Palaeoproteomics confirm earliest domesticated sheep in southern Africa ca. 2000 BP.

We used palaeoproteomics and peptide mass fingerprinting to obtain secure species identifications of key specimens of early domesticated fauna from South Africa, dating to ca. 2000 BP. It can be difficult to distinguish fragmentary remains of early domesticates (sheep) from similar-sized local wild bovids (grey duiker, grey rhebok, springbok-southern Africa lacks wild sheep) based on morphology alone. Our analysis revealed a Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS) marker (m/z 1532) present in wild bovids and we demonstrate through LC-MS/MS that it is capable of discriminating between wild bovids and caprine domesticates. We confirm that the Spoegrivier specimen dated to 2105 ± 65 BP is indeed a sheep. This is the earliest directly dated evidence of domesticated animals in southern Africa. As well as the traditional method of analysing bone fragments, we show the utility of minimally destructive sampling methods such as PVC eraser and polishing films for successful ZooMS identification. We also show that collagen extracted more than 25 years ago for the purpose of radiocarbon dating can yield successful ZooMS identification. Our study demonstrates the importance of developing appropriate regional frameworks of comparison for future research using ZooMS as a method of biomolecular species identification

Mapping the Elephants of the 19th Century East African Ivory Trade with a Multi-Isotope Approach.

East African elephants have been hunted for their ivory for millennia but the nineteenth century witnessed strongly escalating demand from Europe and North America. It has been suggested that one consequence was that by the 1880s elephant herds along the coast had become scarce, and to meet demand, trade caravans trekked farther into interior regions of East Africa, extending the extraction frontier. The steady decimation of elephant populations coupled with the extension of trade networks have also been claimed to have triggered significant ecological and socio-economic changes that left lasting legacies across the region. To explore the feasibility of using an isotopic approach to uncover a 'moving frontier' of elephant extraction, we constructed a baseline isotope data set (δ13C, δ15N, δ18O and 87Sr/86Sr) for historic East African elephants known to have come from three distinct regions (coastal, Rift Valley, and inland Lakes). Using the isotope results with other climate data and geographical mapping tools, it was possible to characterise elephants from different habitats across the region. This baseline data set was then used to provenance elephant ivory of unknown geographical provenance that was exported from East Africa during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to determine its likely origin. This produced a better understanding of historic elephant geography in the region, and the data have the potential to be used to provenance older archaeological ivories, and to inform contemporary elephant conservation strategies.Funding: This research was funded by a European Union Marie Curie Excellence grant (MEXT-CT-2006-042704) awarded to PJL for the Historical Ecologies of East African Landscapes (HEEAL) project (http://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/83961_en.html). Additional funding came from the Worldwide Universities Network Research Mobility programme and the Smithsonian Institution Fellowship programme awarded to ANC. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Note: This funding was not held by UCAM

Palaeoproteomics confirm earliest domesticated sheep in southern Africa ca. 2000 BP

Abstract: We used palaeoproteomics and peptide mass fingerprinting to obtain secure species identifications of key specimens of early domesticated fauna from South Africa, dating to ca. 2000 BP. It can be difficult to distinguish fragmentary remains of early domesticates (sheep) from similar-sized local wild bovids (grey duiker, grey rhebok, springbok—southern Africa lacks wild sheep) based on morphology alone. Our analysis revealed a Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS) marker (m/z 1532) present in wild bovids and we demonstrate through LC–MS/MS that it is capable of discriminating between wild bovids and caprine domesticates. We confirm that the Spoegrivier specimen dated to 2105 ± 65 BP is indeed a sheep. This is the earliest directly dated evidence of domesticated animals in southern Africa. As well as the traditional method of analysing bone fragments, we show the utility of minimally destructive sampling methods such as PVC eraser and polishing films for successful ZooMS identification. We also show that collagen extracted more than 25 years ago for the purpose of radiocarbon dating can yield successful ZooMS identification. Our study demonstrates the importance of developing appropriate regional frameworks of comparison for future research using ZooMS as a method of biomolecular species identification

Earliest evidence for the ivory trade in southern Africa : isotopic and ZooMS analysis of seventh-tenth century AD ivory from KwaZulu-Natal

KwaGandaganda, Ndondondwane and Wosi were major Early Farming Community settlements in what is today the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. These sites have yielded, among other remains, abundant evidence of ivory and ivory working dating to the seventh–tenth centuries ad, pre-dating by approximately 200 years the better-known ivory artefacts from sites in the Limpopo River Valley and surrounding regions. We report the results of carbon, nitrogen and strontium isotope analysis to explore the origins and procurement of this ivory, in combination with Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS) to identify the species of animals from which it was derived. All of the ivory studied using ZooMS was elephant, despite the presence of hippopotamus remains on all three sites. Some ivory was probably obtained from elephant herds that lived close to the sites, in the densely wooded river valleys favoured by both elephants and early farmers. Other material came from savannah environments further afield. Ivory found at these three sites was drawn from different catchments, implying a degree of landscape/resource partitioning even at this early stage. These communities clearly invested substantial effort in obtaining ivory from across the region, which speaks to the importance of this commodity in the economy of the time. We suggest that some ivory items were for local use, but that some may have been intended for more distant markets via Indian Ocean trade

