GC-MS analysis of soil faecal biomarkers uncovers mammalian species and the economic management of the archeological site "Le Colombare di Negrar"

: The identification of the mammalian species based on faecal sediments in modern and ancient environments is the aim of the research of archaeologists, forensic scientists and ecologists. Here, we set up and validated an optimized gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method, characterized by a time-saving sample preparation protocol, for the simultaneous analysis of faecal biomarkers (6 sterols/stanols and 5 bile acids) in 14 soil samples from the archaeological site of "Le Colombare di Negrar" in northern Italy. Although the archaeological sediment samples examined are numerically exiguous, a comparative reading of our faecal biomarkers findings with new studies on faunal materials collected in the same stratigraphic detail during recent excavation campaigns will allow to better clarify the economic interest of the animal species farmed in the Colombare site (such as bovines, goats, sheep and pigs) and to shed light on the management of breeding. Together with archaeozoological and archaeobotanical analyses, the investigation of faecal biomarkers can increase our knowledge of how ancient local communities exploited natural resources and may allow us to deduce what their impact on the landscape was

Palaeoenvironment, Settlement, and Land Use in the Late Neolithic—Bronze Age Site of Colombare di Negrar di Valpolicella (N Italy, On-Site)

Palynological and archaeobotanical analyses have been carried out as part of the interdisciplinary project of Colombare di Negrar, a prehistoric site in the Lessini Mountains (northern Italy). The palaeoenvironmental and economic reconstruction from the Late Neolithic to the beginning of the Early Bronze Age was based on 16 pollen samples and three samples of macroremains taken from two contiguous trenches. The landscape reconstruction shows the presence of natural clearings in the wood. Forest cover was characterised by oak wood, with Ulmus and Tilia. The intermediate morphology of size and exine of Tilia cordata/platyphyllos pollen may be regarded as the first palynological evidence of lime hybrids in palaeorecords. Hygrophilous trees and Vitis vinifera testify to the presence of riparian forests and moist soils. Among trees supplying fruits, in addition to the grapevine, hazelnut (Corylus avellana) and walnut (Juglans regia) were present. A mixed economy based on animal breeding and cultivation of cereals (Hordeum vulgare, Triticum monococcum, T. dicoccum, T. timopheevii) emerged from the data. The combined analysis of pollen and plant macroremains suggests that different activities were carried out simultaneously in Colombare and a relationship between natural resources and the socio-economic and cultural evolution of the territory

"Until death do us part". A multidisciplinary study on human- Animal co- burials from the Late Iron Age necropolis of Seminario Vescovile in Verona (Northern Italy, 3rd-1st c. BCE).

Animal remains are a common find in prehistoric and protohistoric funerary contexts. While taphonomic and osteological data provide insights about the proximate (depositional) factors responsible for these findings, the ultimate cultural causes leading to this observed mortuary behavior are obscured by the opacity of the archaeological record and the lack of written sources. Here, we apply an interdisciplinary suite of analytical approaches (zooarchaeological, anthropological, archaeological, paleogenetic, and isotopic) to explore the funerary deposition of animal remains and the nature of joint human-animal burials at Seminario Vescovile (Verona, Northern Italy 3rd-1st c. BCE). This context, culturally attributed to the Cenomane culture, features 161 inhumations, of which only 16 included animal remains in the form of full skeletons, isolated skeletal parts, or food offerings. Of these, four are of particular interest as they contain either horses (Equus caballus) or dogs (Canis lupus familiaris)-animals that did not play a dietary role. Analyses show no demographic, dietary, funerary similarities, or genetic relatedness between individuals buried with animals. Isotopic data from two analyzed dogs suggest differing management strategies for these animals, possibly linked to economic and/or ritual factors. Overall, our results point to the unsuitability of simple, straightforward explanations for the observed funerary variability. At the same time, they connect the evidence from Seminario Vescovile with documented Transalpine cultural traditions possibly influenced by local and Roman customs

