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Knüsel CJ, Thibeault A, Villotte S. A cranial injury from the earliest Gravettian at the Cro-Magnon rock shelter (Vézère Valley, Dordogne, southwest France). J Hum Evol 2023; 177:103329. [PMID: 36870149 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103329] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2022] [Revised: 01/24/2023] [Accepted: 01/24/2023] [Indexed: 03/06/2023]
Abstract
Discovered over 150 years ago, the early Upper Paleolithic human remains from the Cro-Magnon rock shelter have an iconic status, but because of skeletal commingling after discovery, their bio-profiles remain incomplete and contentious. The defect on the frontal bone of the cranium known as Cro-Magnon 2 has been interpreted as both an antemortem injury and a postmortem (i.e., taphonomic) artifact previously. This contribution considers the cranium in order to clarify the status of the defect on the frontal bone and to situate these remains among others of Pleistocene date with similar types of lesions. The diagnostic criteria used to assess the cranium are drawn from recent publications of actualistic experimental studies of cranial trauma and from those associated with cranial trauma due to violence in forensic anthropological and bioarchaeological contexts. The appearance of the defect and comparison with more recent documented cases from the preantibiotic era suggest that the defect is a result of antemortem trauma with survival for a short period. The location of the lesion on the cranium provides growing evidence for interpersonal aggression in these early modern human groups, and the place of burial also provides insight into related mortuary behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Adrien Thibeault
- UMR 5199 PACEA, Université de Bordeaux, CNRS, 33600 Pessac, France
| | - Sébastien Villotte
- UMR7206 Éco-Anthropologie, CNRS, MNHN, Université Paris Cité, 75116 Paris, France; Operational Directory Earth and History of Life, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, 1000 Brussels, Belgium; Unité de Recherches Art, Archéologie Patrimoine, Université de Liège, B-4000 Liège, Belgium
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2
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Harvati K, Ackermann RR. Merging morphological and genetic evidence to assess hybridization in Western Eurasian late Pleistocene hominins. Nat Ecol Evol 2022; 6:1573-1585. [PMID: 36064759 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-022-01875-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2019] [Accepted: 08/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Previous scientific consensus saw human evolution as defined by adaptive differences (behavioural and/or biological) and the emergence of Homo sapiens as the ultimate replacement of non-modern groups by a modern, adaptively more competitive group. However, recent research has shown that the process underlying our origins was considerably more complex. While archaeological and fossil evidence suggests that behavioural complexity may not be confined to the modern human lineage, recent palaeogenomic work shows that gene flow between distinct lineages (for example, Neanderthals, Denisovans, early H. sapiens) occurred repeatedly in the late Pleistocene, probably contributing elements to our genetic make-up that might have been crucial to our success as a diverse, adaptable species. Following these advances, the prevailing human origins model has shifted from one of near-complete replacement to a more nuanced view of partial replacement with considerable reticulation. Here we provide a brief introduction to the current genetic evidence for hybridization among hominins, its prevalence in, and effects on, comparative mammal groups, and especially how it manifests in the skull. We then explore the degree to which cranial variation seen in the fossil record of late Pleistocene hominins from Western Eurasia corresponds with our current genetic and comparative data. We are especially interested in understanding the degree to which skeletal data can reflect admixture. Our findings indicate some correspondence between these different lines of evidence, flag individual fossils as possibly admixed, and suggest that different cranial regions may preserve hybridization signals differentially. We urge further studies of the phenotype to expand our ability to detect the ways in which migration, interaction and genetic exchange have shaped the human past, beyond what is currently visible with the lens of ancient DNA.
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Affiliation(s)
- K Harvati
- Paleoanthropology section, Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment, Institute for Archaeological Sciences, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
- DFG Centre for Advanced Studies 'Words, Bones, Genes, Tools', Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
| | - R R Ackermann
- Human Evolution Research Institute, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
- Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
- DFG Centre for Advanced Studies 'Words, Bones, Genes, Tools', Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
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3
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Marciniak S, Bergey CM, Silva AM, Hałuszko A, Furmanek M, Veselka B, Velemínský P, Vercellotti G, Wahl J, Zariņa G, Longhi C, Kolář J, Garrido-Pena R, Flores-Fernández R, Herrero-Corral AM, Simalcsik A, Müller W, Sheridan A, Miliauskienė Ž, Jankauskas R, Moiseyev V, Köhler K, Király Á, Gamarra B, Cheronet O, Szeverényi V, Kiss V, Szeniczey T, Kiss K, Zoffmann ZK, Koós J, Hellebrandt M, Maier RM, Domboróczki L, Virag C, Novak M, Reich D, Hajdu T, von Cramon-Taubadel N, Pinhasi R, Perry GH. An integrative skeletal and paleogenomic analysis of stature variation suggests relatively reduced health for early European farmers. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:e2106743119. [PMID: 35389750 PMCID: PMC9169634 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2106743119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2021] [Accepted: 02/24/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Human culture, biology, and health were shaped dramatically by the onset of agriculture ∼12,000 y B.P. This shift is hypothesized to have resulted in increased individual fitness and population growth as evidenced by archaeological and population genomic data alongside a decline in physiological health as inferred from skeletal remains. Here, we consider osteological and ancient DNA data from the same prehistoric individuals to study human stature variation as a proxy for health across a transition to agriculture. Specifically, we compared “predicted” genetic contributions to height from paleogenomic data and “achieved” adult osteological height estimated from long bone measurements for 167 individuals across Europe spanning the Upper Paleolithic to Iron Age (∼38,000 to 2,400 B.P.). We found that individuals from the Neolithic were shorter than expected (given their individual polygenic height scores) by an average of −3.82 cm relative to individuals from the Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic (P = 0.040) and −2.21 cm shorter relative to post-Neolithic individuals (P = 0.068), with osteological vs. expected stature steadily increasing across the Copper (+1.95 cm relative to the Neolithic), Bronze (+2.70 cm), and Iron (+3.27 cm) Ages. These results were attenuated when we additionally accounted for genome-wide genetic ancestry variation: for example, with Neolithic individuals −2.82 cm shorter than expected on average relative to pre-Neolithic individuals (P = 0.120). We also incorporated observations of paleopathological indicators of nonspecific stress that can persist from childhood to adulthood in skeletal remains into our model. Overall, our work highlights the potential of integrating disparate datasets to explore proxies of health in prehistory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephanie Marciniak
- Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802
| | - Christina M. Bergey
- Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802
- Department of Genetics, Human Genetics Institute of New Jersey, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ 08854
| | - Ana Maria Silva
- Research Centre for Anthropology and Health (Centro de Investigação em Antropologia e Saúde - CIAS), Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Coimbra 3000-456, Portugal
- Centre for Functional Ecology, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Coimbra 3000-456, Portugal
- Archeology Center of the University of Lisbon (UNIARQ), University of Lisbon, Lisbon 1600-214, Portugal
| | - Agata Hałuszko
- Institute of Archaeology, University of Wrocław, Wrocław 50-139, Poland
- Archeolodzy.org Foundation, Wrocław 50-316, Poland
| | - Mirosław Furmanek
- Institute of Archaeology, University of Wrocław, Wrocław 50-139, Poland
| | - Barbara Veselka
- Department of Chemistry, Analytical Environmental and Geo-Chemistry Research Unit, Vrije Univeristeit Brussels, Brussels 1050, Belgium
- Department of Art Studies and Archaeology, Maritime Cultures Research Institute, Vrije Univeristeit Brussels, Brussels 1050, Belgium
| | - Petr Velemínský
- Department of Anthropology, National Museum, Prague 115-79, Czech Republic
| | - Giuseppe Vercellotti
- Department of Anthropology, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210
- Institute for Research and Learning in Archaeology and Bioarchaeology, Columbus, OH 43215
| | - Joachim Wahl
- Institute for Scientific Archaeology, Working Group Palaeoanthropology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen 72074, Germany
| | - Gunita Zariņa
- Institute of Latvian History, University of Latvia, Riga 1050, Latvia
| | - Cristina Longhi
- Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio, Rome 00186, Italy
| | - Jan Kolář
- Department of Vegetation Ecology, Institute of Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Průhonice 252-43, Czech Republic
- Institute of Archaeology and Museology, Masaryk University, Brno 602-00, Czech Republic
| | - Rafael Garrido-Pena
- Department of Prehistory and Archaeology, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid 28049, Spain
| | | | | | - Angela Simalcsik
- Olga Necrasov Center for Anthropological Research, Romanian Academy - Iasi Branch, Iasi 700481, Romania
- Orheiul Vechi Cultural-Natural Reserve, Orhei 3506, Republic of Moldova
| | - Werner Müller
- Laboratoire d'archéozoologie, Université de Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel 2000, Switzerland
| | - Alison Sheridan
- Department of Scottish History & Archaeology, National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh EH1 1JF, Scotland
| | - Žydrūnė Miliauskienė
