Human gnaw marks on bones (Pilot experimental analysis)

Stopy ľudského ohryzu sú v archeologickom a antropologickom kontexte zdrojom informácií o socio-kultúrnom pozadí skúmanej súčasnej i minulej spoločnosti, ich stravovacej kultúre a návykoch. Tento článok prezentuje výber z už publikovaných metodík používaných pri štúdiu tejto témy a testuje stopy ľudského ohryzu na experimentálnej vzorke zo Slovenskej republiky. Vzorka so 40 dobrovoľníkmi bola rozdelená do dvoch skupín– jedna skupina bola informovaná o cieľoch experimentálneho projektu a druhá skupina ostala neinformovaná. Prevažne boli zaznamenané jamky a škrabance spôsobené rezákmi, nasledovali škrabance ako pozostatky sekundárneho spracovania (pozorované v oboch súboroch) a zárezy po príborovom noži (pozorované len v jednom súbore). Podľa analýzy vzoriek navzájom pripúšťame možnosť, že štýl stravovania a stravovacích návykov ovplyvňuje výskyt a rozsah poškodení spôsobených ľudskými zubami.In anthropological and archeological context the human gnaw marks produce information about the socio-cultural background of studied recent and ancient communities, especially in their dining attitudes and habits. Our paper presents a selected published methodologies used to study this topic and tests the human gnaw marks on experimental sample from Slovak Republic. This sample with 40 volunteers was divided into two groups – one was informed about the aim of the experimental project and the other remained uninformed. The prevalence of pits and scores caused by human incisors was recorded, followed by notches after secondary butchering processes (observed in both samples) and cut marks after table-knives (observed only in one sample). Finally, we have to admit, that according to the inter-sample analysis the style of dining and eating habits perhaps affects the appearance and stage of damages caused by human teeth

Preparation of thin histological sections from archaeological bone and tooth samples

Histologická analýza osteologických nálezů pocházejících z archeologických výzkumů je časově a finančně náročný proces, který ve svém výsledku přináší data a informace, jež jsou obtížně získatelné z makroskopického pozorování (např. taxonomické určení fragmentů bez morfologicky diagnostických znaků), nebo vedou k získání zcela nových informací o životní historii jedince (přes hodnocení markerů vývojového stresu ze zubní skloviny a určení chronologie jednotlivých událostí). Mikroskopická analýza vzorků kostí a zubů klade důraz na zhotovení kvalitního histologického preparátu, který je následně možné analyzovat za pomocí optického mikroskopu. Dosud bylo publikováno široké spektrum metodických postupů, jak zhotovovat histologické výbrusy z kalcifikovaných tvrdých savčích tkání, lišících se a) v závislosti na typu tkáně, ze které je preparát zhotoven, b) stavu zachovalosti vzorku, c) přítomnosti laboratorního vybavení. Naše metodika je podmíněna již publikovanými protokoly a postupy, které jsou navíc pozměněny tak, aby vyhovovaly našemu laboratornímu vybavení a požadavkům zpracovávaného vzorku. Výsledkem je tak opakovatelný protokol, sestávající se z několika hlavních kroků, které jsou proveditelné v laboratořích se stejným nebo podobným vybavením.Histological analysis of osteological remains from archaeological excavations provides data and information that can be difficult or impossible to obtain from macroscopic description and examination. Furthermore, the microscopic perspective provides important evidence for taxonomically indeterminate samples lacking morphologically diagnostic marks, e.g. determination of human/non-human bone origin, and can provide further information about analysed individual, e.g. studying of developmental stress in dental enamel. Microscopy of bone and tooth samples requires preparation of good quality thin histological sections for transmitted and polarized light microscopy examination and analysis. This paper presents detailed methodology description in several main steps which were modified to fit our laboratory. Finally, we suggest an easily repeatable protocol and know-how fitting in similar or identical laboratory conditions, including equipment, consumables, and other item

