scholarly journals FADS1 and the timing of human adaptation to agriculture

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Mathieson ◽  
Iain Mathieson
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Human Adaptation ◽  
Effective Population ◽  
Or Efficiency ◽  
Neolithic Transition ◽  
Agricultural Transition ◽  
Number Variation ◽  
Efficiency Of Selection ◽  
Almost All ◽  
The Bronze Age

AbstractVariation at the FADS1/FADS2 gene cluster is functionally associated with differences in lipid metabolism and is often hypothesized to reflect adaptation to an agricultural diet. Here, we test the evidence for this relationship using both modern and ancient DNA data. We show that almost all the inhabitants of Europe carried the ancestral allele until the derived allele was introduced approximately 8,500 years ago by Early Neolithic farming populations. However, we also show that it was not under strong selection in these populations. We find that this allele, and other proposed agricultural adaptations at LCT/MCM6 and SLC22A4, were not strongly selected until much later, perhaps as late as the Bronze Age. Similarly, increased copy number variation at the salivary amylase gene AMY1 is not linked to the development of agriculture although, in this case, the putative adaptation precedes the agricultural transition. Our analysis shows that selection at the FADS locus was not tightly linked to the initial introduction of agriculture and the Neolithic transition. Further, it suggests that the strongest signals of recent human adaptation in Europe did not coincide with the Neolithic transition but with more recent changes in environment, diet or efficiency of selection due to increases in effective population size.

Continuity or change?

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liz Henty
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Small Area ◽  
Economic Changes ◽  
Neolithic Transition ◽  
The Bronze Age

General archaeological accounts of Scotland tend to demonstrate broad ideas of the Neolithic transition to farming and the subsequent economic changes in the Bronze Age. Whilst they concentrate on important economic and cultural advancement they tend to lack discussions on cosmological change. This paper looks at one small area in Aberdeenshire to examine four different classes of monument that are found there: long mounds and long cairns; Recumbent Stone Circles; henges and Beaker burial sites. It argues that skyscape archaeology, through the use of archaeoastronomical techniques, can provide clues to cosmological change.

The Bronze and Iron Ages in Jerusalem

2018 ◽  
pp. 11-62
Author(s):  
Kay Prag
Keyword(s):  
Water Supply ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Settlement Pattern ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
The South ◽  
Iron Age I ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Pastoral Economy ◽  
The Bronze Age

Most evidence for the Bronze Age, Iron Age and Post-Exilic settlement of Jerusalem came from Site A on the south-east ridge, and Kenyon unearthed and dated material of almost all these periods, but very little of the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age I. This settlement pattern is reflected to a lesser extent on other sites, but elsewhere occupation of the region appears to continue, in a more dispersed fashion, perhaps partly related to diversification of the inhabitants to a more pastoral economy. Whether the centrality of Jerusalem is linked to its being an ancient place of burial is considered. Other evidence from the archive relates to the reigns of David, Solomon and Nehemiah. Specific issues are addressed, such as the location of the principal administrative buildings and fortifications, the use of volute capitals, the importance of water supply and drainage, and the problem of residuality affecting archaeological dating in Iron Age Jerusalem, which places the emphasis on C14 dating.

scholarly journals Morphological Analysis and Dating of Pottery from the Posolskaya Site (Based on the Excavations of E. A. Khamzina in 1959)

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 25-37
Author(s):  
O. I. Goriunova ◽  
◽  
A. G. Novikov ◽  
D. А. Markhaeva ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Regional Differences ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Compositional Structures ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Characteristic Features ◽  
The One ◽  
Almost All ◽  
The Bronze Age

The analysis of pottery materials of Posolskaya site (excavations by E. A. Khamzina in 1959), which is located on the southeast coast of Lake Baikal (Kabansk district, the Republic of Buryatia), is carried out in this article. Based on morphological features, several groups of pottery with a set of characteristic features are identified. A comparison of them with the materials of supporting multilayer objects on the coast of Baikal and Cis-Baikal area, in general, made it possible to determine the relative and absolute chronology of these groups. It was determined that pottery complexes of layers 2 and 3 contain artifacts of different cultural and chronological periods from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age in a mixed state. They contain materials of the Middle and Late Neolithic (Posolskaya and Ust-Belaya ceramic types), the Early Bronze Age (pottery with pearls, with fingernails and Northern Baikal type) and the Late Bronze Age (Tyshkine-Senogdinsk type). Reticulated pottery, recorded in small quantities, was found in all complexes of the Neolithic era of the region. The pottery studies showed, on the one hand, its morpho-typological proximity with similar pottery in the south of Central Siberia as a whole. On the other hand, there were some regional differences (thickening of the corolla in bulk on Posolskaya type pottery in two versions: from the outside and from the inside; a variety of compositional structures on vessels with an external thickening of the corolla was revealed, expressed in simplification of the ornamental design; pottery combining features of Posolskaya and Ust-Belaya types was distinguished. A series of radiocarbon dates from stratified complexes of multilayer objects on the Baikal coast made it possible to determine chronological ranges for almost all pottery groups identified at Posolskaya site. Posolskaya type pottery in two of its variants corresponds to a chronological interval of 6750–6310 cal BP; Ust’-Belaia type (focusing on the dates of Ulan-Khada and the Gorelyi Les) – 5581–4420 cal BP; pottery with pearls and constructions from wide lines of the retreating spatula – 4500–3080 cal BP, pottery with finger pinches corresponds to 3370–3230 cal BP; Northern Baikal type – 3346–3077 cal BP; Tyshkine-Senogdinsk type – 2778–1998 cal BP.

scholarly journals Animals on display: animal motifs, human-animal relations and social semiotics in the Bronze Age rock carvings from Enköping and Norrköping, Sweden