- Department of Anatomy, Histology and Anthropology, Vilnius University, Vilnius 01513, Lithuania
| | - Rimantas Jankauskas
- Department of Anatomy, Histology and Anthropology, Vilnius University, Vilnius 01513, Lithuania
| | - Vyacheslav Moiseyev
- Department of Physical Anthropology, Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera), Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg 199034, Russia
| | - Kitti Köhler
- Institute of Archaeology, Research Centre for the Humanities, Eötvös Loránd Research Network, Budapest 1097, Hungary
| | - Ágnes Király
- Institute of Archaeology, Research Centre for the Humanities, Eötvös Loránd Research Network, Budapest 1097, Hungary
| | - Beatriz Gamarra
- Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, Tarragona 43007, Spain
- Departament d’Història i Història de l’Art, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona 43003, Spain
| | - Olivia Cheronet
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Vienna, Vienna 1030, Austria
- Human Evolution and Archaeological Sciences (HEAS), University of Vienna, Vienna 1030, Austria
| | - Vajk Szeverényi
- Institute of Archaeology, Research Centre for the Humanities, Eötvös Loránd Research Network, Budapest 1097, Hungary
- Department of Archaeology, Déri Múzeum, Debrecen 4026, Hungary
| | - Viktória Kiss
- Institute of Archaeology, Research Centre for the Humanities, Eötvös Loránd Research Network, Budapest 1097, Hungary
| | - Tamás Szeniczey
- Department of Biological Anthropology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest 1053, Hungary
| | - Krisztián Kiss
- Department of Biological Anthropology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest 1053, Hungary
- Department of Anthropology, Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest 1083, Hungary
| | | | - Judit Koós
- Department of Archaeology, Herman Ottó Museum, Miskolc 3530, Hungary
| | | | - Robert M. Maier
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
| | - László Domboróczki
- Department of Archaeology, István Dobó Castle Museum, Eger 3300, Hungary
| | - Cristian Virag
- Department of Archaeology, Satu Mare County Museum, Satu Mare 440031, Romania
| | - Mario Novak
- Centre for Applied Bioanthropology, Institute for Anthropological Research, Zagreb 10000, Croatia
| | - David Reich
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
- The Max Planck–Harvard Research Center for the Archaeoscience of the Ancient Mediterranean, Boston, MA 02115
- Broad Institute of Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02142
- HHMI, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA 02138
| | - Tamás Hajdu
- Department of Biological Anthropology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest 1053, Hungary
| | - Noreen von Cramon-Taubadel
- Buffalo Human Evolutionary Morphology Lab, Department of Anthropology, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY 14261-0026
| | - Ron Pinhasi
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Vienna, Vienna 1030, Austria
- Human Evolution and Archaeological Sciences (HEAS), University of Vienna, Vienna 1030, Austria
| | - George H. Perry
- Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802
- Department of Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802
- Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) Center for Advanced Studies, University of Tübingen, Tübingen 72074, Germany
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4
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Unique foot posture in Neanderthals reflects their body mass and high mechanical stress. J Hum Evol 2021; 161:103093. [PMID: 34749003 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2021.103093] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2021] [Revised: 10/02/2021] [Accepted: 10/03/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Neanderthal foot bone proportions and morphology are mostly indistinguishable from those of Homo sapiens, with the exception of several distinct Neanderthal features in the talus. The biomechanical implications of these distinct talar features remain contentious, fueling debate around the adaptive meaning of this distinctiveness. With the aim of clarifying this controversy, we test phylogenetic and behavioral factors as possible contributors, comparing tali of 10 Neanderthals and 81 H. sapiens (Upper Paleolithic and Holocene hunter-gatherers, agriculturalists, and postindustrial group) along with the Clark Howell talus (Omo, Ethiopia). Variation in external talar structures was assessed through geometric morphometric methods, while bone volume fraction and degree of anisotropy were quantified in a subsample (n = 45). Finally, covariation between point clouds of site-specific trabecular variables and surface landmark coordinates was assessed. Our results show that although Neanderthal talar external and internal morphologies were distinct from those of H. sapiens groups, shape did not significantly covary with either bone volume fraction or degree of anisotropy, suggesting limited covariation between external and internal talar structures. Neanderthal external talar morphology reflects ancestral retentions, along with various adaptations to high levels of mobility correlated to their presumably unshod hunter-gatherer lifestyle. This pairs with their high site-specific trabecular bone volume fraction and anisotropy, suggesting intense and consistently oriented locomotor loading, respectively. Relative to H.sapiens, Neanderthals exhibit differences in the talocrural joint that are potentially attributable to cultural and locomotor behavior dissimilarity, a talonavicular joint that mixes ancestral and functional traits, and a derived subtalar joint that suggests a predisposition for a pronated foot during stance phase. Overall, Neanderthal talar variation is attributable to mobility strategy and phylogenesis, while H. sapiens talar variation results from the same factors plus footwear. Our results suggest that greater Neanderthal body mass and/or higher mechanical stress uniquely led to their habitually pronated foot posture.
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5
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Johnson RJ, Lanaspa MA, Fox JW. Response to "Female Figurines, Climate Sensationalism, and Archaeological Shortcomings". Obesity (Silver Spring) 2021; 29:782. [PMID: 33733576 DOI: 10.1002/oby.23143] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Richard J Johnson
- Division of Renal Diseases and Hypertension, University of Colorado, Aurora, Colorado, USA
| | - Miguel A Lanaspa
- Division of Renal Diseases and Hypertension, University of Colorado, Aurora, Colorado, USA
| | - John W Fox
- Department of Anthropology, American University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
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6
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Johnson RJ, Lanaspa MA, Fox JW. Upper Paleolithic Figurines Showing Women with Obesity may Represent Survival Symbols of Climatic Change. Obesity (Silver Spring) 2021; 29:11-15. [PMID: 33258218 PMCID: PMC7902358 DOI: 10.1002/oby.23028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2020] [Revised: 08/27/2020] [Accepted: 08/28/2020] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Figurines of women with obesity or who are pregnant ("Venus figurines") from Upper Paleolithic Europe rank among the earliest art and endured from 38,000 to 14,000 BP (before present), one of the most arduous climatic periods in human history. We propose that the Venus representation relates to human adaptation to climate change. During this period, humans faced advancing glaciers and falling temperatures that led to nutritional stress, regional extinctions, and a reduction in the population. We analyzed Paleolithic figurines of women with obesity to test whether the more obese figurines are from sites during the height of the glacial advance and closer to the glacial fronts. Figurines are less obese as distance from the glaciers increases. Because survival required sufficient nutrition for child-bearing women, we hypothesize that the overnourished woman became an ideal symbol of survival and beauty during episodes of starvation and climate change in Paleolithic Europe.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard J Johnson
- Division of Renal Diseases and Hypertension, University of Colorado, Aurora, Colorado, USA
| | - Miguel A Lanaspa
- Division of Renal Diseases and Hypertension, University of Colorado, Aurora, Colorado, USA
| | - John W Fox
- Department of Anthropology, American University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
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7
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Mounier A, Heuzé Y, Samsel M, Vasilyev S, Klaric L, Villotte S. Gravettian cranial morphology and human group affinities during the European Upper Palaeolithic. Sci Rep 2020; 10:21931. [PMID: 33318530 PMCID: PMC7736346 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-78841-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2020] [Accepted: 11/23/2020] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Archaeologically defined Upper Palaeolithic (UP, 45,000-10,000 years ago) "cultures" are often used as proxies to designate fossil populations. While recent genomic studies have partly clarified the complex relationship between European UP "cultures" and past population dynamics, they leave open numerous questions regarding the biological characterization of these human groups, especially regarding the Mid-UP period (MUP, 33,000-24,000 years ago), which encompasses a pan-European cultural mosaic (Gravettian) with several regional facies. Here, we analyse a large database of well-dated and well-preserved UP crania, including MUP specimens from South-West France (SWF) and Moravia, using 3D geometric morphometrics to test for human group affinities. Our results show that the Gravettian makers from these two regions form a remarkably phenetically homogeneous sample which is different from, and more homogeneous than, the Late UP sample. Those results are congruent with genomic studies indicating a genetic continuity within the Gravettian manufacturers and a discontinuity marked by the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Moreover, our study expands the geographical range of the MUP phenetic continuity to SWF, for which aDNA data are scarce, and clarifies the post-LGM European population structure in SWF, with a possible dual ancestry stemming from different LGM refugia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aurélien Mounier
- Histoire Naturelle de l'Homme Préhistorique (HNHP, UMR 7194), MNHN/CNRS/UPVD, Musée de l'Homme, 17 place du Trocadéro et du 11 novembre, 75016, Paris, France. .,Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies, Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Street, Cambridge, CB2 1QH, United Kingdom.
