The introduction and spread of rye (Secale cereale) in the Iberian Peninsula

Some of the earliest Western European macroremains of rye (Secale cereale) have been recently recovered in Northwest Iberia. However, the chronological and cultural contexts of these remains have not been yet exhaustively analysed. To address this gap of research, previous and unpublished assemblages have been reviewed and analysed through an analytical set of methods: biometry, radiocarbon dates and integrating the remains of rye in the broad archaeobotanical record of the region. Results show the earliest macroremains of rye in the Iberian Peninsula date to a period between the 3rd century and the first half of the 1st century BCE. Rye was usually found in assemblages dominated by spelt and other cereals, in whose fields it was likely acting as a weed. There is no record of rye for about the two following centuries, after which it is probably reintroduced, now as a crop. It is found in several sites from the 3rd-4th centuries CE onwards, suggesting it is a staple crop as in other regions in Europe. Significant differences in grain size are only recorded in a 10th-11th century settlement, suggesting few changes in grain morphometry before Medieval times.Work co-funded by the project NORTE-01-0246-FEDER-000063, supported by Norte Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). LS was financially supported by a PhD grant (Norte-08-5369-FSE000057) from the University of Porto (Faculty of Sciences) and the European Social Fund, through the North Portugal Regional Operational Program “Norte 2020”, under the announcement “Aviso Norte-69-2015-15-Formação Avançada (Programas Doutorais)”. MMS was funded by the Beatriz Galindo program as Junior Distinguished Researcher (BG20/00076). JPT was supported by national funds through the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and under the scope of the project B-ROMAN (PTDC/HAR-ARQ/4909/2020), funded by national funds through FCT. ATB was awarded by a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship H2020-MSCA-IF-2020 (REA grant agreement ID:101018935). Radiocarbon dates from Crestuma were obtained with the financial support of Gaia Biological Park (Parque Biológico de Gaia) under the scope of Crestuma Castle project (Programa de Investigação Arqueológica e Valorização Cultural do Complexo Arqueológico do Castelo de Crestuma – Vila Nova de Gaia). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

A phase 1, first-in-child, multicenter study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the oncolytic herpes virus talimogene laherparepvec in pediatric patients with advanced solid tumors

Immunotherapy; Oncolytic herpes virus; Pediatric solid tumorInmunoterapia; Virus del herpes oncolítico; Tumor sólido pediátricoImmunoteràpia; Virus de l'herpes oncolític; Tumor sòlid pediàtricBackground: The survival rates for pediatric patients with relapsed and refractory tumors are poor. Successful treatment strategies are currently lacking and there remains an unmet need for novel therapies for these patients. We report here the results of a phase 1 study of talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC) and explore the safety of this oncolytic immunotherapy for the treatment of pediatric patients with advanced non–central nervous system tumors. Methods: T-VEC was delivered by intralesional injection at 106 plaque-forming units (PFU)/ml on the first day, followed by 108 PFU/ml on the first day of week 4 and every 2 weeks thereafter. The primary objective was to evaluate the safety and tolerability as assessed by the incidence of dose-limiting toxicities (DLTs). Secondary objectives included efficacy indicated by response and survival per modified immune-related response criteria simulating the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (irRC-RECIST). Results: Fifteen patients were enrolled into two cohorts based on age: cohort A1 (n = 13) 12 to ≤21 years old (soft-tissue sarcoma, n = 7; bone sarcoma, n = 3; neuroblastoma, n = 1; nasopharyngeal carcinoma, n = 1; and melanoma, n = 1) and cohort B1 (n = 2) 2 to <12 years old (melanoma, n = 2). Overall, patients received treatment for a median (range) of 5.1 (0.1, 39.4) weeks. No DLTs were observed during the evaluation period. All patients experienced at least one treatment-emergent adverse event (TEAE), and 53.3% of patients reported grade ≥3 TEAEs. Overall, 86.7% of patients reported treatment-related TEAEs. No complete or partial responses were observed, and three patients (20%) overall exhibited stable disease as the best response. Conclusions: T-VEC was tolerable as assessed by the observation of no DLTs. The safety data were consistent with the patients' underlying cancer and the known safety profile of T-VEC from studies in the adult population. No objective responses were observed.This study received funding from Amgen Inc. The funder was involved in the study design; collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; the writing of this article; and the decision to submit it for publication

Systems of Interaction between the First Sedentary Villages in the Near East Exposed Using Agent-Based Modelling of Obsidian Exchange

In the Near East, nomadic hunter-gatherer societies became sedentary farmers for the first time during the transition into the Neolithic. Sedentary life presented a risk of isolation for Neolithic groups. As fluid intergroup interactions are crucial for the sharing of information, resources and genes, Neolithic villages developed a network of contacts. In this paper we study obsidian exchange between Neolithic villages in order to characterize this network of interaction. Using agent-based modelling and elements taken from complex network theory, we model obsidian exchange and compare results with archaeological data. We demonstrate that complex networks of interaction were established at the outset of the Neolithic and hypothesize that the existence of these complex networks was a necessary condition for the success and spread of a new way of living

Developing a complex network model of obsidian exchange in the Neolithic Near East: Linear regressions, ethnographic models and archaeological data

