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Moubtahij Z, McCormack J, Bourgon N, Trost M, Sinet-Mathiot V, Fuller BT, Smith GM, Temming H, Steinbrenner S, Hublin JJ, Bouzouggar A, Turner E, Jaouen K. Isotopic evidence of high reliance on plant food among Later Stone Age hunter-gatherers at Taforalt, Morocco. Nat Ecol Evol 2024; 8:1035-1045. [PMID: 38684738 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-024-02382-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: 06/19/2023] [Accepted: 03/01/2024] [Indexed: 05/02/2024]
Abstract
The transition from hunting-gathering to agriculture stands as one of the most important dietary revolutions in human history. Yet, due to a scarcity of well-preserved human remains from Pleistocene sites, little is known about the dietary practices of pre-agricultural human groups. Here we present the isotopic evidence of pronounced plant reliance among Late Stone Age hunter-gatherers from North Africa (15,000-13,000 cal BP), predating the advent of agriculture by several millennia. Employing a comprehensive multi-isotopic approach, we conducted zinc (δ66Zn) and strontium (87Sr/86Sr) analysis on dental enamel, bulk carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) and sulfur (δ34S) isotope analysis on dentin and bone collagen, and single amino acid analysis on human and faunal remains from Taforalt (Morocco). Our results unequivocally demonstrate a substantial plant-based component in the diets of these hunter-gatherers. This distinct dietary pattern challenges the prevailing notion of high reliance on animal proteins among pre-agricultural human groups. It also raises intriguing questions surrounding the absence of agricultural development in North Africa during the early Holocene. This study underscores the importance of investigating dietary practices during the transition to agriculture and provides insights into the complexities of human subsistence strategies across different regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zineb Moubtahij
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.
- Géosciences Environnement Toulouse, UMR 5563, CNRS, Observatoire Midi Pyrénées, Toulouse, France.
| | - Jeremy McCormack
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Goethe University Frankfurt, Institute of Geosciences, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Nicolas Bourgon
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- IsoTROPIC Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology, Jena, Germany
| | - Manuel Trost
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Virginie Sinet-Mathiot
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- PACEA, UMR 5199, CNRS, Université de Bordeaux, Ministère de la Culture, Pessac, France
- CBMN, UMR 5248 and Bordeaux Proteome Platform, Bordeaux INP, CNRS, Université de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
| | - Benjamin T Fuller
- Géosciences Environnement Toulouse, UMR 5563, CNRS, Observatoire Midi Pyrénées, Toulouse, France
| | - Geoff M Smith
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
| | - Heiko Temming
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Sven Steinbrenner
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Jean-Jacques Hublin
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Chaire de Paléoanthropologie, CIRB (UMR 7241-U1050), Collège de France, Paris, France
| | - Abdeljalil Bouzouggar
- Institut National des Sciences de l'Archéologie et du Patrimoine, Origin and Evolution of Homo Sapiens Cultures, Rabat, Morocco
- Department of Archaeogenetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Elaine Turner
- Monrepos Archaeological Research Centre and Museum for Human Behavioural Evolution, LEIZA, Neuwied, Germany
| | - Klervia Jaouen
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Géosciences Environnement Toulouse, UMR 5563, CNRS, Observatoire Midi Pyrénées, Toulouse, France
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2
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Caro-Consuegra R, Lucas-Sánchez M, Comas D, Bosch E. Identifying signatures of positive selection in human populations from North Africa. Sci Rep 2023; 13:8166. [PMID: 37210386 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-35312-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2022] [Accepted: 05/16/2023] [Indexed: 05/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Because of its location, North Africa (NA) has witnessed continuous demographic movements with an impact on the genomes of present-day human populations. Genomic data describe a complex scenario with varying proportions of at least four main ancestry components: Maghrebi, Middle Eastern-, European-, and West-and-East-African-like. However, the footprint of positive selection in NA has not been studied. Here, we compile genome-wide genotyping data from 190 North Africans and individuals from surrounding populations, investigate for signatures of positive selection using allele frequencies and linkage disequilibrium-based methods and infer ancestry proportions to discern adaptive admixture from post-admixture selection events. Our results show private candidate genes for selection in NA involved in insulin processing (KIF5A), immune function (KIF5A, IL1RN, TLR3), and haemoglobin phenotypes (BCL11A). We also detect signatures of positive selection related to skin pigmentation (SLC24A5, KITLG), and immunity function (IL1R1, CD44, JAK1) shared with European populations and candidate genes associated with haemoglobin phenotypes (HPSE2, HBE1, HBG2), other immune-related (DOCK2) traits, and insulin processing (GLIS3) traits shared with West and East African populations. Finally, the SLC8A1 gene, which codifies for a sodium-calcium exchanger, was the only candidate identified under post-admixture selection in Western NA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rocio Caro-Consuegra
- Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (UPF-CSIC), Departament de Medicina i Ciències de la Vida, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Parc de Recerca Biomèdica de Barcelona, 08003, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Marcel Lucas-Sánchez
- Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (UPF-CSIC), Departament de Medicina i Ciències de la Vida, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Parc de Recerca Biomèdica de Barcelona, 08003, Barcelona, Spain
| | - David Comas
- Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (UPF-CSIC), Departament de Medicina i Ciències de la Vida, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Parc de Recerca Biomèdica de Barcelona, 08003, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Elena Bosch
- Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (UPF-CSIC), Departament de Medicina i Ciències de la Vida, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Parc de Recerca Biomèdica de Barcelona, 08003, Barcelona, Spain.
