The Effectiveness of Sex Determination of Immature Individuals by Morphological Methods (A Case Study of Medieval Mamisondon Series, North Ossetia)

Introduction. One of the main issues in the analysis of human remains in paleoanthropology and forensic examination is the sex determination. A large number of reliable methods for sex determination in adult individuals exist. However, when examining the remains of children and adolescents, the problem of sex determination is much more complicate. Various methods of such determination have been developed. All of them have different degrees of accuracy, applicable to different osteological series. Methods and materials. The early Medieval Mamisondon series (North Ossetia) was chosen for the study, in which the sex of the buried, including children, determined the location of the corpse. Genetic analysis and peptide analysis of tooth enamel were carried out to confirm the connection of body location with sex. Three methods of morphological sex determination in children’s skeletons have been tested: the use of discriminant functions for the size of the teeth and the use of descriptive characteristics of the mandible and pelvis shape. Mesiodistal and bucco-lingual tooth sizes were measured in 60 adults and 43 children. Morphological features of the mandible were evaluated in 37 individuals and the ilium in 33. The evaluation of the descriptive characteristics of the postcranial skeleton was carried out by the blind method, and then the data obtained were compared with sex determination data confirmed by laboratory methods. Analysis. By the method of step-by-step discriminant analysis, the characters were selected that most successfully dividing individuals by sex in our series. Results. We have built several discriminant equations based on deciduous and permanent molars, which allow us to determine sex with an accuracy of 70–80%. In our work, we especially note the importance of the first permanent molar for sex determination in children, since it appears first among permanent teeth, which are more dimorphic than deciduous teeth. We consider this method to be promising, however, due to the unequal level of sexual dimorphism and the size of teeth in different populations, the discriminant functions created by us are not universal and are applicable only specifically to our series, or to another series with the same level of sexual dimorphism and dimensional characteristics of the teeth. The descriptive characteristics studied in the work showed a low percentage of correct decisions in determining sex. Authors’ contribution: D. Khodyreva – experimental research, data analysis, writing original draft; N. Goncharova – methodology of statistical analysis, formal analysis, review and editing; A. Buzhilova – methodology of the research algorithm, review and editing, critical revision in order to improve the content; N. Berezina – the concept of the research algorithm, methodology, writing, review and editing

The assessment of the environmental impact of the construction project

The article is devoted to the research of the main trends and problems concerning the development of measures for the protection and rational use of the environment in Russia as well as the assessment of the environmental impact. The main sources of the regulating and legal information were analysed. As the result of the research, of the analysis and synthesis of these documents, the authors offered the basic methodology for the assessment of the environmental impact of the construction projects. The authors developed some recommendations about contents of the sections of the assessment of the impact of the construction project on the environment. The recommendations presented in the article are useful to all the participants of the investment-and-construction process, for the contractors involved in development of the project documentation, for the employees who carry out the state assessment of the environmental impact of the projects

New Cases of Scalping from the Burial Grounds of the Pre-Caucasus and the North Caucasus in the Early Iron Age

Several skulls dated to the Early Iron Age discovered in various burial grounds located in the Prikuban and North Caucasus regions are examined in the article. All the skulls are dated to the early Iron Age. The skulls exhibit distinctive signs of scalping. Two of the skulls originate from the Meotian burial ground found in the Starokorsunsky hillfort No. 2, situated near Krasnodar and spanning from the 6th century BC to the 3rd century AD. One of the skulls was excavated from an ancient rural settlement dating to the 2nd centuries BC near the village of Starotitarovskaya in the Krasnodar region. Finally, the remaining skull was unearthed at the Gaston Uota site in Digor Gorge, North Ossetia. This site, concerning the Kobani culture, is dated between the 7th century BC and the 1st half of 4th century BC. The article presents four new instances of scalping originating from Southern Russia. All of the skulls belonged to adult males, and two of them exhibited injuries that appear to have occurred shortly before death. Among the skulls found at the Gaston-Uota burial ground and the settlement near Starotitarovskaya, scalping was executed in the conventional manner, entailing full-scale incisions over the entire hair-covered area. On the other hand, victims buried at the Starokorsunsky hillfort No. 2 displayed evidence of partial scalping, where only the top portion of the cranium vault was scalped, resulting in a limited area of scalp removal. This discrepancy in scalping techniques may reflect distinct cultural traditions associated with this ritualistic practice

Assessment of antioxidant properties of grain concentrate and oxidant-antioxidant status pigs after its inclusion in ration feeding

