Dental health evaluation of ancient Philadelphia society (Karaman, Turkey)

A total of 53 human skeleton dated to 3rd Century CE were found in the Philadelphia rock tomb excavations and 422 permanent teeth from these findings were used in this study. This study on dental health comprises evaluations of dental wear, caries, abscess, dental calculus and antemortem tooth loss. Caries is found to be 6.9 % in 422 teeth, wear is calculated to be 2.82 on average, the frequency of abscess is 1.67 %, calculus frequency is 18.72% and graded to be 1.96 based on Buikstra and Ubelaker’s scale. The rate for antemortem tooth loss is 16.6 %. Based on these results, the caries, abscess, calculus and antemortem tooth loss are compared with some other populations from the Roman Era. According to this comparison, dental caries, abscess and dental calculus frequencies are lower than other Roman sites, just antemortem tooth loss is a higher degree of prevalence. The results show that the Philadelphia skeletons are found to be healthier regarding oral and dental health except among the Roman sites. Furthermore, the results point out a diet which is based on protein intake rather than a carbohydrate rich diet. This is a preliminary study on Philadelphia society and ongoing excavations will reveal more details about the society in the near future

Dental health evaluation of ancient Philadelphia society (Karaman, Turkey)

A total of 53 human skeleton dated to 3rd Century CE were found in the Philadelphia rock tomb excavations and 422 permanent teeth from these findings were used in this study. This study on dental health comprises evaluations of dental wear, caries, abscess, dental calculus and antemortem tooth loss. Caries is found to be 6.9 % in 422 teeth, wear is calculated to be 2.82 on average, the frequency of abscess is 1.67 %, calculus frequency is 18.72% and graded to be 1.96 based on Buikstra and Ubelaker’s scale. The rate for antemortem tooth loss is 16.6 %. Based on these results, the caries, abscess, calculus and antemortem tooth loss are compared with some other populations from the Roman Era. According to this comparison, dental caries, abscess and dental calculus frequencies are lower than other Roman sites, just antemortem tooth loss is a higher degree of prevalence. The results show that the Philadelphia skeletons are found to be healthier regarding oral and dental health except among the Roman sites. Furthermore, the results point out a diet which is based on protein intake rather than a carbohydrate rich diet. This is a preliminary study on Philadelphia society and ongoing excavations will reveal more details about the society in the near future

The genetic history of the Southern Arc: a bridge between West Asia and Europe

By sequencing 727 ancient individuals from the Southern Arc (Anatolia and its neighbors in Southeastern Europe and West Asia) over 10,000 years, we contextualize its Chalcolithic period and Bronze Age (about 5000 to 1000 BCE), when extensive gene flow entangled it with the Eurasian steppe. Two streams of migration transmitted Caucasus and Anatolian/Levantine ancestry northward, and the Yamnaya pastoralists, formed on the steppe, then spread southward into the Balkans and across the Caucasus into Armenia, where they left numerous patrilineal descendants. Anatolia was transformed by intra–West Asian gene flow, with negligible impact of the later Yamnaya migrations. This contrasts with all other regions where Indo-European languages were spoken, suggesting that the homeland of the Indo-Anatolian language family was in West Asia, with only secondary dispersals of non-Anatolian Indo-Europeans from the steppe

Bill Variation of Captive and Wild Chukar Partridge Populations: Shape or Size

Traditionally, morphological characters are widely used to distinguish between interspecies and intraspecies. In addition to the size of morphological characters, shape has also been used as an indicator in the last decades. We evaluated the geometric morphometry and morphometric of the bill of Chukar Partridge, Alectoris chukar from captive and wild populations to determine the bill variation and population relationships. Although there was a size difference between the sexes, no shape difference was found. However, captive populations differed from wild populations in both size and shape. Although there was no difference in shape among wild populations, some differences were found in size. Moreover, bill sizes of captive populations were statistically longer than western, centre, and eastern wild populations. It was also shown that the western populations had the most significant variation among the wild populations. The results revealed that using the size and shape together was more effective in comparing populations