Palaeogenomics of Upper Palaeolithic to Neolithic European hunter-gatherers

: Modern humans have populated Europe for more than 45,000 years1,2. Our knowledge of the genetic relatedness and structure of ancient hunter-gatherers is however limited, owing to the scarceness and poor molecular preservation of human remains from that period3. Here we analyse 356 ancient hunter-gatherer genomes, including new genomic data for 116 individuals from 14 countries in western and central Eurasia, spanning between 35,000 and 5,000 years ago. We identify a genetic ancestry profile in individuals associated with Upper Palaeolithic Gravettian assemblages from western Europe that is distinct from contemporaneous groups related to this archaeological culture in central and southern Europe4, but resembles that of preceding individuals associated with the Aurignacian culture. This ancestry profile survived during the Last Glacial Maximum (25,000 to 19,000 years ago) in human populations from southwestern Europe associated with the Solutrean culture, and with the following Magdalenian culture that re-expanded northeastward after the Last Glacial Maximum. Conversely, we reveal a genetic turnover in southern Europe suggesting a local replacement of human groups around the time of the Last Glacial Maximum, accompanied by a north-to-south dispersal of populations associated with the Epigravettian culture. From at least 14,000 years ago, an ancestry related to this culture spread from the south across the rest of Europe, largely replacing the Magdalenian-associated gene pool. After a period of limited admixture that spanned the beginning of the Mesolithic, we find genetic interactions between western and eastern European hunter-gatherers, who were also characterized by marked differences in phenotypically relevant variants

Palaeogenomics of Upper Palaeolithic to Neolithic European hunter-gatherers

Publisher Copyright: © 2023, The Author(s).Modern humans have populated Europe for more than 45,000 years1,2. Our knowledge of the genetic relatedness and structure of ancient hunter-gatherers is however limited, owing to the scarceness and poor molecular preservation of human remains from that period3. Here we analyse 356 ancient hunter-gatherer genomes, including new genomic data for 116 individuals from 14 countries in western and central Eurasia, spanning between 35,000 and 5,000 years ago. We identify a genetic ancestry profile in individuals associated with Upper Palaeolithic Gravettian assemblages from western Europe that is distinct from contemporaneous groups related to this archaeological culture in central and southern Europe4, but resembles that of preceding individuals associated with the Aurignacian culture. This ancestry profile survived during the Last Glacial Maximum (25,000 to 19,000 years ago) in human populations from southwestern Europe associated with the Solutrean culture, and with the following Magdalenian culture that re-expanded northeastward after the Last Glacial Maximum. Conversely, we reveal a genetic turnover in southern Europe suggesting a local replacement of human groups around the time of the Last Glacial Maximum, accompanied by a north-to-south dispersal of populations associated with the Epigravettian culture. From at least 14,000 years ago, an ancestry related to this culture spread from the south across the rest of Europe, largely replacing the Magdalenian-associated gene pool. After a period of limited admixture that spanned the beginning of the Mesolithic, we find genetic interactions between western and eastern European hunter-gatherers, who were also characterized by marked differences in phenotypically relevant variants.Peer reviewe

Detecting the children zone at the abandoned Nenets campsites: An ethnoarchaeological example from the Polar Ural Mts., Russia

The paper presents an ethnoarcheological approach to questions arising from archaeological studies of Upper Paleolithic settlements in Europe concerning the role of children and their activities in site formation processes. Within surveyed micro-region at Yangana Pe, they were recorded and documented several Nenets abandoned campsites with traces of childreln's play. During the play, Nenets children create specific patterns, usually detectable within the domestic and activity zones of abandoned campsites. In order to interpret them in context, supplementary ethnoarcheological evidence should be incorporated and evaluated

Hominids and palaeoenvironments in the Moravian Karst during Marine Isotope Stage 3: new excavations in Pod Hradem Cave, Czech Republic

Frequent, high-amplitude changes in temperature are well-documented in marine sediment and glacier cores during Marine Isotope Stage 3, however there is little information about their potentially substantial effects on environments in Central Europe. These rapid climatic and corresponding environmental changes may have had an impact on human populations in the region. This short article introduces palaeoenvironmental and archaeological results from a recent excavation at Pod Hradem Cave in Czech Republic