A grain concentrate was developed for use in bread baking based on whole-ground fermented wheat grain, to enhance that the beneficial properties have fermented wholegrain buckwheat grains in an amount of 20% by weight of the fermented wheat. For the fermentation of grain used dry complex enzyme preparation comprising cellulose, &beta;-glucanase and xylanase (producing Penicillin canescens), dissolved in a buffer based on succinic acid. Under the action of the drug, the micro structure surface of grain was changed. It is established that the character of the change in surface micro structure of wheat and buckwheat grain is the same. The results of the study of the content of vitamin E, flavonoids and antioxidant activity in wheat grains, buckwheat and grain concentrate are obtained by different technologies. The results show that grain concentrates from wheat grain with the addition of 20% buckwheat grains prepared using a solution of enzyme preparation of cellulolytic action in a buffer, based on succinic acid has a high antioxidant activity. As a biological model for studying changes oxidant-antioxidant status of the organism under stress when included in a diet designed grain concentrate, used pigs, that are under stress, caused by weaning them from sows and transportation. Investigated the following parameters oxidant-antioxidant status of the organism pigs: the level of malondialdehyde, ceruloplasmin, vitamins A, E and C in the blood of animals. It is concluded that, to improve the oxidative status of the piglets after weaning period recommended addition of concentrate fodder ration of grain wheat and buckwheat prepared using a solution of an enzyme preparation buffered cellulolytic action on the basis of succinic acid. The developed grain concentrate can be used for making the manufacture of cereal products, including grain bread included in the diet of people who live in conditions of oxidative stress.</div

Emergence and intensification of dairying in the Caucasus and Eurasian steppes

Archaeological and archaeogenetic evidence points to the Pontic-Caspian steppe zone between the Caucasus and the Black Sea as the crucible from which the earliest steppe pastoralist societies arose and spread, ultimately influencing populations from Europe to Inner Asia. However, little is known about their economic foundations and the factors that may have contributed to their extensive mobility. Here, we investigate dietary proteins within the dental calculus proteomes of 45 individuals spanning the Neolithic to Greco-Roman periods in the Pontic-Caspian Steppe and neighbouring South Caucasus, Oka-Volga-Don and East Urals regions. We find that sheep dairying accompanies the earliest forms of Eneolithic pastoralism in the North Caucasus. During the fourth millennium Bc, Maykop and early Yamnaya populations also focused dairying exclusively on sheep while reserving cattle for traction and other purposes. We observe a breakdown in livestock specialization and an economic diversification of dairy herds coinciding with aridification during the subsequent late Yamnaya and North Caucasus Culture phases, followed by severe climate deterioration during the Catacomb and Lola periods. The need for additional pastures to support these herds may have driven the heightened mobility of the Middle and Late Bronze Age periods. Following a hiatus of more than 500 years, the North Caucasian steppe was repopulated by Early Iron Age societies with a broad mobile dairy economy, including a new focus on horse milking.Peer reviewe

Emergence and intensification of dairying in the Caucasus and Eurasian steppes

Archaeological and archaeogenetic evidence points to the Pontic-Caspian steppe zone between the Caucasus and the Black Sea as the crucible from which the earliest steppe pastoralist societies arose and spread, ultimately influencing populations from Europe to Inner Asia. However, little is known about their economic foundations and the factors that may have contributed to their extensive mobility. Here, we investigate dietary proteins within the dental calculus proteomes of 45 individuals spanning the Neolithic to Greco-Roman periods in the Pontic-Caspian Steppe and neighbouring South Caucasus, Oka-Volga-Don and East Urals regions. We find that sheep dairying accompanies the earliest forms of Eneolithic pastoralism in the North Caucasus. During the fourth millennium Bc, Maykop and early Yamnaya populations also focused dairying exclusively on sheep while reserving cattle for traction and other purposes. We observe a breakdown in livestock specialization and an economic diversification of dairy herds coinciding with aridification during the subsequent late Yamnaya and North Caucasus Culture phases, followed by severe climate deterioration during the Catacomb and Lola periods. The need for additional pastures to support these herds may have driven the heightened mobility of the Middle and Late Bronze Age periods. Following a hiatus of more than 500 years, the North Caucasian steppe was repopulated by Early Iron Age societies with a broad mobile dairy economy, including a new focus on horse milking.Peer reviewe

