Probable hepatic capillariosis and hydatidosis in an adolescent from the late Roman period buried in Amiens (France)

Two calcified objects recovered from a 3rd to 4th-century grave of an adolescent in Amiens (Northern France) were identified as probable hydatid cysts. By using thin-section petrographic techniques, probable Calodium hepaticum (syn. Capillaria hepatica) eggs were identified in the wall of the cysts. Human hepatic capillariosis has not been reported from archaeological material so far, but could be expected given the poor level of environmental hygiene prevalent in this period. Identification of tissue-dwelling parasites such as C. hepaticum in archaeological remains is particularly dependent on preservation conditions and taphonomic changes and should be interpreted with caution due to morphological similarities with Trichuris sp. eggs

Premiers résultats concernant le site des Jardins de Saint-Benoît (Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse, Aude), pôle religieux et funéraire des Corbières

Un projet immobilier est à l’origine de la découverte et de la fouille du site des Jardins de Saint-Benoît à Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse (Aude). Il a livré un vaste cimetière, enserrant les vestiges d’une église à chevet plat. Les sépultures étudiées, de formes et d’architectures variées, témoignent de la longue durée de fonctionnement du pôle funéraire. En effet, celui-ci semble apparaître avant la fin du VIIIe siècle et perdurer jusqu’au bas Moyen Âge, période durant laquelle l’église est presque entièrement démantelée et le cimetière abandonné. La genèse du site souffre de nombreuses lacunes documentaires. Bien qu’il soit fait mention d’une fondation monastique sur le territoire de la commune (Sancti Laurentii), le bâtiment mis au jour pourrait également correspondre à l’église Saint-Benoît ou à un autre édifice cultuel, dont aucune mention ne nous serait parvenue. De même, ses modalités d’abandon demeurent incertaines. On peut toutefois évoquer le rôle éventuel de l’épidémie de peste noire de la seconde moitié du XIVe siècle, qui est la cause attestée du décès de plusieurs individus

Données quantitatives en anthropologie biologique : regards croisés

International audienc

Historical Y. pestis Genomes Reveal the European Black Death as the Source of Ancient and Modern Plague Pandemics

© 2016 Elsevier Inc.Ancient DNA analysis has revealed an involvement of the bacterial pathogen Yersinia pestis in several historical pandemics, including the second plague pandemic (Europe, mid-14th century Black Death until the mid-18th century AD). Here we present reconstructed Y. pestis genomes from plague victims of the Black Death and two subsequent historical outbreaks spanning Europe and its vicinity, namely Barcelona, Spain (1300-1420 cal AD), Bolgar City, Russia (1362-1400 AD), and Ellwangen, Germany (1485-1627 cal AD). Our results provide support for (1) a single entry of Y. pestis in Europe during the Black Death, (2) a wave of plague that traveled toward Asia to later become the source population for contemporary worldwide epidemics, and (3) the presence of an historical European plague focus involved in post-Black Death outbreaks that is now likely extinct

Ten millennia of hepatitis B virus evolution

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) has been infecting humans for millennia and remains a global health problem, but its past diversity and dispersal routes are largely unknown. We generated HBV genomic data from 137 Eurasians and Native Americans dated between similar to 10,500 and similar to 400 years ago. We date the most recent common ancestor of all HBV lineages to between similar to 20,000 and 12,000 years ago, with the virus present in European and South American hunter-gatherers during the early Holocene. After the European Neolithic transition, Mesolithic HBV strains were replaced by a lineage likely disseminated by early farmers that prevailed throughout western Eurasia for similar to 4000 years, declining around the end of the 2nd millennium BCE. The only remnant of this prehistoric HBV diversity is the rare genotype G, which appears to have reemerged during the HIV pandemic.Molecular Technology and Informatics for Personalised Medicine and Healt

European Vegetation Archive (EVA): An integrated database of European vegetation plots

© 2016 International Association for Vegetation Science. The European Vegetation Archive (EVA) is a centralized database of European vegetation plots developed by the IAVS Working Group European Vegetation Survey. It has been in development since 2012 and first made available for use in research projects in 2014. It stores copies of national and regional vegetation- plot databases on a single software platform. Data storage in EVA does not affect on-going independent development of the contributing databases, which remain the property of the data contributors. EVA uses a prototype of the database management software TURBOVEG 3 developed for joint management of multiple databases that use different species lists. This is facilitated by the SynBioSys Taxon Database, a system of taxon names and concepts used in the individual European databases and their corresponding names on a unified list of European flora. TURBOVEG 3 also includes procedures for handling data requests, selections and provisions according to the approved EVA Data Property and Governance Rules. By 30 June 2015, 61 databases from all European regions have joined EVA, contributing in total 1 027 376 vegetation plots, 82% of them with geographic coordinates, from 57 countries. EVA provides a unique data source for large-scale analyses of European vegetation diversity both for fundamental research and nature conservation applications. Updated information on EVA is available online at http://euroveg.org/eva-database

Ten millennia of hepatitis B virus evolution

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) has been infecting humans for millennia and remains a global health problem, but its past diversity and dispersal routes are largely unknown. We generated HBV genomic data from 137 Eurasians and Native Americans dated between ~10,500 and ~400 years ago. We date the most recent common ancestor of all HBV lineages to between ~20,000 and 12,000 years ago, with the virus present in European and South American hunter-gatherers during the early Holocene. After the European Neolithic transition, Mesolithic HBV strains were replaced by a lineage likely disseminated by early farmers that prevailed throughout western Eurasia for ~4000 years, declining around the end of the 2nd millennium BCE. The only remnant of this prehistoric HBV diversity is the rare genotype G, which appears to have reemerged during the HIV pandemic

Les sarcophages de plâtre d’Allonnes (Eure-et-Loir) : un enrichissement de la chrono-typologie funéraire régionale

Une opération d’archéologie préventive menée dans la commune d’Allonnes (Eure-et-Loir) a révélé une partie d’une vaste nécropole mérovingienne, ainsi que plusieurs petits groupes de tombes situées à sa périphérie. L’intervention a permis de caractériser l’occupation funéraire tant d’un point de vue spatial que chronologique et de cerner certains aspects des pratiques sépulcrales. Elle a notamment conduit à la mise au jour de plusieurs inhumations en sarcophages de plâtre, regroupées au sein de l’un des ensembles satellites. Si l’utilisation de ce type de contenant funéraire est bien documentée pour l’Île-de-France et la Normandie, elle n’était jusqu’alors connue pour la région Centre-Val de Loire que par quelques découvertes anciennes. Il n’en est fait mention dans aucune des synthèses chrono-typologiques régionales publiées à ce jour. La découverte réalisée à Allonnes permet en ce sens d’enrichir les connaissances archéologiques sur la diversité des pratiques funéraires adoptées dans ce secteur géographique durant le haut Moyen Âge

Private and Public Racial identities among multiracial individuals

International audienc