Iron Age Population Research Articles

Reconstructing infant mortality in Iberian Iron Age populations from tooth histology

The Neonatal Line (NNL) of the tooth serves as a unique identifier, allowing us to distinguish whether a child survived birth. This line is essential for assessing the age at death of infants from skeletal remains found in archaeological contexts. Our primary objective is to accurately determine the age of infant intramural inhumations from the Iberian Iron Age (8th-1st centuries BC) by analyzing histological sections of tooth germs. Due to their fragility and high susceptibility to taphonomic factors, these samples are challenging to handle. By accurately assessing their age, we aim to classify individuals into various stages of infant mortality, which will help reconstruct infant mortality patterns in these populations.We analyze unerupted and still-forming crown deciduous teeth from 45 infant burials. By calculating Crown Formation Time (CFT) and identifying the NNL, we determine both gestational and chronological ages. We further validate the reliability of NNL identification through Synchrotron X-ray Fluorescence (SXRF) elemental analysis (Ca, Zn, Cu) on two contemporary and two archaeological samples.Our histological study reveals the chronological age of 38 infants from Iberian settlements, ranging from the 30th week of gestation to the 2nd postnatal month. The age distribution shows an attritional mortality pattern, with nearly half experiencing perinatal mortality, including preterm births. These findings support the hypothesis that mortality was primarily attributed to natural causes. Our research enhances the understanding of infant life history events in prehistory by combining histological analysis of tooth NNL and CFT, highlighting the technique's potential and limitations.

The hazards of the pastoralist lifestyle: Evidence from postcranial fractures in Middle Bronze and Early Iron Age populations of the Forest‐Steppe Altai, Russia

AbstractA global comparison has shown that subsistence‐specific practices influenced the risk of postcranial fractures in prehistoric hunter‐gatherers and agriculturalists. Much less is known about pastoralists in this regard. The aim of the study was to investigate the prevalence and patterns of postcranial injuries of herders in the Forest‐Steppe Altai, Russia. Skeletal samples associated with the Andronovo Culture of the Middle Bronze Age, and Staroaleyka and Kamen Cultures of the Early Iron Age were studied. Long bones of 595 adults were examined for evidence of antemortem and perimortem injuries. Fracture frequencies were calculated per individual and per skeletal element, and the differences were evaluated statistically. While assessing per individual, the relative risk with a 95% confidence interval was calculated as well. All of the observed fractures were healed. This study suggests that pastoralists sustained not only traumatic, but also stress injuries. There were sex‐related differences in the rates, patterns, and location of the injuries. In the males, the main reason of fractures could have been high‐velocity incidents during horseback riding and using horse‐drawn vehicles. In the females, the majority of the injuries were possibly associated with accidents when walking (short falls and twists of ankle) and milking. Females of the Staroaleyka Culture sustained fractures of the limb bones significantly more often than those of the Kamen Culture, probably as a result of differences in their daily activities. In terms of the total fracture rates, the Forest‐Steppe Altai pastoralists and their neighbors seem to have surpassed low‐intensity agriculturalists but lag behind hunter‐gatherers and high‐intensity agriculturalists. More datasets are needed to further elucidate the association between postcranial fracture risk and subsistence‐specific practices and environments within the Eurasian Steppe, where pastoralism has been the predominant form of economic activity for millennia.

Dental and alveolar pathologies of the Early Iron Age population of the Upper Ob region based on the materials of the Bystrovka-3 burial ground)

