Inland Routes Research Articles

Interbreeding between farmers and hunter-gatherers along the inland and Mediterranean routes of Neolithic spread in Europe

The Neolithic (i.e., farming and stockbreeding) spread from the Near East across Europe since about 9000 years before the common era (BCE) until about 4000 yr BCE. It followed two main routes, namely a sea route along the northern Mediterranean coast and an inland one across the Balkans and central Europe. It is known that the dispersive behavior of farmers depended on geography, with longer movements along the Mediterranean coast than along the inland route. In sharp contrast, here we show that for both routes the percentage of farmers who interbred with hunter-gatherers and/or acculturated one of them was strikingly the same (about 3.6%). Therefore, whereas the dispersive behavior depended on the proximity to the Mediterranean sea, the interaction behavior (incorporation of hunter-gatherers) did not depend on geographical constraints but only on the transition in the subsistence economy (from hunting and gathering to farming) and its associated way of life. These conclusions are reached by analyzing the clines of haplogroup K, which was virtually absent in hunter-gatherers and the most frequent mitochondrial haplogroup in early farmers. Similarly, the most frequent Y-chromosome Neolithic haplogroup (G2a) displays an inland cline that agrees with the percentage of interbreeding reported above.

고려 사절의 契丹 使行 여정 검토

This study examines the Itinerary of Goryeo Embassy to Khitan, focusing on the destination and travel route. As Khitan maintained a nomadic lifestyle, emperor traveled seasonally conducing Nabo. Due to this government system, Goryeo envoys to Khitan did not always visit to one set destination. It is found that Goryeo envoys visited various places such as Five Capitals (五京), Guangping Lake (廣平淀), Qingzhou (慶州), and Mt. Yongan (永安山), etc. in their diplomatic trips to Khitan.
 First, Goryeo envoys with various purposes visited the Central Capital often in winter as Emperor Shenzong held winter nabo there during his reign. On the other hand, Goryeo envoys went to the Southern Capital in various seasons. From the Eastern Capital, there was a travel route to the Central Capital passing through the Liaoxi area. From the Eastern Capital to the Southern Capital, there was one route along the Bohai bay and another path going through the Central Capital. Of the two, the coastal route was the faster than the inland route.
 Second, Goryeo envoys visited places in the Supreme Circuit more frequently. As winter nabo was mainly conducted in Guangping Lake near Yongzhou (永州), diverse regular and special envoys headed there. When there was a state funeral of emperor or empress dowager, Goryeo envoys went to Qingzhou to express condolence. In addition, the destination of Goryeo envoys arrival was related to the specific time as the emperor moved every season for nabo. While regular envoys for celebrating New Year and Brithday of an emperor or empress dowager were sent at the end of year, special envoys were dispatched to various destinations as the occasion demands.
 Regarding the travel route, it is assumed that there is one route passing through the Central Capital and another one to the north and along the rivers. However, these presumed routes have limitation as they detoured to the Supreme Circuit. Because there were frequent exchange of envoys between the two, it is presumed that there was a direct route from the Eastern Capital. For the travel of diplomatic trips, it generally took about two to three months. These diplomatic trips to the various destinations was meaningful in that they helped the Goryeo people to increase understanding of the Khitan state and people, which provided the foundation of stable relations between the two states.

Global genetic diversity, introgression, and evolutionary adaptation of indicine cattle revealed by whole genome sequencing

Indicine cattle, also referred to as zebu (Bos taurus indicus), play a central role in pastoral communities across a wide range of agro-ecosystems, from extremely hot semiarid regions to hot humid tropical regions. However, their adaptive genetic changes following their dispersal into East Asia from the Indian subcontinent have remained poorly documented. Here, we characterize their global genetic diversity using high-quality whole-genome sequencing data from 354 indicine cattle of 57 breeds/populations, including major indicine phylogeographic groups worldwide. We reveal their probable migration into East Asia was along a coastal route rather than inland routes and we detected introgression from other bovine species. Genomic regions carrying morphology-, immune-, and heat-tolerance-related genes underwent divergent selection according to Asian agro-ecologies. We identify distinct sets of loci that contain promising candidate variants for adaptation to hot semi-arid and hot humid tropical ecosystems. Our results indicate that the rapid and successful adaptation of East Asian indicine cattle to hot humid environments was promoted by localized introgression from banteng and/or gaur. Our findings provide insights into the history and environmental adaptation of indicine cattle.

