Ancient pigs reveal a near-complete genomic turnover following their introduction to Europe

Archaeological evidence indicates that pig domestication had begun by ∼10,500 y before the present (BP) in the Near East, and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) suggests that pigs arrived in Europe alongside farmers ∼8,500 y BP. A few thousand years after the introduction of Near Eastern pigs into Europe, however, their characteristic mtDNA signature disappeared and was replaced by haplotypes associated with European wild boars. This turnover could be accounted for by substantial gene flow from local European wild boars, although it is also possible that European wild boars were domesticated independently without any genetic contribution from the Near East. To test these hypotheses, we obtained mtDNA sequences from 2,099 modern and ancient pig samples and 63 nuclear ancient genomes from Near Eastern and European pigs. Our analyses revealed that European domestic pigs dating from 7,100 to 6,000 y BP possessed both Near Eastern and European nuclear ancestry, while later pigs possessed no more than 4% Near Eastern ancestry, indicating that gene flow from European wild boars resulted in a near-complete disappearance of Near East ancestry. In addition, we demonstrate that a variant at a locus encoding black coat color likely originated in the Near East and persisted in European pigs. Altogether, our results indicate that while pigs were not independently domesticated in Europe, the vast majority of human-mediated selection over the past 5,000 y focused on the genomic fraction derived from the European wild boars, and not on the fraction that was selected by early Neolithic farmers over the first 2,500 y of the domestication process

Cattle Management for Dairying in Scandinavia’s earliest Neolithic

New evidence for cattle husbandry practices during the earliest period of the southern Scandinavian Neolithic indicates multiple birth seasons and dairying from its start. Sequential sampling of tooth enamel carbonate carbon and oxygen isotope ratio analyses and strontium isotopic provenancing indicate more than one season of birth in locally reared cattle at the earliest Neolithic Funnel Beaker (EN I TRB, 3950-3500 cal. B.C.) site of Almhov in Scania, Sweden. The main purpose for which cattle are manipulated to give birth in more than one season is to prolong lactation for the production of milk and dairy-based products. As this is a difficult, intensive, and time-consuming strategy, these data demonstrate complex farming practices by early Neolithic farmers. This result offers strong support for immigration-based explanations of agricultural origins in southern Scandinavia on the grounds that such a specialised skill set cannot represent the piecemeal incorporation of agricultural techniques into an existing hunter-gatherer-fisher economy

Nitrogen isotope evidence for manuring of Early Neolithic Funnel Beaker Culture cereals from Stensborg, Sweden

Little is known about arable agriculture in the Early Neolithic (4000–3300 cal BC, Funnel Beaker Culture) of Southern Scandinavia. Archaeobotanical material is rare and few archaeological sites have yielded more than a small number of charred cereal grains. In this short communication, we present single-entity carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses of charred cereals from Stensborg, an early Funnel Beaker Culture site near Stockholm, Sweden. This cereal assemblage is important as it is large, well-preserved and consists of multiple crop species. Our isotopic results indicate that many of the Stensborg cereal crops had been manured and that there is intra- and inter-species variation in manuring. We interpret these data as evidence of an integrated regime of stock-keeping and small-scale agriculture in the early Funnel Beaker Culture near its northernmost limit

Isotopic analysis of the Blick Mead dog: A proxy for the dietary reconstruction and mobility of Mesolithic British hunter-gatherers

A single domestic dog (Canis familiaris) tooth was recovered from the Mesolithic site of Blick Mead in the Stonehenge landscape. As no human remains were recovered from the site, the dog tooth provides a potential proxy for reconstructing human diet. Previous studies have shown that domestic dogs often have similar δ13C and δ15N values to their human companions. Incremental dentine carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis and bulk enamel carbon, oxygen and strontium isotope analysis were obtained from the tooth to produce a life-history profile of the dog's diet and mobility. The δ13C and δ15N values indicate that there was little variation in the dog's diet between c.2 and 6 months of age. δ15N values range between +7.9 to +8.7‰, (mean +8.5‰), whereas δ13C values range between −21.3 and −20.5‰, (mean −20.9‰). These data suggest that the dog was consuming predominantly terrestrial herbivorous protein, with the possible inclusion of freshwater fish. The enamel 87Sr/86Sr ratio of 0.70796 can only be obtained from a chalk landscape, such as is found at Blick Mead and elsewhere in southern and southeastern Britain, or basalt terrains which are rare in southern Britain. The enamel δ18O(SMOW) value of 25.7‰ is not consistent with the dog residing at Blick Mead but appropriate contemporaneous data from dogs is currently lacking. The results are thus consistent with the dog originating in a chalk or possibly basaltic terrain elsewhere in Britain and Ireland or that the dog resided locally at a time when the climate was colder than present

The earliest farming in Britain : towards a new synthesis

In this contribution we review previous understandings of the earliest farming in Britain, and then bring together various recent lines of evidence. We will argue that new findings go some considerable way towards resolving the debates of previous decades, and allow us to come to a firmer view of the earliest farming than has hitherto been possible

Dealing with domestic animals in the fifth millennium cal BC Dutch wetlands: new insights from old Swifterbant assemblages

One classic case study area regarding the transition to farming is the Swifterbant Culture of the Low Countries bordering the North Sea in Northwest Europe, with sites located in the wetlands between Antwerp and Hamburg. The Netherlands’ coastal plain constitutes a major part of this zone. Based on multi-proxy zooarchaeological data and direct 14C dates, we think it is reasonable to suggest that animal husbandry began in the Dutch Delta at the end of the fifth millennium BC. Although foraging remained an important activity at least until 3700 cal BC (as evident at Schipluiden), it is clear that the changing relationships between humans and animals at the end of the fifth millennium are in one way or another related to encounters with domesticates. This period needs to be explored in detail with new methods and multi-disciplinary perspectives on using larger assemblages