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28029, Madrid, Spain.
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The relevance of late MSA mandibles on the emergence of modern morphology in Northern Africa. Sci Rep 2022; 12:8841. [PMID: 35614148 PMCID: PMC9133045 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-12607-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2021] [Accepted: 04/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
North Africa is a key area for understanding hominin population movements and the expansion of our species. It is home to the earliest currently known Homo sapiens (Jebel Irhoud) and several late Middle Stone Age (MSA) fossils, notably Kébibat, Contrebandiers 1, Dar-es-Soltane II H5 and El Harhoura. Mostly referred to as “Aterian” they fill a gap in the North African fossil record between Jebel Irhoud and Iberomaurusians. We explore morphological continuity in this region by quantifying mandibular shape using 3D (semi)landmark geometric morphometric methods in a comparative framework of late Early and Middle Pleistocene hominins (n = 15), Neanderthals (n = 27) and H. sapiens (n = 145). We discovered a set of mixed features among late MSA fossils that is in line with an accretion of modern traits through time and an ongoing masticatory gracilization process. In Northern Africa, Aterians display similarities to Iberomaurusians and recent humans in the area as well as to the Tighenif and Thomas Quarry hominins, suggesting a greater time depth for regional continuity than previously assumed. The evidence we lay out for a long-term succession of hominins and humans emphasizes North Africa’s role as source area of the earliest H. sapiens.
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Whole-exome analysis in Tunisian Imazighen and Arabs shows the impact of demography in functional variation. Sci Rep 2021; 11:21125. [PMID: 34702931 PMCID: PMC8548440 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-00576-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2021] [Accepted: 10/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Human populations are genetically affected by their demographic history, which shapes the distribution of their functional genomic variation. However, the genetic impact of recent demography is debated. This issue has been studied in different populations, but never in North Africans, despite their relevant cultural and demographic diversity. In this study we address the question by analyzing new whole-exome sequences from two culturally different Tunisian populations, an isolated Amazigh population and a close non-isolated Arab-speaking population, focusing on the distribution of functional variation. Both populations present clear differences in their variant frequency distribution, in general and for putatively damaging variation. This suggests a relevant effect in the Amazigh population of genetic isolation, drift, and inbreeding, pointing to relaxed purifying selection. We also discover the enrichment in Imazighen of variation associated to specific diseases or phenotypic traits, but the scarce genetic and biomedical data in the region limits further interpretation. Our results show the genomic impact of recent demography and reveal a clear genetic differentiation probably related to culture. These findings highlight the importance of considering cultural and demographic heterogeneity within North Africa when defining population groups, and the need for more data to improve knowledge on the region's health and disease landscape.
