Ancient Human Research Articles

Psychologists return to the first question of Western philosophy.

When ancient humans gained the ability to investigate abstract questions, what first question did they pose? This article offers a novel, sweeping, historical analysis with important implications for psychological theory. The story begins with identifying the first question in Ancient Greek philosophy as "Where am I?" with particular interest in the world's overarching basic traits. For example, Pythagoras proposed the world was defined by beauty and Heraclitus suggested change. Though this discourse has traditionally puzzled historians, recent psychological research suggests it might have been largely a debate over primal world beliefs, an emerging research topic that this article introduces and situates historically. Recently, the latent structure of primal world beliefs was mapped statistically, revealing 26 dimensions. Most of these beliefs were new to psychologists, yet already posed by ancient philosophers-including Pythagoras' Beautiful world belief and Heraclitus' Changing world belief. Identifying first questions in early history may have value for psychological theorizing because it hints at something that social psychologists have long suspected: that humans are creatures fundamentally driven to understand their situation and what it calls for. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

How did ancient human activities influence the properties and development of soil?—a case study of the Yangshao Village cultural relic site, Henan Province

Introduction: What were the effects of paleoanthropogenic activities on the physicochemical properties and degree of the development of soil? To search for this answer, we can not only understand the different types of ancient human activities but also explore the intensity and characteristics of the activities.Methods: In this study, soil samples from different soil layers and two profiles in the Yangshao Village cultural site in Henan Province were collected. Their physicochemical properties and the sporophyte phyllosilicates they contain were analyzed and compared.Results: We found that the paleoanthropogenic activities started in the relatively low-lying area, in which the slash-and-burn activities resulted in the soil being filled with intrusions such as charcoal debris and ceramic shards. At the same time, the coarse-grained matter was affected by the plowing activities and mostly decomposed into fine particles, and the content of clay particles reached an extreme value. The total nitrogen, phosphorus, and calcium carbonate content exceeded the average value of the natural profile, indicating that ancient humans had used human and animal feces to a certain extent to restore the fertility of arable land.Discussion: Overall, ancient human activities hindered the development of the soil, especially the ground created due to habitation activities. From the type and content of clay minerals, it could be seen that the soil in this layer has been transported from other places, has a high content of clay particles, and has experienced fire baking. It was assumed that the ground was used to cover the grain or bury the garbage and lay with clay in order to achieve the effect of sealing. As a result, the soil voids and structure had been damaged to some extent, which prevented the downward leaching or precipitation of soil particles and minerals to a certain extent, thus affecting soil development.

Chinese characters carry special anatomical connotations.

In the domain of anatomy, some Chinese characters in anatomical terms possess distinctive morphological significance. Chinese characters evolved from pictographic characters, with some of these pictographs being created by ancient people based on their own body structure. This implies that the comprehension and depiction of the human body structure have been integral since the inception of Chinese characters, and this knowledge has been passed down and developed through the continued inheritance of Chinese characters. Even today, certain characters retain the appearance to reflect the shape of the human body structure. By examining the characters related to vertebrae,cranial fontanel and heart, we can find the unique and enduring link between Chinese characters and the fields of anatomy as well as Chinese traditional medicine.

New Perceptions of Ancient Commerce Driven by Underwater Ancient Site Investigations: A Case Study of Xinfeng River Basin

In the 1950s and 1960s, to address the flooding issues and power shortage that hindered national construction, the Xinfeng River hydropower plant was planned and built to prevent floods, store water, and generate electricity. Consequently, many ancient ruins in the study area were drowned, including ancient post roads, channels, villages, towns, bridges, and other relic sites. By checking historical data and adopting integrated underwater acoustic detection, we conducted a comprehensive cultural-relics survey on the flooded area under Wanlv Lake in the Xinfeng River Basin. A side-scan sonar detection of the underwater relics within the flooded area confirmed the spatial distribution of cultural relics in the Xinfeng River Basin. It portrayed ancient people’s production and life scenarios, outlined the migration and trade history within the region and beyond, and contributed to the enrichment of the literature and understanding of ancient shipping and trade in the basin.