Spring migration patterns of red knots in the Southeast United States disentangled using automated telemetry

Red Knots use the Southeast United States as a stopover during north and southbound migration and during the winter. We examined northbound red knot migration routes and timing using an automated telemetry network. Our primary goal was to evaluate the relative use of an Atlantic migratory route through Delaware Bay versus an inland route through the Great Lakes en route to Arctic breeding grounds and to identify areas of apparent stopovers. Secondarily, we explored the association of red knot routes and ground speeds with prevailing atmospheric conditions. Most Red Knots migrating north from the Southeast United States skipped or likely skipped Delaware Bay (73%) while 27% of the knots stopped in Delaware Bay for at least 1 day. A few knots used an Atlantic Coast strategy that did not include Delaware Bay, relying instead on the areas around Chesapeake Bay or New York Bay for stopovers. Nearly 80% of migratory trajectories were associated with tailwinds at departure. Most knots tracked in our study traveled north through the eastern Great Lake Basin, without stopping, thus making the Southeast United States the last terminal stopover for some knots before reaching boreal or Arctic stopover sites.

Inter- and intracontinental migration by the Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus)

We recovered 12 archival geolocators deployed on Eastern Kingbirds (Tyrannus tyrannus) breeding in New York (NY; n = 3, 2 with 2 years of data), Nebraska (NE; n = 6, 1 with 2 years of data), and Oregon (OR; n = 3) to describe migratory routes, timing and rates of migration, nonbreeding season distributions, and migratory connectedness. NY fall migrants migrated along the Atlantic coast to Florida, flew either nonstop across the Gulf of Mexico (GoM; 2 of 3 birds) or stopped once along the way (Cuba and Cayman Islands in different years) to land in Yucatan/Central America. Fall birds from NE and OR arrived at the GoM in the region of the border between Texas and Louisiana, and most likely took a land route to Central America. In spring, all NY birds flew nonstop across the GoM, and once in North America, took a more inland route than in fall. Trans-GoM flights were more common among NE and OR birds in spring than fall. Birds migrated faster in spring than fall, and in both seasons, late departure was associated with more rapid migration. Migratory connectivity was low, and all birds from OR, and one bird from NE and NY each, occupied a single region in northwestern Amazonia (southern Colombia, northern Peru, and eastern Ecuador) while in South America. Most kingbirds from NE and NY were intratropical migrants, occupying 2 regions for periods of ≥30 d. The latter birds migrated farther south to western Brazil and northern Bolivia, but then moved north to later use the same area in northwestern Amazonia where other birds remained throughout the overwinter period. Northwestern Amazonia thus appears to be a critical area for all Eastern Kingbirds during the nonbreeding season, possibly because a prolonged wet season supports abundant fruit resources.

Provenance and distribution networks of the earliest bronze in the Maritime Territory (Primorye), Russian Far East

Metal artifacts from the Paleometal Epoch (ca. 1100 BC–400 AD) of the Primorye (Russian Far East) have shed new light on the introduction of the earliest bronzes into the Pacific coastal areas of prehistoric Eurasia. However, little is known about raw material circulation and the role of metal in the context of inter-regional exchange. This paper investigates 12 copper artifacts from major Paleometal settlements using alloy composition, trace elements, and lead isotopes to explore the metal sources and distribution networks. The results suggest that most objects are made of a copper-tin alloy, but some have arsenic as a significant minor element . Geologically, copper is unlikely to have come from local ore sources, but rather from the Liaoxi corridor and Liaodong Peninsula in Northeast China. This may indicate an inland route of metal trade across Northeast China or alternately, a coastal route via the northern Korean Peninsula. Archaeologically, the combined study of artifact typology and chemistry indicates two possible origins for the metal: the Upper Xiajiadian culture in Northeast China and Slab Grave culture in Mongolia/Transbaikal. Remarkably, the connection with Upper Xiajiadian communities parallels the transport route along which millet agriculture spread from Northeast China to the Primorye during the Neolithic.

