Isotopic evidence for mobility in the Copper and Bronze Age Cemetery of Humanejos (Parla, Madrid): a diachronic approach using biological and archaeological variables

Over the last several decades, the application of aDNA and strontium isotope analyses on archaeologically recovered human remains has provided new avenues for the investigation of mobility in past societies. Data on human mobility can be valuable in the reconstruction of prehistoric residential patterns and kinship systems, which are at the center of human social organization and vary across time and space. In this paper, we aim to contribute to our understanding of mobility, residence, and kinship patterns in late Prehistoric Iberia (c. 3300–1400BC) by providing new strontium data on 44 individuals from the site of Humanejos (Parla, Madrid). The study presented here is multi-proxy and looks at these new data by interweaving biological, chronological, and archaeological information. This analysis found that 7/44 individuals buried at Humanejos could be identified as non-local to the necropolis. Although more men (n = 5) than women (n = 2) were found in the non-local category, and more non-local individuals were identified in the pre-Bell Beaker (n = 5) than in Bell Beaker (n = 1) or Bronze Age (n = 1), we find no statistically significant differences concerning sex or time period. This contrasts with other archaeological datasets for late prehistoric Europe which suggest higher female mobility, female exogamy, and male-centered residential patterns were common. At Humanejos, we have also identified one non-local female whose exceptional Beaker grave goods suggest she was an individual of special status, leading to additional questions about the relationships between gender, mobility, and social position in this region and time periodThe project leading to this publication has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No 891776, project “WOMAM. Women, Men and Mobility: Understanding Gender Inequality in Prehistory.” This article was also supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación Grants No. PID2019-105690 GB-I00 and HAR2013- 47776-R, the Dirección General de Patrimonio Cultural (Comunidad de Madrid) and the SFB 1070 “Ressourcenkulturen” (DFG

El papel de los estudios bioarqueológicos en las interpretaciones sobre las comunidades neolíticas del noreste peninsular

Resumen del trabajo presentado al VI Congreso del Neolítico en la Península Ibérica: "Los cambios económicos y sus implicaciones sociales durante el Neolítico de la Península Ibérica", celebrado en Granada del 22 al 26 de junio de 2016.-- et al.El marco del proyecto I+D: “Aproximación a las primeras comunidades neolíticas del NE peninsular a través de sus prácticas funerarias” (2011-2015), y su continuidad para los próximos cuatro años al haber sido renovado, tiene por objetivo conocer cada día más y mejor las comunidades de agricultores y pastores que entre finales del V e inicios del IV milenio cal BC ocuparon y enterraron a sus muertos en el noreste de la Península Ibérica. El contexto de estudio es excepcional, puesto que aquellas comunidades inhumaron sistemáticamente a sus congéneres en tumbas habitualmente individuales y ocasionalmente junto a otro individuo. En esta presentación no sólo queremos mostrar los nuevos análisis y metodologías que estamos aplicando al estudio de los restos humanos, sino también el modelo de trabajo que hemos seguido. A este respecto, tres aspectos son fundamentales: 1) las dataciones absolutas son el eje que vertebra los posteriores análisis; 2) la colaboración con los distintos investigadores/as y laboratorios debe ser estrecha (no es cuestión de solicitar los resultados de un análisis a un laboratorio sino trabajar con las personas que manipulan las muestras y conocen los pros y contras de cada una de las técnicas empleadas) y 3) los estudios y análisis a realizar confluyen para responder a las hipótesis planteadas. A este respecto, en el proyecto hemos tenido la fortuna de poder colaborar con numerosos investigadores/as cuya especialidad versa alrededor de los restos funerarios y que firman la presente comunicación: análisis isotópicos, Adn, tafonomía funeraria, estudios de stress muscular y análisis de morfología dental.Peer Reviewe

At the beginnings of the funerary Megalithism in Iberia at Campo de Hockey necropolis