The habitat utilization and environmental resilience of Homo heidelbergensis in Europe

The European populations of Homo heidelbergensis may have contributed to the genetic heritage of modern Eurasians. A better understanding of the possible effects of palaeoenvironmental alterations on the evolution of ancient humans can help to understand the origin of developed traits. For this purpose, the spatiotemporal alterations of physical factors were modelled in Europe for the period of 670–190 ka, covering the existence of Homo heidelbergensis in Europe. The factors included the following: paleoclimatic conditions, climatic suitability values of ancient humans, two prey species, and the European beech. Furthermore, the distribution and features of wood used for toolmaking were also investigated. Finally, changes in the relative mortality risk, the percentage of the body covered by clothing, and daily energy expenditure values in the coldest quarter of the year were modelled. The results suggest that H. heidelbergensis inhabited dominantly temperate regions in Europe where prey such as red deer were present. In the northern regions, European beech trees were abundant. When making wood tools, they preferred relatively light but not the strongest woods, which were readily available in the vicinity of the sites. Although hard and heavy woods were also occasionally used, at a European level, significant changes were observed in the relative mortality risk, the percentage of the body covered by clothing, and daily energy expenditure values during the period of 670–190 ka. However, substantial differences between archaeological sites in these values, indicating somewhat ecological variations, were not found during the studied period.

Translation Methods for Food Culture-specific Expressions in David Hawkes’ English Translation of the Chu ci

The Chu ci, a significant legacy of ancient Chinese culture, showcases a diverse range of culinary vocabulary that mirrors the lifestyle of the ancient Chu people and reflects the deep-rooted Jingchu culture of China. This paper focuses on analyzing the translation methods of food-related vocabulary in the Chu ci, with a specific focus on the pieces known as the “Da zhao” (“The Great Summons”）and “Zhao hun” (“Summons of the Soul”) in the canon, which serve as the primary research object in this study. The present study primarily investigates the influential translation of the Chu ci by the renowned sinologist David Hawkes, namely, The Songs of the South (1985). It aims to explores the methods employed by Hawkes in translating the food culture-specific expressions in the Chu ci. The research findings were that as a distinguished sinologist, Hawkes took into consideration the cultural background and cognitive habits of the target readers in translating. He utilized various translation methods such as interpretation, adaptation and communicative translation to effectively interpret the original text. Besides, the paper evaluates the shortcomings present in Hawkes’ translation, including mistranslations and omissions. The goals of this study is to offer some insights and guidance for future translators, promote cross-cultural dissemination and understanding of Chinese culinary culture, and enhance global recognition and appreciation of the unique charm of Chinese civilization.

Reasons for the Formation of the Consciousness of Literati and Seal Engravers in the Late Qing Dynasty from the Perspective of Epigraphy

The formation of the legal consciousness of literati seal engravers in the late Qing Dynasty can be attributed to various factors, one of which is the inheritance of ancient culture. Seal engravers have deep education in literatures, art, philosophy and other ancient periods such as the pre-Qin and -Han dynasties. Therefore, the appreciation and studies on ancient seal engravings have led them to form a legal consciousness. At the same time, they also highly admire classic calligraphy and painting, with the seal carving works in previous calligraphy and painting works highly respected. Scholars and seal carvers improve their artistic level by learning and imitating the works of previous seal carvers, drawing on ancient aesthetic standards and techniques in their creations. They pursue independent literary and artistic creations, emphasizing individual expressions, while also having a profound understanding and respect for traditional culture. Under the guidance of this ideology, adopting the teaching of ancient people has become a way to express one's own personalities. The method has become a way for literati to express their personalities and seek their self-identity. By imitating and innovating from their predecessors, they seek spiritual comfort and stability in turbulent times.

The Expression of Vietnamese Folk Art in the Painting Series “Technique du Peuple Annamite”

Vietnamese folk painting art, a traditional art form, is the quintessence of the nation's cultural heritage and historical significance, expressing rustic beauty but containing a Vietnamese culturally conscious mind. In order to preserve the typical beauty in the daily life of ancient Vietnamese people, a genre of folk painting rich in visual art and meaning appeared in the early 20th century. That expression is a set of paintings in an ethnographic research work by Henri Oger, a French scholar. The "Technique du peuple Annamite" series of paintings was produced in large quantities by Vietnamese artisans and reflects the daily life of the Vietnamese people in the capital Hanoi and the Red River Delta. This research was conducted to clarify the elements that create the folk character of the painting from the perspective of visual arts. The results of this study show that the paintings, from themes to forms of expression, all reflect the quintessence of Vietnamese folk art.

Pathogenic variants in human DNA damage repair genes mostly arose in recent human history.