Bill Variation of Captive and Wild Chukar Partridge Populations: Shape or Size

Traditionally, morphological characters are widely used to distinguish between interspecies and intraspecies. In addition to the size of morphological characters, shape has also been used as an indicator in the last decades. We evaluated the geometric morphometry and morphometric of the bill of Chukar Partridge, Alectoris chukar from captive and wild populations to determine the bill variation and population relationships. Although there was a size difference between the sexes, no shape difference was found. However, captive populations differed from wild populations in both size and shape. Although there was no difference in shape among wild populations, some differences were found in size. Moreover, bill sizes of captive populations were statistically longer than western, centre, and eastern wild populations. It was also shown that the western populations had the most significant variation among the wild populations. The results revealed that using the size and shape together was more effective in comparing populations

Geometric Morphometric Analysis of Cranium of Wolf (Canis lupus) and German Shepherd Dog (Canis lupus familiaris)

In the study, it was aimed to investigate by geometric morphometric analysis to shape of the skull and mandible in adult male wolf and German Shepherd Dog. The skulls and mandibles were photographed from left side. The shape of skulls and mandibles were optimized by using tpsDig programme with 20 landmarks (in skulls), and 13 landmarks (in mandibles) on 2-D images. The skulls and mandibles were superimposed via PAST software and the principale component analysis was conducted. How and where the shape changes occurs in the cranium was shown using MorphoJ software. Also, morphological differences of the cranium between two groups were determined. As a result, German Shepherd Dog's cranium were significantly seperated from the wolf's cranium in respect of cranium shapes. In skull and mandible, about 70% and 78% of the total shape variation, is reflected by the first three principal components, respectively. Shape differences were most distinct in parietal, occipital, zygomatic, temporal bone and posterior mandible between two groups. The findings of the study are important in terms of evaluating the materials to be extracted from the area of archeological excavation and creating a database that will provide to prominent information about the history of domestication

Ancient DNA from Mesopotamia suggests distinct Pre-Pottery and Pottery Neolithic migrations into Anatolia

We present the first ancient DNA data from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic of Mesopotamia (Southeastern Turkey and Northern Iraq), Cyprus, and the Northwestern Zagros, along with the first data from Neolithic Armenia. We show that these and neighboring populations were formed through admixture of pre-Neolithic sources related to Anatolian, Caucasus, and Levantine hunter-gatherers, forming a Neolithic continuum of ancestry mirroring the geography of West Asia. By analyzing Pre-Pottery and Pottery Neolithic populations of Anatolia, we show that the former were derived from admixture between Mesopotamian-related and local Epipaleolithic-related sources, but the latter experienced additional Levantine-related gene flow, thus documenting at least two pulses of migration from the Fertile Crescent heartland to the early farmers of Anatolia

A genetic probe into the ancient and medieval history of Southern Europe and West Asia

Literary and archaeological sources have preserved a rich history of Southern Europe and West Asia since the Bronze Age that can be complemented by genetics. Mycenaean period elites in Greece did not differ from the general population and included both people with some steppe ancestry and others, like the Griffin Warrior, without it. Similarly, people in the central area of the Urartian Kingdom around Lake Van lacked the steppe ancestry characteristic of the kingdom’s northern provinces. Anatolia exhibited extraordinary continuity down to the Roman and Byzantine periods, with its people serving as the demographic core of much of the Roman Empire, including the city of Rome itself. During medieval times, migrations associated with Slavic and Turkic speakers profoundly affected the region

A genetic probe into the ancient and medieval history of Southern Europe and West Asia

Literary and archaeological sources have preserved a rich history of Southern Europe and West Asia since the Bronze Age that can be complemented by genetics. Mycenaean period elites in Greece did not differ from the general population and included both people with some steppe ancestry and others, like the Griffin Warrior, without it. Similarly, people in the central area of the Urartian Kingdom around Lake Van lacked the steppe ancestry characteristic of the kingdom's northern provinces. Anatolia exhibited extraordinary continuity down to the Roman and Byzantine periods, with its people serving as the demographic core of much of the Roman Empire, including the city of Rome itself. During medieval times, migrations associated with Slavic and Turkic speakers profoundly affected the region