The study is focused on the analysis of distribution of the dentoalveolar pathologies (caries, calculus, periodontitis, dental fluorosis, antemortem enamel chips, alveolar abscess, antemortem loss of teeth), which are generally used for revealing the diet component composition of ancient groups and as the markers of the stress episodes (enamel hypoplasia, child dental caries). In addition, several anomalies in the structure of the dentition (dystopia, crowding, hypo- and hyperdentia) are considered. The study is based on the anthropological materials of the Bolsherechenskaya culture of the Bystrovka-3 burial ground, dated to the second half of the 1st millennium BC. The series consist of 130 skulls: 46 male, 34 female, 26 infants and 24 individuals whose gender could not be determined. The frequencies of the pathologies of the Bystrovka-3 sample were compared with those of the Neolithic and Bronze Ages populations of Western Siberia. The results of the study reveals that diet of the Bystrovka-3 people included both animal and plant products. The presence of endemic fluorosis on the teeth of four people (two female and two infants) may indicate the migration of a small group of people from outer regions with high fluoride content in soil and water to the Bolsherechye area. It was also found that the representatives of the study group experienced significant stress caused by adverse environment event. In addition, in the main group several rather rare dentoalveolar anomalies were identified, which, according to some researchers, are hereditary. Comparative analysis of frequencies of dentoalveolar pathology of the study group and the Neolithic-Bronze Age population of the south of Western Siberia revealed that the component composition of the diet of Bolsherechye people had significant differences from that of the Bronze Age pastoralists and is more similar to the Neolithic and pre-Andronovo bronze populations of Baraba forest-steppe, which had similar economy structure based on fishing, gathering and hunting.

Assessment of stature in Iron Age populations of South Africa

Worldwide and in South African Stone Age contexts, much research has been done on the relationship between stature of past populations and general well-being, as well as trends and patterns in stature through time. This research is aimed at collating and assessing all available stature and long bone data for Bantu-speaker individuals living in the South African Iron Age. Data for only 25 female and 32 male individuals, dating from circa AD 550 to AD 1823, could be found. In general, methods used to reconstruct stature were inconsistent and data were poorly reported. From the available data, no clear trends or patterns in stature through time could be observed and stature seems to be on a par relative to those of early twentieth century individuals. Recommendations are made as to which methods to use in stature estimations in this context. The data provided in this research can serve as reference material for future similar studies and can assist in interpreting individual stature estimations from bioarcheological research in the region.

Межгрупповая изменчивость краниометрических характеристик населения Средней Азии в 1500-летней ретроспективе (VII в. до н.э. – VIII в. н.э.)

Introduction. The paper revisits the intergroup craniometric variability in the Early Iron Age, Antiquity and Early medieval Central Asian population. Some new cranial materials are considered within the hierarchical system of the regional populations. Materials and methods. The comparison included 61 cranial samples from all historical and cultural regions of Central Asia with a total of 1100 crania. 12 standard measurements of the facial skeleton were used. First, we conducted Canonical discriminant analysis. Second, the matrix of Mahalanobis D2 distances was obtained using the resulting group coordinates in the space of the canonical vectors. Finally, the distance matrix was subjected to Multidimensional scaling and the Ward’s hierarchical cluster analysis. Results. The first three canonical variates reflect 53.4% of the total intergroup variation and differentiate samples based on bizygomatic breadth, orbit dimensions, nasal bridge height (and width to a lesser extent), horizontal profiling angles and nose protrusion angle. Upper facial height also contributes to intergroup craniometric variability but does not play a decisive role in differentiating among samples of European ancestry in the considered chronological period. Correlation coefficients between canonical variables and multidimensional scaling coordinates suggest similar relative positions of the groups in the scatterplots. Discussion. Considering the mixed nature of the Central Asian population and the difficulty of objective differentiation of morphological types, we caution against unreflective use of terms “East Mediterranean type” and “Pamir-Fergana race”. The results suggest that the Antiquity and Early medieval sedentary populations are difficult to distinguish from nomadic and semi-nomadic groups of the Wusun period. The new materials confirm the morphological similarity between Early medieval population of Sogdiana (ancient Panjakent) and Ushrusana (Kurkat dakhmaks). @ 2023. This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 license

Genetic history of East-Central Europe in the first millennium CE

BackgroundThe appearance of Slavs in East-Central Europe has been the subject of an over 200-year debate driven by two conflicting hypotheses. The first assumes that Slavs came to the territory of contemporary Poland no earlier than the sixth century CE; the second postulates that they already inhabited this region in the Iron Age (IA). Testing either hypothesis is not trivial given that cremation of the dead was the prevailing custom in Central Europe from the late Bronze Age until the Middle Ages (MA).ResultsTo address this problem, we determined the genetic makeup of representatives of the IA Wielbark- and MA Slav-associated cultures from the territory of present-day Poland. The study involved 474 individuals buried in 27 cemeteries. For 197 of them, genome-wide data were obtained. We found close genetic affinities between the IA Wielbark culture-associated individuals and contemporary to them and older northern European populations. Further, we observed that the IA individuals had genetic components which were indispensable to model the MA population.ConclusionsThe collected data suggest that the Wielbark culture-associated IA population was formed by immigrants from the north who entered the region of contemporary Poland most likely at the beginning of the first millennium CE and mixed with autochthons. The presented results are in line with the hypothesis that assumes the genetic continuation between IA and MA periods in East-Central Europe.

