Rediscovery of the Badegoule 5 skeletal remains (Badegoule, Le Lardin-Saint-Lazare, Dordogne, France)

International audienceIn 1910 at the site of Badegoule (Dordogne), O. Hauser discovered cranial remains of a juvenile specimen labelled Badegoule 5. No other information about this specimen or its future was available after 1910. However, unpublished German archives confirm that Badegoule 5 had not been lost or destroyed. In fact, Badegoule 5 is preserved in the collections of the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago (Illinois) (inventory number is 199559), although it was labelled that it could have derived from Le Moustier (O. Hauser excavations). One of us has had the chance to restore the specimen, and the nature of the sediment which contained these remains confirms our interpretation of the archives. Considering data from excavations of A. Cheynier and J. Couchard of different loci of Badegoule, we infer that the human remains belong to the Badegoulian levels.Redécouverte des vestiges humains «Badedgoule 5» (Badegoule, commune du Lardin-Saint-Lazare, Dordogne, France). Dans le gisement de Badegoule (Dordogne), O. Hauser mis au jour, en 1910, des vestiges crâniens d'un sujet immature (Badegoule 5). Aucune autre information sur ce spécimen n'était disponible tout comme son devenir. Des archives allemandes inédites nous assurent que Badegoule 5 n'a pas été perdu et qu'il fait actuellement partie des collections du Field Museum of Natural History à Chicago (Illinois) où il a été restauré par l'un de nous. Il y est inventorié sous le numéro 199559 et il est mentionné comme provenant du Moustier (fouilles Hauser). La nature du sédiment qui contenait ces vestiges confirme nos investigations sur les archives et nous permet, en fonction des résultats des fouilles de A. Cheynier et J. Couchard (de différents locus de Badegoule), de supposer qu'ils se rapportent aux niveaux badegouliens

Rediscovery of the Badegoule 5 skeletal remains (Badegoule, le Lardin-Saint-Lazare, Dordogne, France)

In 1910 at the site of Badegoule (Dordogne), O. Hauser discovered cranial remains of a juvenile specimen labelled Badegoule 5. No other information about this specimen or its future was available after 1910. However, unpublished German archives confirm that Badegoule 5 had not been lost or destroyed. In fact, Badegoule 5 is preserved in the collections of the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago (Illinois) (inventory number is 199559), although it was labelled that it could have derived from Le Moustier (O. Hauser excavations). One of us has had the chance to restore the specimen, and the nature of the sediment which contained these remains confirms our interpretation of the archives. Considering data from excavations of A. Cheynier and J. Couchard of different loci of Badegoule, we infer that the human remains belong to the Badegoulian levels.Dans le gisement de Badegoule (Dordogne), O. Hauser mis au jour, en 1910, des vestiges crâniens d’un sujet immature (Badegoule 5). Aucune autre information sur ce spécimen n’était disponible tout comme son devenir. Des archives allemandes inédites nous assurent que Badegoule 5 n’a pas été perdu et qu’il fait actuellement partie des collections du Field Museum of Natural History à Chicago (Illinois) où il a été restauré par l’un de nous. Il y est inventorié sous le numéro 199559 et il est mentionné comme provenant du Moustier (fouilles Hauser). La nature du sédiment qui contenait ces vestiges confirme nos investigations sur les archives et nous permet, en fonction des résultats des fouilles de A. Cheynier et J. Couchard (de différents locus de Badegoule), de supposer qu’ils se rapportent aux niveaux badegouliens.1910 entdeckte O. Hauser in der Fundstelle Badegoule (Dordogne) Schädelfragmente eines Kindes, die unter der Bezeichnung «Badegoule 5» geführt werden. Nähere Informationen zu diesem Fund und seinem Verbleib nach 1910 lagen bisher nicht vor. Unveröffentlichte Dokumente aus Archiven in Deutschland belegen nun, dass die Reste «Badegoule 5» nicht verlorengegangen oder zerstört sind, sondern in den Sammlungen des Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago (Illinois) liegen. Sie werden dort mit der Inventarnummer 199559 und dem Fundstellenbezug «Le Moustier (Ausgrabung O. Hauser)» geführt. Einem der Autoren war es möglich die Schädelreste näher zu untersuchen. Die Charakteristik der Sedimente, in welchen die Schädelfragmente eingebettet waren, bestätigt die Zuweisung des Fundes über die Archivunterlagen nach Badegoule. Die Ergebnisse der von A. Cheynier and J. Couchard an verschiedenen Stellen in Badegoule durchgeführten Ausgrabungen zeigen, dass das Sediment mit den Schädelfragmenten wahrscheinlich aus einer Badegoulien-Schicht stammt

