natufian hunter-gatherer site located in northeastern Jordan and dated to 14.6-11.6 ka cal BP. Our finds provide empirical data to demonstrate that the preparation and consumption of bread-like products predated the emergence of agriculture by at least 4,000 years. The interdisciplinary analyses indicate the use of some of the "founder crops" of southwest Asian agriculture (e.g., Triticum boeoticum, wild einkorn) and root foods (e.g., Bolboschoenus glaucus, club-rush tubers) to produce flat bread-like products. The available archaeobotanical evidence for the Natufian period indicates that cereal exploitation was not common during this time, and it is most likely that cereal-based meals like bread become staples only when agriculture was firmly established

Squaring the Circle. Social and Environmental Implications of Pre-Pottery Neolithic Building Technology at Tell Qarassa (South Syria)

We present the results of the microstratigraphic, phytolith and wood charcoal study of the remains of a 10.5 ka roof. The roof is part of a building excavated at Tell Qarassa (South Syria), assigned to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B period (PPNB). The Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) period in the Levant coincides with the emergence of farming. This fundamental change in subsistence strategy implied the shift from mobile to settled aggregated life, and from tents and huts to hard buildings. As settled life spread across the Levant, a generalised transition from round to square buildings occurred, that is a trademark of the PPNB period. The study of these buildings is fundamental for the understanding of the ever-stronger reciprocal socio-ecological relationship humans developed with the local environment since the introduction of sedentism and domestication. Descriptions of buildings in PPN archaeological contexts are usually restricted to the macroscopic observation of wooden elements (posts and beams) and mineral components (daub, plaster and stone elements). Reconstructions of microscopic and organic components are frequently based on ethnographic analogy. The direct study of macroscopic and microscopic, organic and mineral, building components performed at Tell Qarassa provides new insights on building conception, maintenance, use and destruction. These elements reflect new emerging paradigms in the relationship between Neolithic societies and the environment. A square building was possibly covered here with a radial roof, providing a glance into a topologic shift in the conception and understanding of volumes, from round-based to square-based geometries. Macroscopic and microscopic roof components indicate buildings were conceived for year-round residence rather than seasonal mobility. This implied performing maintenance and restoration of partially damaged buildings, as well as their adaptation to seasonal variability.MICINN (HAR2011-21545-C02-01) The last hunter-gatherers and the first producing societies in Central and Southern Syria, the Ministry of Culture Spanish Institute of Cultural Heritage (Excavations Abroad), the French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, JAEDoc (contracts for A. Balbo), SimulPast Consolider and European Social Found, the Basque Government (Pre-doctoral grant Number: BFI.09.249 for A. Arranz), Basque Government-Research Group UPV/EHU IT-288-07 (L. Zapata), UFI11/09 Cuaternario of the UPV/EHU and Project HAR2011-23716 (I+D+i), Programa de Movilidad del Personal Investigador del Gobierno Vasco 2012, AGRIWESTMED (European Research Council funded) (contract for C. Lancelotti)

Les occupations du natoufien et du PPNB ancien à Qarassa (Suweida, Syrie du sud). Premiers résultats et perspectives

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