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Bergmann I, Hublin JJ, Gunz P, Freidline SE. How did modern morphology evolve in the human mandible? The relationship between static adult allometry and mandibular variability in Homo sapiens. J Hum Evol 2021; 157:103026. [PMID: 34214909 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2021.103026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2020] [Revised: 05/12/2021] [Accepted: 05/12/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Key to understanding human origins are early Homo sapiens fossils from Jebel Irhoud, as well as from the early Late Pleistocene sites Tabun, Border Cave, Klasies River Mouth, Skhul, and Qafzeh. While their upper facial shape falls within the recent human range of variation, their mandibles display a mosaic morphology. Here we quantify how mandibular shape covaries with mandible size and how static allometry differs between Neanderthals, early H. sapiens, and modern humans from the Upper Paleolithic/Later Stone Age and Holocene (= later H. sapiens). We use 3D (semi)landmark geometric morphometric methods to visualize allometric trends and to explore how gracilization affects the expression of diagnostic shape features. Early H. sapiens were highly variable in mandible size, exhibiting a unique allometric trajectory that explains aspects of their 'archaic' appearance. At the same time, early H. sapiens share a suite of diagnostic features with later H. sapiens that are not related to mandibular sizes, such as an incipient chin and an anteroposteriorly decreasing corpus height. The mandibular morphology, often referred to as 'modern', can partly be explained by gracilization owing to size reduction. Despite distinct static allometric shape changes in each group studied, bicondylar and bigonial breadth represent important structural constraints for the expression of shape features in most Middle to Late Pleistocene hominin mandibles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Inga Bergmann
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Jean-Jacques Hublin
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Philipp Gunz
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Sarah E Freidline
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
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Hernández CL, Pita G, Cavadas B, López S, Sánchez-Martínez LJ, Dugoujon JM, Novelletto A, Cuesta P, Pereira L, Calderón R. Human Genomic Diversity Where the Mediterranean Joins the Atlantic. Mol Biol Evol 2021; 37:1041-1055. [PMID: 31816048 PMCID: PMC7086172 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msz288] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Throughout the past few years, a lively debate emerged about the timing and magnitude of the human migrations between the Iberian Peninsula and the Maghreb. Several pieces of evidence, including archaeological, anthropological, historical, and genetic data, have pointed to a complex and intermingled evolutionary history in the western Mediterranean area. To study to what extent connections across the Strait of Gibraltar and surrounding areas have shaped the present-day genomic diversity of its populations, we have performed a screening of 2.5 million single-nucleotide polymorphisms in 142 samples from southern Spain, southern Portugal, and Morocco. We built comprehensive data sets of the studied area and we implemented multistep bioinformatic approaches to assess population structure, demographic histories, and admixture dynamics. Both local and global ancestry inference showed an internal substructure in the Iberian Peninsula, mainly linked to a differential African ancestry. Western Iberia, from southern Portugal to Galicia, constituted an independent cluster within Iberia characterized by an enriched African genomic input. Migration time modeling showed recent historic dates for the admixture events occurring both in Iberia and in the North of Africa. However, an integrative vision of both paleogenomic and modern DNA data allowed us to detect chronological transitions and population turnovers that could be the result of transcontinental migrations dating back from Neolithic times. The present contribution aimed to fill the gaps in the modern human genomic record of a key geographic area, where the Mediterranean and the Atlantic come together.
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Affiliation(s)
- Candela L Hernández
- Departamento de Biodiversidad, Ecología y Evolución, Facultad de Biología, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain
| | - Guillermo Pita
- Human Genotyping Unit-CeGen, Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), Madrid, Spain
| | - Bruno Cavadas
- i3S, Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.,IPATIMUP-Instituto de Patologia e Imunologia Molecular, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Saioa López
- UCL Cancer Institute, London, United Kingdom
| | - Luis J Sánchez-Martínez
- Departamento de Biodiversidad, Ecología y Evolución, Facultad de Biología, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain
| | - Jean-Michel Dugoujon
- CNRS UMR 5288 Laboratoire d'Anthropologie Moléculaire et d'Imagerie de Synthèse (AMIS), Université Paul Sabatier Toulouse III, Toulouse, France
| | | | - Pedro Cuesta
- Centro de Proceso de Datos, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain
| | - Luisa Pereira
- i3S, Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.,IPATIMUP-Instituto de Patologia e Imunologia Molecular, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Rosario Calderón
- Departamento de Biodiversidad, Ecología y Evolución, Facultad de Biología, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain
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Pearson OM, Hill EC, Peppe DJ, Van Plantinga A, Blegen N, Faith JT, Tryon CA. A Late Pleistocene human humerus from Rusinga Island, Lake Victoria, Kenya. J Hum Evol 2020; 146:102855. [PMID: 32781348 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102855] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2019] [Revised: 07/08/2020] [Accepted: 07/08/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
In 2010, a hominin right humerus fragment (KNM-RU 58330) was surface collected in a small gully at Nyamita North in the Late Pleistocene Wasiriya Beds of Rusinga Island, Kenya. A combination of stratigraphic and geochronological evidence suggests the specimen is likely between ∼49 and 36 ka in age. The associated fauna is diverse and dominated by semiarid grassland taxa. The small sample of associated Middle Stone Age artifacts includes Levallois flakes, cores, and retouched points. The 139 mm humeral fragment preserves the shaft from distal to the lesser tubercle to 14 mm below the distal end of the weakly projecting deltoid tuberosity. Key morphological features include a narrow and weakly marked pectoralis major insertion and a distinctive medial bend in the diaphysis at the deltoid insertion. This bend is unusual among recent human humeri but occurs in a few Late Pleistocene humeri. The dimensions of the distal end of the fragment predict a length of 317.9 ± 16.4 mm based on recent samples of African ancestry. A novel method of predicting humeral length from the distance between the middle of the pectoralis major and the bottom of the deltoid insertion predicts a length of 317.3 mm ± 17.6 mm. Cross-sectional geometry at the midshaft shows a relatively high percentage of cortical bone and a moderate degree of flattening of the shaft. The Nyamita humerus is anatomically modern in its morphology and adds to the small sample of hominins from the Late Pleistocene associated with Middle Stone Age artifacts known from East Africa. It may sample a population closely related to the people of the out-of-Africa migration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Osbjorn M Pearson
- Department of Anthropology, MSC01-1040, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 87131, USA.