Genome stability is maintained by the DNA damage repair (DDR) system composed of multiple DNA repair pathways of hundreds of genes. Germline pathogenic variation (PV) in DDR genesdamages function of the affected DDR genes, leading to genome instability and high risk of diseases, in particular, cancer. Knowing evolutionary origin of the PVs inhuman DDR genes is essential to understand the etiology of human diseases. However, answer to the issue remains largely elusive. In this study, we analyzed evolutionary origin for the PVs inhuman DDR genes. We identified 169 DDR genes by referring tovarious databases and identified PVs in theDDR genes of modern humans from ClinVar database. We performed a phylogenetic analysis to analyze the conservation of human DDR PVs in 100 vertebrates through cross-species genomic data comparison using the phyloFit program of the PHAST package and visualized the resultsusing theGraphPad Prism software and the ggplot module. We identified DDR PVs from over 5000ancient humansdeveloped a database to host the DDR PVs ( https://genemutation.fhs.um.edu.mo/dbDDR-AncientHumans ). Using the PV data,we performed a molecular archeological analysis tocompare theDDR PVs between modern humans and ancient humans. We analyzed evolution selection of DDR genes across 20 vertebrates using theCodeML in PAML for phylogenetic analysis. Ourphylogenic analysis ruled out cross-species conservation as the origin of human DDR PVs. Ourarcheological approach identified rich DDR PVs shared between modern and ancient humans, which were mostly dated within the last 5000 years. We alsoobserved similar pattern of quantitative PV distribution between modern and ancient humans. We furtherdetected a setof ATM, BRCA2 and CHEK2 PVs shared between human and Neanderthals. Our study reveals that human DDR PVs mostly arose in recent human history. We propose that human high cancer risk caused by DDR PVs can be a by-product of human evolution.

Universal Laws, Nature Laws, God Laws, Spiritual, Philosophical & Science Laws: Origin, Rationales, Prophesy, and Human Well-Being

The natural world is built and operated by universal laws. Stephen Hawking prophecy states that by understanding the working of the universe, you will know and understand the mind of God. This paper focuses on analyzing different universal laws and their origin, rationale, and prophecy. This research is a framework of the science, rationale, vision, and metaanalysis of universal laws. The findings revealed that natural law, in philosophy, is a system of right or justice held to be common to all humans and is derived from nature. Natural law theory is concerned with two basic principles, which are morality and legality. God's eternal law is not fully cognizable by humans in His everlasting plan. The scientific laws of nature consist of many principles which were earlier assumed as Nature’s laws. The first spiritual law of success is pure potentiality which says humans are pure consciousness. The 12 universal laws are inherent and unchanging principles that ancient people intuitively discovered through their fact-finding efforts. The law of Newton’s gravity is considered “universal” and it is applicable on all bodies having a mass (sun, moon, earth, apple, etc.). The 7 cosmic laws are fundamental principles that control everyone and everything. God designed nature’s laws and blessed humans with rationality to understand them. Also, God's eternal law can be discovered by observing the behaviour of animals and planets, as well as understanding how people should behave.

Fuel-use strategies at ultrahigh elevations on the Tibetan Plateau since the last deglaciation

Often referred to as the “Third Pole”, the Tibetan Plateau combines high elevation, extreme cold temperatures, hyper-aridity, and low oxygen levels. The strategy that early populations adopted to adapt to the harsh environment of the Tibetan Plateau has always attracted much attention. However, relevant studies have predominantly focused on the relatively lower elevation northeastern part of the Tibetan Plateau (<3000 m a.s.l.), with limited study in areas of ultrahigh elevation (>3500 m a.s.l.). This paper employed the flotation method and charcoal analysis of survey profiles from thirteen archaeological sites in the ultrahigh-elevation region of the middle Yarlung Zangbo River basin on the southern Tibetan Plateau, and finds that ancient people have been active in this region since the last deglaciation. The primary fuel sources used by ancient populations were small trees such as sea buckthorn (Hippophae gyantsensis) and shrubs such as juniper (Juniperus). The widespread use of undesirable wood (dwarf thorny shrub) like Sophora moorcroftiana and Caragana, along with the phenomenon of many sites relying on a single taxon, reflects the prevalent issue of fuel scarcity in this ultrahigh-elevation region. This might have been a driving factor for the early adoption of animal dung as a primary fuel source by ancient populations on the southern Tibetan Plateau.