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 189-218
Author(s):  
Anna Wessman
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Red Deer ◽  
Rock Art ◽  
Social Semiotics ◽  
Common Motif ◽  
Biological Reality ◽  
The Social ◽  
Human Animal ◽  
Almost All ◽  
The Bronze Age

Animals make up one of the most common motif groups in south Scandinavian Bronze Age rock art, with depictions of pigs and horses, as well as wild animals like red deer and wild boar, occurring in almost all rock art areas. Despite their ubiquity, their treatment in previous research has been inadequate. In this article, the display of animals in the rock art tradition is mapped out and discussed from a perspective based in human-animal relations and social semiotics. The animal figures are analyzed in terms of species, sex, human practice and regional articulations, as well as in relation to the wider archaeological record. The results reveal that animal motifs probably had a dual role during the Bronze Age, showing both the biological reality and the social and symbolic values that were connected to animals. In addition, the animals depicted in rock art also worked as carriers of semiotic resources, which manifested human social and societal ideas and ideals.

The Bronze Age Round Barrows of Kent

1992 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 355-384 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. V. Grinsell
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Anglo Saxon ◽  
Full List ◽  
The North ◽  
Almost All ◽  
The Bronze Age ◽  
Selection Of

About 170 round barrows and 15 flat graves from Kent are here recorded, almost all on the Chalk. In addition there are at least as many ring-ditches, mostly of ploughed-out round barrows, in Thanet, only a small selection of which are here included as a full list is being prepared by the Trust for Thanet Archaeology. Nine sites have yielded primary central inhumations and ten have contained primary central cremations. Four sites have yielded burials in their encircling ditch. Warrior equipment has come from two sites, and ‘Wessex’ interments from another two. Barrow Wouldham 1/THAN contained a central primary cremation in a four-post mortuary structure with parallels in the Toterfout-Halve-Mijl cemetery in the Netherlands, with which area relations are suggested. One site (Lydden 1/DOV) is identified as the Ellenbeorge of an Anglo-Saxon land charter. Several Bronze Age round barrows were used by the Jutes and Saxons for their intrusive burials, and there are two instances of an Anglo-Saxon cemetery being sited to adjoin a Bronze Age round barrow. More than twenty sites have recorded local names of which the most frequent general name is Mount. Some of the best surviving barrows are beside or near the North Downs Way and the Pilgrims' Way.

scholarly journals Copper Mining in the Bronze Age at Mynydd Parys, Anglesey, Wales

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-31
Author(s):  
David A. Jenkins ◽  
Simon Timberlake ◽  
Andrew Davidson ◽  
Kalla Mal ◽  
Peter Marshall ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Surface Erosion ◽  
Early 19Th Century ◽  
Mining Sites ◽  
Tin Bronze ◽  
Underground Workings ◽  
Prehistoric Mining ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Almost All ◽  
The Bronze Age

The Bronze Age in Britain is now a term often used to include both the first use of copper c. 2400 bc and also tin-bronze from c. 2100 bc, all of which required the extensive use of copper. Prehistoric mining for this metal has been identified in surface and underground workings in Parys Mine, Mynydd Parys, Anglesey, although almost all of the surface workings are now obscured by the extensive deep spoil from more recent mining in the industrial period. These copper-bearing ores are in bedded lodes, together with some intruded vein deposits. The Bronze Age workings have been exposed underground where they have been intersected by the early 19th century industrial workings on and above the 16 fathom and 20 fathom levels in the Parys Mine. Spoil exposures contain stone hammers (‘mauls’), wood fragments, and charcoal; samples of the latter have been radiocarbon dated with chronological modelling suggesting activity took place in the first half of the 2nd millennium cal bc. Although relatively limited in extent, these important prehistoric mining sites are among the earliest found in the UK. They have survived due to their protection from surface erosion and limited accessibility.

Investigating Burnt Mounds in Clydesdale during Motorway Construction

1998 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
John A Atkinson ◽  
Camilla Dickson ◽  
Jane Downes ◽  
Paul Robins ◽  
David Sanderson
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Research Strategy ◽  
Archaeological Evidence ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Short Account ◽  
And Function ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Bronze Age

Summary Two small burnt mounds were excavated as part of the programme to mitigate the impact of motorway construction in the Crawford area. The excavations followed a research strategy designed to address questions of date and function. This paper surveys the various competing theories about burnt mounds and how the archaeological evidence was evaluated against those theories. Both sites produced radiocarbon dates from the Bronze Age and evidence to suggest that they were cooking places. In addition, a short account is presented of two further burnt mounds discovered during the construction of the motorway in Annandale.

A Neolithic Structure and Bronze Age Activity at West Flank Road, Drumchapel, Glasgow

2003 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-128
Author(s):  
Gavin Macgregor ◽  
Irene Cullen ◽  
Diane Alldritt ◽  
Michael Donnelly ◽  
Jennifer Miller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Archaeological Research ◽  
Research Division ◽  
Close Proximity ◽  
Archaeological Work ◽  
Age Features ◽  
The Bronze Age

Summary A programme of archaeological work was undertaken by Glasgow University Archaeological Research Division (GUARD) at West Flank Road, Drumchapel, in close proximity to the site of the prehistoric cemetery of Knappers. This paper considers the results of excavation of a range of negative features, including earlier Neolithic and Bronze Age pits and postholes. The earlier Neolithic features date to c. 3500–3000 BC and are interpreted as the partial remains of a subrectangular structure. The Bronze Age features may relate to ceremonial activities in the wider area. The significance of these remains is considered in relation to the site of Knappers and wider traditions during the fourth to second millennia BC.

Martyn Barber Bronze and the Bronze Age

2005 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-195
Author(s):  
Brendan O'Connor
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
The Bronze Age
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