Analysis of LCT-13910 genotypes and bone mineral density in ancient skeletal materials

The relation of LCT-13910 genotypes and bone mineral density (BMD) has been the subject of modern-day human population studies, giving inconsistent results. In the present study we analyze for the first time a relation of LCT-13910 genotypes and BMD in historical skeletal individuals. Ancient population might be a model for testing this association due to elimination of non-natural factors affecting bone density. Among 22 medieval individuals from Sanok churchyard (South-Eastern Poland; dated from XIV to XVII c. AD) we identified 4 individuals with osteoporosis (mean BMD = 0.468 g/cm2, SD = 0.090), 10 individuals with osteopenia (mean BMD = 0.531 g/cm2, SD = 0.066) and 8 individuals with normal BMD values (mean BMD = 0,642 g/cm2, SD = 0.060). Analyses of BMD and LCT-13910 genotypes revealed that mean BMD was the highest (0.583 g/cm2, SD = 0.065) in the individuals with lactose tolerance genotypes (TT and CT). We also found possible association of lower BMD at the radius and CC genotypes due to higher but not statistically significant frequency of osteoporosis in the lactose intolerant group (p = 0.60). Statistically significant correlation was found between BMD and females aged 20-35 years, with tendency to reduce BMD with age (p = 0.02)

Mitochondrial genomes reveal an east to west cline of steppe ancestry in Corded Ware populations

From around 4,000 to 2,000 BC the forest-steppe north-western Pontic region was occupied by people who shared a nomadic lifestyle, pastoral economy and barrow burial rituals. It has been shown that these groups, especially those associated with the Yamnaya culture, played an important role in shaping the gene pool of Bronze Age Europeans, which extends into present-day patterns of genetic variation in Europe. Although the genetic impact of these migrations from the forest-steppe Pontic region into central Europe have previously been addressed in several studies, the contribution of mitochondrial lineages to the people associated with the Corded Ware culture in the eastern part of the North European Plain remains contentious. In this study, we present mitochondrial genomes from 23 Late Eneolithic and Bronze Age individuals, including representatives of the north-western Pontic region and the Corded Ware culture from the eastern part of the North European Plain. We identified, for the first time in ancient populations, the rare mitochondrial haplogroup X4 in two Bronze Age Catacomb culture-associated individuals. Genetic similarity analyses show close maternal genetic affinities between populations associated with both eastern and Baltic Corded Ware culture, and the Yamnaya horizon, in contrast to larger genetic differentiation between populations associated with western Corded Ware culture and the Yamnaya horizon. This indicates that females with steppe ancestry contributed to the formation of populations associated with the eastern Corded Ware culture while more local people, likely of Neolithic farmer ancestry, contributed to the formation of populations associated with western Corded Ware cultur

The absolute chronology of collective burials from the 2nd Millennium BC in East Central Europe

This article discusses the absolute chronology of collective burials of the Trzciniec Cultural Circle communities of the Middle Bronze Age in East Central Europe. Based on Bayesian modeling of 91 accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon (AMS 14C) dates from 18 cemeteries, the practice of collective burying of individuals was linked to a period of 400-640 (95.4%) years, between 1830–1690 (95.4%) and 1320-1160 (95.4%) BC. Collective burials in mounds with both cremation and inhumation rites were found earliest in the upland zone regardless of grave structure type (mounded or flat). Bayesian modeling of 14C determinations suggests that this practice was being transmitted generally from the southeast to the northwest direction. Bayesian modeling of the dates from the largest cemetery in Z· erniki Górne, Lesser Poland Upland, confirmed the duration of use of the necropolis as ca. 140–310 (95.4%) years. Further results show the partial contemporaneity of burials and allow formulation of a spatial and temporal development model of the necropolis. Based on the investigation, some graves were used over just a couple of years and others over nearly 200, with up to 30 individuals found in a single grave

Variable kinship patterns in Neolithic Anatolia revealed by ancient genomes

The social organization of the first fully sedentary societies that emerged during the Neolithic period in Southwest Asia remains enigmatic, mainly because material culture studies provide limited insight into this issue. However, because Neolithic Anatolian communities often buried their dead beneath domestic buildings, household composition and social structure can be studied through these human remains. Here, we describe genetic relatedness among co-burials associated with domestic buildings in Neolithic Anatolia using 59 ancient genomes, including 22 new genomes from Aşıklı Höyük and Çatalhöyük. We infer pedigree relationships by simultaneously analyzing multiple types of information, including autosomal and X chromosome kinship coefficients, maternal markers, and radiocarbon dating. In two early Neolithic villages dating to the 9th and 8th millennia BCE, Aşıklı Höyük and Boncuklu, we discover that siblings and parent-offspring pairings were frequent within domestic structures, which provides the first direct indication of close genetic relationships among co-burials. In contrast, in the 7th millennium BCE sites of Çatalhöyük and Barcın, where we study subadults interred within and around houses, we find close genetic relatives to be rare. Hence, genetic relatedness may not have played a major role in the choice of burial location at these latter two sites, at least for subadults. This supports the hypothesis that in Çatalhöyük, and possibly in some other Neolithic communities, domestic structures may have served as burial location for social units incorporating biologically unrelated individuals. Our results underscore the diversity of kin structures in Neolithic communities during this important phase of sociocultural development.Additional co-authors: Hasan Can Gemici, Arda Sevkar, Nihan Dilşad Dağtaş, Gülşah Merve Kılınç, Donovan Adams, Arielle R. Munters, Ekin Sağlıcan, Marco Milella, Eline M.J. Schotsmans, Erinç Yurtman, Mehmet Çetin, Sevgi Yorulmaz, N. Ezgi Altınışık, Ayshin Ghalichi, Anna Juras, C. Can Bilgin, Torsten Günther, Jan Storå, Mattias Jakobsson, Maurice de Kleijn, Gökhan Mustafaoğlu, Andrew Fairbairn, Jessica Pearson, İnci Togan, Nurcan Kayacan, Arkadiusz Marciniak, Clark Spencer Larsen, Ian Hodder, Çiğdem Atakuman, Marin Pilloud, Elif Sürer, Fokke Gerritsen, Rana Özbal, Douglas Baird, Yılmaz Selim Erdal, Güneş Duru, Mihriban Özbaşaran, Scott D. Haddow, Christopher J. Knüsel, Anders Götherström, Füsun Özer, Mehmet Some