The excavations undertaken at the Campo de Hockey site in 2008 led to the identification of a major Neolithic necropolis in the former Island of San Fernando (Bay of Cádiz). This work presents the results of the latest studies, which indicate that the site stands as one of the oldest megalithic necropolises in the Iberian Peninsula. The main aim of this work is to present with precision the chronology of this necropolis through a Bayesian statistical model that confirms that the necropolis was in use from c. 4300 to 3800 cal BC. The presence of prestige grave goods in the earliest and most monumental graves suggest that the Megalithism phenomenon emerged in relation to maritime routes linked to the distribution of exotic products. We also aim to examine funerary practices in these early megalithic communities, and especially their way of life and the social reproduction system. As such, in addition to the chronological information and the Bayesian statistics, we provide the results of a comprehensive interdisciplinary study, including anthropological, archaeometric and genetic data.Archaeological background: the Campo de Hockey settlement Methods - Tomb typology - Radiocarbon dates and Bayesian analysis. - Bioarchaeology. - DNA - Grave goods Results - Tomb typology - Radiocarbon dating: Bayesian analysis - Bioarchaeology. - DNA - Grave goods. Discussion and conclusions

The evolution and changing ecology of the African hominid oral microbiome.

The oral microbiome plays key roles in human biology, health, and disease, but little is known about the global diversity, variation, or evolution of this microbial community. To better understand the evolution and changing ecology of the human oral microbiome, we analyzed 124 dental biofilm metagenomes from humans, including Neanderthals and Late Pleistocene to present-day modern humans, chimpanzees, and gorillas, as well as New World howler monkeys for comparison. We find that a core microbiome of primarily biofilm structural taxa has been maintained throughout African hominid evolution, and these microbial groups are also shared with howler monkeys, suggesting that they have been important oral members since before the catarrhine-platyrrhine split ca. 40 Mya. However, community structure and individual microbial phylogenies do not closely reflect host relationships, and the dental biofilms of Homo and chimpanzees are distinguished by major taxonomic and functional differences. Reconstructing oral metagenomes from up to 100 thousand years ago, we show that the microbial profiles of both Neanderthals and modern humans are highly similar, sharing functional adaptations in nutrient metabolism. These include an apparent Homo-specific acquisition of salivary amylase-binding capability by oral streptococci, suggesting microbial coadaptation with host diet. We additionally find evidence of shared genetic diversity in the oral bacteria of Neanderthal and Upper Paleolithic modern humans that is not observed in later modern human populations. Differences in the oral microbiomes of African hominids provide insights into human evolution, the ancestral state of the human microbiome, and a temporal framework for understanding microbial health and disease

Feeding a third millennium BC mega-site: Bioarchaeological analyses of palaeodiet and dental disease at Marroquíes (Jaén, Spain)

At 113-ha in size and dating to the 3rd millennium cal BC, the ditched enclosure site of Marroquíes is one of the latest mega-sites in Iberia. The settlement preserves multiple mortuary areas which contain over 450 individuals, allowing for the examination of inter-individual and inter-group variability in diet and health. This study presents the first large-scale palaeodietary assessment of the site through the analysis of carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) stable isotope values from 113 human and 23 faunal samples. It also offers the first comprehensive analysis of dental disease at Marroquíes in a sample of over 4,600 human teeth. Humans at Marroquíes exhibit mean values of 8.4 ± 0.9‰ for δ15N and -19.3 ± 0.3‰ for δ13C, suggesting a diet predominantly based on proteins from terrestrial C3 plant foodwebs, conforming to a broader dietary pattern common throughout Late Prehistoric Iberia. Dental analyses revealed significant differences in the frequency of hypoplasias and calculus between mortuary areas. Overall, the documented variability within mortuary areas is higher than variability between them, suggesting that although differences in consumption patterns did exist, the bonds created by group affinities outweighed the expression of social asymmetries at deathVarious funders listed, plus the corresponding author (at UCAM) is a H2020 MSCA-EF. Acknowledgements in AAM state: "This work was supported by a National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant (BCS-1440017), the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad de España (HAR2013-47776-R), the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) (2010RU0086), and the University of Michigan.