| | - Yann Heuzé
- UMR 5199 PACEA, CNRS-Université de Bordeaux, Bâtiment B8, Allée Geoffroy Saint Hilaire, Pessac, 33615, France
| | - Mathilde Samsel
- UMR 5199 PACEA, CNRS-Université de Bordeaux, Bâtiment B8, Allée Geoffroy Saint Hilaire, Pessac, 33615, France
| | - Sergey Vasilyev
- Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology RAS, Leninsky pr. 32a, Moscow, Russian Federation, 119991
| | - Laurent Klaric
- CNRS, UMR-7055 PréTech, MSH Mondes, 21 allée de l'Université, 92023, Nanterre, France
| | - Sébastien Villotte
- UMR 5199 PACEA, CNRS-Université de Bordeaux, Bâtiment B8, Allée Geoffroy Saint Hilaire, Pessac, 33615, France.
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8
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Saers JPP, DeMars LJ, Stephens NB, Jashashvili T, Carlson KJ, Gordon AD, Shaw CN, Ryan TM, Stock JT. Combinations of trabecular and cortical bone properties distinguish various loading modalities between athletes and controls. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2020; 174:434-450. [PMID: 33244746 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24176] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2020] [Revised: 08/06/2020] [Accepted: 11/03/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Variation in trabecular and cortical bone properties is often used to infer habitual behavior in the past. However, the structures of both types of bone are rarely considered together and may even contradict each other in functional interpretations. We examine trabecular and cortical bone properties in various athletes and sedentary controls to clarify the associations between combinations of cortical and trabecular bone properties and various loading modalities. MATERIALS AND METHODS We compare trabecular and cortical bone properties using peripheral quantitative computed tomography scans of the tibia between groups of 83 male athletes (running, hockey, swimming, cricket) and sedentary controls using Bayesian multilevel models. We quantify midshaft cortical bone rigidity and area (J, CA), midshaft shape index (Imax/Imin), and mean trabecular bone mineral density (BMD) in the distal tibia. RESULTS All groups show unique combinations of biomechanical properties. Cortical bone rigidity is high in sports that involve impact loading (cricket, running, hockey) and low in nonimpact loaded swimmers and controls. Runners have more anteroposteriorly elliptical midshafts compared to other groups. Interestingly, all athletes have greater trabecular BMD compared to controls, but do not differ credibly among each other. DISCUSSION Results suggest that cortical midshaft hypertrophy is associated with impact loading while trabecular BMD is positively associated with both impact and nonimpact loading. Midshaft shape is associated with directionality of loading. Individuals from the different categories overlap substantially, but group means differ credibly, suggesting that nuanced group-level inferences of habitual behavior are possible when combinations of trabecular and cortical bone are analyzed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jaap P P Saers
- Department of Archaeology, Cambridge University, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
| | - Lily J DeMars
- Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Nicholas B Stephens
- Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Tea Jashashvili
- Department of Integrative Anatomical Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.,Department of Geology and Paleontology, Georgian National Museum, Tbilisi, Georgia
| | - Kristian J Carlson
- Department of Integrative Anatomical Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.,Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Adam D Gordon
- Department of Anthropology, University at Albany, SUNY, Albany, New York, USA
| | | | - Timothy M Ryan
- Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Jay T Stock
- Department of Archaeology, Cambridge University, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.,Department of Anthropology, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada
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9
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Beier J, Anthes N, Wahl J, Harvati K. Prevalence of cranial trauma in Eurasian Upper Paleolithic humans. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2020; 174:268-284. [PMID: 33107025 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24163] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2020] [Revised: 08/11/2020] [Accepted: 10/02/2020] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES This study characterizes patterns of cranial trauma prevalence in a large sample of Upper Paleolithic (UP) fossil specimens (40,000-10,000 BP). MATERIALS AND METHODS Our sample comprised 234 individual crania (specimens), representing 1,285 cranial bones (skeletal elements), from 101 Eurasian UP sites. We used generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) to assess trauma prevalence in relation to age-at-death, sex, anatomical distribution, and between pre- and post-Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) samples, while accounting for skeletal preservation. RESULTS Models predicted a mean cranial trauma prevalence of 0.07 (95% CI 0.003-0.19) at the level of skeletal elements, and of 0.26 (95% CI 0.08-0.48) at the level of specimens, each when 76-100% complete. Trauma prevalence increased with skeletal preservation. Across specimen and skeletal element datasets, trauma prevalence tended to be higher for males, and was consistently higher in the old age group. We found no time-specific trauma prevalence patterns for the two sexes or age cohorts when comparing samples from before and after the LGM. Samples showed higher trauma prevalence in the vault than in the face, with vault remains being affected predominantly in males. DISCUSSION Cranial trauma prevalence in UP humans falls within the variation described for Mesolithic and Neolithic samples. According to our current dataset, UP males and females were exposed to slightly different injury risks and trauma distributions, potentially due to different activities or behaviors, yet both sexes exhibit more trauma among the old. Environmental stressors associated with climatic changes of the LGM are not reflected in cranial trauma prevalence. To analyze trauma in incomplete skeletal remains we propose GLMMs as an informative alternative to crude frequency calculations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Judith Beier
- Paleoanthropology, Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Nils Anthes
- Animal Evolutionary Ecology Group, Institute of Evolution and Ecology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Joachim Wahl
- Paleoanthropology, Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Katerina Harvati
- Paleoanthropology, Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.,DFG Center for Advanced Studies "Words, Bones, Genes, Tools", University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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10
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Nowell A, French JC. Adolescence and innovation in the European Upper Palaeolithic. EVOLUTIONARY HUMAN SCIENCES 2020; 2:e36. [PMID: 37588373 PMCID: PMC10427464 DOI: 10.1017/ehs.2020.37] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Childhood and adolescence are two stages of development that are unique to the human life course. While childhood in the Pleistocene has received considerable attention in recent years, adolescence during the same period remains an understudied area of research. Yet it is during adolescence that key social, physical and cognitive milestones are reached. Thus, through studying adolescents, there is enormous potential for improving our understanding of Upper Palaeolithic lifeways more broadly. The reason for the dearth of these types of studies may be the perceived methodological difficulty of identifying adolescents in the archaeological record. In many ways, it is easier to distinguish children (sensu lato) from adults based on size, developmental age and associated artefacts. Adolescents, however, are often seen as more ambiguous, more liminal. Working within an evolutionary framework and using a definition of adolescence rooted in biology, we draw on psychology, ethnography and palaeodemography to develop a model of what it might have meant to be a 'teenager' in the European Upper Palaeolithic. Citing the biological, social and cognitive changes that occur during this life stage, we propose an important role of teenagers in the origins and spread of new ideas and innovations throughout the Late Pleistocene.
