Rows with the neighbours: the short lives of longhouses at the Neolithic site of Versend-Gilencsa

Longhouses are a key feature of Neolithic Linearbandkeramik (LBK) settlements in Central Europe, but debate persists concerning their usage, longevity and social significance. Excavations at Versend-Gilencsa in south-west Hungary (c. 5200 cal BC) revealed clear rows of longhouses. New radiocarbon dates suggest that these houses experienced short lifespans. This paper produces a model for the chronology of Versend, and it considers the implications of the new date estimates for a fuller understanding of the layout and duration of LBK longhouse settlements

Seeking the Holy Grail

The strengths of formal Bayesian chronological modelling are restated, combining as it does knowledge of the archaeology with the radiocarbon dating of carefully chosen samples of known taphonomy in association with diagnostic material culture. The risks of dating bone samples are reviewed, along with a brief history of the development of approaches to the radiocarbon dating of bone. In reply to Strien (2017), selected topics concerned with the emergence and aftermath of the LBK are discussed, as well as the early Vinča, Ražište and Hinkelstein sequences. The need for rigour in an approach which combines archaeology and radiocarbon dating is underlined

Dairying, diseases and the evolution of lactase persistence in Europe

Update notice Author Correction: Dairying, diseases and the evolution of lactase persistence in Europe (Nature, (2022), 608, 7922, (336-345), 10.1038/s41586-022-05010-7) Nature, Volume 609, Issue 7927, Pages E9, 15 September 2022In European and many African, Middle Eastern and southern Asian populations, lactase persistence (LP) is the most strongly selected monogenic trait to have evolved over the past 10,000 years(1). Although the selection of LP and the consumption of prehistoric milk must be linked, considerable uncertainty remains concerning their spatiotemporal configuration and specific interactions(2,3). Here we provide detailed distributions of milk exploitation across Europe over the past 9,000 years using around 7,000 pottery fat residues from more than 550 archaeological sites. European milk use was widespread from the Neolithic period onwards but varied spatially and temporally in intensity. Notably, LP selection varying with levels of prehistoric milk exploitation is no better at explaining LP allele frequency trajectoriesthan uniform selection since the Neolithic period. In the UK Biobank(4,5) cohort of 500,000 contemporary Europeans, LP genotype was only weakly associated with milk consumption and did not show consistent associations with improved fitness or health indicators. This suggests that other reasons for the beneficial effects of LP should be considered for its rapid frequency increase. We propose that lactase non-persistent individuals consumed milk when it became available but, under conditions of famine and/or increased pathogen exposure, this was disadvantageous, driving LP selection in prehistoric Europe. Comparison of model likelihoods indicates that population fluctuations, settlement density and wild animal exploitation-proxies for these drivers-provide better explanations of LP selection than the extent of milk exploitation. These findings offer new perspectives on prehistoric milk exploitation and LP evolution.Peer reviewe

Archaeology and fertility cult in the Ancient Mediterranean

Until recently prehistoric objects considered to be cultic ones were mostly interpreted in two different ways: using the typological method on archaeological material, or on the basis of speculative anthropology, working from recent ethnographic parallels or from parallels to ancient religions. In recent times the analysis of the pure archaeological context provides a third method of increasing popularity. It is in fact very important to study to what extent archaeology can help to solve problems of the history of art and religions, that is, to what extent archaeology can be a source of the history of religions (Banffy, in print). To apply the method of contextual study to the Carpathian Basin and South East Europe, a collection of human figurines with well-observed contexts, as well as anthropomorphic vessels, house models and other finds having a cultic character is in progress (Banffy 1986). Hopefully this work will provide useful data for a better knowledge concerning Neolithic and Chalcolithic cultural groups that lived in the study area (Fig. 7).peer-reviewe