The Iceman's Last Meal Consisted of Fat, Wild Meat, and Cereals

The history of humankind is marked by the constant adoption of new dietary habits affecting human physiology, metabolism, and even the development of nutrition-related disorders. Despite clear archaeological evidence for the shift from hunter-gatherer lifestyle to agriculture in Neolithic Europe [1], very little information exists on the daily dietary habits of our ancestors. By undertaking a complementary -omics approach combined with microscopy, we analyzed the stomach content of the Iceman, a 5,300-yearold European glacier mummy [2, 3]. He seems to have had a remarkably high proportion of fat in his diet, supplemented with fresh or dried wild meat, cereals, and traces of toxic bracken. Our multipronged approach provides unprecedented analytical depth, deciphering the nutritional habit, meal composition, and food-processing methods of this Copper Age individual

The origins and spread of domestic horses from the Western Eurasian steppes

This is the final version. Available on open access from Nature Research via the DOI in this recordData availability: All collapsed and paired-end sequence data for samples sequenced in this study are available in compressed fastq format through the European Nucleotide Archive under accession number PRJEB44430, together with rescaled and trimmed bam sequence alignments against both the nuclear and mitochondrial horse reference genomes. Previously published ancient data used in this study are available under accession numbers PRJEB7537, PRJEB10098, PRJEB10854, PRJEB22390 and PRJEB31613, and detailed in Supplementary Table 1. The genomes of ten modern horses, publicly available, were also accessed as indicated in their corresponding original publications57,61,85-87.NOTE: see the published version available via the DOI in this record for the full list of authorsDomestication of horses fundamentally transformed long-range mobility and warfare. However, modern domesticated breeds do not descend from the earliest domestic horse lineage associated with archaeological evidence of bridling, milking and corralling at Botai, Central Asia around 3500 BC. Other longstanding candidate regions for horse domestication, such as Iberia and Anatolia, have also recently been challenged. Thus, the genetic, geographic and temporal origins of modern domestic horses have remained unknown. Here we pinpoint the Western Eurasian steppes, especially the lower Volga-Don region, as the homeland of modern domestic horses. Furthermore, we map the population changes accompanying domestication from 273 ancient horse genomes. This reveals that modern domestic horses ultimately replaced almost all other local populations as they expanded rapidly across Eurasia from about 2000 BC, synchronously with equestrian material culture, including Sintashta spoke-wheeled chariots. We find that equestrianism involved strong selection for critical locomotor and behavioural adaptations at the GSDMC and ZFPM1 genes. Our results reject the commonly held association between horseback riding and the massive expansion of Yamnaya steppe pastoralists into Europe around 3000 BC driving the spread of Indo-European languages. This contrasts with the scenario in Asia where Indo-Iranian languages, chariots and horses spread together, following the early second millennium BC Sintashta culture

Analisi del complesso faunistico di Dossetto di Nogara (Verona)

