Between the Baltic and Danubian worlds : the genetic affinities of a middle neolithic population from Central Poland

For a long time, anthropological and genetic research on the Neolithic revolution in Europe was mainly concentrated on the mechanism of agricultural dispersal over different parts of the continent. Recently, attention has shifted towards population processes that occurred after the arrival of the first farmers, transforming the genetically very distinctive early Neolithic Linear Pottery Culture (LBK) and Mesolithic forager populations into present-day Central Europeans. The latest studies indicate that significant changes in this respect took place within the post-Linear Pottery cultures of the Early and Middle Neolithic which were a bridge between the allochthonous LBK and the first indigenous Neolithic culture of north-central Europe-the Funnel Beaker culture (TRB). The paper presents data on mtDNA haplotypes of a Middle Neolithic population dated to 4700/4600-4100/4000 BC belonging to the Brześć Kujawski Group of the Lengyel culture (BKG) from the Kuyavia region in north-central Poland. BKG communities constituted the border of the “Danubian World” in this part of Europe for approx. seven centuries, neighboring foragers of the North European Plain and the southern Baltic basin. MtDNA haplogroups were determined in 11 individuals, and four mtDNA macrohaplogroups were found (H, U5, T, and HV0). The overall haplogroup pattern did not deviate from other post-Linear Pottery populations from central Europe, although a complete lack of N1a and the presence of U5a are noteworthy. Of greatest importance is the observed link between the BKG and the TRB horizon, confirmed by an independent analysis of the craniometric variation of Mesolithic and Neolithic populations inhabiting central Europe. Estimated phylogenetic pattern suggests significant contribution of the post-Linear BKG communities to the origin of the subsequent Middle Neolithic cultures, such as the TRB

A Case of Extensive Infl ammatory Changes (Osteomyelitis) in an Infant’s Skeleton from the Medieval Burial Ground (11th–12th c) in Wawrzeńczyce (Near Krakow)

The aim of this study was to diagnose and describe extensive infl ammatory changes in a child’s skeleton from Wawrzeńczyce, (the medieval period). The aim of the analysis was to determine the nature of the infl ammatory changes and their etiology by means of macroscopic techniques as well as X-ray analysis. The tests revealed that the individual suffered from a hematogenous multifocal osteitis. This condition might have been a result of an acute or sub-acute osteitis, and the untreated form of osteomyelitis might have contributed to the infection of the entire developing organism, leading to death

The Beaker phenomenon and the genomic transformation of northwest Europe

From around 2750 to 2500 bc, Bell Beaker pottery became widespread across western and central Europe, before it disappeared between 2200 and 1800 bc. The forces that propelled its expansion are a matter of long-standing debate, and there is support for both cultural diffusion and migration having a role in this process. Here we present genome-wide data from 400 Neolithic, Copper Age and Bronze Age Europeans, including 226 individuals associated with Beaker-complex artefacts. We detected limited genetic affinity between Beaker-complex-associated individuals from Iberia and central Europe, and thus exclude migration as an important mechanism of spread between these two regions. However, migration had a key role in the further dissemination of the Beaker complex. We document this phenomenon most clearly in Britain, where the spread of the Beaker complex introduced high levels of steppe-related ancestry and was associated with the replacement of approximately 90% of Britain’s gene pool within a few hundred years, continuing the east-to-west expansion that had brought steppe-related ancestry into central and northern Europe over the previous centuries

Past inhabitants of Garbary – a biocultural perspective

The present work analyses the bone material unearthed at the graveyard of St Peter the Little’s Church in Garbary. The study is based on research from the years 1978 and 2012. A total of 111 skeletons were analysed, all of them of medium condition, dating back to the modern period. The material’s diversity level was verified by biological distance assessment. Ward’s method was used for selected measurement features of the neurocranium and the facial skeleton. Sex and age were established simultaneously by means of methods commonly applied in anthropology. The assessment was based on the morphology of the skull and pelvic bones as well as the deciduous and permanent teeth eruption sequence. Cranial measurements and indices were subjected to analysis. Osteometric data provided the basis for an analysis of long bone symmetry, limb length and proportions and bone massiveness indices. A multi-planar reconstruction of individuals’ stature was performed by means of regression formulas developed by various authors. Sexual dimorphism index served indirectly as a measurement of the living conditions of individuals in the population, whereas an analysis of muscular and skeletal stress markers on bones allowed us to evaluate build types. Calculated life expectancy table parameters were used to recreate e.g. individuals’ lifespans and life expectancy structure (by age at death) characteristic of historical populations of Krakow