Provenance of the pumice manuports from archaeological sites at the Vitim River, East Siberia, Russia

This article presents and discusses the results obtained by X-ray fluorescence and KAr methods regarding pumice pieces found at two archaeological sites: Ust’-Karenga XVI (9000–8000 cal BP) and Kovrizhka III (∼13,000 cal BP) (Vitim River, Transbaikalia, Russia). KAr dating and geochemical characteristics of pumice from the Kovrizhka and Ust’-Karenga sites indicate that they are a product of the eruptions of the Udokan volcanic field, and not the Vitim volcanic field, which are two volcanic regions of Transbaikalia. Ancient people residing at both sites were aware of the same resources within the territories, despite the fact that they lived at different times; this is evidenced by the fact that the archaeological material found in the ritual pit of Ust’-Karenga XVI is similar in terms of cultural remains to the archaeological finds of the Kovrizhka group of sites of the age range from ∼6700 to 13,000 cal BP. In this work, we assume that ancient people used not only stone resources but also thermal springs of the territory of the Udokan volcanic field. Based on the paleogeographical data of the region, we reconstruct the possible routes used by ancient humans to deliver and/or exchange raw materials necessary for economic purposes. Our new data in combination with previously published data for Transbaikalia and other regions of Siberia suggest that the connection between the ancient populations living in these areas often persisted at distances >1000 km.

SPECIFICS IN THE NATIONAL DANCES OF THE TURKIC PEOPLES

To date, the modern picture of the cultural space is a very diverse, multi-level style palette. In this sense, the XXI century is full of colors of several epochs at once, unfolding consistently and intensively. The relevance of the topic under consideration is also due to the fact that in the period of globalization and the "capture" of the minds of modern youth by the delights of Western European culture, turning to the dances of the Turkic world is another opportunity to preserve the desired folk traditions, which, like language, dance is a reflection of the mentality, character of the nation and even its history. Striving into the roots of Turkic culture, studying and analyzing the dance art of Turkic-speaking, fraternal peoples, its history and its actual modern interpretation is a kind of challenge of the time. The article draws attention to the characteristic features of the common and special in the Turkic circular dances. The author, referring to existing sources, noted about the worship of ancient people, came to the conclusion that the Turkic peoples have a common root, have a common culture and values. The paper analyzes the historical interrelationships and conditionality of changes between the modern period and the stage of cultural construction in the national dances of the Turkic peoples. Also, on the basis of the studied materials, the comparative analysis examines the dance culture of representatives of modern Turkic peoples (Kazakhs, Bashkirs, Uzbeks, Uighurs, Azerbaijanis). The similarities that unite them are not only the common language, historical and geographical space, similar toponyms, customs and traditions, folk crafts, oral folk art, musical culture, but also circular dances.  In addition, the article examines the specifics of the in the music of the Turkic-speaking peoples. The article emphasizes that the identification of interregional connections in the musical system of the Turkic-speaking peoples occurs at several levels of research, allowing to optimally show the processes of connections, to identify their origins. The article examines the peculiarities of the development of national choreographic culture in historical retrospect; analyzes the characteristic features of the formation of ethnic dance, the degree of influence of natural factors, color symbols, everyday life on the development of national dance culture as a whole.

Stone Age Humans Chose Their Rocks with Care

Ancient humans possessed sophisticated knowledge of the properties of the stones they used to make tools.

Cryptic diversity of cellulose-degrading gut bacteria in industrialized humans.

Humans, like all mammals, depend on the gut microbiome for digestion of cellulose, the main component of plant fiber. However, evidence for cellulose fermentation in the human gut is scarce. We have identified ruminococcal species in the gut microbiota of human populations that assemble functional multienzymatic cellulosome structures capable of degrading plant cell wall polysaccharides. One of these species, which is strongly associated with humans, likely originated in the ruminant gut and was subsequently transferred to the human gut, potentially during domestication where it underwent diversification and diet-related adaptation through the acquisition of genes from other gut microbes. Collectively, these species are abundant and widespread among ancient humans, hunter-gatherers, and rural populations but are rare in populations from industrialized societies thus indicating potential disappearance in response to the westernized lifestyle.

The three colors of humanity: Early Jewish race-making in 1 Enoch’s Animal Apocalypse

Over the past several decades since Frank Snowden published his seminal monograph Blacks in Antiquity, scholars have become increasingly interested in understanding the ethnic and racial frameworks deployed by ancient peoples. The intersections of race, color, and ethnicity in classical literature have long been debated, but ancient Jewish texts tend to be left out of these discussions. In this article, I first analyze 1 Enoch’s Animal Apocalypse against the backdrop of Hellenistic-era environmental theory to show that it displays early forms of race-making through its differentiation of colored bulls. Although leading commentaries offered by Nickelsburg and Tiller reject racial readings of the Animal Apocalypse’s colored bulls, Matthew Black’s commentary from the 1980s does not. I show that ancient Hellenistic conceptions of peoples’ color, ethnicity, and behaviors shaped by environmental determinism support Matthew Black’s framework for understanding the Animal Apocalypse’s use of color, namely his equating of Chapter 89’s black bull with Ham, contra Nickelsburg and Tiller. Second, I stress that the Animal Apocalypse’s schema of colored bulls reflects the view that all of humanity derives from white, red, and black ancestors and that this ordering of the three colors constitutes a hierarchal sequencing of humankind, classified into three different types of people in descending order.