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Affiliation(s)
- April Nowell
- Department of Anthropology, University of Victoria, PO Box 1700 STN CSC, Victoria, BC, CanadaV8W 2Y2
| | - Jennifer C. French
- University College London, Institute of Archaeology, 31–34 Gordon Square, LondonWC1H 0PY, UK
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11
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Longman DP, Wells JCK, Stock JT. Human athletic paleobiology; using sport as a model to investigate human evolutionary adaptation. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2020; 171 Suppl 70:42-59. [PMID: 31957878 PMCID: PMC7217212 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23992] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2019] [Revised: 10/29/2019] [Accepted: 12/12/2019] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
The use of sport as a conceptual framework offers unprecedented opportunities to improve our understanding of what the body does, shedding new light on our evolutionary trajectory, our capacity for adaptation, and the underlying biological mechanisms. This approach has gained traction over recent years. To date, sport has facilitated exploration not only of the evolutionary history of our species as a whole, but also of human variation and adaptation at the interindividual and intraindividual levels. At the species level, analysis of lower and upper limb biomechanics and energetics with respect to walking, running and throwing have led to significant advances in the understanding of human adaptations relative to other hominins. From an interindividual perspective, investigation of physical activity patterns and endurance running performance is affording greater understanding of evolved constraints of energy expenditure, thermoregulatory energetics, signaling theory, and morphological variation. Furthermore, ultra-endurance challenges provoke functional trade-offs, allowing new ground to be broken in the study of life history trade-offs and human adaptability. Human athletic paleobiology-the recruitment of athletes as study participants and the use of contemporary sports as a model for studying evolutionary theory-has great potential. Here, we draw from examples in the literature to provide a review of how the use of athletes as a model system is enhancing understanding of human evolutionary adaptation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel P. Longman
- School of Sport, Exercise and Health SciencesLoughborough UniversityLoughboroughUK
| | | | - Jay T. Stock
- Department of AnthropologyUniversity of Western OntarioLondonOntarioCanada
- Department of ArchaeologyMax Planck Institute for the Science of Human HistoryJenaGermany
- Department of ArchaeologyUniversity of CambridgeCambridgeUK
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12
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Trumble BC, Finch CE. THE EXPOSOME IN HUMAN EVOLUTION: FROM DUST TO DIESEL. THE QUARTERLY REVIEW OF BIOLOGY 2019; 94:333-394. [PMID: 32269391 PMCID: PMC7141577 DOI: 10.1086/706768] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
Global exposures to air pollution and cigarette smoke are novel in human evolutionary history and are associated with about 16 million premature deaths per year. We investigate the history of the human exposome for relationships between novel environmental toxins and genetic changes during human evolution in six phases. Phase I: With increased walking on savannas, early human ancestors inhaled crustal dust, fecal aerosols, and spores; carrion scavenging introduced new infectious pathogens. Phase II: Domestic fire exposed early Homo to novel toxins from smoke and cooking. Phases III and IV: Neolithic to preindustrial Homo sapiens incurred infectious pathogens from domestic animals and dense communities with limited sanitation. Phase V: Industrialization introduced novel toxins from fossil fuels, industrial chemicals, and tobacco at the same time infectious pathogens were diminishing. Thereby, pathogen-driven causes of mortality were replaced by chronic diseases driven by sterile inflammogens, exogenous and endogenous. Phase VI: Considers future health during global warming with increased air pollution and infections. We hypothesize that adaptation to some ancient toxins persists in genetic variations associated with inflammation and longevity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin C Trumble
- School of Human Evolution & Social Change and Center for Evolution and Medicine, Arizona State University Tempe, Arizona 85287 USA
| | - Caleb E Finch
- Leonard Davis School of Gerontology and Dornsife College, University of Southern California Los Angeles, California 90089-0191 USA
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13
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External auditory exostoses among western Eurasian late Middle and Late Pleistocene humans. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0220464. [PMID: 31412053 PMCID: PMC6693685 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0220464] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2019] [Accepted: 07/16/2019] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
External auditory exostoses (EAE) have been noted among the Neandertals and a few other Pleistocene humans, but until recently they have been discussed primary as minor pathological lesions with possible auditory consequences. An assessment of available western Eurasian late Middle and Late Pleistocene human temporal bones with sufficiently preserved auditory canals (n = 77) provides modest levels of EAE among late Middle Pleistocene archaic humans (≈20%) and early modern humans (Middle Paleolithic: ≈25%; Early/Mid Upper Paleolithic: 20.8%; Late Upper Paleolithic: 9.5%). The Neandertals, however, exhibit an exceptionally high level of EAE (56.5%; 47.8% if two anomalous cases are considered normal). The levels of EAE for the early modern humans are well within recent human ranges of variation, frequencies which are low for equatorial inland and high latitude samples but occasionally higher elsewhere. The Early/Mid Upper Paleolithic frequency is nonetheless high for a high latitude sample under interpleniglacial conditions. Given the strong etiological and environmental associations of EAE development with exposure to cold water and/or damp wind chill, the high frequency of EAE among the Neandertals implies frequent aquatic resource exploitation, more frequent than the archeological and stable isotopic evidence for Middle Paleolithic/Neandertal littoral and freshwater resource foraging implies. As such, the Neandertal data parallel a similar pattern evident in eastern Eurasian archaic humans. Yet, factors in addition to cold water/wind exposure may well have contributed to their high EAE frequencies.
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14
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Friedl L, Claxton AG, Walker CS, Churchill SE, Holliday TW, Hawks J, Berger LR, DeSilva JM, Marchi D. Femoral neck and shaft structure in Homo naledi from the Dinaledi Chamber (Rising Star System, South Africa). J Hum Evol 2019; 133:61-77. [PMID: 31358184 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.06.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2018] [Revised: 06/04/2019] [Accepted: 06/05/2019] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Abstract
The abundant femoral assemblage of Homo naledi found in the Dinaledi Chamber provides a unique opportunity to test hypotheses regarding the taxonomy, locomotion, and loading patterns of this species. Here we describe neck and shaft cross-sectional structure of all the femoral fossils recovered in the Dinaledi Chamber and compare them to a broad sample of fossil hominins, recent humans, and extant apes. Cross-sectional geometric (CSG) properties from the femoral neck (base of neck and midneck) and diaphysis (subtrochanteric region and midshaft) were obtained through CT scans for H. naledi and through CT scans or from the literature for the comparative sample. The comparison of CSG properties of H. naledi and the comparative samples shows that H. naledi femoral neck is quite derived with low superoinferior cortical thickness ratio and high relative cortical area. The neck appears superoinferiorly elongated because of two bony pilasters on its superior surface. Homo naledi femoral shaft shows a relatively thick cortex compared to the other hominins. The subtrochanteric region of the diaphysis is mediolaterally elongated resembling early hominins while the midshaft is anteroposteriorly elongated, indicating high mobility levels. In term of diaphyseal robusticity, the H. naledi femur is more gracile that other hominins and most apes. Homo naledi shows a unique combination of characteristics in its femur that undoubtedly indicate a species committed to terrestrial bipedalism but with a unique loading pattern of the femur possibly consequence of the unique postcranial anatomy of the species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lukas Friedl
- Department of Anthropology, University of West Bohemia, Plzeň, Czech Republic
| | - Alex G Claxton
- Department of Anthropology, Dartmouth College, 409 Silsby, HB 6047, Hanover, USA
| | - Christopher S Walker
- Department of Molecular Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, 1060 William Moore Drive, Raleigh, NC, 27607, USA; Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre for Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Wits, 2050, South Africa; Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, 04 Bio Sci Bldg, Durham, NC, 27708, USA
| | - Steven E Churchill
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, 04 Bio Sci Bldg, Durham, NC, 27708, USA; Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre for Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Wits, 2050, South Africa
| | - Trenton W Holliday
- Department of Anthropology, Tulane University, 417 Dinwiddie Hall, New Orleans, LA, 70118, USA; Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre for Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Wits, 2050, South Africa
| | - John Hawks
- Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin, 5325 Sewell Social Science Building, Madison, WI, 53706, USA; Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre for Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Wits, 2050, South Africa
| | - Lee R Berger
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre for Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Wits, 2050, South Africa
| | - Jeremy M DeSilva
- Department of Anthropology, Dartmouth College, 409 Silsby, HB 6047, Hanover, USA; Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre for Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Wits, 2050, South Africa
| | - Damiano Marchi
- Department of Biology, University of Pisa, vis Derna 1, Pisa, 56126, Italy; Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre for Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Wits, 2050, South Africa.