Multi-messenger observations of a binary neutron star merger

On 2017 August 17 a binary neutron star coalescence candidate (later designated GW170817) with merger time 12:41:04 UTC was observed through gravitational waves by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor independently detected a gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) with a time delay of ~1.7 s with respect to the merger time. From the gravitational-wave signal, the source was initially localized to a sky region of 31 deg2 at a luminosity distance of 40+8-8 Mpc and with component masses consistent with neutron stars. The component masses were later measured to be in the range 0.86 to 2.26 Mo. An extensive observing campaign was launched across the electromagnetic spectrum leading to the discovery of a bright optical transient (SSS17a, now with the IAU identification of AT 2017gfo) in NGC 4993 (at ~40 Mpc) less than 11 hours after the merger by the One- Meter, Two Hemisphere (1M2H) team using the 1 m Swope Telescope. The optical transient was independently detected by multiple teams within an hour. Subsequent observations targeted the object and its environment. Early ultraviolet observations revealed a blue transient that faded within 48 hours. Optical and infrared observations showed a redward evolution over ~10 days. Following early non-detections, X-ray and radio emission were discovered at the transient’s position ~9 and ~16 days, respectively, after the merger. Both the X-ray and radio emission likely arise from a physical process that is distinct from the one that generates the UV/optical/near-infrared emission. No ultra-high-energy gamma-rays and no neutrino candidates consistent with the source were found in follow-up searches. These observations support the hypothesis that GW170817 was produced by the merger of two neutron stars in NGC4993 followed by a short gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) and a kilonova/macronova powered by the radioactive decay of r-process nuclei synthesized in the ejecta

The elephant in the room: mapping the footsteps of historic elephants with big game hunting collections

<div><p></p><p>This article examines the artefacts of big game hunting in female elephants from East Africa, natural history collections of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. A contextual object biography approach is utilized to analyse the life histories of these specimens through the use of archival and isotopic evidence. Emphasis is placed on the example of an elephant shot on Mt Elgon, Kenya, in 1902, parts of which were preserved and shipped to England for curation and display in the Powell-Cotton Museum in Kent. The results of isotopic analyses on some of the remains reveal a life history that has implications for developing conservation strategies for modern elephant populations in the region and contribute baseline data critical for interpreting the isotopic signatures of ancient ivory believed to have been exported from eastern Africa.</p></div

Urban Networks and Arctic Outlands : Craft Specialists and Reindeer Antler in Viking Towns

This paper presents the results of the use of a minimally destructive biomolecular technique to explore the resource networks behind one of the first specialized urban crafts in early mediaeval northern Europe: the manufacture of composite combs of deer antler. The research incorporates the largest application of species identification by peptide mass fingerprinting (ZooMS) to a mediaeval artefact assemblage: specifically to collections of antler combs, comb manufacturing waste, and raw antler from Ribe, Aarhus, and Aggersborg. It documents the early use of reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) antler, from the 780s ad at the latest, presenting the earliest unambiguous evidence for exchange-links between urban markets in the southern North Sea region and the Scandinavian Peninsula. The results demonstrate that the common conceptual distinction between urban hinterlands and long-distance trade conceals a vital continuity. Long-range networks were vital to urban activities from the first appearance of towns in this part of the world, preceding the historically documented maritime expansion of the Viking Age. We consequently suggest that urbanism is more appropriately defined and researched in terms of network dynamics than as a function of circumscribed catchment areas or hinterlands

Map of δ¹⁵N values and annual precipitation.

<p>Circle colour represents the δ¹⁵N value of the sample from that location. Base map is of annual precipitation (mm) from the WorldClim database [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0163606#pone.0163606.ref101" target="_blank">101</a>].</p

Map of δ¹⁸O values and elevation.

<p>Circle colour represents the δ¹⁸O value of the sample from that location. Base map is of elevation above sea level (m) from the WorldClim database [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0163606#pone.0163606.ref101" target="_blank">101</a>].</p

δ¹³C, δ¹⁵N, δ¹⁸O and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values for modern, historic, and unprovenanced elephant samples from East Africa.

<p>(A1-3) Three plots of modern (post-1950) and historic elephant tissue samples collected from museum specimens, national parks in Tanzania (see <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0163606#pone.0163606.s001" target="_blank">S1 Table</a>), and including modern published data from [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0163606#pone.0163606.ref039" target="_blank">39</a>,<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0163606#pone.0163606.ref041" target="_blank">41</a>,<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0163606#pone.0163606.ref042" target="_blank">42</a>]. Colours of all samples correspond to habitat following [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0163606#pone.0163606.ref041" target="_blank">41</a>] for East African elephant habitats: green is forest/mountain, black is savanna mosaic (incorporates woodland/bushland/grassland habitats) and red is arid (incorporates arid bushland and grassland habitats), with habitat descriptions following [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0163606#pone.0163606.ref097" target="_blank">97</a>]. (A1) δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values of collagen, (A2) δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O values of carbonate, and (A3) δ¹³C and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values, from collagen and carbonate respectively. (B1-3) Three plots of all samples included in (A1-3) are lightly shaded and in blue open circles, the unprovenanced ivory samples from museum collections (see <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0163606#pone.0163606.s001" target="_blank">S1 Table</a>). (B1) δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values of collagen, (B2) δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O values of carbonate, and (B3) δ¹³C and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values, from collagen and carbonate respectively.</p