Application of a reduced basis method for an efficient treatment of structural mechanics problems

For numerous problems in structural mechanics, a repeated solution of partial differential equations (PDEs), varying certain input parameters, is necessary. Solving the PDE for a large number of different input parameter sets using a full‐dimensional finite element method, requires repeated solving of large systems of equations and, thus, leads to a high computational effort. The aim of model order reduction techniques is to reduce the computational complexity in such calculations. In order to achieve this, the idea of the reduced basis method [1–3] is to replace the high‐dimensional model with a lower dimensional model, which is realized by forming a basis of solutions of the full problem for selected parameter sets. Key to determining suitable parameter sets is an appropriate error estimator

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Feltehetően traumás eredetű sérülések egy ókori egyiptomi múmiafejen

Bevezetés: Egy traumás eredetű sérüléseket mutató, ókori egyiptomi koponya vizsgálatát ismertetjük a Magyar Termé- szettudományi Múzeum gyűjteményéből. A jelen cikkben egy mumifikált fej elemzését emeltük ki, ennek átfogó vizsgálatát és részletes eredményeit közöljük. Célkitűzés: Célunk egy multidiszciplináris vizsgálatsorozat megvalósítása volt, amelyen keresztül képet kapunk az egykor Egyiptom területén élt emberek egészségi állapotáról. Módszer: A kutatás során a múmiákon szerves és szervetlen kémiai analíziseket, komputertomográfiai és röntgenvizs- gálatot, szénizotópos kormeghatározást végeztünk, és felhasználtunk biológiai antropológiai módszereket is. Eredmények: A koponya igazoltan az ókori Egyiptomból származik, és mivel sebei gyógyulásnak indultak, vélemé- nyünk szerint az egyén túlélte a fejét ért behatást. Ez meglepő eredménynek minősül, hiszen ilyen jellegű életveszé- lyes traumás sérüléseket csak akkor lehet nagy valószínűséggel túlélni, ha megfelelő orvosi ellátás áll rendelkezésre. Következtetés: Úgy gondoljuk, ebben az esetben is ez történt, bizonyítva, hogy az egyiptomi orvosi ismeretek valóban igen fejlettek és az orvoslás magas színvonalú volt

First direct evidence of lion hunting and the early use of a lion pelt by Neanderthals

During the Upper Paleolithic, lions become an important theme in Paleolithic art and are more frequent in anthropogenic faunal assemblages. However, the relationship between hominins and lions in earlier periods is poorly known and primarily interpreted as interspecies competition. Here we present new evidence for Neanderthal-cave lion interactions during the Middle Paleolithic. We report new evidence of hunting lesions on the 48,000 old cave lion skeleton found at Siegsdorf (Germany) that attest to the earliest direct instance of a large predator kill in human history. A comparative analysis of a partial puncture to a rib suggests that the fatal stab was delivered with a wooden thrusting spear. We also present the discovery of distal lion phalanges at least 190,000 old from Einhornhöhle (Germany), representing the earliest example of the use of cave lion skin by Neanderthals in Central Europe. Our study provides novel evidence on a new dimension of Neanderthal behavioral complexity

Hallstatt miners consumed blue cheese and beer during the Iron Age and retained a non-Westernized gut microbiome until the Baroque period