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15
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Cucina A, Herrera Atoche R, Chatters JC. Oral health and diet of a young Late Pleistocene woman from Quintana Roo, Mexico. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2019; 170:246-259. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23884] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2019] [Revised: 05/24/2019] [Accepted: 06/07/2019] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Cucina
- Facultad de Ciencias AntropológicasUniversidad Autónoma de Yucatán Mérida Yucatán Mexico
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16
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Lugli F, Cipriani A, Capecchi G, Ricci S, Boschin F, Boscato P, Iacumin P, Badino F, Mannino MA, Talamo S, Richards MP, Benazzi S, Ronchitelli A. Strontium and stable isotope evidence of human mobility strategies across the Last Glacial Maximum in southern Italy. Nat Ecol Evol 2019; 3:905-911. [DOI: 10.1038/s41559-019-0900-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2018] [Accepted: 04/12/2019] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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17
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Chevalier T. Trauma in the upper limb of an Upper Paleolithic female from Caviglione cave (Liguria, Italy): Etiology and after-effects in bone biomechanical properties. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PALEOPATHOLOGY 2019; 24:94-107. [PMID: 30340107 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpp.2018.10.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2018] [Revised: 10/01/2018] [Accepted: 10/01/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
The impact of injury on the health and activities of human foragers is of great interest for understanding the adaptability of past populations to their environments. For the Gravettian female of Caviglione 1, a violent blow has been suggested as the origin of the left radial fracture, and abnormal body asymmetry has been observed. Access to high resolution CT-scans of the upper limb allows us to address new etiologic considerations and assess the after-effects of trauma on bone biomechanical properties by focusing on cortical and trabecular bones and conducting a comparative analysis of cross-sectional geometric properties in an Upper Paleolithic context. This originally right-dominant female, who became left-handed, was mainly affected by severe bone modifications on the proximal right humerus due to secondary changes following a traumatic event. The left radial fracture is very well consolidated with thick and homogeneous cortical bone. Etiological considerations point to a Galeazzi fracture for the left forearm occurring during a fall. The bone structure and robusticity of the left arm probably prove the lack of strong and enduring dependency of this female on her group for the usual cultural tasks despite the strongly limited function of the right arm.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tony Chevalier
- UMR7194/HNHP, Université de Perpignan Via Domitia, Centre Européen de Recherches Préhistoriques de Tautavel, France.
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18
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Saers JPP, Ryan TM, Stock JT. Trabecular bone functional adaptation and sexual dimorphism in the human foot. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2018; 168:154-169. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23732] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2018] [Revised: 09/25/2018] [Accepted: 09/26/2018] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jaap P. P. Saers
- Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research Cambridge United Kingdom
| | - Timothy M. Ryan
- Department of Anthropology Pennsylvania State University State College Pennsylvania
| | - Jay T. Stock
- Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research Cambridge United Kingdom
- Department of Anthropology University of Western Ontario London Ontario Canada
- Department of Archaeology Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History Jena Germany
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19
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Coker RH, Coker MS, Bartlett L, Murphy CJ, Priebe K, Shriver TC, Schoeller DA, Ruby BC. The energy requirements and metabolic benefits of wilderness hunting in Alaska. Physiol Rep 2018; 6:e13925. [PMID: 30430767 PMCID: PMC6236107 DOI: 10.14814/phy2.13925] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2018] [Accepted: 10/22/2018] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The purported healthy aspects of subsistence foods have led to the popularity of the Paleo diet. There has been very little focus, surprisingly, on health benefits derived from the nomadic nature of humans during the Paleolithic era. The purpose of our study was to examine total energy expenditure (TEE), total energy intake (TEI), body composition, blood lipids, and intrahepatic lipid in humans during a 12-day Alaskan backcountry expeditionary hunting (ABEH) immersion. Four healthy men (age: 42 ± 3 year, BMI: 27 ± 1 kg/m2 ) were recruited for the study. TEE was measured using the doubly labeled water method and a food diary was utilized to assess TEI. Body composition was measured using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA); cross-sectional area of the thigh (XT) and intrahepatic lipid (IHL) were measured using molecular imaging. Blood samples were collected for the measurement of blood lipids. DXA, XT, IHL, and blood data were collected pre- and immediately post-ABEH. Results were analyzed using paired t-tests and considered significant at P < 0.05. TEE and TEI averaged 18.1 ± 1.2 and 9.1 ± 2.5 MJ/day, respectively, indicating substantial negative energy balance (-9.0 ± 1.3 MJ/day). There was a reduction in percent body fat (∆-3.3 ± 0.2%), total fat mass (∆-3.3 ± 0.4 kg), and visceral fat volume (Δ-261 ± 188 cm3 ). Lean tissue mass and XT was unchanged. There was a decrease in IHL (Δ-0.5 ± 0.1% water peak), and a trend (P = 0.055) toward reduction in LDL-cholesterol. We conclude that constancy of physical activity during negative energy balance may provide metabolic benefits above and beyond variations in diet that exist with the hunter-gatherer lifestyle.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert H. Coker
- Institute of Arctic BiologyUniversity of Alaska FairbanksFairbanksAlaska
| | - Melynda S. Coker
- School of ManagementUniversity of Alaska FairbanksFairbanksAlaska
| | | | - Carl J. Murphy
- Isotope Ratio Core LaboratoryUniversity of Wisconsin‐MadisonMadisonWisconsin
| | - Karolina Priebe
- Institute of Arctic BiologyUniversity of Alaska FairbanksFairbanksAlaska
| | - Timothy C. Shriver
- Isotope Ratio Core LaboratoryUniversity of Wisconsin‐MadisonMadisonWisconsin
| | - Dale A. Schoeller
- Isotope Ratio Core LaboratoryUniversity of Wisconsin‐MadisonMadisonWisconsin
| | - Brent C. Ruby
- Montana Center for Work Physiology and Exercise MetabolismUniversity of MontanaMissoulaMontana
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20
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Rmoutilová R, Guyomarc’h P, Velemínský P, Šefčáková A, Samsel M, Santos F, Maureille B, Brůžek J. Virtual reconstruction of the Upper Palaeolithic skull from Zlatý Kůň, Czech Republic: Sex assessment and morphological affinity. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0201431. [PMID: 30161127 PMCID: PMC6116938 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0201431] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2018] [Accepted: 07/16/2018] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The incomplete cranium discovered at the Zlatý kůň site in the Bohemian Karst is a rare piece of skeletal evidence of human presence in Central Europe during the Late Glacial period. The relative position of cranial fragments was restored and missing parts of the cranium were virtually reconstructed using mirroring and the Thin-plate splines algorithm. The reconstruction allowed us to collect principal cranial measurements, revise a previous unfounded sex assignment and explore the specimen's morphological affinity. Visual assessment could not reliably provide a sexual diagnosis, as such methods have been developed on modern populations. Using a population-specific approach developed on cranial measurements collected from the literature on reliably sexed European Upper Palaeolithic specimens, linear discriminant analysis confirmed previous assignment to the female sex. However, caution is necessary with regard to the fact that it was assessed from the skull. The Zlatý kůň specimen clearly falls within the range of Upper Palaeolithic craniometric variation. Despite the shift in cranial variation that accompanied the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), the Zlatý kůň skull exhibits a morphological affinity with the pre-LGM population. Several interpretations are proposed with regard to the complex population processes that occurred after the LGM in Europe.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebeka Rmoutilová
- Department of Anthropology and Human Genetics, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
- UMR 5199 PACEA, University of Bordeaux, CNRS, MCC, Pessac, France
- * E-mail:
| | | | - Petr Velemínský
- Department of Anthropology, National Museum, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Alena Šefčáková
- Department of Anthropology, Slovak National Museum-Natural History Museum, Bratislava, Slovak Republic
| | - Mathilde Samsel
- UMR 5199 PACEA, University of Bordeaux, CNRS, MCC, Pessac, France
| | - Frédéric Santos
- UMR 5199 PACEA, University of Bordeaux, CNRS, MCC, Pessac, France
| | - Bruno Maureille
- UMR 5199 PACEA, University of Bordeaux, CNRS, MCC, Pessac, France
| | - Jaroslav Brůžek
- Department of Anthropology and Human Genetics, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
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A diachronic examination of biomechanical changes in skeletal remains from Tombos in ancient Nubia. HOMO-JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE HUMAN BIOLOGY 2018; 69:158-166. [PMID: 30131179 DOI: 10.1016/j.jchb.2018.07.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2017] [Accepted: 07/23/2018] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Using morphometric assessment, we diachronically analyse mechanical stress and limb function at the Tombos (modern Sudan) archaeological site through time and changing socioeconomic circumstances. Based on previous research, we expect that during the Third Intermediate/Napatan (c. 1070-656 BCE) people were larger and more physically active than in the New Kingdom (∼1400-1070 BCE). On the appendicular skeleton of adults 57 measurements were obtained on individuals from 67 discrete burials and 370 commingled skeletal elements. These raw measurements were analysed statistically. Individuals from the discrete burials were used to calculate body mass and estimate mechanical behaviour (torsional and bending rigidity of long bones) modeled using beam theory across several bones of the upper and lower limbs. Body mass estimates for both sexes show people during the Third Intermediate/Napatan period were statistically significantly larger. On the upper limb for both sexes, variation reflects joint stabilisation and actions of flexion and extension at the elbow and/or supination/pronation of the forearm. On the lower limb, females show variation related to weight bearing activities and foot flexion; male variation is related to weight bearing activities, joint movement and stabilisation. These data point to altered habitual behaviour and physical activity for both sexes at Tombos through time. Suggested causes for both sexes include increased agricultural activities, and for males increased granite quarrying and equestrian activities. Using analyses of multiple bones of the upper and lower limbs in conjunction with biomechanical analyses, this study demonstrates the importance of the examination of physical activities in past populations, highlighting changes that can occur with sociopolitical transitions.
