Just do it? When to do what you judge you ought to do

While it is generally believed that justification is a fallible guide to the truth, there might be interesting exceptions to this general rule. In recent work on bridge-principles, an increasing number of authors have argued that truths about what a subject ought to do are truths we stand in some privileged epistemic relation to and that our justified normative beliefs are beliefs that will not lead us astray. If these bridge-principles hold, it suggests that justification might play an interesting role in our normative theories. In turn, this might help us understand the value of justification, a value that's notoriously difficult to understand if we think of justification as but a fallible means to a desired end. We will argue that these bridge-principles will be incredibly difficult to defend. While we do not think that normative facts necessarily stand in any interesting relationship to our justified beliefs about them, there might well be a way of defending the idea that our justified beliefs about what to do won't lead us astray. In turn, this might help us understand the value of justification, but this way of thinking about justification and its value comes with costs few would be willing to pay

Legal Fiction

While numerous ancient human DNA datasets from across Europe have been published till date, modern-day Poland in particular, remains uninvestigated. Besides application in the reconstruction of continent-wide human history, data from this region would also contribute towards our understanding of the history of the Slavs, whose origin is hypothesized to be in East or Central Europe. Here, we present the first population-scale ancient human DNA study from the region of modern-day Poland by establishing mitochondrial DNA profiles for 23 samples dated to 200 BC - 500 AD (Roman Iron Age) and for 20 samples dated to 1000-1400 AD (Medieval Age). Our results show that mitochondrial DNA sequences from both periods belong to haplogroups that are characteristic of contemporary West Eurasia. Haplotype sharing analysis indicates that majority of the ancient haplotypes are widespread in some modern Europeans, including Poles. Notably, the Roman Iron Age samples share more rare haplotypes with Central and Northeast Europeans, whereas the Medieval Age samples share more rare haplotypes with East-Central and South-East Europeans, primarily Slavic populations. Our data demonstrates genetic continuity of certain matrilineages (H5a1 and N1a1a2) in the area of present-day Poland from at least the Roman Iron Age until present. As such, the maternal gene pool of present-day Poles, Czechs and Slovaks, categorized as Western Slavs, is likely to have descended from inhabitants of East-Central Europe during the Roman Iron Age

Analysis of LCT-13910 genotypes and bone mineral density in ancient skeletal materials

The relation of LCT-13910 genotypes and bone mineral density (BMD) has been the subject of modern-day human population studies, giving inconsistent results. In the present study we analyze for the first time a relation of LCT-13910 genotypes and BMD in historical skeletal individuals. Ancient population might be a model for testing this association due to elimination of non-natural factors affecting bone density. Among 22 medieval individuals from Sanok churchyard (South-Eastern Poland; dated from XIV to XVII c. AD) we identified 4 individuals with osteoporosis (mean BMD = 0.468 g/cm2, SD = 0.090), 10 individuals with osteopenia (mean BMD = 0.531 g/cm2, SD = 0.066) and 8 individuals with normal BMD values (mean BMD = 0,642 g/cm2, SD = 0.060). Analyses of BMD and LCT-13910 genotypes revealed that mean BMD was the highest (0.583 g/cm2, SD = 0.065) in the individuals with lactose tolerance genotypes (TT and CT). We also found possible association of lower BMD at the radius and CC genotypes due to higher but not statistically significant frequency of osteoporosis in the lactose intolerant group (p = 0.60). Statistically significant correlation was found between BMD and females aged 20-35 years, with tendency to reduce BMD with age (p = 0.02)

Mitochondrial genomes reveal an east to west cline of steppe ancestry in Corded Ware populations

From around 4,000 to 2,000 BC the forest-steppe north-western Pontic region was occupied by people who shared a nomadic lifestyle, pastoral economy and barrow burial rituals. It has been shown that these groups, especially those associated with the Yamnaya culture, played an important role in shaping the gene pool of Bronze Age Europeans, which extends into present-day patterns of genetic variation in Europe. Although the genetic impact of these migrations from the forest-steppe Pontic region into central Europe have previously been addressed in several studies, the contribution of mitochondrial lineages to the people associated with the Corded Ware culture in the eastern part of the North European Plain remains contentious. In this study, we present mitochondrial genomes from 23 Late Eneolithic and Bronze Age individuals, including representatives of the north-western Pontic region and the Corded Ware culture from the eastern part of the North European Plain. We identified, for the first time in ancient populations, the rare mitochondrial haplogroup X4 in two Bronze Age Catacomb culture-associated individuals. Genetic similarity analyses show close maternal genetic affinities between populations associated with both eastern and Baltic Corded Ware culture, and the Yamnaya horizon, in contrast to larger genetic differentiation between populations associated with western Corded Ware culture and the Yamnaya horizon. This indicates that females with steppe ancestry contributed to the formation of populations associated with the eastern Corded Ware culture while more local people, likely of Neolithic farmer ancestry, contributed to the formation of populations associated with western Corded Ware cultur

