Human mobility at Tell Atchana (Alalakh), Hatay, Turkey during the 2nd millennium BC: Integration of isotopic and genomic evidence

The Middle and Late Bronze Age, a period roughly spanning the 2nd millennium BC (ca. 2000–1200 BC) in the Near East, is frequently referred to as the first ‘international age’, characterized by intense and far-reaching contacts between different entities from the eastern Mediterranean to the Near East and beyond. In a large-scale tandem study of stable isotopes and ancient DNA of individuals excavated at Tell Atchana (Alalakh, located in Hatay, Turkey), we explored the role of mobility at the capital of a regional kingdom, named Mukish during the Late Bronze Age, which spanned the Amuq Valley and some areas beyond. We generated strontium and oxygen isotope data from dental enamel for 53 individuals and 77 individuals, respectively, and added ancient DNA data of 10 newly sequenced individuals to a dataset of 27 individuals published in 2020. Additionally, we improved the DNA coverage of one individual from this 2020 dataset. The DNA data revealed a very homogeneous gene pool. This picture of an overwhelmingly local ancestry was consistent with the evidence of local upbringing in most of the individuals indicated by the isotopic data, where only five were found to be non-local. High levels of contact, trade, and exchange of ideas and goods in the Middle and Late Bronze Ages, therefore, seem not to have translated into high levels of individual mobility detectable at Tell Atchana

Genomic history of Neolithic to Bronze Age Anatolia, Northern Levant, and Southern Caucasus

Here, we report genome-wide data analyses from 110 ancient Near Eastern individuals spanning the Late Neolithic to Late Bronze Age, a period characterized by intense interregional interactions for the Near East. We find that 6th millennium BCE populations of North/Central Anatolia and the Southern Caucasus shared mixed ancestry on a genetic cline that formed during the Neolithic between Western Anatolia and regions in today’s Southern Caucasus/Zagros. During the Late Chalcolithic and/or the Early Bronze Age, more than half of the Northern Levantine gene pool was replaced, while in the rest of Anatolia and the Southern Caucasus, we document genetic continuity with only transient gene flow. Additionally, we reveal a genetically distinct individual within the Late Bronze Age Northern Levant. Overall, our study uncovers multiple scales of population dynamics through time, from extensive admixture during the Neolithic period to long-distance mobility within the globalized societies of the Late Bronze Age. Video Abstrac

Archaeometric evidence for the earliest exploitation of lignite from the bronze age Eastern Mediterranean

This paper presents the earliest evidence for the exploitation of lignite (brown coal) in Europe and sheds new light on the use of combustion fuel sources in the 2nd millennium BCE Eastern Mediterranean. We applied Thermal Desorption/Pyrolysis-Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry and Polarizing Microscopy to the dental calculus of 67 individuals and we identified clear evidence for combustion markers embedded within this calculus. In contrast to the scant evidence for combustion markers within the calculus samples from Egypt, all other individuals show the inhalation of smoke from fires burning wood identified as Pinaceae, in addition to hardwood, such as oak and olive, and/ or dung. Importantly, individuals from the Palatial Period at the Mycenaean citadel of Tiryns and the Cretan harbour site of Chania also show the inhalation of fire-smoke from lignite, consistent with the chemical signature of sources in the northwestern Peloponnese and Western Crete respectively. This first evidence for lignite exploitation was likely connected to and at the same time enabled Late Bronze Age Aegean metal and pottery production, significantly by both male and female individuals

Genomic history of neolithic to Bronze Age Anatolia, Northern Levant, and Southern Caucasus

Here, we report genome-wide data analyses from 110 ancient Near Eastern individuals spanning the Late Neolithic to Late Bronze Age, a period characterized by intense interregional interactions for the Near East. We find that 6th millennium BCE populations of North/Central Anatolia and the Southern Caucasus shared mixed ancestry on a genetic cline that formed during the Neolithic between Western Anatolia and regions in today's Southern Caucasus/Zagros. During the Late Chalcolithic and/or the Early Bronze Age, more than half of the Northern Levantine gene pool was replaced, while in the rest of Anatolia and the Southern Caucasus, we document genetic continuity with only transient gene flow. Additionally, we reveal a genetically distinct individual within the Late Bronze Age Northern Levant. Overall, our study uncovers multiple scales of population dynamics through time, from extensive admixture during the Neolithic period to long-distance mobility within the globalized societies of the Late Bronze Age.WOS:0005373995000192-s2.0-850852602793247040

Recent archaeological discoveries at Karkemish. Anatomy and trajectories of a capital city on the Middle Euphrates

none32siEight seasons of renewed archaeological excavations and conservation activities have taken place between 2011 and 2019 at Karkemish (modern Karkamış Höyük, Gaziantep). The Karkemish archaeological project revolves around an international cooperation framework, one which involves not only specialists from many fields, but also several Universities, Museums, public Authorities and private Bodies uniting their efforts towards shared goals and priorities, including the long-awaited opening of the site, laying within a military area, to public visit. This multidisciplinary and multi-partner perspective responds to a contemporary view in which integration (also intended as a continuous feedback between all involved participants) is the method chosen for facing the complexities and the challenges posed by an anthropological approach, both as far as the past and the present are concerned. What follows is a presentation of our main results obtained at the field, while we had necessarily to leave out of the present work the significant results which have been collected through a complete restudy program of the archives and finds from the British Museum excavations (1878-1881, 1911-1920), for which we have benefited from the cooperation with the Anatolian Civilizations Museum in Ankara, the Archaeological Museums in Istanbul and the British Museum in London (and all the colleagues therein), as well as with several other research centersopenNICOLÒ MARCHETTI, DANIELE ALAIMO, NADIA BARBI, MICHAEL CAMPEGGI, MARIA LETIZIA CARRA, VITTORIA CARDINI, SILVIA DI CRISTINA, CLAUDIA D’ORAZIO, MASSIMO FERRANDO, VALENTINA GALLERANI, ALESSANDRA GIACARDI, GABRIELE GIACOSA, GIUSEPPE GUARINO, GIAMPAOLO LUGLIO, ELENA MAINI, SIMONE MANTELLINI, GIANNI MARCHESI, ELEONORA MARIANI, JACOPO MONASTERO, VALENTINA ORRÚ, MUSTAFA ÖZAKÇA, HASAN PEKER, SARA PIZZIMENTI, FRANCESCO PREZIOSO, DANIELE REDAMANTE, ROSA RIVOLTELLA, GIULIA ROBERTO, ELEONORA SERRONE, RULA SHAFIQ, MARCO VALERI, VALENTINA VEZZOLI, FEDERICO ZAINANICOLÒ MARCHETTI, DANIELE ALAIMO, NADIA BARBI, MICHAEL CAMPEGGI, MARIA LETIZIA CARRA, VITTORIA CARDINI, SILVIA DI CRISTINA, CLAUDIA D’ORAZIO, MASSIMO FERRANDO, VALENTINA GALLERANI, ALESSANDRA GIACARDI, GABRIELE GIACOSA, GIUSEPPE GUARINO, GIAMPAOLO LUGLIO, ELENA MAINI, SIMONE MANTELLINI, GIANNI MARCHESI, ELEONORA MARIANI, JACOPO MONASTERO, VALENTINA ORRÚ, MUSTAFA ÖZAKÇA, HASAN PEKER, SARA PIZZIMENTI, FRANCESCO PREZIOSO, DANIELE REDAMANTE, ROSA RIVOLTELLA, GIULIA ROBERTO, ELEONORA SERRONE, RULA SHAFIQ, MARCO VALERI, VALENTINA VEZZOLI, FEDERICO ZAIN