ON THE INVESTIGATION OF WIND GENERATED WAVES IN BANGLADESH RIVERS FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF STABILITY REQUIREMENTS IN INLAND VESSEL DESIGN

Standard environmental condition is one of the main inputs in designing a vessel especially in assessment of stability condition. The performance based minimum stability requirements are determined by assessing vessels' dynamic failure modes. Winds as well as wind generated waves are the main factors that affect a specific vessel’s dynamics. Wind generated waves in rivers though are usually small in comparison with ocean waves may play a crucial role behind inland vessels accidents. The river condition of a crucial location in Bangladesh inland river routes is assessed where wind velocities have been taken for a specific duration from a reliable secondary source. A narrow fetch model that considers the wave generation in off-wind direction for estimating wind wave parameters has been used to consider the spiral shape of Bangladesh inland routes. The Bretschneider energy spectrum model for short term wave state is compared with the fetch limited model JONSWAP for the estimated wave condition. This study indicates the rationality of conforming the safety level of Bangladesh inland vessels equivalent to river-sea vessels as defined by other nationals and the classification societies. The wave parameters that are estimated in this study can be used to form a limited wave scatter table for predicting short term environmental conditions to assess the dynamic stability failure modes of the vessels.

Stochastic models support rapid peopling of Late Pleistocene Sahul

The peopling of Sahul (the combined continent of Australia and New Guinea) represents the earliest continental migration and settlement event of solely anatomically modern humans, but its patterns and ecological drivers remain largely conceptual in the current literature. We present an advanced stochastic-ecological model to test the relative support for scenarios describing where and when the first humans entered Sahul, and their most probable routes of early settlement. The model supports a dominant entry via the northwest Sahul Shelf first, potentially followed by a second entry through New Guinea, with initial entry most consistent with 50,000 or 75,000 years ago based on comparison with bias-corrected archaeological map layers. The model’s emergent properties predict that peopling of the entire continent occurred rapidly across all ecological environments within 156–208 human generations (4368–5599 years) and at a plausible rate of 0.71–0.92 km year−1. More broadly, our methods and approaches can readily inform other global migration debates, with results supporting an exit of anatomically modern humans from Africa 63,000–90,000 years ago, and the peopling of Eurasia in as little as 12,000–15,000 years via inland routes.

Out of the West: Formation of a Permanent Plague Reservoir in South-Central Germany (1349–1356) and its Implications

Abstract This article deals with the origins and spread of the second outbreak of fourteenth-century plague pandemic, the pestis secunda, which swept over West Eurasia and North Africa between 1356 and 1366. Unlike the Black Death, its immediate predecessor, which seems to have originated in Central Asia, the pestis secunda emerged in Central Germany, most likely in the Frankfurt region, in summer 1356. Having seeded its new reservoir, the plague radiated from Central Germany, a landlocked region, into other parts of West Eurasia and North Africa, via inland routes. The inland mode of transmission is at odds with the geographic spread of the Black Death, whereby the plague arrived in West Eurasian and North African ports via maritime trade routes. To appreciate the appearance of the Central Germany plague reservoir in the early 1350s, the wider ecological, climatic and socio-economic context of the Frankfurt region is scrutinized, on the basis of textual, palaeoclimatic and palaeogenetic evidence. Although beyond the remit of this article, it argues that the Central German reservoir may have become the origin of recurrent late-medieval and early-modern plague outbreaks.

Massively parallel sequencing of mitogenome sequences reveals the forensic features and maternal diversity of tai-kadai-speaking hlai islanders