The absolute chronology of collective burials from the 2nd Millennium BC in East Central Europe

This article discusses the absolute chronology of collective burials of the Trzciniec Cultural Circle communities of the Middle Bronze Age in East Central Europe. Based on Bayesian modeling of 91 accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon (AMS 14C) dates from 18 cemeteries, the practice of collective burying of individuals was linked to a period of 400-640 (95.4%) years, between 1830–1690 (95.4%) and 1320-1160 (95.4%) BC. Collective burials in mounds with both cremation and inhumation rites were found earliest in the upland zone regardless of grave structure type (mounded or flat). Bayesian modeling of 14C determinations suggests that this practice was being transmitted generally from the southeast to the northwest direction. Bayesian modeling of the dates from the largest cemetery in Z· erniki Górne, Lesser Poland Upland, confirmed the duration of use of the necropolis as ca. 140–310 (95.4%) years. Further results show the partial contemporaneity of burials and allow formulation of a spatial and temporal development model of the necropolis. Based on the investigation, some graves were used over just a couple of years and others over nearly 200, with up to 30 individuals found in a single grave

Ethnogenesis ot the Slavs in the light of ancient DNA analyses

Wydział Biologii: Instytut AntropologiiOd wielu lat pochodzenie Słowian jest przedmiotem badań przedstawicieli nauk humanistycznych i biologicznych. Do chwili obecnej nie ma jednoznacznej odpowiedzi na pytanie gdzie, kiedy i w jaki sposób doszło do wyodrębnienia się etnosu Słowian. Na potrzeby niniejszej pracy zastosowano badania ludzkiego kopalnego mitochondrialnego DNA. Spośród 72 badanych osobników, przynależność haplogrupową mtDNA wyznaczono dla 20 osobników ze średniowiecza oraz 23 osobników z okresu rzymskiego. Na podstawie uzyskanych wyników przeprowadzono analizę wspólnych haplotypów oraz międzypopulacyjnych dystansów genetycznych. Z jednej strony różnice na poziomie genetycznym, a także stosunkowo duże odległości genetyczne (FST) pomiędzy badanymi populacjami oraz istotna liczba informatywnych haplotypów wspólnych dla średniowiecza oraz Białorusi, Ukrainy i Bułgarii, mogą przemawiać za brakiem ciągłości genetycznej na przełomie okresu rzymskiego i średniowiecza. Z drugiej jednak strony największa liczba informatywnych haplotypów mtDNA wspólnie dzielonych między populacją z okresu rzymskiego i populacją współczesną z Polski, a także obecność podhaplogrupy N1a1a2, mogą potwierdzać, że pewne linie wykazywały ciągłość genetyczną przynajmniej od okresu rzymskiego lub nawet neolitu, na terenach obecnej Polski. Uzyskane wyniki są pierwszym kopalnym wkładem w budowanie historii genetycznej Słowian.For many years the origin of the Slavs has been the subject-matter in archaeology, anthropology, history, linguistics and recently also genetics. By now there is no unambiguous answer to a question where, when and in what way the Slavs originated. For the purposes of this dissertation, the analysis of ancient human mitochondrial DNA was applied. The ancient DNA was isolated from 72 specimens which came from graveyards from the area of current Poland. Mitochondrial DNA haplogroups have been assigned for 20 medieval and 23 Iron-Age specimens. The analysis of shared haplotypes and population genetic distances illustrated by multidimentional scaling has been done. The differences on genetic level and quite high genetic distances (FST) between medieval and Iron-Age populations as well as significant number of shared informative medieval haplotypes with Belarus, Ukraine and Bulgaria may evidence genetic discontinuity between medieval and Iron-Ages. From the other side, the highest number of shared informative haplotypes between Iron-Age and extant Polish population as well as the presence of subhaplogroup N1a1a2, can confirm that some genetic lines show continuatinuity at least from Iron Age or even Neolith in the areas of modern Poland. The results obtained in this work are considered to be the first ancient contribution to building the genetic history of the Slavs