Iron Age sites in northern Botswana’s Okavango Delta 3: Lotshitshi, a Later Stone Age/Bambata/Recent site on the Delta margin

ABSTRACT Lotshitshi is a small site on the edge of the Thamalakane River floodplain on the southern margin of the Okavango Delta, Botswana. A component with Later Stone Age lithic artefacts radiocarbon-dated to the second/third millennia BC is overlain by a component with the same kind of stone tools, but with the addition of Bambata pottery and domestic cattle radiocarbon-dated to the earlier decades of the first century AD. A component with Recent pottery is at the top of this sequence. Although modest in size and content, Lotshitshi adds valuable details to our knowledge of Bambata pottery-making peoples with cattle and provides additional evidence for the movement of peoples during this time from the Chobe-Zambezi confluence region to western Botswana, thus supplementing efforts to understand Early Iron Age population dynamics in southern Africa as a whole.

Genetic admixture and language shift in the medieval Volga-Oka interfluve

The Volga-Oka interfluve in northwestern Russia has an intriguing history of population influx and language shift during the Common Era. Today, most inhabitants of the region speak Russian, but until medieval times, northwestern Russia was inhabited by Uralic-speaking peoples.1,2,3 A gradual shift to Slavic languages started in the second half of the first millennium with the expansion of Slavic tribes, which led to the foundation of the Kievan Rus' state in the late 9th century CE. The medieval Rus' was multicultural and multilingual-historical records suggest that its northern regions comprised Slavic and Uralic peoples ruled by Scandinavian settlers.4,5,6 In the 10th-11th centuries, the introduction of Christianity and Cyrillic literature raised the prestige status of Slavic, driving a language shift from Uralic to Slavic.3 This eventually led to the disappearance of the Uralic languages from northwestern Russia. Here, we study a 1,500-year time transect of 30 ancient genomes and stable isotope values from the Suzdal region in the Volga-Oka interfluve. We describe a previously unsampled local Iron Age population and a gradual genetic turnover in the following centuries. Our time transect captures the population shift associated with the spread of Slavic languages and illustrates the ethnically mixed state of medieval Suzdal principality, eventually leading to the formation of the admixed but fully Slavic-speaking population that inhabits the area today. We also observe genetic outliers that highlight the importance of the Suzdal region in medieval times as a hub of long-reaching contacts via trade and warfare.

The architecture of the Early Iron Age funerary barrows in Central Kazakhstan

A complex community of the early Iron Age in Eurasia is represented by the Tasmola archaeological culture, which was mainly spread in Central Kazakhstan. In the last decades, new research directions have appeared which are mainly related to the analysis of massive burial mounds. These latter, preserving the human remains and the material culture associated to the Tasmola high class and nobility, share features with several cult and commemorative structures spread across the Eurasian steppe. Their architecture and building layout provide different evidences about their modeling and the reconstruction of ancient ceremonies and activities, as well a better understanding of the past material and spiritual culture. The study of massive barrows is today carried out with new methods and approaches, which are aimed at reconstructing the whole funerary construction: unexpected details show a very complex structure and open new perspectives both in the architec ture knowledge of the ancient Eurasian tribes, as well as in identifying some features of the Saka funerary mythology. A detailed and careful study allows to determine substantial evidence of ritual practices in the structure of large funerary monuments. The purpose of the article is to provide a characterization of the building structure of large funerary barrows and, on the basis of diverse construction features, to present some worldview and cosmological ideas of the Tasmola community. The article then provides a brief description of the main characteristics of the Tasmola archaeological culture, and outlines the main historiographic information on the reconstruction of ethno-geography, namely the ethnic names, of the early Iron Age population in Central Kazakhstan. Based on the analysis of the burial architecture of large mounds located along the Ishim River, in the Nur-Sultan region, it is proposed here a reconstruction of some worldview ideas and mythology of the ancient Saka tribes.