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Fujito NT, Satta Y, Hane M, Matsui A, Yashima K, Kitajima K, Sato C, Takahata N, Hayakawa T. Positive selection on schizophrenia-associated ST8SIA2 gene in post-glacial Asia. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0200278. [PMID: 30044798 PMCID: PMC6059407 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0200278] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2018] [Accepted: 06/23/2018] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
A number of loci are associated with highly heritable schizophrenia and the prevalence of this mental illness has had considerable negative fitness effects on human populations. Here we focused on one particular schizophrenia-associated gene that encodes a sialyltransferase (ST8SIA2) and is expressed preferentially in the brain with the level being largely determined by three SNPs in the promoter region. It is suggested that the expression level of the ST8SIA2 gene is a genetic determinant of schizophrenia risk, and we found that a geographically differentiated non-risk SNP type (CGC-type) has significantly reduced promoter activity. A newly developed method for detecting ongoing positive selection was applied to the ST8SIA2 genomic region with the identification of an unambiguous sweep signal in a rather restricted region of 18 kb length surrounding the promoter. We also found that while the CGC-type emerged in anatomically modern humans in Africa over 100 thousand years ago, it has increased its frequency in Asia only during the past 20-30 thousand years. These findings support that the positive selection is driven by psychosocial stress due to changing social environments since around the last glacial maximum, and raise a possibility that schizophrenia extensively emerged during the Upper Paleolithic and Neolithic era.
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Affiliation(s)
- Naoko T. Fujito
- School of Advanced Sciences, SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies), Hayama, Kanagawa, Japan
| | - Yoko Satta
- School of Advanced Sciences, SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies), Hayama, Kanagawa, Japan
| | - Masaya Hane
- Bioscience and Biotechnology Center, Nagoya University, Aichi, Japan
| | - Atsushi Matsui
- Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Aichi, Japan
| | - Kenta Yashima
- School of Advanced Sciences, SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies), Hayama, Kanagawa, Japan
| | - Ken Kitajima
- Bioscience and Biotechnology Center, Nagoya University, Aichi, Japan
| | - Chihiro Sato
- Bioscience and Biotechnology Center, Nagoya University, Aichi, Japan
| | - Naoyuki Takahata
- School of Advanced Sciences, SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies), Hayama, Kanagawa, Japan
| | - Toshiyuki Hayakawa
- Graduate School of Systems Life Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
- Faculty of Arts and Science, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
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Trinkaus E. One hundred years of paleoanthropology: An American perspective. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2018; 165:638-651. [PMID: 29574840 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23330] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2017] [Revised: 09/18/2017] [Accepted: 09/18/2017] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Erik Trinkaus
- Department of Anthropology, Washington University, Saint Louis, Missouri, 63130
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Willman JC, Shackelford L, Demeter F. Incisor ablation among the late upper paleolithic people of Tam Hang (Northern Laos): Social identity, mortuary practice, and oral health. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2016; 160:519-28. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.22988] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2015] [Revised: 03/12/2016] [Accepted: 03/15/2016] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- John C. Willman
- Department of Anthropology; Washington University; Saint Louis MO 63130
| | - Laura Shackelford
- Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Urbana IL 61801
| | - Fabrice Demeter
- Musée de l'Homme, Département HNS; UMR7206 Anthropologie Évolutive, 17 Place Du Trocadéro Paris 75116 France
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25
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Villotte S, Santos F, Courtaud P. In situ study of the Gravettian individual from Cussac cave, locus 2 (Dordogne, France). AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2015; 158:759-68. [PMID: 26331301 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.22831] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2015] [Revised: 06/17/2015] [Accepted: 07/28/2015] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Cussac cave, discovered in 2000, is characterized by the exceptional presence of monumental engravings and human remains deposited in bear nests. Both the style of the art and a direct radiocarbon date indicate a Gravettian age. As the cave is protected as a national heritage site, only very limited access to and restricted direct interventions involving the human remains are possible. Here, we present the results of observations and measurements of Cussac L2A, represented by a virtually complete skeleton covered with a layer of clay. MATERIALS AND METHODS A portion of the clay that covered some bones was removed in order to undertake a study of the skeleton in situ. The age-at-death was assessed using several indicators, especially changes on the auricular surface of the ilium. The sex was assessed using the morphology and morphometrics of the coxal bones. Cussac L2A stature, humero-femoral index, and crural index were also estimated. The dimensions of the Cussac L2A skeletal remains are compared with the other European Gravettian and Late Upper Paleolithic human remains using adjusted Z-Scores. RESULTS The analysis indicates that Cussac L2A is probably a male who died aged between 20 and 50 years. If the sex assessment is correct, with an averaged estimated stature of 1.64 m, Cussac L2A would be one of the shorter Gravettian males. DISCUSSION These results raise the importance of the new discoveries to better understand the variability of Upper Paleolithic skeletal morphology and stress the difficulties in marrying heritage preservation and scientific investigations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sébastien Villotte
- CNRS, Anthropologie des Populations Passées et Présentes, UMR 5199 PACEA, Batiment B8, Allée Geoffroy Saint Hilaire, Université De Bordeaux, CS, 50023, Pessac Cedex, France, 33615
| | - Frédéric Santos
- CNRS, Anthropologie des Populations Passées et Présentes, UMR 5199 PACEA, Batiment B8, Allée Geoffroy Saint Hilaire, Université De Bordeaux, CS, 50023, Pessac Cedex, France, 33615
| | - Patrice Courtaud
- CNRS, Anthropologie des Populations Passées et Présentes, UMR 5199 PACEA, Batiment B8, Allée Geoffroy Saint Hilaire, Université De Bordeaux, CS, 50023, Pessac Cedex, France, 33615
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Benazzi S, Slon V, Talamo S, Negrino F, Peresani M, Bailey SE, Sawyer S, Panetta D, Vicino G, Starnini E, Mannino MA, Salvadori PA, Meyer M, Paabo S, Hublin JJ. The makers of the Protoaurignacian and implications for Neandertal extinction. Science 2015; 348:793-6. [DOI: 10.1126/science.aaa2773] [Citation(s) in RCA: 129] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2014] [Accepted: 03/16/2015] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
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Brun JF, Guiraudou M, Romain AJ, Pollatz M, Fédou C, Mercier J. Le niveau d’oxydation maximale des lipides (LIPOXmax), un niveau d’exercice adapté par ses propriétés énergétiques et comportementales au « génotype économe » du syndrome métabolique : l’hypothèse du « healthy primitive lifestyle ». Sci Sports 2015. [DOI: 10.1016/j.scispo.2015.01.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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Gracility of the modern Homo sapiens skeleton is the result of decreased biomechanical loading. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2014; 112:372-7. [PMID: 25535352 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1418646112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 101] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/23/2023] Open
Abstract
The postcranial skeleton of modern Homo sapiens is relatively gracile compared with other hominoids and earlier hominins. This gracility predisposes contemporary humans to osteoporosis and increased fracture risk. Explanations for this gracility include reduced levels of physical activity, the dissipation of load through enlarged joint surfaces, and selection for systemic physiological characteristics that differentiate modern humans from other primates. This study considered the skeletal remains of four behaviorally diverse recent human populations and a large sample of extant primates to assess variation in trabecular bone structure in the human hip joint. Proximal femur trabecular bone structure was quantified from microCT data for 229 individuals from 31 extant primate taxa and 59 individuals from four distinct archaeological human populations representing sedentary agriculturalists and mobile foragers. Analyses of mass-corrected trabecular bone variables reveal that the forager populations had significantly higher bone volume fraction, thicker trabeculae, and consequently lower relative bone surface area compared with the two agriculturalist groups. There were no significant differences between the agriculturalist and forager populations for trabecular spacing, number, or degree of anisotropy. These results reveal a correspondence between human behavior and bone structure in the proximal femur, indicating that more highly mobile human populations have trabecular bone structure similar to what would be expected for wild nonhuman primates of the same body mass. These results strongly emphasize the importance of physical activity and exercise for bone health and the attenuation of age-related bone loss.