As a single maternally inherited locus, human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is geographically arranged and plays a key role in forensic applications. Hlai population has been evidenced as the most typical and unmixed representative of the Tai-Kadai-speaking populations via genome-wide analyses. However, forensic features and maternal diversity of the complete mitogenomes in this Tai-Kadai ancestrally related population are scarce. Thus, we sequenced the complete mitogenomes in 127 Hainan Hlais and found 109 distinct haplotypes belonging to 43 terminal haplogroups resulting in the haplotype diversity of 0.9970. Our results of comprehensive population comparisons showed that Hlai islanders had a close genetic affinity with Tai-Kadai-speaking populations from Southeast Asia, which is consistent with the back-migration of Chinese Neolithic farmers into this region via the inland route. Besides, maternally genetic evidence further revealed a close genetic relationship between Tai-Kadai-speaking and Austronesian-speaking populations when only East Asian dataset was considered, which is consistent with the common origin from Yangtze rice farmers and then spread southward along the inland and coastal routes, respectively. In the reconstructed phylogenetic tree and median-joining networks, the vast majority of Hlais were clustered in exclusive clades, which demonstrated that Hlai people probably had undergone founder effect or genetic bottleneck in their history, and remained genetically isolated for a long time. Collectively, Hainan Hlai did not exhibit detectable maternal gene flow from surrounding or incoming populations. Mitogenome information generated in this study is a contribution in mitigating the underrepresentation of Chinese data in forensic mitogenetics and will assist geography-, metapopulation-, as well as phylogeny-based queries.

Millet agriculture dispersed from Northeast China to the Russian Far East: Integrating archaeology, genetics, and linguistics

Broomcorn and foxtail millets were being cultivated in the West Liao River basin in Northeast China by at least the sixth millennium BCE. However, when and how millet agriculture spread from there to the north and east remains poorly understood. Here, we trace the dispersal of millet agriculture from Northeast China to the Russian Far East and weigh demic against cultural diffusion as mechanisms for that dispersal. We compare two routes for the spread of millet into the Russian Far East discussed in previous research—an inland route across Manchuria, and a coastal/inland route initially following the Liaodong Peninsula and Yalu River—using an archaeological dataset including millet remains, pottery, stone tools, spindle whorls, jade and figurines. We then integrate the archaeological evidence with linguistic and genetic findings in an approach we term ‘triangulation’. We conclude that an expansion of agricultural societies in Northeast China during the Middle to Late Hongshan (40003000 BCE) coincided with the arrival of millet cultivation in eastern Heilongjiang and the Primorye province of the Russian Far East. Our findings support the inland, Manchuria route for the dispersal of millet to the Primorye and suggest that, as well as long-distance cultural exchange, demic diffusion was also involved. Our results are broadly compatible with the farming/language dispersal hypothesis and consistent with a link between the spread of millet farming and proto-Tungusic, the language ancestral to the contemporary Tungusic languages, in late Neolithic Northeast Asia.

Hedging effectiveness of fertilizer swaps

ABSTRACTThe fertilizer swaps market is a potential tool to protect against fertilizer price risk. The swaps evaluated here are cash settled using The Fertilizer Index. Hedge ratios and hedging effectiveness are calculated for urea and DAP diammonium phosphate (DAP)) swaps. Urea and DAP swaps perform poorly as a hedging tool over a one-week horizon. As the hedging horizon increases, the hedging effectiveness of swaps improves. The swaps are more effective in mitigating risk across ocean freight routes than across inland routes. The limited hedging effectiveness is due to high spatial basis risk in fertilizer markets.

Remains of Ottoman buildings in the city of al-Ludd

Abstract The location of the city of al-Ludd, between the lowlands and the coastal plain, made it an attractive settlement site through the ages. This location brought with it, on the one hand, a fertile catchment area and on the other, caravans looking for a safe inland route. The last settlement phase that resulted in the medieval town was extant until the mid-twentieth century, whence it was demolished leaving only a dozen buildings standing. Those remains are the starting point for this study in which we discuss topics such as shrines, sheikhs’ tombs, the soap industry and public bath, presented here as part of a preliminary survey that lays the ground for further discussion of the town’s urban dynamics.

“Contra a prudência e a providência”: os Padres Jacob e João de Barros e a colonização no sertão das jacobinas

Na segunda metade do século XVII, após a Restauração Portuguesa, intensificou-se o povoamento do sertão da América portuguesa. O processo, definido na documentação como “expansão para os caminhos de dentro”, visava à constituição de aldeamentos e à formação de alianças, com o intuito de garantir segurança no acesso comercial às rotas dos criadores de gado que seguiam da Bahia ao Piauí, bem como a constituição de um grupo de índios que coibisse a formação de quilombos nas impenetráveis rotas do sertão. Mais uma vez, as ordens religiosas foram incumbidas da tarefa de organizar as aldeias, disciplinar as almas e fornecer mão de obra nas entradas para o sertão. O contexto de criação dos aldeamentos é apresentado com base na documentação do Arquivo Ultramarino e da que se encontra na coleção Documentos Históricos da Biblioteca Nacional do Rio de Janeiro. Esse trabalho tem como objetivo os múltiplos atores envolvidos no povoamento do sertão da Bahia, com destaque para os jesuítas, que se tornaram os mediadores entre os mundos dos índios e os interesses dos curraleiros, responsáveis por uma série de dificuldades para o trabalho de catequese.