On paleoepidemiology of spina bifida sacralis: prevalence of the anomaly in Late Scythians of lower Dnieper region

Spina bifida is a developmental anomaly that is thought to be caused by a combination of hereditary and en-vironmental factors. Though the most significant association was found with the folic acid deficit during early em-bryogenesis, numerous genetic variants were also found to be in some association with the development of neu-ral tube defects, but this data is inconsistent. It is still debated whether the unremarkable anomaly (spina bifida occulta) often observed in osteological samples is truly a form of neural tube defects forming in early embryo-genesis, or is a minor variation that is forming later in postnatal life. Also, data is equivocal regarding the neuro-logical consequences of sacral spina bifida occulta, some pointing to its clinical significance, others stating that it does not affect the wellbeing in any way. Though paleopathological studies on spina bifida are numerous, the frequency of the anomaly remains largely unknown for the Early Iron Age population of the Eurasian steppes. This study examines presence of sacral spina bifida in a Late Scynthian sample (3rd c. BC — 3rd с. AD) from the northern Black Sea region. Totally, 89 skeletons were examined, originating from cemeteries near Nikolayevka and Zolotaya Balka villages (Kherson Oblast, Ukrain). These cemeteries are located along the Dnieper river bank about 90 km apart. The people they represent were settled agriculturalists. The defect was scored when either or all of the three upper sacral vertebrae were affected (S1–S3), its level was recorded. Totally, 16 % of individuals were affected. The majority of defects were observed solely on S1 level. Only two cases of spina bifida sacralis totalis were recorded. The frequency of the anomaly was not significantly different either between males and fe-males, or between younger (<35 years) and older (>35 years) adults. In two instances, two individuals buried in a common grave both had spina bifida sacralis which may point to a biological relationship between them. The fre-quency of spina bifida sacralis is very close to the mean values, reported in the literature. Thus, no evidence of an increased selection against individuals in this group with this form of skeletal anomaly, or a significant impact of envi-ronmental factors, leading to its development in ontogenesis, is present. Also, contrary to literature data, it seems that in this sample age and sex were not the factors significantly contributing to the trait’s variation, though the age dynamics of this trait needs further consideration using a sample with higher proportion of senile individuals.

Diet and social status in the Lejasbitēni Iron Age population from Latvia

This study reports the first dietary stable isotope data from Iron Age in Latvia. Archaeological, osteological, genetic, and stable isotope data from the Lejasbitēni cemetery were used to study gendered differences in childhood diet expressed in stable isotope ratios with social status expressed in grave goods, in this population from the 7th– 10thcenturies CE.Carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis showed significant differences in childhood diet between male and female gendered individuals, indicating that gender might have been a key factor for dietary differences in children. There were no significant dietary differences within the gender groups in adults of differential social status expressed in grave goods, suggesting no link between childhood diet and social status in adulthood, although the sample size was very small. A change towards a more hierarchical society was observed in the later period of the cemetery, expressed in the appearance of more elaborately furnished burials, rare grave goods, and a new burial tradition. All these changes were contemporary with the development of the Viking Age in Northern Europe, and thus possibly signified external cultural influence.Ancient DNA analysis showed that gender as expressed by grave goods corresponded with biological sex in two individuals with the highest quality aDNA, while biological sex could not be confirmed in the other five tested individuals.

Bronze and Iron Age population movements underlie Xinjiang population history.

The Xinjiang region in northwest China is a historically important geographical passage between East and West Eurasia. By sequencing 201 ancient genomes from 39 archaeological sites, we clarify the complex demographic history of this region. Bronze Age Xinjiang populations are characterized by four major ancestries related to Early Bronze Age cultures from the central and eastern Steppe, Central Asian, and Tarim Basin regions. Admixtures between Middle and Late Bronze Age Steppe cultures continued during the Late Bronze and Iron Ages, along with an inflow of East and Central Asian ancestry. Historical era populations show similar admixed and diverse ancestries as those of present-day Xinjiang populations. These results document the influence that East and West Eurasian populations have had over time in the different regions of Xinjiang.