Set in Stone: Human–Horse Relations as Embodied in Shaped Stone Balls

AbstractThe enigmatic presence of uniquely shaped, spherical stones attracted the attention of archaeologists at Oldowan sites in Africa as early as a century ago. Shaped stone balls (SSBs) are among the oldest implements used by humans. For nearly 2 million years, they accompanied ancient humans as a stable cultural anchor throughout the Lower Paleolithic period and beyond. These tools reflect techno-cultural processes and Lower Paleolithic human perceptions of their relationships with the non-human animal world. Nonetheless, the few techno-functional studies focussing on these items have only scraped the surface of their research potential. In this paper, I will explore evidence suggesting that SSBs embody the relations of ancient humans with a particular animal—the horse—and propose that they might have played an active role in the social and cosmological realms of Lower Paleolithic (LP) ontology. Several previous studies indicate that they were shaped through a meticulous process. Traces of use and organic residues of marrow/fat associate them with bone-breaking activities. Furthermore, a comprehensive contextual analysis points to a correlation, observed at various sites, between SSBs and large herbivores, specifically horses. This correlation supports the premise that early humans relied on SSBs to extract calories from horses and points to a possible link between the simultaneous disappearance of large horses and SSBs from the Levantine landscape at the end of the LP. The role of horses in Paleolithic diet and culture is well reflected in the archaeological record. Following recent anthropological views, I advocate that SSBs played an important role in the human–horse alignment, embodying within them the world of perceptions and relationships of ancient humans with this non-human animal who shared their habitat.

Recent Progress in Isolating and Purifying Amide Alkaloids from their Natural Habitats: A Review

Abstract: Alkaloids are nitrogen-containing chemical compounds found in nature. Many alkaloids are heterocyclic in nature. They are nitrogen-based organic compounds with the nitrogen atoms enclosed in a heterocyclic ring. The chemical "pro alkaloid" is derived from the alkyl amines in it. Many ancient people, long before the advent of organic chemistry, recognized that many of these substances have measurable effects on the body's physiological functions. Alkaloids are a type of natural substances that are classified as secondary metabolites. Many different types of organisms create alkaloids, which are a class of natural products. Alkaloids showed antifungal, local anesthetic, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, analgesic, neuropharmacologic, antimicrobial, and many other activities. Amines, as opposed to alkaloids, are the more common classification for naturally occurring compounds that contain nitrogen in the exocyclic position (such as mescaline, serotonin, and dopamine). An amide molecule has a nitrogen atom that is chemically bound to a carbon atom in the carbonyl group. The -oic acid ending of the corresponding carboxylic acid is converted to -amide to form the correct nomenclature for an amide. This article offers an overview of numerous techniques for extracting, separating, and purifying alkaloids for use in natural medicine.

“The old rains are gone, so are we”: Kurdish Nomads of Mount Ağrı (Ararat)

ABSTRACT Mount Ararat, located on Turkey’s eastern border, has been the home of Kurdish nomads for centuries. They pass the winter months in their villages built around the mountain and in the city centre; the spring and summer seasons are spent with their herds in the highlands of the mountain. However, this ancient way of life has undergone significant changes in recent years, and the number of nomads living in the region is gradually decreasing. With its ethnographic structure, this study aims to understand the story of these ancient people through their eyes and to increase their visibility. Based on extensive fieldwork and interviews conducted between 2019 and 2023, this study also endeavours to discover the social, cultural, economic, political, and climatic factors that have led to these changes and to explain how they have altered the lives of the Kurdish nomads of Mount Ararat.

The Allen Ancient DNA Resource (AADR) a curated compendium of ancient human genomes

More than two hundred papers have reported genome-wide data from ancient humans. While the raw data for the vast majority are fully publicly available testifying to the commitment of the paleogenomics community to open data, formats for both raw data and meta-data differ. There is thus a need for uniform curation and a centralized, version-controlled compendium that researchers can download, analyze, and reference. Since 2019, we have been maintaining the Allen Ancient DNA Resource (AADR), which aims to provide an up-to-date, curated version of the world’s published ancient human DNA data, represented at more than a million single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at which almost all ancient individuals have been assayed. The AADR has gone through six public releases at the time of writing and review of this manuscript, and crossed the threshold of >10,000 individuals with published genome-wide ancient DNA data at the end of 2022. This note is intended as a citable descriptor of the AADR.