Genetic continuity, isolation, and gene flow in Stone Age Central and Eastern Europe

Abstract The genomic landscape of Stone Age Europe was shaped by multiple migratory waves and population replacements, but different regions do not all show the same patterns. To refine our understanding of the population dynamics before and after the dawn of the Neolithic, we generated and analyzed genomic sequence data from human remains of 56 individuals from the Mesolithic, Neolithic and Eneolithic across Central and Eastern Europe. We found that Mesolithic European populations formed a geographically widespread isolation-by-distance zone ranging from Central Europe to Siberia, which was already established 10 000 years ago. We also found contrasting patterns of population continuity during the Neolithic transition: people around the lower Dnipro Valley region, Ukraine, showed continuity over 4 000 years, from the Mesolithic to the end of Neolithic, in contrast to almost all other parts of Europe where population turnover drove this cultural change, including vast areas of Central Europe and around the Danube River

Zastosowanie analiz kopalnego DNA w wyjaśnianiu struktury pokrewieństwa i charakteru migracji neolitycznych społeczności Anatolii i Europy

Wydział HistorycznyNeolit, jako okres wielkich zmian, zawsze był w centrum zainteresowań archeologów, a ze względu na to, że wiele z tych przemian jest powiązanych z potencjalnymi migracjami populacji ludzkich również archeogenetycy, w miarę rozwoju dziedziny, skupili się na tej właśnie epoce. Opublikowane do tej pory badania wskazują, że początkowo neolityczni przybysze z Bliskiego Wschodu nie mieszali się z łowcami zbieraczami. Jednakże ostatnie wyniki badań, włączając w to pracę stanowiącą część niniejszej dysertacji (publikacja nr 2), wykazały że w środkowym neolicie sytuacja ta uległa zmianie. Ponadto na podstawie przeprowadzonych badań wykazałem bliskie relacje genetyczne populacji neolitycznej zamieszkującej Centralną Anatolię do grup z regionu Morza Marmara, podkreślając przy tym znaczenie tego pierwszego regionu dla rozwoju i rozprzestrzeniania się (publikacja nr 3). W toku moich badań dostarczyłem również istotnych informacji na temat problematyki struktury pokrewieństwa społeczności neolitycznych. Analizy wykonane na materiałach szkieletowych z dwóch stanowisk obejmujących grupę Brzesko-Kujawską z Kruszy Zamkowej (publikacja nr 1) oraz osadę Çatalhöyük z Centralnej Anatolii (publikacja nr 3), wykazały brak pokrewieństwa w linii matczynej między osobnikami pochowanymi albo w tych samych zgrupowaniach pochówków (publikacja 1) albo w obrębie tych samych budynków (publikacja 3).The Neolithic, as a period of major changes, has always been a focus of archaeological studies and since a lot of those changes are connected with migrations, also geneticists become interested in the period as the field developed. Initially ancient DNA data has shown that the Neolithic originated in the Near and Middle East and from there it spread into Europe. The available data shows that in the beginning those populations did not mix with local hunter-gatherers. However, since then several papers including one comprising this PhD thesis [paper 2] shown that in Central Europe hunter-gatherer ancestry was introduced into farming communities in the middle Neolithic. I was also able to show close genetic affinity between Neolithic population from Central Anatolia and groups inhabiting the Marmara Region, proving that the former region played a significant role in the emergence and spread of the Neolithic [paper 3]. I was also able to provide a significant contribution to the ongoing debate of kinship structure of the Neolithic communities. By analyzing two separate cases, the Brześć Kujawski group site in Krusza Zamkowa in modern day Poland [paper 1] and Çatalhöyük settlement in Central Anaolia [paper 3]. I revealed the lack of maternal kinship between individuals buried together either in the same burial clusters or beneath the floors of the same building

Correction:Analysis of LCT-13910 genotypes and bone mineral density in ancient skeletal materials.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0194966.]

ANTHROPOLOGICAL DESCRIPTION OF SKELETAL MATERIAL FROM THE DNIESTER BARROW - CEMETERY COMPLEX, YAMPIL REGION, VINNITSA OBLAST (UKRAINE)

Anthropological examinations were performed on skeletal material from four barrow necropolises located in the Yampil region (Ukraine) and dated to the Eneolithic, Bronze age and iron age . The purpose of the examinations was the determination of sex and age at death of individuals, reconstruction of their stature and assessment of their status of health . The examinations covered 61 individuals: 17 children and 44 adults . Their health status was assessed using four common indicators: linear enamel hypoplasia, cribra orbitalia, porotic hyperostosis and dental caries.This publication constitutes the fruits of the National Programme for the Development of the Humanities (grant no. 0108/NPH3/H12/82/2014)