Evidence for the impact of the 8.2-kyBP climate event on Near Eastern early farmers.

The 8.2-thousand years B.P. event is evident in multiple proxy records across the globe, showing generally dry and cold conditions for ca. 160 years. Environmental changes around the event are mainly detected using geochemical or palynological analyses of ice cores, lacustrine, marine, and other sediments often distant from human settlements. The Late Neolithic excavated area of the archaeological site of Çatalhöyük East [Team Poznań (TP) area] was occupied for four centuries in the ninth and eighth millennia B.P., thus encompassing the 8.2-thousand years B.P. climatic event. A Bayesian analysis of 56 radiocarbon dates yielded a high-resolution chronological model comprising six building phases, with dates ranging from before 8325-8205 to 7925-7815 calibrated years (cal) B.P. Here, we correlate an onsite paleoclimate record constructed from δ2H values of lipid biomarkers preserved in pottery vessels recovered from these buildings with changes in architectural, archaeozoological, and consumption records from well-documented archaeological contexts. The overall sequence shows major changes in husbandry and consumption practices at ca. 8.2 thousand years B.P., synchronous with variations in the δ2H values of the animal fat residues. Changes in paleoclimate and archaeological records seem connected with the patterns of atmospheric precipitation during the occupation of the TP area predicted by climate modeling. Our multiproxy approach uses records derived directly from documented archaeological contexts. Through this, we provide compelling evidence for the specific impacts of the 8.2-thousand years B.P. climatic event on the economic and domestic activities of pioneer Neolithic farmers, influencing decisions relating to settlement planning and food procurement strategies

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

Field Survey Versus Excavation – Compatibility of Results Illustrated by the Example of Selected Sites from the A1 Motorway in the Włocławek Province, Poland

This paper reconsiders the compatibility of results from survey and subsequent excavations as their verification: the issues of detection of sites and the reliability of estimations of their size as well as their dating including the relative visibility of separate chronological units based on surface material are discussed here. This is presented through the example of archaeological investigations conducted due to the construction of the A1 motorway route within the former Włocławek Voivodeship

Erste Bauerndörfer - Älteste Kultbauten. Die frühe und mittlere Jungsteinzeit in Niederösterreich, Eva Lenneis (ed.), Wien 2018 : [recenzja]

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Field Survey Versus Excavation – Compatibility of Results Illustrated by the Example of Selected Sites from the A1 Motorway in the Włocławek Province, Poland

This paper reconsiders the compatibility of results from survey and subsequent excavations as their verification: the issues of detection of sites and the reliability of estimations of their size as well as their dating including the relative visibility of separate chronological units based on surface material are discussed here. This is presented through the example of archaeological investigations conducted due to the construction of the A1 motorway route within the former Włocławek Voivodeship

Being at Home in the Early Chalcolithic. The Longhouse Phenomenon in the Brześć Kujawski Culture in the Polish Lowlands

The Brześć Kujawski culture emerged in the Polish Lowlands in the second half of the 5th millennium BC. It shares many characteristic features with Chalcolithic cultures of the Carpathian Basin indicating that BKK communities belonged to the wider ‘late Lengyel interaction sphere’. However, there are very striking regional distinctions in the material culture of these communities, which appear to reflect a conscious attempt to emphasize local identity, incorporating both innovation and conservatism. This article focuses on one of the most distinctive features of this culture – trapezoidal longhouses, presented here in the context of astonishingly various and hierarchical settlement system of the BKK. In this respect the iconic character of houses expressed by the uniformity of their form and size, seems to be a deliberate decision that stressed local identity in reference to the LBK heritage as well as other contemporary communities inhabiting the Polish Lowlands in the 5th millennium BC

From pots to potters: reconstructing group and individual variability in pottery production. A case study of the LBK site Cząstków Polski XII, Comm. Czosnów

International audienceThis article presents the results of the analysis of the manufacturing macrotraces on the LBK pottery from Cząstków Polski, Site XII, Czosnów commune. It is a small, highly fragmented, and eroded assemblage and the usefulness of such material for the study of pottery production was tested. Different lines of evidence could be combined and led to the recognition of various vessel forming methods and to the reconstruction of distinct chaînes opératoires and even individual traits within them, indicating the occupation of the site by one community of practice with multiple manufacturers. Pottery production at Cząstków Polski followed general LBKpotting standards but also shows some peculiarities indicating some degree of idiosyncrasy within this community of practice