Ancient genomes provide insights into family structure and the heredity of social status in the early Bronze Age of southeastern Europe

Twenty-four palaeogenomes from Mokrin, a major Early Bronze Age necropolis in southeastern Europe, were sequenced to analyse kinship between individuals and to better understand prehistoric social organization. 15 investigated individuals were involved in genetic relationships of varying degrees. The Mokrin sample resembles a genetically unstructured population, suggesting that the community's social hierarchies were not accompanied by strict marriage barriers. We find evidence for female exogamy but no indications for strict patrilocality. Individual status differences at Mokrin, as indicated by grave goods, support the inference that females could inherit status, but could not transmit status to all their sons. We further show that sons had the possibility to acquire status during their lifetimes, but not necessarily to inherit it. Taken together, these findings suggest that Southeastern Europe in the Early Bronze Age had a significantly different family and social structure than Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age societies of Central Europe

Semiconductive 2D arrays of pancake-bonded oligomers of partially charged TCNQ radicals

Multicentre two-electron (mc/2e or pancake bonding) bonding between 7, 7, 8, 8- tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) radical anions was studied on its 14 novel salts with planar organic cations. Formal charges of the TCNQδ− moieties are −1/2 and −2/3, and they form mc/2e bonded dimers, trimers and tetramers which are further stacked into extended arrays. Multicentre bonding within these oligomers is characterised by short interplanar separations of 2.9 − 3.2 Å ; distances between the oligomers are larger, typically > 3.3 Å. The stacks are laterally connected by C−H···N hydrogen bonding, forming 2D arrays. The nature of mc/2e bonding is characterised by structural, magnetic and electrical data. The compounds are found to be semiconductors, and high conductivity [10-2 Scm-1] correlates with short interplanar distances between pancake-bonded oligomers

The genetic history of the Southern Arc: a bridge between West Asia and Europe

By sequencing 727 ancient individuals from the Southern Arc (Anatolia and its neighbors in Southeastern Europe and West Asia) over 10,000 years, we contextualize its Chalcolithic period and Bronze Age (about 5000 to 1000 BCE), when extensive gene flow entangled it with the Eurasian steppe. Two streams of migration transmitted Caucasus and Anatolian/Levantine ancestry northward, and the Yamnaya pastoralists, formed on the steppe, then spread southward into the Balkans and across the Caucasus into Armenia, where they left numerous patrilineal descendants. Anatolia was transformed by intra–West Asian gene flow, with negligible impact of the later Yamnaya migrations. This contrasts with all other regions where Indo-European languages were spoken, suggesting that the homeland of the Indo-Anatolian language family was in West Asia, with only secondary dispersals of non-Anatolian Indo-Europeans from the steppe

Biological Evaluation and Conformational Preferences of Ferrocene Dipeptides with Hydrophobic Amino Acids

Despite the large number of peptidomimetics with incorporated heteroannularly functionalized ferrocenes, few studies have investigated their bioactivity. Here, we report the biological evaluation and conformational analysis of enantiomeric dipeptides derived from 1′-aminoferrocene-1-carboxylic acid (Fca) and hydrophobic amino acids (AA = Val, Leu, Phe). The conformational properties of Y-AA-Fca-OMe (Y = Ac, Boc) were elucidated by experimental (IR, NMR, CD, and X-ray) and theoretical (DFT) methods. The prepared dipeptides were screened for their antimicrobial activity against selected Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, lactic acid bacteria and yeasts, while their antioxidant activity was tested by DPPH and FRAP methods. Of all compounds tested, dipeptide d-2a showed the best antibacterial properties against S. aureus, B. subtilis, and P. aeruginosa at a concentration of 2 mM. The time–kill curves showed that antibacterial activity was concentration- and time-dependent. Chirality (d-) and a more polar-protecting group (Ac) were found to affect the biological activity, both antimicrobial and antioxidant. All investigated peptides are considered to be highly hydrophobic and chemically stable in both acidic and buffer media. Dipeptides d-1a–3a, which showed biological activity, were subjected to the determination of proteolytic activity, revealing very good resistance to proteolysis in the presence of chymotrypsin

A New Bronze Age Mega-fort in Southeastern Europe: Recent Archaeological Investigations at Gradiste Idos and their Regional Significance

