The earliest Bronze Age culture of the south-eastern Gobi Desert, Mongolia

The DMS project would not have been possible without the generous collaboration of the Institute of History and Archaeology, Mongolian Academy of Sciences. The work presented was supported by the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research and by the U.S. National Endowment for the Humanities (grant RZ-249831-16). Sarah Pleuger and Victoria Wilson contributed illustrations used here. Finally, we express our sincere gratitude to the families of Delgerkhaan Uul, whose hospitality and knowledge have helped us immensely.Peer reviewedPostprin

Mongolian “Neolithic” and Early Bronze Age ground stone tools from the northern edge of the Gobi Desert

The transition from the Mongolian Neolithic to the Bronze Age is not well understood. Within Ikh Nart Nature Reserve, over a period of five years, we identified a number of sites with dense surface artefact scatters and features that seem to represent this transition period. Evident in those concentrations are characteristic microblade cores, microblades, “thumbnail" flake scrapers, projectile points, ground stone tools, and stone features of unknown function. Between 2012 and 2014 we collected ground stone artefacts from four sites and sediment samples from three sites. With permission of Mongolian authorities, the artefacts from one site and sediment samples from three sites were sent for botanical analyses to the University of Texas, Austin, Environmental Archaeology Laboratory. Preliminary results indicate that plant remains are present on the ground stone artefacts: dendritic long-cells from a deep pore of one artefact and starch grains from the pores of six of the seven artefacts. These data present the first opportunity to understand what resources “Neolithic” people were processing with ground stone tools in this area and further our opportunity to better understand the little-known “Neolithic”-Early Bronze Age transition period in Central Asia. This paper describes the ground stone artefacts and further explores the results of data retrieved from some of these artefacts

Phytoliths as a tool for investigations of agricultural origins and dispersals around the world

Agricultural origins and dispersals are subjects of fundamental importance to archaeology as well as many other scholarly disciplines. These investigations are world-wide in scope and require significant amounts of paleobotanical data attesting to the exploitation of wild progenitors of crop plants and subsequent domestication and spread. Accordingly, for the past few decades the development of methods for identifying the remains of wild and domesticated plant species has been a focus of paleo-ethnobotany. Phytolith analysis has increasingly taken its place as an important independent contributor of data in all areas of the globe, and the volume of literature on the subject is now both very substantial and disseminated in a range of international journals. In this paper, experts who have carried out the hands-on work review the utility and importance of phytolith analysis in documenting the domestication and dispersals of crop plants around the world. It will serve as an important resource both to paleo-ethnobotanists and other scholars interested in the development and spread of agriculture

Predicting Drug Responsiveness in Human Cancers Using Genetically Engineered Mice

To use genetically engineered mouse models (GEMMs) and orthotopic syngeneic murine transplants (OSTs) to develop gene-expression based predictors of response to anti-cancer drugs in human tumors. These mouse models offer advantages including precise genetics and an intact microenvironment/immune system

[Special section on the Yiluo project] THE ROLE OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COMPLEX SOCIETIES IN CHINA: A STUDY FROM THE HUIZUI SITE

Holocene environmental change on the Loess Plateau of China presented both opportunities and challenges for populations inhabiting the region. A study of sediment sections within the catchment of the Yiluo River, Henan Province, indicates a sequence beginning with a stable landscape and high water tables in the early MidHolocene corresponding to the Peiligang occupation, shifting to a period of valley alluviation in the later MidHolocene at the time of the Yangshao occupation. Alluvial sediments dating from 5300/5010 cal. BC through 2130/1870 cal. BC are waterlogged deposits that contain sediment and phytolith evidence for the first rice paddy farming in this region. This coincides with the first migration of rice farmers to the area in the Yangshao Period ca. 5500 cal. BC. After ca. 2000 cal. BC stream incision in this catchment led to narrowing floodplains, the disappearance of the marsh deposits, and a reduction in land available for paddy farming. Ironically, this period coincided with the first Chinese state society and large population increases, necessitating new agricultural and economic strategies on the part of the Early Bronze Age inhabitants of the Loess Plateau. This study illustrates how human responses to environmental change depend on social as well as environmental considerations

Kuzucuoğlu C. et Marro C. (éd.). 2007. Sociétés humaines et changement climatique à la fin du troisième millénaire : une crise a-t-elle eu lieu en Haute Mésopotamie ? Actes du Colloque de Lyon, 5-8 déc. 2005

Rosen Arlene M. Kuzucuoğlu C. et Marro C. (éd.). 2007. Sociétés humaines et changement climatique à la fin du troisième millénaire : une crise a-t-elle eu lieu en Haute Mésopotamie ? Actes du Colloque de Lyon, 5-8 déc. 2005. In: Paléorient, 2008, vol. 34, n°1. pp. 207-213

Natufian plant uses at el-Wad terrace (Mount Carmel, Israel): the phytolith evidence

El-Wad is one of the major Natufian base camps of the Mediterranean core-area. Quantitative, morphologic and morphometric analyses of phytoliths from the site were con ducted in order to identify the plants used in specific archaeological context. The results show that pooid grasses dominated the phytolith record. High concentrations of phytoliths from grass leaves and stems suggest dwelling remains, an important element of Natufian plant exploitation. Phytoliths also indicate that wood and bark were the second most abundant form of vegetation preserved in the site. This study provides new data about Natufian modes of environmental exploitation (or subsistence) on the threshold of early food producing communities in the southern Levant.The morphometric study was made possible by support from the Project Origins and development of agricultural practices in the Levant, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Education–MEC(HUM2006-26456-E/HIST). The el-Wad excavations are supported by the Wenner-Gren Foundation.Peer reviewe