Ukraine as the crossroad for agricultural dispersal in eurasia

With remarkable progress of archaeobotany in decades, we should reconsider the dispersal of agriculture in Eurasia as multi tiered, multi directional, and long term movements. The territories to the north of the Black Sea, mainly the present Ukraine, are one of the key area to discuss the EastWest movements. There are comparatively many archaeobotanical dataset derived from impressions in pottery, and have been quoted often. In particular, exceptionally early start of agriculture compared to the neighbouring region has been predicted based on the early cereals prior to 6000BC

The Oldest Anatomically Modern Humans from Far Southeast Europe: Direct Dating, Culture and Behavior

Background: Anatomically Modern Humans (AMHs) are known to have spread across Europe during the period coinciding with the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition. Whereas their dispersal into Western Europe is relatively well established, evidence of an early settlement of Eastern Europe by modern humans are comparatively scarce. Methodology/Principal Finding: Based on a multidisciplinary approach for the study of human and faunal remains, we describe here the oldest AMH remains from the extreme southeast Europe, in conjunction with their associated cultural and paleoecological background. We applied taxonomy, paleoecology, and taphonomy combined with geomorphology, stratigraphy, archeology and radiocarbon dating. More than 160 human bone remains have been discovered. They originate from a well documented Upper Paleolithic archeological layer (Gravettian cultural tradition) from the site of Buran-Kaya III located in Crimea (Ukraine). The combination of non-metric dental traits and the morphology of the occipital bones allow us to attribute the human remains to Anatomically Modern Humans. A set of human and faunal remains from this layer has been radiocarbon dated by Accelerator Mass Spectrometry. The direct-dating results of human bone establish a secure presence of AMHs at 31,900+240/2220 BP in this region. They are the oldest direct evidence of the presence of AMHs in a well documented archeological context. Based on taphonomical observations (cut marks and distribution of skeletal elements), they represent the oldest Upper Paleolithic modern humans from Eastern Europe, showing post-mortem treatment of the dead as well. Conclusion/Significance: These findings are essential for the debate on the spread of modern humans in Europe during the Upper Paleolithic, as well as their cultural behaviors.

Ancient pigs reveal a near-complete genomic turnover following their introduction to Europe

Archaeological evidence indicates that pig domestication had begun by ~10,500 y before the present (BP) in the Near East, and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) suggests that pigs arrived in Europe alongside farmers ~8,500 y BP. A few thousand years after the introduction of Near Eastern pigs into Europe, however, their characteristic mtDNA signature disappeared and was replaced by haplotypes associated with European wild boars. This turnover could be accounted for by substantial gene flow from local Euro-pean wild boars, although it is also possible that European wild boars were domesticated independently without any genetic con-tribution from the Near East. To test these hypotheses, we obtained mtDNA sequences from 2,099 modern and ancient pig samples and 63 nuclear ancient genomes from Near Eastern and European pigs. Our analyses revealed that European domestic pigs dating from 7,100 to 6,000 y BP possessed both Near Eastern and European nuclear ancestry, while later pigs possessed no more than 4% Near Eastern ancestry, indicating that gene flow from European wild boars resulted in a near-complete disappearance of Near East ancestry. In addition, we demonstrate that a variant at a locus encoding black coat color likely originated in the Near East and persisted in European pigs. Altogether, our results indicate that while pigs were not independently domesticated in Europe, the vast majority of human-mediated selection over the past 5,000 y focused on the genomic fraction derived from the European wild boars, and not on the fraction that was selected by early Neolithic farmers over the first 2,500 y of the domestication process

Ancient pigs reveal a near-complete genomic turnover following their introduction to Europe

Archaeological evidence indicates that pig domestication had begun by ∼10,500 y before the present (BP) in the Near East, and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) suggests that pigs arrived in Europe alongside farmers ∼8,500 y BP. A few thousand years after the introduction of Near Eastern pigs into Europe, however, their characteristic mtDNA signature disappeared and was replaced by haplotypes associated with European wild boars. This turnover could be accounted for by substantial gene flow from local European wild boars, although it is also possible that European wild boars were domesticated independently without any genetic contribution from the Near East. To test these hypotheses, we obtained mtDNA sequences from 2,099 modern and ancient pig samples and 63 nuclear ancient genomes from Near Eastern and European pigs. Our analyses revealed that European domestic pigs dating from 7,100 to 6,000 y BP possessed both Near Eastern and European nuclear ancestry, while later pigs possessed no more than 4% Near Eastern ancestry, indicating that gene flow from European wild boars resulted in a near-complete disappearance of Near East ancestry. In addition, we demonstrate that a variant at a locus encoding black coat color likely originated in the Near East and persisted in European pigs. Altogether, our results indicate that while pigs were not independently domesticated in Europe, the vast majority of human-mediated selection over the past 5,000 y focused on the genomic fraction derived from the European wild boars, and not on the fraction that was selected by early Neolithic farmers over the first 2,500 y of the domestication process

Re-identification of plant impressions on prehistoric pottery from Ukraine

In this paper, we report newly obtained data on cereals from the Neolithic to Bronze Age from the northern side of the Black Sea. One part of the North Pontic area, located within present-day Ukraine, is one of the focal points of discussions on the agricultural dispersal between west and east Eurasia; however, existing reliable cereal data are scarce. In this study, we employed an improved silicone casting method to obtain impressions from pottery artifacts and conducted a survey of more than 30,000 pottery samples from different times. Observations of seed surface texture using scanning electron microscopy further improved the identification accuracy. The results showed no reliable cereal impressions in Ukrainian sub-Neolithic pottery, despite the predicted exceptionally early start of agriculture prior to the 6th millennium BC. In contrast, in Linear Band and Eneolithic pottery, cereals originating from West Asia were identified, although Chinese millet was absent. Meanwhile, abundant Panicum miliaceum impressions appeared abruptly with incidental barley and wheat in Late Bronze Age pottery. The Chinese millet species Setaria italica, which is clearly distinguishable from P. miliaceum using our method, was also not identified

Buran-Kaya III, layer 6-1, lithic industry.

<p>1–26: microliths; 27: end-scraper; 28: blade with retouch; 29–31: burins; 32: <i>pièces esquillées</i>; 33–34: cores. Scale bar equals 1.0 cm.</p

General view of the stratigraphy in Buran-Kaya III.

<p>Picture at the end of the 2001 field season.</p

Stratigraphic log, AMS radiocarbon dates and cultural attributions of Buran-Kaya III.

<p>Stratigraphic log, AMS radiocarbon dates and cultural attributions of Buran-Kaya III.</p

Buran-Kaya III, layer 6-1, occipital bone.

<p>Posterior view, scale bar equals 1.0 cm.</p

Buran-Kaya III, layer 6-1, body ornaments from mammoth ivory.

<p>Scale bar equals 1.0 cm.</p