The analysis of obsidian exchange allows for a better understanding of systems of interaction between sedentary villages at the onset of the Near Eastern Neolithic. The down-the-line model of obsidian exchange has prevailed as the mechanism used to explain obsidian distribution between villages. However, archaeological data on the quantity of obsidian present in Neolithic sites, mathematical simulations of this model and of alternative ones, and the analysis of the ethnographic record suggest that a more complex model of exchange existed during this period. In this paper, we use regression analysis to analyze archaeological data currently available, and a complex network model is proposed for obsidian exchange that we test through mathematical modelling. Finally, using archaeological and ethnographic data, we explore the social and economic implications of the existence of a complex network of exchange and interaction between Neolithic villages.L’étude des échanges d’obsidienne permet d’obtenir une meilleure connaissance des systèmes d’interaction entre les villages sédentaires au début du Néolithique au Proche-Orient. Le modèle d’échange d’obsidienne, down-the-line, a dominé pour expliquer la diffusion de l’obsidienne entre les villages néolithiques. Cependant, l’information disponible sur la quantité d’obsidienne présente dans les sites, les simulations mathématiques de cette distribution et l’observation des parallèles ethnographiques suggèrent l’existence d’un modèle d’échange plus complexe au cours de cette période. Dans cet article, nous utilisons l’analyse de régression pour étudier les données archéologiques et proposer l’existence d’un réseau complexe, testé par modélisation mathématique, pour expliquer les échanges d’obsidienne. À l’appui des données ethnographiques et archéologiques, on discute des implications d’ordre social et économique de ce réseau complexe d’échanges entre les villages néolithiques.Ibáñez Juan José, Ortega David, Campos Daniel, Khalidi Lamya, Méndez Vicenç, Teira Luís. Developing a complex network model of obsidian exchange in the Neolithic Near East: Linear regressions, ethnographic models and archaeological data. In: Paléorient, 2016, vol. 42, n°2. Connections and Disconnections between the Northern and Southern Levant in the Late Prehistory and Protohistory (12th – mid-2nd mill, BC) pp. 9-32

Systems of Interaction between the First Sedentary Villages in the Near East Exposed Using Agent-Based Modelling of Obsidian Exchange

In the Near East, nomadic hunter-gatherer societies became sedentary farmers for the first time during the transition into the Neolithic. Sedentary life presented a risk of isolation for Neolithic groups. As fluid intergroup interactions are crucial for the sharing of information, resources and genes, Neolithic villages developed a network of contacts. In this paper we study obsidian exchange between Neolithic villages in order to characterize this network of interaction. Using agent-based modelling and elements taken from complex network theory, we model obsidian exchange and compare results with archaeological data. We demonstrate that complex networks of interaction were established at the outset of the Neolithic and hypothesize that the existence of these complex networks was a necessary condition for the success and spread of a new way of livingThis work was partially funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy (grants SimulPast-CSD-2010-00034, HAR2013-47480-P and FIS2012-32334

Systems of Interaction between the First Sedentary Villages in the Near East Exposed Using Agent-Based Modelling of Obsidian Exchange

In the Near East, nomadic hunter-gatherer societies became sedentary farmers for the first time during the transition into the Neolithic. Sedentary life presented a risk of isolation for Neolithic groups. As fluid intergroup interactions are crucial for the sharing of information, resources and genes, Neolithic villages developed a network of contacts. In this paper we study obsidian Exchange between Neolithic villages in order to characterize this network of interaction. Using agent-based modelling and elements taken from complex network theory, we model obsidian exchange and compare results with archaeological data. We demonstrate that complex networks of interaction were established at the outset of the Neolithic and hypothesize that the existence of these complex networks was a necessary condition for the success and spread of a new way of living

Kharaysin (Zarqa): A PPNA and PPNB megasite by the Zarqa River

International audienc

Kharaysin (Zarqa): A PPNA and PPNB megasite by the Zarqa River

International audienc

Kharaysin (Zarqa): A PPNA and PPNB megasite by the Zarqa River

International audienc

Surviving on the isle of Formentera (Balearic Islands): Adaptation of economic behaviour by Bronze Age first settlers to an extreme insular environment

The isle of Formentera (Balearic Archipelago, Spain) was one of the latest insular contexts to be colonized in the Mediterranean. The first settlement occurred during the secondmillennium cal BCE, and this late human occupation is associated with insularity factors, including an extreme environment. Cap de Barbaria II is one of the biggest openair naviform villages occupied during the first prehistoric settlement and for an extended period (ca. 1600– 850 cal BCE).Multidisciplinary archaeological research conductedwithin the site reveals adaptation of the economic behaviour of these first settlers to an environment poor in resources. In this sense, aspects such as innovation, diversification, and intensification in the use of resources characterized the subsistence and technological patterns developed by the prehistoric inhabitants of Formentera. New data from different archaeological and paleoenvironmental studies, such as archaeobotanical, archaeozoological, or technological and functional, have been analyzed. In this sense, the assessed subsistence patterns, reveal adaptive strategies that encompass different local and exogenous resources and differ from those observed in the rest of the Balearic Islands