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Lucock MD, Martin CE, Yates ZR, Veysey M. Diet and our genetic legacy in the recent anthropocene: a Darwinian perspective to nutritional health. J Evid Based Complementary Altern Med 2013; 19:68-83. [PMID: 24647381 DOI: 10.1177/2156587213503345] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Nutrient-gene research tends to focus on human disease, although such interactions are often a by-product of our evolutionary heritage. This review explores health in this context, reframing genetic variation/epigenetic phenomena linked to diet in the framework of our recent evolutionary past. This "Darwinian/evolutionary medicine" approach examines how diet helped us evolve among primates and to adapt (or fail to adapt) our metabolome to specific environmental conditions leading to major diseases of civilization. This review presents updated evidence from a diet-gene perspective, portraying discord that exists with respect to health and our overall nutritional, cultural, and activity patterns. While Darwinian theory goes beyond nutritional considerations, a significant component within this concept does relate to nutrition and the mismatch between genes, modern diet, obesogenic lifestyle, and health outcomes. The review argues that nutritional sciences should expand knowledge on the evolutionary connection between food and disease, assimilating it into clinical training with greater prominence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark D Lucock
- University of Newcastle, Ourimbah, New South Wales, Australia
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Freidline SE, Gunz P, Harvati K, Hublin JJ. Evaluating developmental shape changes in Homo antecessor subadult facial morphology. J Hum Evol 2013; 65:404-23. [PMID: 23998458 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2013.07.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2012] [Revised: 07/25/2013] [Accepted: 07/25/2013] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
The fossil ATD6-69 from Atapuerca, Spain, dated to ca. 900 ka (thousands of years ago) has been suggested to mark the earliest appearance of modern human facial features. However, this specimen is a subadult and the interpretation of its morphology remains controversial, because it is unclear how developmental shape changes would affect the features that link ATD6-69 to modern humans. Here we analyze ATD6-69 in an evolutionary and developmental context. Our modern human sample comprises cross-sectional growth series from four populations. The fossil sample covers human specimens from the Pleistocene to the Upper Paleolithic, and includes several subadult Early Pleistocene humans and Neanderthals. We digitized landmarks and semilandmarks on surface and CT scans and analyzed the Procrustes shape coordinates using multivariate statistics. Ontogenetic allometric trajectories and developmental simulations were employed in order to identify growth patterns and to visualize potential adult shapes of ATD6-69. We show that facial differences between modern and archaic humans are not exclusively allometric. We find that while postnatal growth further accentuates the differences in facial features between Neanderthals and modern humans, those features that have been suggested to link ATD6-69's morphology to modern humans would not have been significantly altered in the course of subsequent development. In particular, the infraorbital depression on this specimen would have persisted into adulthood. However, many of the facial features that ATD6-69 shares with modern humans can be considered to be part of a generalized pattern of facial architecture. Our results present a complex picture regarding the polarity of facial features and demonstrate that some modern human-like facial morphology is intermittently present in Middle Pleistocene humans. We suggest that some of the facial features that characterize recent modern humans may have developed multiple times in human evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah E Freidline
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Department of Human Evolution, Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig 04103, Germany; City University of New York Graduate School, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016, USA; New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, USA; Paleoanthropology, Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen and Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Paleoecology, Rümelinstrasse 23, 72070 Tübingen, Germany.
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Shaw CN, Stock JT. Extreme mobility in the Late Pleistocene? Comparing limb biomechanics among fossil Homo, varsity athletes and Holocene foragers. J Hum Evol 2013; 64:242-9. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2013.01.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 77] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2012] [Revised: 12/18/2012] [Accepted: 01/09/2013] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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Haber M, Gauguier D, Youhanna S, Patterson N, Moorjani P, Botigué LR, Platt DE, Matisoo-Smith E, Soria-Hernanz DF, Wells RS, Bertranpetit J, Tyler-Smith C, Comas D, Zalloua PA. Genome-wide diversity in the levant reveals recent structuring by culture. PLoS Genet 2013; 9:e1003316. [PMID: 23468648 PMCID: PMC3585000 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1003316] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2012] [Accepted: 12/20/2012] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The Levant is a region in the Near East with an impressive record of continuous human existence and major cultural developments since the Paleolithic period. Genetic and archeological studies present solid evidence placing the Middle East and the Arabian Peninsula as the first stepping-stone outside Africa. There is, however, little understanding of demographic changes in the Middle East, particularly the Levant, after the first Out-of-Africa expansion and how the Levantine peoples relate genetically to each other and to their neighbors. In this study we analyze more than 500,000 genome-wide SNPs in 1,341 new samples from the Levant and compare them to samples from 48 populations worldwide. Our results show recent genetic stratifications in the Levant are driven by the religious affiliations of the populations within the region. Cultural changes within the last two millennia appear to have facilitated/maintained admixture between culturally similar populations from the Levant, Arabian Peninsula, and Africa. The same cultural changes seem to have resulted in genetic isolation of other groups by limiting admixture with culturally different neighboring populations. Consequently, Levant populations today fall into two main groups: one sharing more genetic characteristics with modern-day Europeans and Central Asians, and the other with closer genetic affinities to other Middle Easterners and Africans. Finally, we identify a putative Levantine ancestral component that diverged from other Middle Easterners ∼23,700–15,500 years ago during the last glacial period, and diverged from Europeans ∼15,900–9,100 years ago between the last glacial warming and the start of the Neolithic. Population stratification caused by nonrandom mating between groups of the same species is often due to geographical distances leading to physical separation followed by genetic drift of allele frequencies in each group. In humans, population structures are also often driven by geographical barriers or distances; however, humans might also be structured by abstract factors such as culture, a consequence of their reasoning and self-awareness. Religion in particular, is one of the unusual conceptual factors that can drive human population structures. This study explores the Levant, a region flanked by the Middle East and Europe, where individual and population relationships are still strongly influenced by religion. We show that religious affiliation had a strong impact on the genomes of the Levantines. In particular, conversion of the region's populations to Islam appears to have introduced major rearrangements in populations' relations through admixture with culturally similar but geographically remote populations, leading to genetic similarities between remarkably distant populations like Jordanians, Moroccans, and Yemenis. Conversely, other populations, like Christians and Druze, became genetically isolated in the new cultural environment. We reconstructed the genetic structure of the Levantines and found that a pre-Islamic expansion Levant was more genetically similar to Europeans than to Middle Easterners.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marc Haber
- Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (CSIC–UPF), Departament de Ciències de la Salut i de la Vida, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
- The Lebanese American University, Chouran, Beirut, Lebanon
| | - Dominique Gauguier
- The Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
- INSERM UMRS872, Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers, Paris, France
| | - Sonia Youhanna
- The Lebanese American University, Chouran, Beirut, Lebanon
| | - Nick Patterson
- Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Priya Moorjani
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Laura R. Botigué
- Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (CSIC–UPF), Departament de Ciències de la Salut i de la Vida, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Daniel E. Platt
- Bioinformatics and Pattern Discovery, IBM T. J. Watson Research Centre, Yorktown Heights, New York, United States of America
| | - Elizabeth Matisoo-Smith
- Allan Wilson Centre for Molecular Ecology and Evolution and Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - David F. Soria-Hernanz
- The Genographic Project, National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C., United States of America
| | - R. Spencer Wells
- The Genographic Project, National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C., United States of America
| | - Jaume Bertranpetit
- Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (CSIC–UPF), Departament de Ciències de la Salut i de la Vida, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Chris Tyler-Smith
- The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, United Kingdom
| | - David Comas
- Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (CSIC–UPF), Departament de Ciències de la Salut i de la Vida, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Pierre A. Zalloua
- The Lebanese American University, Chouran, Beirut, Lebanon
- Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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Freidline SE, Gunz P, Harvati K, Hublin JJ. Middle Pleistocene human facial morphology in an evolutionary and developmental context. J Hum Evol 2012; 63:723-40. [PMID: 22981042 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2012.08.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/24/2011] [Revised: 08/03/2012] [Accepted: 08/08/2012] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Neanderthals and modern humans exhibit distinct facial architectures. The patterning of facial morphology of their predecessors, the Middle Pleistocene humans, is more mosaic showing a mix of archaic and modern morphologies. Significant changes in facial size and robusticity occurred throughout Pleistocene human evolution, resulting in temporal trends in both facial reduction and enlargement. However, the allometric patterning in facial morphology in archaic humans is not well understood. This study explores temporal trends in facial morphology in order to gain a clearer understanding of the polarity of features, and describes the allometric patterning of facial shape. The modern human sample comprises cross-sectional growth series of four morphologically distinct human populations. The fossil sample covers specimens from the Middle Pleistocene to the Upper Paleolithic. We digitized landmarks and semilandmarks on surface and computed tomography scans and analyzed the Procrustes shape coordinates. Principal component analyses were performed, and Procrustes distances were used to identify phenetic similarities between fossil hominins. In order to explore the influence of size on facial features, allometric trajectories were calculated for fossil and modern human groups, and developmental simulations were performed. We show that facial features can be used to separate Pleistocene humans into temporal clusters. The distinctly modern human pattern of facial morphology is already present around 170 ka. Species- and population-specific facial features develop before two years of age, and several of the large-scale facial differences between Neanderthals and Middle Pleistocene humans are due to scaling along a shared allometric trajectory. These features include aspects of the frontal bone, browridge morphology, nasal aperture size and facial prognathism. Infraorbital surface topography and orientation of the midface in the European Middle Pleistocene hominins is intermediate between the African Middle Pleistocene and Neanderthal condition. This could suggest that the European Middle Pleistocene hominins display incipient Neanderthal features.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah E Freidline
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Department of Human Evolution, Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig 04103, Germany.