Ingombe Ilede and the demise of Great Zimbabwe

Although new research suggests multi-directional trajectories in the development of the Zimbabwe Tradition (see Chirikure et al. 2016), regional population shifts need not be discounted, as some of these generated states (e.g. Vigneswaran & Quirk 2015). Oral-historical data from northern Zimbabwe counters persistent but often misleading views of pre-colonial states in south-central Africa as exercising power over static and stationary populations (Pikirayi 1993). Rather, human mobility shaped, among other things, the Zimbabwe Culture's spatial features, its strategies for accumulating power and managing resources, and the regional political, social and economic actors to which it was connected. This occurred with the demise of Great Zimbabwe from the second half of the fifteenth century and for much of the sixteenth. Ingombe Ilede attests to post mid fifteenth-century regional shifts in patterns of trade that would lure the Portuguese to south-central Africa from the early sixteenth century onwards. The Zambezi became the preferred inland route. Great Zimbabwe's expansionary thrusts to control this trade undermined its own political control over the southern Zimbabwe plateau, as this spawned new political formations like the Mwene Mutapa state and other polities, including Ingombe Ilede.

Environmental Pollution in Bangladesh by Inland Tanker Operation

Bangladesh is well known for its riverine network where the Inland Water Transportation is still considered as the major transportation sector. About 80% of petroleum product is transported all the year round through the inland tankers. However, these vessels plying in inland routes make significant marine pollution by direct throwing of bilges, solid waste, oily water and ballast water. Air pollution due to burning of engine oil-lub oil for running engines/ machineries is also contributing significant pollution. In this paper, estimation of pollutants such as bilges, oily water, solid waste and ballast water by inland tanker operation has been made approximately. Amount of fuel burnt by inland tankers operation has also been assessed. An environmental modelling has been done followed by the impacts of pollutants. It has been revealed that the impact of pollutants discharged by oil tanker is much higher than the other type of vessels operating in inland routes in Bangladesh.

Alalia & the Aftermath

The battle at Alalia mentioned by Herodotos has long been at the centre of debate with regards to a potential ‘Carthaginian Blockade’ of the Straits of Gibraltar, perhaps preventing the Phokaian Greeks from entering the Atlanticand its coastal markets. There are further ancient sources which directly or indirectly give clues to Alalia, its circumstances and its aftermath. The battle may have had an impact on the Phokaian Greeks’ freedom of movement in that they chose not to attempt to sail through the Straits of Gibraltar, all the more as the northern markets could be reached via inland routes along the streams that, albeit with some expensive overland transport in between, connected the Mediterranean with the Atlantic. Their concentration around the mouth of the Rhone facilitated the Greek trade in e.g. tin from the north, without the need to engage the Carthaginians, if the latter indeed controlled maritime traffic to and from the Mediterraneanat the Straits. Although they may have retreated from Alalia, and the Carthaginians, as before, controlled the seas west of Empuries, the Phokaian Greeks did not withdraw from the Tyrrhenian Seaor the western Mediterranean altogether, but remained influential and prosperous in the area, even if Massalia experienced a period of economic decline. As such, the result of the battle at Alalia, regardless of whether it was a Greek victory or defeat, had little impact on the balance of power in the western Mediterraneanaround the middle of the first millennium BCE.