Origin and mobility of Iron Age Gaulish groups in present-day France revealed through archaeogenomics

SummaryThe Iron Age period occupies an important place in French history because the Gauls are regularly presented as the direct ancestors of the extant French population. We documented here the genomic diversity of Iron Age communities originating from six French regions. The 49 acquired genomes permitted us to highlight an absence of discontinuity between Bronze Age and Iron Age groups in France, lending support to a cultural transition linked to progressive local economic changes rather than to a massive influx of allochthone groups. Genomic analyses revealed strong genetic homogeneity among the regional groups associated with distinct archaeological cultures. This genomic homogenization appears to be linked to individuals’ mobility between regions and gene flow with neighbouring groups from England and Spain. Thus, the results globally support a common genomic legacy for the Iron Age population of modern-day France that could be linked to recurrent gene flow between culturally differentiated communities.

Later Stone and Iron Age Cohabitation at the Nsongezi Open-Air Site, Western Uganda

Abstract This research at the Nsongezi open-air site examines the intergenerational artefacts at a site where the first Stone Age artefacts were identified in Uganda. The purpose was to examine the nature and cause of the mixed Later Stone Age (LSA) and Iron Age (IA) artefacts in the same stratigraphic context at Nsongezi. The specific objectives included examining the ceramic assemblage, discussing the nature of interactions between the Later Stone Age and Iron Age people and accounting for why and how the mixture of artefacts occurs at Nsongezi. Using a documentary review, archaeological survey, and excavation, the research re-examines the theories of displacement and coexistence concerning the LSA and IA material mixture, which has always been dismissed as a disturbance of stratigraphic contexts. Guided by the Law of superimposition, the association of archaeological material from different cultural periods such as the Later Stone Age and Iron Age artefacts at Nsongezi is attributed to four phenomena. First is the cultural interaction of distinct LSA and IA populations. Secondly, the LSA populations may have adopted Iron Age technology and pottery while continuing with some of the LSA technology and pottery. Thirdly, the Iron Age populations occupied the LSA sites previously abandoned, and some of the LSA peoples occupied the old Iron Age sites as the two groups crisscrossed the region in shifting agricultural and hunter-gatherer economies. Finally, the mixed LSA and Iron Age deposits might have resulted from post-abandonment taphonomic processes. Therefore, the social interactions between the LSA and IA at Nsongezi challenge the dominant narrative that the IA populations used their metal technology’s superiority to displace and absorb the LSA people.

Reconstructed Paleodiets and Subsistence Strategies of the Central Ciscaucasian Population (1000 BC to 1000 AD), Based on Collagen Isotope Analysis of Bone Samples from the Kichmalka II Burial Ground

Settlement and economy patterns of the Iron Age and early medieval population of the Central North Caucasus evidence complex cultural processes in the region. The ecological approach including the evaluation of carbon and nitrogen isotopes in the local biota opens up new prospects in the study of environments, climate, anthropogenic effect, land use, and nutrition. We analyze the isotopic composition of collagen in 19 human and 11 animal bone samples from Kichmalka II—a cemetery successively used by the Koban people, those of the Sarmatian stage, and Alans. The isotopic composition of the Alanian sample indicates a heavy predominance of plants with the C3-type photosynthesis in the diet of humans and animals. People who lived during the Koban and Sarmatian stages consumed also C4-plants, such as common millet (Panicum miliaceum), suggesting the rise of the trophic step for carbon (Δδ13Chuman-animal). Statistically signifi cant differences in the isotopic composition of carbon were found within the Koban population, apparently evidencing two dietary models. The Δδ15Nhuman-animal values fall within the trophic step, mirroring a focus on meat and dairy products in the diet of all groups. Comparison with respective data on the Klin-Yar III cemetery revealed differences in isotopic signatures in the diet of both humans and domestic animals during the Koban period. The possible reason is climatic change in the Iron Age and the variable share of millet in the diet of the Koban people. The low proportion of δ15N (below 4 ‰) in the bone collagen of goat, sheep, and horse of the Alanian period may attest to vertical transhumance.