ItIl presente contributo illustra la fauna proveniente da Dossetto di Nogara (VR). Lo scavo, eseguito nel 1999, ha messo in luce un abitato di tipo palafitticolo e i dati preliminari ottenuti dall'esame dei materiali collocano il sito in un momento avanzato dell'antica età del Bronzo. Inoltre, alcuni elementi lignei sono stati sottoposti ad analisi dendrocronologiche con attribuzione al BA I C. La fauna di Dossetto di Nogara è composta da 2.245 resti, di cui il 58% circa determinabili, con netta prevalenza di animali domestici. La classe maggiormente rappresentata è quella dei piccoli ruminanti domestici, con predominanza della pecora rispetto alla capra; un altro dato che emerge è la superiorità numerica del maiale rispetto al bue. Tra gli altri animali domestici è presente anche il cane: su un bacino e su un atlante sono visibili segni di tagli riconducibili a macellazione. Gli animali selvatici sono scarsamente rappresentati, con circa il 2% dei resti; si ricordano il cervo, di cui ci sono pervenuti essenzialmente resti di palchi; il capriolo, il cinghiale, e la testuggine palustre; pochi i resti di uccelli e di pesci. Interessante è infine il rinvenimento tra le ossa animali di resti umani sparsi, nello specifico di parti del cranio riferibili ad almeno due individui.EnThis study presents the results from the analysis carried out on the animal bone remains from Dossetto di Nogara (Verona, Italy). The excavation, carried out in 1999, revealed a pile-dwelling settlement. The preliminary study of the material culture date the site to an advanced stage of early Bronze Age; dendrochronology run on some wooden elements suggests dating it to BA I C. The faunal assemblage is composed of 2,245 fragments. Of these, 58% were identified to species level, revealing a clear predominance of domestic animals. The most represented species is those of small domestic ruminants, predominantly sheep. A higher number of pig compared to cattle also emerged. Dog is also represented; interestingly, cut marks have been clearly identified on a pelvis and on an atlas related to this animal. Wild animals are poorly represented in the assemblage with a total percentage of 2%; among those, red deer, of which mainly antlers were found, roe deer, wild boar, turtle and a few remains of birds and fish. The discovery of human remains scattered among the animal bones is also significant: more specifically, parts of the skull related to at least two individuals were identified

Deposito rituale o deposito speciale? Il contributo dell'archeozoologia alla definizione dei contesti cultuali: alcuni casi di studio della preistoria e protostoria italiana

ItTroppo spesso l'etichetta di "deposito di natura rituale" è stata attribuita a quei depositi considerati speciali in quanto "diversi" rispetto a quello che viene considerato un tipico campione faunistico d'abitato. Ma un deposito speciale non è necessariamente un deposito rituale. È ben noto all'archeozoologo come in determinati casi, (i.e. resti rinvenuti in sepolture, o vere e proprie sepolture di animali), il carattere simbolico dei resti faunistici sia spesso chiaro e ricostruibile. Molto più arduo è invece rilevare il significato simbolico in contesti insediativi dove non sempre è possibile distinguere resti oggetto di deposizione intenzionale con finalità cultuali da resti faunistici legati ad altre attività di natura non rituale. L'archeozoologia concorre attivamente alla definizione del carattere eventualmente simbolico (i.e. cultuale, votivo, «religioso» etc.) di un sito, molto spesso confermando e integrando le conclusioni a cui si perviene attraverso gli studi di contesto e della cultura materiale. Questo contributo propone, attraverso l'analisi di alcuni casi-studio della preistoria e protostoria italiana, alcuni criteri utili alla definizione rituale di un sito. Le conclusioni a cui si perviene sono le seguenti: data la pluralità di forme con cui il simbolico si manifesta, l'etichetta "rituale" deve essere attribuita con molta cautela e soprattutto deve basarsi sull'integrazione delle informazioni di tipo archeozoologico con le altre evidenze disponibili contestualmente.EnToo often the label 'ritual deposit' has been given to those deposits which were considered 'special' because of their different nature compared to what we would expect from a typical faunal assemblage from a settlement. However, a special deposit is not always a ritual deposit. It is well known to zooarchaeologists that, in some cases (i.e. animal bones found in human burials or in so called 'animal burials'), the symbolic character of the faunal assemblages is clear and possible to reconstruct. However, much more challenging is defining the ritual value of some contexts when they are found in settlements. It is, in fact, very complicated to distinguish between remains intentionally deposited with a ritual aim and remains which are the result of activities of a non-ritual nature. Zooarcheology actively contributes to the definition of the possible symbolic ritual character of a site (i.e. ritual, votive, "religious" etc.) integrating and confirming conclusions drawn through the study of contextual information and material culture. This contribution intends to establish, through the use of case-studies from Italian pre and proto-history, useful criteria for the definition of a ritual context. The conclusions of the authors are the following: considering the variety of ways through which ritual manifests itself, the label of 'ritual deposit' should be attributed very cautiously and, as always, based on integration of the zooarchaeological evidence with all other available contextual information