A newly discovered network of later Bronze Age fortified sites of unusually large size are discussed, with a primary focus on results of excavations at the site of Gradiste Idos. Closely associated with the rivers Mures, Tisza, and Danube, these sites are located in the southeast of the Carpathian Basin in central Europe. On current evidence, the main period of construction and occupation took place between 1400-1100 b.c., probably constituting successor communities of the tell-centred societies of the Middle Bronze Age. Geophysical survey and excavation results from Gradiste Idos, the largest site in this network in Serbia, are presented in this paper within their regional context. We discuss preliminary insights into the structural development of the site, alongside a correlation of new C-14 dates with relative ceramic chronological markers and the results of faunal analysis. These results provide new perspectives on settlement systems at the dawn of Urnfield cultural traditions in this region

Resilience, innovation and collapse of settlement networks in later Bronze Age Europe: New survey data from the southern Carpathian Basin.

Societies of the later Early to Middle Bronze Age (ca. 2200-1600 BC) in the Carpathian Basin exhibited complex, hierarchical and regionally influential socio-political organisation that came to an abrupt end in the 16th century BC. Considered a collapse by some, this change was characterised by abandonment of virtually all central places / nodes in settlement networks. Until recently, the complexity that characterised the period was believed to have substantially diminished alongside depopulation. This model was reinforced by a combination of the loss of established external networks and low-resolution knowledge of where and how people lived in the first stages of the Late Bronze Age (between 1600 and 1200 BC). We contest the idea of a diminished Late Bronze Age and argue that a fully opposite trajectory can be identified-increased scale, complexity and density in settlement systems and intensification of long-distance networks. We present results of a settlement survey in the southern Pannonian Plain using remote and pedestrian prospection, augmented by small-scale excavations. New absolute dates are used to define the occupational history of sites dating primarily between 1500-1200 BC. We argue that climate change played a substantial role in in the transformation of settlement networks, creating a particular ecological niche enabling societies to thrive. New and specific forms of landscape exploitation developed that were characterised by proximity to wetlands and minor watercourses. In this context, the largest monuments of Bronze Age Europe were created and inhabited. In considering the origins and demise of these megasites and related settlements, we provide a new model for Late Bronze Age societies in the Carpathian Basin and their regional relevance

Hydrogen Bonding Drives Helical Chirality via 10-Membered Rings in Dipeptide Conjugates of Ferrocene-1,1′-Diamine

Considering the enormous importance of protein turns as participants in various biological events, such as protein–protein interactions, great efforts have been made to develop their conformationally and proteolytically stable mimetics. Ferrocene-1,1′-diamine was previously shown to nucleate the stable turn structures in peptides prepared by conjugation with Ala (III) and Ala–Pro (VI). Here, we prepared the homochiral conjugates of ferrocene-1,1′-diamine with l-/d-Phe (32/35), l-/d-Val (33/36), and l-/d-Leu (34/37) to investigate (1) whether the organometallic template induces the turn structure upon conjugation with amino acids, and (2) whether the bulky or branched side chains of Phe, Val, and Leu affect hydrogen bonding. Detailed spectroscopic (IR, NMR, CD), X-ray, and DFT studies revealed the presence of two simultaneous 10-membered interstrand hydrogen bonds, i.e., two simultaneous β-turns in goal compounds. A preliminary biological evaluation of d-Leu conjugate 37 showed its modest potential to induce cell cycle arrest in the G0/G1 phase in the HeLa cell line but these results need further investigation

A genetic probe into the ancient and medieval history of Southern Europe and West Asia

Literary and archaeological sources have preserved a rich history of Southern Europe and West Asia since the Bronze Age that can be complemented by genetics. Mycenaean period elites in Greece did not differ from the general population and included both people with some steppe ancestry and others, like the Griffin Warrior, without it. Similarly, people in the central area of the Urartian Kingdom around Lake Van lacked the steppe ancestry characteristic of the kingdom's northern provinces. Anatolia exhibited extraordinary continuity down to the Roman and Byzantine periods, with its people serving as the demographic core of much of the Roman Empire, including the city of Rome itself. During medieval times, migrations associated with Slavic and Turkic speakers profoundly affected the region