Предметный комплекс одежды в погребальной обрядности населения Верхнего Приобья эпохи раннего железа

The article characterizes the clothing assemblage in the burial rituals of the Early Iron Age population of the Upper Ob River region. The work draws from the materials found on the Bolsherechenskaya sites of the 8th (7th) — 3rd (2nd) centuries BC. Using this archaeological material, the author examines the event-driven sacralized actions with items of clothing at the stage preceding the burial, and directly during its implementation. The complex of these actions is subdivided into actions associated with symbolic damage to things; actions associated with a change in the symbolic status of things and actions that mark the high symbolic status of things. The clothing assemblage, revealed during the study of the burial, is differentiated into truly aesthetic and symbolically significant things. Whole things, as a rule, related to objects of art, are found in characteristic places of their lifetime use. Things with a symbolic status changed during the funerary rite are recorded in an unusual topographic context. Event sacralization can be viewed as an adaptive strategy for integrating things and ideas into the funerary practice of a multicultural community, consisting of certain ethno-territorial groups “with a consanguineous or neighboring type of community”.

Structural and technical characteristics of the fortification system of the Dikaya Yama hillfort of the Early Iron Age in the Middle Tobol River area

The paper reports the results of the studies of the fortification system of the Early Iron Age Dikaya Yama hill-fort situated in the Middle Tobol River region of the Western Siberian forest-steppe zone. The hillfort was built by the population of the Sargatka Culture, and it is dated to the 3rd c. BC — 1st c. AD. The defence lines at the junc-tion of two adjacent fortified platforms have been studied. It has been determined that the earthwork of the first platform was built up from turfen blocks; the presence of traces of postholes suggests that the earthwork was reinforced with a wooden-frame wall — a wattle fence. The ditch between the platforms had a trapezoidal shape with the size of 3.2–4 m of the upper part and 1.2–1.6 m of the lower part. The soil from the ditch was placed into the mound of the rampart of the second platform. The mathematical analysis of the volume of earth making the mound of the rampart allowed establishing its height of 2.0 m. Analysis of the stratigraphy and planigraphy re-vealed the remains of a frame structure set on the rampart. The wattle fence on top of the rampart and the para-pet along it have been reconstructed. Moreover, there have been identified the remains of a frame-and-pillar structure installed into the body of the rampart, which was aimed to strengthen the mound and prevent untimely slipping. A graphic reconstruction of the appearance of the fortifications existed on the studied site has been cre-ated. Carcass fortifications of the wattle fence type, a wall constructed in “zaplot” technique, set on the rampart, have analogies in the Early Iron Age hillforts of the Tobol-Irtysh interfluve: Kolovskoe, Rafailovskoe, Ak-Tau, and Pavlinovo. There existed a tradition of mounting a palisade into a ditch-trench — such structures have been re-corded at the hillforts of Borovushka, Likhachevskoe, Bochanetskoe, Inberen 4 and Rozanovo, Mar'ino Ushchel'ye 4 and Malo-Kazakbaevskoe. The fortification system of the hillfort of Dikaya Yama, which, structurally, is represented by the earthwork ramparts on top of which there were mounted wooden walls in the technique of the wattle fence, is consistent with the traditional scheme of the fortifications of the Early Iron Age population. The question of simultaneous or sequential building of the platforms of the hillfort will be addressed in future work. However, the unified planning solution in organizing forms of the fortification structures implies, in our opinion, preliminary design of the whole settlement and its construction at one time.

Lateglacial and Holocene changes in vegetation and human subsistence around Lake Zhizhitskoye, East European midlatitudes, derived from radiocarbon-dated pollen and archaeological records