The Aegean in the Early 7th Millennium BC: Maritime Networks and Colonization

The process of Near Eastern neolithization and its westward expansion from the core zone in the Levant and upper Mesopotamia has been broadly discussed in recent decades, and many models have been developed to describe the spread of early farming in terms of its timing, structure, geography and sociocultural impact. Until now, based on recent intensive investigations in northwestern and western Anatolia, the discussion has mainly centred on the importance of Anatolian inland routes for the westward spread of neolithization. This contribution focuses on the potential impact of east Mediterranean and Aegean maritime networks on the spread of the Neolithic lifestyle to the western edge of the Anatolian subcontinent in the earliest phases of sedentism. Employing the longue durée model and the concept of ‘social memory’, we will discuss the arrival of new groups via established maritime routes. The existence of maritime networks prior to the spread of farming is already indicated by the high mobility of Epipalaeolithic/Mesolithic groups exploring the Aegean and east Mediterranean seas, and reaching, for example, the Cyclades and Cyprus. Successful navigation by these early mobile groups across the open sea is attested by the distribution of Melian obsidian. The potential existence of an additional Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) obsidian network that operated between Cappadocia/Cilicia and Cyprus further hints at the importance of maritime coastal trade. Since both the coastal and the high seas networks were apparently already well established in this early period, we may further assume appropriate knowledge of geographic routes, navigational technology and other aspects of successful seafaring. This Mesolithic/PPN maritime know-how package appears to have been used by later groups, in the early 7th millennium calBC, exploring the centre of the Anatolian Aegean coast, and in time establishing some of the first permanent settlements in that region. In the present paper, we link this background of newcomers to the western edge of Anatolia with new excavation results from Çukuriçi Höyük, which we have analysed in terms of subsistence strategies, materiality, technology and symbolism. Additionally, further detailed studies of nutrition and obsidian procurement shed light on the distinct maritime affinity of the early settlers in our case study, something that, in our view, can hardly be attributed to inland farming societies. We propose a maritime colonization in the 7th millennium via routes from the eastern Mediterranean to the eastern Aegean, based on previously developed sea networks. The pronounced maritime affinity of these farming and herding societies allows us to identify traces of earlier PPN concepts still embedded in the social-cultural memories of the newcomers and incorporated in a new local and regional Neolithic identity.

Middle and Late Pleistocene Landscape Evolution at the Druze Marsh Site in Northeast Jordan: Implications for Population Continuity and Hominin Dispersal

The Druze Marsh is a spring‐fed wetland in northeast Jordan that dried out completely in the late 1980s. This drying and subsequent drop in the water table permitted study of the marsh stratigraphy and a search for prehistoric occupations. In this paper, we combine detailed sedimentological analysis of eight stratigraphic sections in the bed of the former Druze Marsh to reconstruct the landscapes used by hominins since the Middle Pleistocene. The results show that fluctuation in water availability over the past 350 ka had dramatic impacts on the size and depth of the wetlands. Pleistocene occupations in the Druze Marsh correspond to relatively dry climatic conditions when the wetland was reduced in size, suggesting the Druze Marsh acted as a desert refugium for hominins during adverse climatic conditions. Such refugia have important implications for hominin demography, continuity, and/or extinction in the Syro‐Arabian Desert. Moreover, the Druze Marsh is positioned at the north end of the Wadi Sirhan depression that connects the Levantine Corridor to the west and Arabian Peninsula to the southeast. Therefore, during wetter climates, paleolakes and river networks around the Druze Marsh may have provided an additional inland route for hominins dispersing between Africa, Eurasia, and the Arabian Peninsula.

Ancient inland human dispersals from Myanmar into interior East Asia since the Late Pleistocene.

Given the existence of plenty of river valleys connecting Southeast and East Asia, it is possible that some inland route(s) might have been adopted by the initial settlers to migrate into the interior of East Asia. Here we analyzed mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) HVS variants of 845 newly collected individuals from 14 Myanmar populations and 5,907 published individuals from 115 populations from Myanmar and its surroundings. Enrichment of basal lineages with the highest genetic diversity in Myanmar suggests that Myanmar was likely one of the differentiation centers of the early modern humans. Intriguingly, some haplogroups were shared merely between Myanmar and southwestern China, hinting certain genetic connection between both regions. Further analyses revealed that such connection was in fact attributed to both recent gene flow and certain ancient dispersals from Myanmar to southwestern China during 25–10 kya, suggesting that, besides the coastal route, the early modern humans also adopted an inland dispersal route to populate the interior of East Asia.