January 30, 1986

https://scholarlycommons.obu.edu/arbn_85-89/1136/thumbnail.jp

Flexibility and diversity in subsistence during the late Mesolithic: faunal evidence from Asnæs Havnemark

In 2007, excavations at the late Mesolithic (Ertebølle) coastal site of Asnæs Havnemark recovered a wealth of flint, bone, and ceramic artefacts. A comprehensive analysis of the faunal remains resulted in over 50,000 identified specimens. Roe deer and gadids predominate, but there are a wide variety of other species represented. Stable isotope analyses of dog bones point to the importance of marine resources. Oxygen isotope analyses of otoliths indicate that fishing was conducted in multiple seasons of the year. Comparison with other late Mesolithic sites demonstrates that while generally the same species of animals were exploited everywhere, there are major differences in the relative abundances of species. The broad subsistence base available and flexibility in how it was exploited weaken arguments for a subsistence crisis brought on by environmental stresses as the causal mechanism for the adoption of domesticated plants and animals at the onset of theNeolithic

Mycobacterium tuberculosis RNA Expression Patterns in Sputum Bacteria Indicate Secreted Esx Factors Contributing to Growth are Highly Expressed in Active Disease

To identify factors contributing to the ability of tubercle bacilli to grow in the lung during active infection, we analyzed RNA expression patterns in bacteria present in patient sputum. Prominent among bacterial transcripts identified were those encoding secreted peptides of the Esat-6 subfamily that includes EsxK and EsxL (Rv1197 and Rv1198). H37Rv esxKL and esxJI transcripts were differentially expressed under different growth conditions, and disruption of these genes altered growth phase kinetics in typical laboratory batch broth cultures. These growth defects, including the reduced intracellular growth of an ΔesxKL mutant in primary human macrophages, were reversed by either low multiplicity co-infection or co-culture with wild-type bacteria, demonstrating the ability of the secreted factors to rescue isogenic mutants. Complementing either only esxL or esxI alone (Rv1198 or Rv1037c) also reduced observed growth defects, indicating these genes encode factors capable of contributing to growth. Our studies indicate that the Mycobacterium tuberculosis Mtb9.9 family secreted factors EsxL and EsxI can act in trans to modulate growth of intracellular bacteria, and are highly expressed during active human lung infection

Galgedil: isotopic studies of a Viking cemetery on the Danish island of Funen, AD 800–1050

Galgedil is a Viking Age cemetery located in the northern part of the Danish island of Funen. Excavations at the site revealed 54 graves containing 59 inhumations and 2 cremation burials. Previous study of the remains to date has included light isotopes of carbon and nitrogen in collagen (10 samples) and the radiocarbon determination of the age of 8 samples. In addition, aDNA was investigated in 10 samples from the cemetery. Here we report the analysis of strontium isotopes in human tooth enamel as a signal of place of birth. Some 36 samples have been measured and non-local outliers identified. Baseline levels of strontium isotope ratios in Denmark are discussed and documented. Our study also includes an in-depth consideration of the bioarcheology of the skeletal remains in terms of demography, paleopathology, and taphonomy. The burials are evaluated in light of the available archeological, chronological, anthropological, and isotope informationavailable

Isotopic investigation of human provenience at the eleventh century cemetery of Ndr. Grødbygård, Bornholm, Denmark

Bornholm is a Danish island almost in the center of the southern Baltic Sea. The strategic location of the island, its rich archeology, and its complex geology make it an intriguing location for the isotopic study of past human mobility. The focus of this study is on the large cemetery of Ndr. Grødbygård in the southern part of the island, which dates to the eleventh century AD and contains 553 individuals in 516 graves. The majority of the burials were in a supine position oriented west–east, with the heads to the west, following the tradition of that time. In contrast to the Christian traditions, however, the graves at Grødbygård were richly equipped by Scandinavian standards and some of the burial practices more closely resembled those from the Western Slavic region of the south (present day northeastern Germany and Poland). We have used isotopic analyses to examine the external relations and potential places of origin of the inhabitants of the cemetery. Strontium and oxygen isotope ratios in human tooth enamel provide a signature of place of origin and can be compared to the ratios of the place of burial to determine local or non-local origins. In the case of Bornholm, the local geology is quite complex, with a variety of rocks of different age and composition, resulting in a wide range of strontium isotope sources on the island, complicating the issue of identifying migrants. At the same time, Grødbygård provides an important example of the application of such methods in less than ideal conditions

Strontium isotope investigations of the Haraldskær Woman – a complex record of various tissues