The genetic prehistory of the Greater Caucasus

5月16日，厦门大学人类学系、德国马普所、德国考古所、俄罗斯文化遗产联合会、奥地利维也纳大学人类学系、爱尔兰都柏林大学学院考古系、罗蒙诺索夫莫斯科国立大学考古系和人类学博物馆、俄罗斯国立东方艺术博物馆、俄罗斯联邦达吉斯坦考古与民族志研究所历史系、美国韦尔斯利学院人类学系、瑞士巴塞尔大学史前与考古科学研究所、德国国家遗产博物馆等36家单位的46位共同作者组成的国际合作团队在BioRxiv上预发表论文《The genetic prehistory of the Greater Caucasus》，厦门大学人类学系王传超研究员为论文的第一作者和通讯作者，也是该国际团队中的唯一一位来自中国的合作者。【Abstract】Archaeogenetic studies have described the formation of Eurasian 'steppe ancestry' as a mixture of Eastern and Caucasus hunter-gatherers. However, it remains unclear when and where this ancestry arose and whether it was related to a horizon of cultural innovations in the 4th millennium BCE that subsequently facilitated the advance of pastoral societies likely linked to the dispersal of Indo-European languages. To address this, we generated genome-wide SNP data from 45 prehistoric individuals along a 3000-year temporal transect in the North Caucasus. We observe a genetic separation between the groups of the Caucasus and those of the adjacent steppe. The Caucasus groups are genetically similar to contemporaneous populations south of it, suggesting that - unlike today - the Caucasus acted as a bridge rather than an insurmountable barrier to human movement. The steppe groups from Yamnaya and subsequent pastoralist cultures show evidence for previously undetected Anatolian farmer-related ancestry from different contact zones, while Steppe Maykop individuals harbour additional Upper Palaeolithic Siberian and Native American related ancestry.This work was funded by the Max Planck Society and the German Archaeological Institute (DAI). C.C.W. was funded by Nanqiang Outstanding Young Talents Program of Xiamen University (X2123302) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities. 该研究由德国马普学会、德国考古所、厦门大学南强青年拔尖人才支持计划资助

Анализ биологического возраста по черепу ребенка эпохи каменного века с помощью конусно-лучевой компьютерной томографии

Studying of opportunities of the Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) in an assessment of bone structure and of a tooth formula was an objective for aging of a paleoanthropological finding. Remains of the child of the Stone Age from a cave Staroselye (Crimea) are subjected to examination. Beam research was carried out when using CBCT with individual selection of laying, physics and technology conditions and modes of scanning depending on anatomic accessory and the size of fragments. The images received as a result of CBCT differ in high informational content (from 7.5 to 10.6 pixels/mm), optimum spatial permission, clearness and contrast. The software of CBCT includes parameters and possibility of post-processor processing of images (creation of panoramic, multiplanar and 3D reconstruction). The method allows carrying out the analysis of anthropological material without the need for their destruction that is the extremely important for work with samples of museum collections. Use of a high-informative beam method of CBCT is perspective for the paleoantropological researches.Цель исследования: изучение возможностей конусно-лучевой компьютерной томографии (КЛКТ) в оценке костной структуры, анализе зубной формулы при определении возраста палеоантропологической находки. Экспертизе подвергнуты останки ребенка каменного века из пещеры Староселье (Крым). Лучевое исследование выполнялось при использовании КЛКТ с индивидуальным подбором укладок, физико-технических условий и режимов сканирования в зависимости от анатомической принадлежности и размера фрагментов. Полученные в результате КЛКТ изображения отличаются высокой информативностью (от 7,5 до 10,6 пикселей/мм), оптимальным пространственным разрешением, четкостью и контрастностью. Программное обеспечение КЛКТ включает параметры и возможность постпроцессорной обработки изображений (построение панорамных, мультипланарных и 3D-реконструкций). Метод позволяет проводить анализ антропологического материала без необходимости их разрушения, что крайне важно для работы с образцами музейных коллекций. Использование высокоинформативного лучевого метода исследования КЛКТ является перспективным для палеоантропологических исследований

Emergence and intensification of dairying in the Caucasus and Eurasian steppes

Archaeological and archaeogenetic evidence points to the Pontic-Caspian steppe zone between the Caucasus and the Black Sea as the crucible from which the earliest steppe pastoralist societies arose and spread, ultimately influencing populations from Europe to Inner Asia. However, little is known about their economic foundations and the factors that may have contributed to their extensive mobility. Here, we investigate dietary proteins within the dental calculus proteomes of 45 individuals spanning the Neolithic to Greco-Roman periods in the Pontic-Caspian Steppe and neighbouring South Caucasus, Oka-Volga-Don and East Urals regions. We find that sheep dairying accompanies the earliest forms of Eneolithic pastoralism in the North Caucasus. During the fourth millennium Bc, Maykop and early Yamnaya populations also focused dairying exclusively on sheep while reserving cattle for traction and other purposes. We observe a breakdown in livestock specialization and an economic diversification of dairy herds coinciding with aridification during the subsequent late Yamnaya and North Caucasus Culture phases, followed by severe climate deterioration during the Catacomb and Lola periods. The need for additional pastures to support these herds may have driven the heightened mobility of the Middle and Late Bronze Age periods. Following a hiatus of more than 500 years, the North Caucasian steppe was repopulated by Early Iron Age societies with a broad mobile dairy economy, including a new focus on horse milking.</p