The numerous lake and peat sedimentary archives of Central European Russia are ideal for studying the Lateglacial–Holocene climate and vegetation history of the region. However, robustly dated palaeoenvironmental records have only become available in the last decade and are still few and far between. Together with the continuously growing archaeological record and increasing focus on absolute dating of cultural assemblages, such records, where available, offer an excellent opportunity to study human-environment interactions in the region. For this study we selected one of the most detailed regional pollen records, from a 4.5-m-long sediment section from Zmeinoe Mire (56°16′53″ N, 31°15′36″ E) at Zhizhitskoye Lake (165 m a.s.l.). We performed quantitative pollen-based biome reconstruction and constructed a Bayesian age-depth model to ensure maximum chronological control of the sediment succession. To link the reconstructed vegetation changes to human activities, we gathered and summarized available archaeological data from the study area. Our results show that humid conditions and taiga-like patchy forests (spruce, pine, birch) dominated the study region during the Lateglacial. The Early Holocene (ca. 11,650–8000 cal yr BP) was marked by a warming and drying trend indicated by the spread of cool-temperate summergreen broad-leaved trees and shrubs (elm, lime, hazel) and the retreat of spruce. Warmest conditions, expressed by the maximum contribution of temperate deciduous woody taxa to the pollen assemblages, were recorded during the Middle Holocene (ca. 8000–4000 cal yr BP) when Mesolithic and Neolithic hunter-fisher-gatherer groups flourished in the region. The pollen record suggests that the regional climate became cooler and wetter after 4000 cal yr BP, which may explain the decline of the Neolithic pile dwelling settlement Naumovo at Zhizhitskoye Lake around 3800 cal yr BP. Evidence for human impact on natural forest vegetation becomes visible from 5000 cal yr BP, although it remains at modest levels until the end of the Neolithic (3500–3000 cal yr BP). Decline in arboreal pollen percentages intensified after ca. 2800 cal yr BP, indicating the onset of increased deforestation for pasture, farmland, construction material and fuel by Iron Age populations. This is in line with the foundation of the fortified Iron Age Anashkino settlement north of Zhizhitskoye Lake dated to around 2750 cal yr BP. Forest clearance further increased during the second half of the Iron Age (5th century BCE–5th century CE) and again from ca. 1200 cal yr BP after the onset of the Middle Ages.

Matrilineal diversity and population history of Norwegians.

While well known for its Viking past, Norway's population history and the influences that have shaped its genetic diversity are less well understood. This is particularly true with respect to its demography, migration patterns, and dialectal regions, despite there being curated historical records for the past several centuries. In this study, we undertook an analysis of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) diversity within the country to elaborate this history from a matrilineal genetic perspective. We aggregated 1174 partial modern Norwegian mtDNA sequences from the published literature and subjected them to detailed statistical and phylogenetic analysis by dialectal regions and localities. We further contextualized the matrilineal ancestry of modern Norwegians with data from Mesolithic, Iron Age, and historic period populations. Modern Norwegian mtDNAs fell into eight West Eurasian (N, HV, JT, I, U, K, X, W), five East Eurasian (A, F, G, N11, Z), and one African (L2) haplogroups. Pairwise analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) estimates for all Norwegians indicated they were differentiated from each other at 1.68% (p < 0.001). Norwegians within the same dialectal region also showed genetic similarities to each other, although differences between subpopulations within dialectal regions were also observed. In addition, certain mtDNA lineages in modern Norwegians were also found among prehistoric and historic period populations, suggesting some level of genetic continuity over hundreds to many thousands of years. This analysis of mtDNA diversity provides a detailed picture of the genetic variation within Norway in light of its topography, settlement history, and historical migrations over the past several centuries.

Establishment and functioning of the savanna marshes of the Lopé National Park in Gabon since the termination of the African humid period and the arrival of humans 2500 years ago

Holocene paleoecological studies in tropical Africa are rare because most lakes either dried out at the termination of the African Humid Period or have since filled up. However, tropical sedge marshes can be an alternative to perform long-term ecological studies. The Lopé National Park (LNP) in Gabon is a mosaic of forest and savanna enclosed in the equatorial forest, where open areas facilitated the development of peat marshes accumulating several-meter-thick sediment. In order to reconstruct the historical dynamic in these marshes through a local and regional point of view, we compared sedimentological, continuous X-ray fluorescence, and stable isotopic analyses on sediment cores from six herbaceous marshes in the LNP. A reliable chronological frame was based on 50 14C dates, over the last 2500 years in most sites, and reaching 9000 years in one marsh. We show that the origin of these marshes is a major hydrological change, 3450 and 2300 years ago, that affected the entire region, almost concomitantly with the diffusion of Iron Age population. The sedimentation within marshes is homogenous with low intra-site variability. In contrast, high inter-sites variability evidences that the functioning of the marsh itself exerts a much more significant influence than in lakes. However, a regional event is recorded between 1400 and 800 years ago, concurrently with an archeological trace hiatus throughout the forest hinterland of West Central Africa.