| | - Ethan C Hill
- Department of Anthropology, MSC01-1040, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 87131, USA
| | - Daniel J Peppe
- Terrestrial Paleoclimatology Research Group, Department of Geosciences, Baylor University, Waco, TX, 76706, USA
| | - Alex Van Plantinga
- Terrestrial Paleoclimatology Research Group, Department of Geosciences, Baylor University, Waco, TX, 76706, USA
| | - Nick Blegen
- Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, Downing Place, Cambridge, CB2 3EN, UK
| | - J Tyler Faith
- Natural History Museum of Utah, Rio Tinto Center, 301 Wakara Way, Salt Lake City, UT, 84108, USA; Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, 260 S. Central Campus Drive, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA
| | - Christian A Tryon
- Department of Anthropology, University of Connecticut, 354 Mansfield Road, Storrs, CT, 06269, USA
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Turner E, Humphrey L, Bouzouggar A, Barton N. Bone retouchers and technological continuity in the Middle Stone Age of North Africa. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0230642. [PMID: 32226040 PMCID: PMC7105130 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0230642] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2019] [Accepted: 03/04/2020] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Evidence for specialised bone tools has recently been reported for the Middle Stone Age of North Africa [one], which complements similar finds of slightly younger age in South Africa [two, three]. However, until now scant reference has been made to lesser known tools also made of bone (‘bone retouchers’) that were employed specifically as intermediaries for working or refining stone artefacts, that are sometimes present in these assemblages. In this paper we describe 20 bone retouchers from the cave of Grotte des Pigeons at Taforalt in north-east Morocco. This is the largest stratified assemblage of bone retouchers from a North African MSA site, and the biggest single collection so far from the African Continent. A total of 18 bone retouchers was recovered in securely dated archaeological levels spanning a period from ~ 84.5 ka to 24 ka cal BP. A further two bone retouchers were found in a layer at the base of the deposits in association with Aterian artefacts dating to around 85,000 BP and so far represent the earliest evidence of this type of tool at Taforalt. In this paper we present a first, detailed description of the finds and trace the stages of their production, use and discard (chaîne opératoire). At the same time, we assess if there were diachronic changes in their form and function and, finally, explore their presence in relation to stone tools from the same occupation layers of the cave.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elaine Turner
- Monrepos Archaeological Research Centre and Museum for Human Behavioural Evolution, RGZM, Neuwied, Germany
- * E-mail:
| | - Louise Humphrey
- Centre for Human Evolution Research, The Natural History Museum, London, United Kingdom
| | - Abdeljalil Bouzouggar
- Institut National des Sciences de l’Archéologie et du Patrimoine, Rabat-Instituts, Rabat, Morocco
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Nick Barton
- Institute of Archaeology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
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Weniger GC, de Andrés-Herrero M, Bolin V, Kehl M, Otto T, Potì A, Tafelmaier Y. Late Glacial rapid climate change and human response in the Westernmost Mediterranean (Iberia and Morocco). PLoS One 2019; 14:e0225049. [PMID: 31800577 PMCID: PMC6892482 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0225049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2019] [Accepted: 10/28/2019] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
This paper investigates the correlation between climate, environment and human land use in the Westernmost Mediterranean on both sides of the Strait of Gibraltar during the Late Glacial. Using a multi-proxy approach on a sample of 300 sites from the Solutrean and Magdalenian of the Iberian Peninsula and from the Iberomaurusian in Morocco, we find evidence for significant changes in settlement patterns and site density after the Last Glacial Maximum. In Southern Iberia, during Heinrich Stadial 1, hyperarid zones expanded drastically from the south-eastern coast to the West through the Interior. This aridification process heavily affected Magdalenian settlement in the South and caused a strong decline of hunter-gatherer population. Southern Iberia during Heinrich Stadial 1 turned out to be a high-risk environment when compared to Northern Iberia. At the same time, the Late Iberomaurusian of Morocco, although considered to be situated in a high-risk environment as well, experiences an increase of sites and expansion of settlement area.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gerd-Christian Weniger
- Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
- Neanderthal Museum, Mettmann, Germany
- * E-mail:
| | | | - Viviane Bolin
- Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Martin Kehl
- Institute of Geography, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Taylor Otto
- Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Alessandro Potì
- Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Yvonne Tafelmaier
- Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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Infant funerary behavior and kinship in Pleistocene hunter-gatherers from Morocco. J Hum Evol 2019; 135:102637. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.07.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2018] [Revised: 07/02/2019] [Accepted: 07/03/2019] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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Hernández CL, Dugoujon JM, Sánchez-Martínez LJ, Cuesta P, Novelletto A, Calderón R. Paternal lineages in southern Iberia provide time frames for gene flow from mainland Europe and the Mediterranean world. Ann Hum Biol 2019; 46:63-76. [PMID: 30822152 DOI: 10.1080/03014460.2019.1587507] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The geography of southern Iberia and an abundant archaeological record of human occupation are ideal conditions for a full understanding of scenarios of genetic history in the area. Recent advances in the phylogeography of Y-chromosome lineages offer the opportunity to set upper bounds for the appearance of different genetic components. AIM To provide a global knowledge on the Y haplogroups observed in Andalusia with their Y microsatellite variation. Preferential attention is given to the vehement debate about the age, origin and expansion of R1b-M269 clade and sub-lineages. SUBJECT AND METHODS Four hundred and fourteen male DNA samples from western and eastern autochthonous Andalusians were genotyped for a set of Y-SNPs and Y-STRs. Gene diversity, potential population genetic structures and coalescent times were assessed. RESULTS Most of the analysed samples belong to the European haplogroup R1b1a1a2-M269, whereas haplogroups E, J, I, G and T show lower frequencies. A phylogenetic dissection of the R1b-M269 was performed and younger time frames than those previously reported in the literature were obtained for its sub-lineages. CONCLUSION The particular Andalusian R1b-M269 assemblage confirms the shallow topology of the clade. Moreover, the sharing of lineages with the rest of Europe indicates the impact in Iberia of an amount of pre-existing diversity, with the possible exception of R1b-DF27. Lineages such as J2-M172 and G-M201 highlight the importance of maritime travels of early farmers who reached the Iberian Peninsula.
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Affiliation(s)
- Candela L Hernández
- a Departamento de Biodiversidad, Ecología y Evolución, Facultad de Biología , Universidad Complutense , Madrid , Spain
| | - Jean-Michel Dugoujon
- b CNRS UMR 5288 Laboratoire d'Anthropologie Moléculaire et d'Imagerie de Synthèse (AMIS) , Université Paul Sabatier Toulouse III , Toulouse , France
| | - Luis J Sánchez-Martínez
- a Departamento de Biodiversidad, Ecología y Evolución, Facultad de Biología , Universidad Complutense , Madrid , Spain
| | - Pedro Cuesta
- c Centro de Proceso de Datos , Universidad Complutense , Madrid , Spain
| | | | - Rosario Calderón
- a Departamento de Biodiversidad, Ecología y Evolución, Facultad de Biología , Universidad Complutense , Madrid , Spain
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12
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Rapidly mutating Y-STRs in rapidly expanding populations: Discrimination power of the Yfiler Plus multiplex in northern Africa. Forensic Sci Int Genet 2019; 38:185-194. [DOI: 10.1016/j.fsigen.2018.11.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2018] [Revised: 10/02/2018] [Accepted: 11/02/2018] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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13
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van de Loosdrecht M, Bouzouggar A, Humphrey L, Posth C, Barton N, Aximu-Petri A, Nickel B, Nagel S, Talbi EH, El Hajraoui MA, Amzazi S, Hublin JJ, Pääbo S, Schiffels S, Meyer M, Haak W, Jeong C, Krause J. Pleistocene North African genomes link Near Eastern and sub-Saharan African human populations. Science 2018; 360:548-552. [PMID: 29545507 DOI: 10.1126/science.aar8380] [Citation(s) in RCA: 89] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2017] [Accepted: 02/28/2018] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
North Africa is a key region for understanding human history, but the genetic history of its people is largely unknown. We present genomic data from seven 15,000-year-old modern humans, attributed to the Iberomaurusian culture, from Morocco. We find a genetic affinity with early Holocene Near Easterners, best represented by Levantine Natufians, suggesting a pre-agricultural connection between Africa and the Near East. We do not find evidence for gene flow from Paleolithic Europeans to Late Pleistocene North Africans. The Taforalt individuals derive one-third of their ancestry from sub-Saharan Africans, best approximated by a mixture of genetic components preserved in present-day West and East Africans. Thus, we provide direct evidence for genetic interactions between modern humans across Africa and Eurasia in the Pleistocene.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marieke van de Loosdrecht
- Department of Archaeogenetics, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History (MPI-SHH), Jena, Kahlaische Strasse 10, D-07745, Germany
| | - Abdeljalil Bouzouggar
- Origin and Evolution of Homo sapiens in Morocco Research Group, Institut National des Sciences de l'Archéologie et du Patrimoine, Hay Riad, Madinat Al Irfane, Angle rues 5 et 7, Rabat-Instituts, 10 000 Rabat, Morocco. .,Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVA), Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 6, D-04103, Germany
| | - Louise Humphrey
