Short climatic fluctuations and their impact on human economies and societies : the potential of the Neolithic lake shore settlements in the Alpine foreland

Neolithic lake shore settlements offer excellent preservation conditions for organic finds (e.g.wood, botanical remains, animal bones, etc.) which mostly occur in uncarbonised form. Theseorganic remains provide exact dendrochronological dating and detailed information aboutnutrition of the people and their environment. We use this excellent database to investigate theimpact of short-term climatic fluctuation on the economy of human communities. Comparisonbetween archaeozoological results and climatic proxies reveal correlations between the two.During short periods of climatic deterioration high levels of hunting are observed, leading us toconclude that during these phases of wild resources like game were more intensively exploited.This exploitation may possibly be a response to problems in the production of cereals.Methodological problems with archaeobotanical data, however, make an easy causal attributiondifficult. Contingent on regional differences in climatic conditions, the influence of short-termclimatic fluctuations varies greatly across the Alpine foreland. Where there are frequent phases ofclimatic deteriorations over an extended time period, indications of overexploitation of wildresources are observed. Klima - Anbau - Pfahlbauten - Wirtschaft - Klimaschwankung - Subsistenz - Ressourcennutzun

The significance of climate fluctuations for lake level changes and shifts in subsistence economy during the Late Neolithic (4300-2400 cal B.C.) in Central Europe

In the last decades data concerning the economy and environment of the Neolithic period of lake dwellings (4300-2400 B.C.) in Central Europe increased considerably and also palaeoecological data concerning lake level fluctuations were thoroughly elaborated. Lake shores were mainly settled during warm and rather dry climate periods which caused a regression of the lake-levels. Nevertheless, there were strong and partly very short-term shifts in the economy during the lake-dwelling period. These can be recognised only because the settlement layers can be very precisely dated by dendrochronology. In this article we discuss in an interdisciplinary way possible interrelations between climatic and economical shifts. To explain the latter, we assume as main reason crop failures, which caused intensified hunting and gathering. Three different possibilities can be supposed as reasons for this: cold-wet summers, severe drought during spring and summer, or local over-exploitation of soils in densely settled areas

Cold-Inducible RNA-Binding Protein Modulates Circadian Gene Expression Posttranscriptionally

In mammalian tissues, circadian gene expression can be driven by local oscillators or systemic signals controlled by the master pacemaker in the suprachiasmatic nucleus. We show that simulated body temperature cycles, but not peripheral oscillators, controlled the rhythmic expression of cold-inducible RNA-binding protein (CIRP) in cultured fibroblasts. In turn, loss-of-function experiments indicated that CIRP was required for high-amplitude circadian gene expression. The transcriptome-wide identification of CIRP-bound RNAs by a biotin-streptavidin-based cross-linking and immunoprecipitation (CLIP) procedure revealed several transcripts encoding circadian oscillator proteins, including CLOCK. Moreover, CLOCK accumulation was strongly reduced in CIRP-depleted fibroblasts. Because ectopic expression of CLOCK improved circadian gene expression in these cells, we surmise that CIRP confers robustness to circadian oscillators through regulation of CLOCK expression

Miners and mining in the Late Bronze Age : a multidisciplinary study from Austria

The extraction and processing of metal ores, particularly those of copper and tin, are regarded as among the principal motors of Bronze Age society. The skills and risks of mining lie behind the weapons, tools and symbols that drove political and ideological change. But we hear much less about the miners themselves and their position in society. Who were these people? Were they rich and special, or expendable members of a hardpressed workforce? In this study the spotlight moves from the adits, slags and furnaces to the bones and seeds, providing a sketch of dedicated prehistoric labourers in their habitat. The Mauken miners were largely dependent on imported meat and cereals, and scarcely hunted or foraged the resources of the local forest. They seem to be the servants of a command economy, encouraged to keep their minds on the job

Direct evidence for the existence of dairying farms in prehistoric Central Europe (4th millennium BC)

The molecular and isotopic chemistry of organic residues from archaeological potsherds was used to obtain further insight into the dietary trends and economies at the Constance lake-shore Neolithic settlements. The archaeological organic residues from the Early Late Neolithic (3922-3902 BC) site Hornstaad-Hornle IA/Germany are, at present, the oldest archaeological samples analysed at the Institute of Mineralogy and Geochemistry of the University of Lausanne. The approach includes 13C/12C and 15N/14N ratios of the bulk organic residues, fatty acids distribution and 13C/12C ratios of individual fatty acids. The results are compared with those obtained from the over 500 years younger Neolithic (3384-3370 BC) settlement of Arbon Bleiche 3/Switzerland and with samples of modern vegetable oils and fat of animals that have been fed exclusively on C3 forage grasses. The overall fatty acid composition (C9 to C24 range, maximizing at C14 and C16), the bulk 13C/12C and 15N/14N ratios (delta13C, delta15N) and the 13C/12C ratios of palmitic (C16:0), stearic (C18:0) and oleic acids (C18:1) of the organic residues indicate that most of the studied samples (25 from 47 samples and 5 from 41 in the delta13C18:0 vs. delta13C16:0 and delta13C18:0 vs. delta13C18:1 diagrams, respectively) from Hornstaad-Hornle IA and Arbon Bleiche 3 sherds contain fat residues of pre-industrial ruminant milk, and young suckling calf/lamb adipose. These data provide direct proof of milk and meat (mainly from young suckling calves) consumption and farming practices for a sustainable dairying in Neolithic villages in central Europe around 4000 BC.dagge

Genetic diversity, genetic structure and diet of ancient and contemporary red deer (Cervus elaphus L.) from north-eastern France

International audienc

Correction: Genetic diversity, genetic structure and diet of ancient and contemporary red deer (Cervus elaphus L.) from north-eastern France

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0189278.]

Diversity measures (haplotype diversity = htdiv; nucleotide diversity = ND, mean number of pairwise distances = MNPD) within the concatenated 256 bp fragment of cyt b and d-loop in ancient and modern red deer from the Vosges in comparison with published ancient western-central European red deer [9].

<p>Diversity measures (haplotype diversity = htdiv; nucleotide diversity = ND, mean number of pairwise distances = MNPD) within the concatenated 256 bp fragment of cyt b and d-loop in ancient and modern red deer from the Vosges in comparison with published ancient western-central European red deer [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0189278#pone.0189278.ref009" target="_blank">9</a>].</p

Median joining network of combined cyt b and d-loop sequences (256 bp) showing lineage affiliations of ancient and modern red deer from the Vosges compared to published ancient and modern sequences from the European range of red deer.

<p>The networks includes ancient red deer (haplotypes of the A clade from the Vosges (AM235 = orange; AM6 = white), modern red deer from the Vosges (red = AM1, yellow = AM2, dark blue = AM3, green = AM4, grey = AM5), published western-central European ancient and modern haplotypes from the A and C clades (modern A clade = grey blue, modern C clade = olive, ancient A clade = light green, ancient C clade = light blue; data from [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0189278#pone.0189278.ref010" target="_blank">10</a>]. The size of the circles are proportional to the number of individuals, dashes indicate mutational steps.</p

Scatter-plot of δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values for archaeological red deer collagen according to their age and haplotype.

<p>Ellipses are drawn manually to encompass samples with the same haplotype. One ellipse (below) corresponds to individuals living deep in the forest (mostly browser habits); the other (above) individuals living in open habitats or open (plain) or herb-rich woodlands of the adjacent plains.</p