21openInternationalInternational coauthor/editorWe subjected human paleofeces dating from the Bronze Age to the Baroque period (18th century AD) to in-depth microscopic, metagenomic, and proteomic analyses. The paleofeces were preserved in the underground salt mines of the UNESCO World Heritage site of Hallstatt in Austria. This allowed us to reconstruct the diet of the former population and gain insights into their ancient gut microbiome composition. Our dietary survey identified bran and glumes of different cereals as some of the most prevalent plant fragments. This highly fibrous, carbohydrate-rich diet was supplemented with proteins from broad beans and occasionally with fruits, nuts, or animal food products. Due to these traditional dietary habits, all ancient miners up to the Baroque period have gut microbiome structures akin to modern non-Westernized individuals whose diets are also mainly composed of unprocessed foods and fresh fruits and vegetables. This may indicate a shift in the gut community composition of modern Westernized populations due to quite recent dietary and lifestyle changes. When we extended our microbial survey to fungi present in the paleofeces, in one of the Iron Age samples, we observed a high abundance of Penicillium roqueforti and Saccharomyces cerevisiae DNA. Genome-wide analysis indicates that both fungi were involved in food fermentation and provides the first molecular evidence for blue cheese and beer consumption in Iron Age Europe.openMaixner, Frank; Sarhan, Mohamed S; Huang, Kun D; Tett, Adrian; Schoenafinger, Alexander; Zingale, Stefania; Blanco-Míguez, Aitor; Manghi, Paolo; Cemper-Kiesslich, Jan; Rosendahl, Wilfried; Kusebauch, Ulrike; Morrone, Seamus R; Hoopmann, Michael R; Rota-Stabelli, Omar; Rattei, Thomas; Moritz, Robert L; Oeggl, Klaus; Segata, Nicola; Zink, Albert; Reschreiter, Hans; Kowarik, KerstinMaixner, F.; Sarhan, M.S.; Huang, K.D.; Tett, A.; Schoenafinger, A.; Zingale, S.; Blanco-Míguez, A.; Manghi, P.; Cemper-Kiesslich, J.; Rosendahl, W.; Kusebauch, U.; Morrone, S.R.; Hoopmann, M.R.; Rota-Stabelli, O.; Rattei, T.; Moritz, R.L.; Oeggl, K.; Segata, N.; Zink, A.; Reschreiter, H.; Kowarik, K

The Evolutionary and Phylogeographic History of Woolly Mammoths: A Comprehensive Mitogenomic Analysis

Near the end of the Pleistocene epoch, populations of the woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) were distributed across parts of three continents, from western Europe and northern Asia through Beringia to the Atlantic seaboard of North America. Nonetheless, questions about the connectivity and temporal continuity of mammoth populations and species remain unanswered. We use a combination of targeted enrichment and high-throughput sequencing to assemble and interpret a data set of 143 mammoth mitochondrial genomes, sampled from fossils recovered from across their Holarctic range. Our dataset includes 54 previously unpublished mitochondrial genomes and significantly increases the coverage of the Eurasian range of the species. The resulting global phylogeny confirms that the Late Pleistocene mammoth population comprised three distinct mitochondrial lineages that began to diverge ∼1.0-2.0 million years ago (Ma). We also find that mammoth mitochondrial lineages were strongly geographically partitioned throughout the Pleistocene. In combination, our genetic results and the pattern of morphological variation in time and space suggest that male-mediated gene flow, rather than large-scale dispersals, was important in the Pleistocene evolutionary history of mammoths

Historical biogeography of the leopard (Panthera pardus) and its extinct Eurasian populations

Background: Resolving the historical biogeography of the leopard (Panthera pardus) is a complex issue, because patterns inferred from fossils and from molecular data lack congruence. Fossil evidence supports an African origin, and suggests that leopards were already present in Eurasia during the Early Pleistocene. Analysis of DNA sequences however, suggests a more recent, Middle Pleistocene shared ancestry of Asian and African leopards. These contrasting patterns led researchers to propose a two-stage hypothesis of leopard dispersal out of Africa: an initial Early Pleistocene colonisation of Asia and a subsequent replacement by a second colonisation wave during the Middle Pleistocene. The status of Late Pleistocene European leopards within this scenario is unclear: were these populations remnants of the first dispersal, or do the last surviving European leopards share more recent ancestry with their African counterparts? Results: In this study, we generate and analyse mitogenome sequences from historical samples that span the entire modern leopard distribution, as well as from Late Pleistocene remains. We find a deep bifurcation between African and Eurasian mitochondrial lineages (~ 710 Ka), with the European ancient samples as sister to all Asian lineages (~ 483 Ka). The modern and historical mainland Asian lineages share a relatively recent common ancestor (~ 122 Ka), and we find one Javan sample nested within these. Conclusions: The phylogenetic placement of the ancient European leopard as sister group to Asian leopards suggests that these populations originate from the same out-of-Africa dispersal which founded the Asian lineages. The coalescence time found for the mitochondrial lineages aligns well with the earliest undisputed fossils in Eurasia, and thus encourages a re-evaluation of the identification of the much older putative leopard fossils from the region. The relatively recent ancestry of all mainland Asian leopard lineages suggests that these populations underwent a severe population bottleneck during the Pleistocene. Finally, although only based on a single sample, the unexpected phylogenetic placement of the Javan leopard could be interpreted as evidence for exchange of mitochondrial lineages between Java and mainland Asia, calling for further investigation into the evolutionary history of this subspecies