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Freidline S, Gunz P, Janković I, Harvati K, Hublin J. A comprehensive morphometric analysis of the frontal and zygomatic bone of the Zuttiyeh fossil from Israel. J Hum Evol 2012; 62:225-41. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2011.11.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2011] [Revised: 10/25/2011] [Accepted: 11/08/2011] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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Huston MA, Wolverton S. Regulation of animal size by eNPP, Bergmann's rule, and related phenomena. ECOL MONOGR 2011. [DOI: 10.1890/10-1523.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 135] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
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Mummert A, Esche E, Robinson J, Armelagos GJ. Stature and robusticity during the agricultural transition: evidence from the bioarchaeological record. ECONOMICS AND HUMAN BIOLOGY 2011; 9:284-301. [PMID: 21507735 DOI: 10.1016/j.ehb.2011.03.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2011] [Revised: 03/26/2011] [Accepted: 03/27/2011] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
The population explosion that followed the Neolithic revolution was initially explained by improved health experiences for agriculturalists. However, empirical studies of societies shifting subsistence from foraging to primary food production have found evidence for deteriorating health from an increase in infectious and dental disease and a rise in nutritional deficiencies. In Paleopathology at the Origins of Agriculture (Cohen and Armelagos, 1984), this trend towards declining health was observed for 19 of 21 societies undergoing the agricultural transformation. The counterintuitive increase in nutritional diseases resulted from seasonal hunger, reliance on single crops deficient in essential nutrients, crop blights, social inequalities, and trade. In this study, we examined the evidence of stature reduction in studies since 1984 to evaluate if the trend towards decreased health after agricultural transitions remains. The trend towards a decrease in adult height and a general reduction of overall health during times of subsistence change remains valid, with the majority of studies finding stature to decline as the reliance on agriculture increased. The impact of agriculture, accompanied by increasing population density and a rise in infectious disease, was observed to decrease stature in populations from across the entire globe and regardless of the temporal period during which agriculture was adopted, including Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, South America, and North America.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanda Mummert
- Department of Anthropology, Emory University, 207 Anthropology Building, 1557 Dickey Drive, Atlanta, GA 30322, United States.
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Fashing PJ, Nguyen N, Barry TS, Goodale CB, Burke RJ, Jones SCZ, Kerby JT, Lee LM, Nurmi NO, Venkataraman VV. Death among geladas (Theropithecus gelada): a broader perspective on mummified infants and primate thanatology. Am J Primatol 2010; 73:405-9. [PMID: 21432869 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.20902] [Citation(s) in RCA: 103] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2010] [Revised: 10/21/2010] [Accepted: 10/27/2010] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
Despite intensive study in humans, responses to dying and death have been a neglected area of research in other social mammals, including nonhuman primates. Two recent reports [Anderson JR, Gillies A, Lock LC. 2010. Pan thanatology. Current Biology 20:R349-R351; Biro D, Humle T, Koops K, Souse C, Hayashi M, Matsuzawa T. 2010. Chimpanzee mothers at Bossou, Guinea carry the mummified remains of their dead infants. Current Biology 20:R351-R352] offered exciting new insights into behavior toward dying and dead conspecifics in our closest living relatives-chimpanzees. Here, we provide a comparative perspective on primate thanatology using observations from a more distant human relative-gelada monkeys (Theropithecus gelada)-and discuss how gelada reactions to dead and dying groupmates differ from those recently reported for chimpanzees. Over a 3.75-year study period, we observed 14 female geladas at Guassa, Ethiopia carrying dead infants from 1 hr to ≥48 days after death. Dead infants were carried by their mothers, other females in their group, and even by females belonging to other groups. Like other primate populations in which extended (>10 days) infant carrying after death has been reported, geladas at Guassa experience an extreme climate for primates, creating conditions which may favor slower rates of decomposition of dead individuals. We also witnessed the events leading up to the deaths of two individuals and the responses by groupmates to these dying individuals. Our results suggest that while chimpanzee mothers are not unique among primates in carrying their dead infants for long periods, seemingly "compassionate" caretaking behavior toward dying groupmates may be unique to chimpanzees among nonhuman primates (though it remains unknown whether such "compassionate" behavior occurs outside captivity).
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter J Fashing
- Department of Anthropology, California State University Fullerton, USA.
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Hubbe M, Harvati K, Neves W. Paleoamerican morphology in the context of European and East Asian late Pleistocene variation: Implications for human dispersion into the new world. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2010; 144:442-53. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.21425] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2010] [Accepted: 09/17/2010] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
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Harvati K, Hublin JJ, Gunz P. Evolution of middle-late Pleistocene human cranio-facial form: a 3-D approach. J Hum Evol 2010; 59:445-64. [PMID: 20708775 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2010.06.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 74] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2008] [Revised: 05/24/2010] [Accepted: 04/08/2010] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
The classification and phylogenetic relationships of the middle Pleistocene human fossil record remains one of the most intractable problems in paleoanthropology. Several authors have noted broad resemblances between European and African fossils from this period, suggesting a single taxon ancestral to both modern humans and Neanderthals. Others point out 'incipient' Neanderthal features in the morphology of the European sample and have argued for their inclusion in the Neanderthal lineage exclusively, following a model of accretionary evolution of Neanderthals. We approach these questions using geometric morphometric methods which allow the intuitive visualization and quantification of features previously described qualitatively. We apply these techniques to evaluate proposed cranio-facial 'incipient' facial, vault, and basicranial traits in a middle-late Pleistocene European hominin sample when compared to a sample of the same time depth from Africa. Some of the features examined followed the predictions of the accretion model and relate the middle Pleistocene European material to the later Neanderthals. However, although our analysis showed a clear separation between Neanderthals and early/recent modern humans and morphological proximity between European specimens from OIS 7 to 3, it also shows that the European hominins from the first half of the middle Pleistocene still shared most of their cranio-facial architecture with their African contemporaries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katerina Harvati
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology and Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Paleoecology, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Rümelinstr. 23, 72070 Tübingen, Baden-Württenberg, Germany.
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