- Department of Earth Sciences, The Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK
| | - Cosimo Posth
- Department of Archaeogenetics, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History (MPI-SHH), Jena, Kahlaische Strasse 10, D-07745, Germany
| | - Nick Barton
- Institute of Archaeology, University of Oxford, 36 Beaumont Street, Oxford OX1 2PG, UK
| | - Ayinuer Aximu-Petri
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVA), Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 6, D-04103, Germany
| | - Birgit Nickel
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVA), Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 6, D-04103, Germany
| | - Sarah Nagel
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVA), Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 6, D-04103, Germany
| | - El Hassan Talbi
- Faculté des Sciences, Campus d'Al Qods, Université Mohammed Premier, B.P. 717 Oujda, Morocco
| | - Mohammed Abdeljalil El Hajraoui
- Origin and Evolution of Homo sapiens in Morocco Research Group, Institut National des Sciences de l'Archéologie et du Patrimoine, Hay Riad, Madinat Al Irfane, Angle rues 5 et 7, Rabat-Instituts, 10 000 Rabat, Morocco
| | - Saaïd Amzazi
- Mohammed V University, Avenue Ibn Batouta, Rabat, Morocco
| | - Jean-Jacques Hublin
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVA), Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 6, D-04103, Germany
| | - Svante Pääbo
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVA), Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 6, D-04103, Germany
| | - Stephan Schiffels
- Department of Archaeogenetics, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History (MPI-SHH), Jena, Kahlaische Strasse 10, D-07745, Germany
| | - Matthias Meyer
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVA), Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 6, D-04103, Germany
| | - Wolfgang Haak
- Department of Archaeogenetics, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History (MPI-SHH), Jena, Kahlaische Strasse 10, D-07745, Germany
| | - Choongwon Jeong
- Department of Archaeogenetics, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History (MPI-SHH), Jena, Kahlaische Strasse 10, D-07745, Germany.
| | - Johannes Krause
- Department of Archaeogenetics, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History (MPI-SHH), Jena, Kahlaische Strasse 10, D-07745, Germany.
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Arauna LR, Mendoza-Revilla J, Mas-Sandoval A, Izaabel H, Bekada A, Benhamamouch S, Fadhlaoui-Zid K, Zalloua P, Hellenthal G, Comas D. Recent Historical Migrations Have Shaped the Gene Pool of Arabs and Berbers in North Africa. Mol Biol Evol 2017; 34:318-329. [PMID: 27744413 PMCID: PMC5644363 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msw218] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
North Africa is characterized by its diverse cultural and linguistic groups and its genetic heterogeneity. Genomic data has shown an amalgam of components mixed since pre-Holocean times. Though no differences have been found in uniparental and classical markers between Berbers and Arabs, the two main ethnic groups in the region, the scanty genomic data available have highlighted the singularity of Berbers. We characterize the genetic heterogeneity of North African groups, focusing on the putative differences of Berbers and Arabs, and estimate migration dates. We analyze genome-wide autosomal data in five Berber and six Arab groups, and compare them to Middle Easterns, sub-Saharans, and Europeans. Haplotype-based methods show a lack of correlation between geographical and genetic populations, and a high degree of genetic heterogeneity, without strong differences between Berbers and Arabs. Berbers enclose genetically diverse groups, from isolated endogamous groups with high autochthonous component frequencies, large homozygosity runs and low effective population sizes, to admixed groups with high frequencies of sub-Saharan and Middle Eastern components. Admixture time estimates show a complex pattern of recent historical migrations, with a peak around the 7th century C.E. coincident with the Arabization of the region; sub-Saharan migrations since the 1st century B.C. in agreement with Roman slave trade; and a strong migration in the 17th century C.E., coincident with a huge impact of the trans-Atlantic and trans-Saharan trade of sub-Saharan slaves in the Modern Era. The genetic complexity found should be taken into account when selecting reference groups in population genetics and biomedical studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lara R Arauna
- Departament de Ciències Experimentals i de la Salut, Institute of Evolutionary Biology (CSIC-UPF), Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Javier Mendoza-Revilla
- Departament de Ciències Experimentals i de la Salut, Institute of Evolutionary Biology (CSIC-UPF), Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain.,Genetics Institute, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Alex Mas-Sandoval
- Departament de Ciències Experimentals i de la Salut, Institute of Evolutionary Biology (CSIC-UPF), Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain.,Departamento de Genética, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
| | - Hassan Izaabel
- Laboratoire de Biologie Cellulaire et Génétique Moléculaire (LBCGM), Université IBNZOHR, Agadir, Morocco
| | - Asmahan Bekada
- Département de Biotechnologie, Faculté des Sciences de la Nature et de la Vie, Université Oran 1 (Ahmad Ben Bella), Oran, Algeria