Carefully sourced, carefully managed: multi-isotopic analysis from Bronze and Iron Age equid teeth from Can Roqueta (Barcelona, Spain)

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The tempo of the Iberian megalithic rituals in the European context: The cemetery of Panoría

Our ability to build precise narratives regarding megalithic societies largely depends on the chronology of the multi-ritual events that usually shaped these complex sites. The cemetery of Panoría offers an excellent opportunity for exploring ritual complexity in Iberia through radiocarbon chronology, as four of the nine recently excavated dolmens are remarkably well preserved. For this purpose, seventy-three radiocarbon dates were obtained and analysed within a Bayesian framework. The resulting refined chronology has led us to three main conclusions: i) in all tombs, the second half of the 4th millennium cal BC was an intensive but brief period of funerary depositions, probably over three to six generations; ii) after a long hiatus, most of the dolmens were reused in the 25th and 21st centuries cal BC during even shorter periods, spanning just a few decades and approximately one to four generations; and (iii) long after the funerary rituals had ended in the 21st century, the memory of the cemetery was revived in Late Antiquity. These short, punctuated periods of use are highly consistent with those seen in a growing number of European megalithic monuments. From Britain to Iberia, a pattern of short spans of use is dramatically changing our perception of the social and political roles of these complex monuments. © 2022 The Author

Carefully sourced, carefully managed: multi-isotopic analysis from Bronze and Iron Age equid teeth from Can Roqueta (Barcelona, Spain)

Equids played an important role in the development of communication in past societies, and were part of the exchanges between populations. The multi-isotopic study (strontium, carbon and oxygen isotopes) conducted on equid teeth from Bronze and Early Iron Age Can Roqueta suggests that animals originate from diverse locations and their diet and watering was carefully managed. The enriched oxygen and carbon isotopic ratios in equid teeth compared with other taxa from the same site supports that equids may have drunk from water basins, thus creating a 13 C and 18 O isotopic enrichment and partial covariance, similar to a 'lake' effect. This is the most comprehensive study on equid mobility in Iberia so far

Mesolithic human remains at Cueva de Nerja (Málaga, Spain): anthropological, isotopic and radiocarbon data

The Iberian Peninsula is one of the European regions with the highest number of documented Mesolithic burials so far. For more than a century, many research projects have been carried out by several national and international teams, that have located most of these burials in three different geographical areas: Valencia region, northern Spain and the Portuguese estuaries of the Rivers Muge and Sado. Only one inhumation from this period is known in the south of Spain. It was discovered in Nerja Cave (Málaga), an exceptional site with continuous occupations during different periods of prehistory. This burial of a woman, known as ‘Pepita’, is rarely cited in the academic world, probably because the first radiocarbon date was obtained with the conventional 14C method and the result would not be acceptable today. In recent years, the new AMS dates have shown that the Mesolithic chronology was correct. In consequence, a new series of analyses have studied anthropological, diet and mobility aspects of the female in detail. These have provided new information about the time in which Mesolithic communities began to practice a funerary model based on burials in graves, but also about her diet, mobility strategies and possible relationships with other groups. The chronological data show that this is one of the earliest Mesolithic burials in the Western Mediterranean and the diet was based on the consumption of terrestrial animal protein along with marine resources. This type of diet has been found in other contemporary individuals in the east of the Iberian Peninsula.The 1982 excavation was one of the last archaeological activities funded by the Cueva de Nerja Trust and authorised by the Ministry of Education and Culture. Later work has been carried out under the custody of the Culture Department of the Government of Andalusia. Strontium analyses were financed by the Institutional Strategy of the University of Tübingen (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, ZUK 63) and the MWK Research Seed Capital RiSC Programme from the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Science, Research and Arts. Corina Knipper, Sandra Kraus, Sigrid Klaus and Bernd Höppner at the Curt Engelhorn Center Archaeometry gGmbH, Mannheim, Germany are kindly thanked for the processing and measurement of strontium isotope samples. We are especially thankful to Museo de Nerja and Cueva de Nerja Foundation. This research was funded by the projects HAR2011-23149, HAR2015-67323-C2-1-P, HAR2015-67323-C2-2-P and HAR2016-75201-P of the Spanish Science and Innovation Ministry.Peer reviewe