Bog bodies form a unique group of archaeological human remains which offer unparalleled insight into the past. Unlike most ancient human remains, bog bodies have preserved their skin and other soft tissues through natural tanning processes in the bogs. We present the first comprehensive strontium isotope investigation of the Haraldskær Woman and her garments, dated to the Scandinavian Pre-Roman Iron Age (500-1 BC). Our interdisciplinary research applies new advances in strontium isotope tracing protocols enabling us to go a step further in unravelling the life of bog people. Our study reveals long distance travel of the Haraldskær Woman shortly before her death, leading to new speculations on to why her body ended in the bog.Les corps tourbières forment un groupe unique de restes humains archéologiques qui offrent un aperçu unique du passé. Contrairement à la plupart des restes humains anciens, les corps deposés dans les tourbières sont parfois conservés avec des organes humains (peau, cheveux, etc.) grâce à des processus de tannerie naturels in situ. Nous présentons la première étude isotopique complète de la Femme de Haraldskær et de ses vêtements, datée de l’âge du fer pré-romaine en Scandinavie (500-1 BC). Notre recherche interdisciplinaire applique de nouveaux protocoles de traçage isotopique du strontium et nous permet d'aller un peu plus loin pour retracer la vie des gens des tourbières. Notre étude révèle un voyage de longue distance de la femme de Haraldskær peu avant sa mort, conduisant à des nouvelles hypothèses concernant la raison pour laquelle son corps se trouve dans les tourbières

Dystrophic Microglia Are Associated with Neurodegenerative Disease and not Healthy Aging in the Human Brain

Loss of physiological microglial function may increase the propagation of neurodegenerative diseases. Cellular senescence is a hallmark of aging; thus, we hypothesized age could be a cause of dystrophic microglia. Stereological counts were performed for total microglia, 2 microglia morphologies (hypertrophic and dystrophic) across the human lifespan. An age-associated increase in the number of dystrophic microglia was found in the hippocampus and frontal cortex. However, the increase in dystrophic microglia was proportional to the age-related increase in the total number of microglia. Thus, aging alone does not explain the presence of dystrophic microglia. We next tested if dystrophic microglia could be a disease-associated microglia morphology. Compared with controls, the number of dystrophic microglia was greater in cases with either Alzheimer\u27s disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, or limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy. These results demonstrate that microglia dystrophy, and not hypertrophic microglia, are the disease-associated microglia morphology. Finally, we found strong evidence for iron homeostasis changes in dystrophic microglia, providing a possible molecular mechanism driving the degeneration of microglia in neurodegenerative disease

Tracking the transition to agriculture in Southern Europe through ancient DNA analysis of dental calculus

Archaeological dental calculus, or mineralized plaque, is a key tool to track the evolution of oral microbiota across time in response to processes that impacted our culture and biology, such as the rise of farming during the Neolithic. However, the extent to which the human oral flora changed from prehistory until present has remained elusive due to the scarcity of data on the microbiomes of prehistoric humans. Here, we present our reconstruction of oral microbiomes via shotgun metagenomics of dental calculus in 44 ancient foragers and farmers from two regions playing a pivotal role in the spread of farming across Europe—the Balkans and the Italian Peninsula. We show that the introduction of farming in Southern Europe did not alter significantly the oral microbiomes of local forager groups, and it was in particular associated with a higher abundance of the species Olsenella sp. oral taxon 807. The human oral environment in prehistory was dominated by a microbial species, Anaerolineaceae bacterium oral taxon 439, that diversified geographically. A Near Eastern lineage of this bacterial commensal dispersed with Neolithic farmers and replaced the variant present in the local foragers. Our findings also illustrate that major taxonomic shifts in human oral microbiome composition occurred after the Neolithic and that the functional profile of modern humans evolved in recent times to develop peculiar mechanisms of antibiotic resistance that were previously absent

Wild cereal grain consumption among Early Holocene foragers of the Balkans predates the arrival of agriculture

Forager focus on wild cereal plants has been documented in the core zone of domestication in southwestern Asia, while evidence for forager use of wild grass grains remains sporadic elsewhere. In this paper, we present starch grain and phytolith analyses of dental calculus from 60 Mesolithic and Early Neolithic individuals from five sites in the Danube Gorges of the central Balkans. This zone was inhabited by likely complex Holocene foragers for several millennia before the appearance of the first farmers similar to 6200 cal BC. We also analyzed forager ground stone tools (GSTs) for evidence of plant processing. Our results based on the study of dental calculus show that certain species of Poaceae (species of the genus Aegi(ops) were used since the Early Mesolithic, while GSTs exhibit traces of a developed grass grain processing technology. The adoption of domesticated plants in this region after similar to 6500 cal BC might have been eased by the existing familiarity with wild cereals