| | - Soraya Benhamamouch
- Département de Biotechnologie, Faculté des Sciences de la Nature et de la Vie, Université Oran 1 (Ahmad Ben Bella), Oran, Algeria
| | - Karima Fadhlaoui-Zid
- Laboratoire de Génetique, Immunologie et Pathologies Humaines, Faculté des Sciences de Tunis, Campus Universitaire El Manar II, Université El Manar, Tunis, Tunisia
| | - Pierre Zalloua
- The Lebanese American University, Chouran, Beirut, Lebanon
| | | | - David Comas
- Departament de Ciències Experimentals i de la Salut, Institute of Evolutionary Biology (CSIC-UPF), Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
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Kefi R, Hechmi M, Naouali C, Jmel H, Hsouna S, Bouzaid E, Abdelhak S, Beraud-Colomb E, Stevanovitch A. On the origin of Iberomaurusians: new data based on ancient mitochondrial DNA and phylogenetic analysis of Afalou and Taforalt populations. Mitochondrial DNA A DNA Mapp Seq Anal 2016; 29:147-157. [PMID: 28034339 DOI: 10.1080/24701394.2016.1258406] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
The Western North African population was characterized by the presence of Iberomaurusian civilization at the Epiplaeolithic period (around 20,000 years before present (YBP) to 10,000 YBP). The origin of this population is still not clear: they may come from Europe, Near East, sub-Saharan Africa or they could have evolved in situ in North Africa. With the aim to contribute to a better knowledge of the settlement of North Africa we analysed the mitochondrial DNA extracted from Iberomaurusian skeletons exhumed from the archaeological site of Afalou (AFA) (15,000-11,000 YBP) in Algeria and from the archaeological site of Taforalt (TAF) (23,000-10,800 YBP) in Morocco. Then, we carried out a phylogenetic analysis relating these Iberomaurusians to 61 current Mediterranean populations. The genetic structure of TAF and AFA specimens contains only North African and Eurasian maternal lineages. These finding demonstrate the presence of these haplotypes in North Africa from at least 20,000 YBP. The very low contribution of a Sub-Saharan African haplotype in the Iberomaurusian samples is confirmed. We also highlighted the existence of genetic flows between Southern and Northern coast of the Mediterranean.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rym Kefi
- a Laboratory of Biomedical Genomics and Oncogenetics , Institut Pasteur de Tunis , Tunis , Tunisia.,b University Tunis El Manar , Tunis , Tunisia
| | - Meriem Hechmi
- a Laboratory of Biomedical Genomics and Oncogenetics , Institut Pasteur de Tunis , Tunis , Tunisia
| | - Chokri Naouali
- a Laboratory of Biomedical Genomics and Oncogenetics , Institut Pasteur de Tunis , Tunis , Tunisia.,b University Tunis El Manar , Tunis , Tunisia
| | - Haifa Jmel
- a Laboratory of Biomedical Genomics and Oncogenetics , Institut Pasteur de Tunis , Tunis , Tunisia
| | - Sana Hsouna
- a Laboratory of Biomedical Genomics and Oncogenetics , Institut Pasteur de Tunis , Tunis , Tunisia.,b University Tunis El Manar , Tunis , Tunisia
| | - Eric Bouzaid
- c Institut National de Police Scientifique Laboratoire de Marseille , Marseille , France
| | - Sonia Abdelhak
- a Laboratory of Biomedical Genomics and Oncogenetics , Institut Pasteur de Tunis , Tunis , Tunisia.,b University Tunis El Manar , Tunis , Tunisia
| | | | - Alain Stevanovitch
- c Institut National de Police Scientifique Laboratoire de Marseille , Marseille , France
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16
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Kaplan JO, Pfeiffer M, Kolen JCA, Davis BAS. Large Scale Anthropogenic Reduction of Forest Cover in Last Glacial Maximum Europe. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0166726. [PMID: 27902716 PMCID: PMC5130213 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0166726] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2016] [Accepted: 11/02/2016] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Reconstructions of the vegetation of Europe during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) are an enigma. Pollen-based analyses have suggested that Europe was largely covered by steppe and tundra, and forests persisted only in small refugia. Climate-vegetation model simulations on the other hand have consistently suggested that broad areas of Europe would have been suitable for forest, even in the depths of the last glaciation. Here we reconcile models with data by demonstrating that the highly mobile groups of hunter-gatherers that inhabited Europe at the LGM could have substantially reduced forest cover through the ignition of wildfires. Similar to hunter-gatherers of the more recent past, Upper Paleolithic humans were masters of the use of fire, and preferred inhabiting semi-open landscapes to facilitate foraging, hunting and travel. Incorporating human agency into a dynamic vegetation-fire model and simulating forest cover shows that even small increases in wildfire frequency over natural background levels resulted in large changes in the forested area of Europe, in part because trees were already stressed by low atmospheric CO2 concentrations and the cold, dry, and highly variable climate. Our results suggest that the impact of humans on the glacial landscape of Europe may be one of the earliest large-scale anthropogenic modifications of the earth system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jed O. Kaplan
- Institute of Earth Surface Dynamics, Géopolis, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
- * E-mail:
| | - Mirjam Pfeiffer
- Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F), Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Jan C. A. Kolen
- Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, RA Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Basil A. S. Davis
- Institute of Earth Surface Dynamics, Géopolis, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
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17
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A New Chronology for Rhafas, Northeast Morocco, Spanning the North African Middle Stone Age through to the Neolithic. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0162280. [PMID: 27654350 PMCID: PMC5031315 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0162280] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2016] [Accepted: 08/19/2016] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Archaeological sites in northern Africa provide a rich record of increasing importance for the origins of modern human behaviour and for understanding human dispersal out of Africa. However, the timing and nature of Palaeolithic human behaviour and dispersal across north-western Africa (the Maghreb), and their relationship to local environmental conditions, remain poorly understood. The cave of Rhafas (northeast Morocco) provides valuable chronological information about cultural changes in the Maghreb during the Palaeolithic due to its long stratified archaeological sequence comprising Middle Stone Age (MSA), Later Stone Age (LSA) and Neolithic occupation layers. In this study, we apply optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating on sand-sized quartz grains to the cave deposits of Rhafas, as well as to a recently excavated section on the terrace in front of the cave entrance. We hereby provide a revised chronostratigraphy for the archaeological sequence at the site. We combine these results with geological and sedimentological multi-proxy investigations to gain insights into site formation processes and the palaeoenvironmental record of the region. The older sedimentological units at Rhafas were deposited between 135 ka and 57 ka (MIS 6 –MIS 3) and are associated with the MSA technocomplex. Tanged pieces start to occur in the archaeological layers around 109 ka, which is consistent with previously published chronological data from the Maghreb. A well indurated duricrust indicates favourable climatic conditions for the pedogenic cementation by carbonates of sediment layers at the site after 57 ka. Overlying deposits attributed to the LSA technocomplex yield ages of ~21 ka and ~15 ka, corresponding to the last glacial period, and fall well within the previously established occupation phase in the Maghreb. The last occupation phase at Rhafas took place during the Neolithic and is dated to ~7.8 ka.
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Abstract
The funerary practices of the Taforalt population (Morocco, about 15-12500 Cal BP), already investigated by the authors in previous studies, were reconstructed through anthropological analyses of human remains (excavated by J. Roche in the 1950s) and examination of the available field documentation. The results indicated that the burial area included primary and secondary depositions, sometimes within the same grave, of approximately 40 adolescents and adults, as well as several children. There is evidence of treatment of the cadavers (disarticulation and defleshing) and manipulation of dry bones. The funerary practices at Taforalt involved a sequence of actions revealing a ritual character. These reflect the tripartite structure of Van Gennep's rites of passage, implying that death was conceived as a passage into another social dimension.The aim of this study is to analyse thepost morteminterventions on these human remains (corpses and bones) and to offer interpretative hypotheses as to their possible meaning, drawing on the findings of ethnographic research. We suggest that the collective dimension of the group was valued more highly than the members of the group as individuals, and that dry bones were imbued with symbolic meaning. We also suggest that the cultural and social management (through rites) of natural events (death), associated with a strengthening of the bonds with earth (inhumation) and territory (cemetery), may be interpreted as heralding the emergence of a Neolithic pattern of thought.
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Grine FE. The Late Quaternary Hominins of Africa: The Skeletal Evidence from MIS 6-2. AFRICA FROM MIS 6-2 2016. [DOI: 10.1007/978-94-017-7520-5_17] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
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Hernández CL, Soares P, Dugoujon JM, Novelletto A, Rodríguez JN, Rito T, Oliveira M, Melhaoui M, Baali A, Pereira L, Calderón R. Early Holocenic and Historic mtDNA African Signatures in the Iberian Peninsula: The Andalusian Region as a Paradigm. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0139784. [PMID: 26509580 PMCID: PMC4624789 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0139784] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2015] [Accepted: 09/17/2015] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Determining the timing, identity and direction of migrations in the Mediterranean Basin, the role of "migratory routes" in and among regions of Africa, Europe and Asia, and the effects of sex-specific behaviors of population movements have important implications for our understanding of the present human genetic diversity. A crucial component of the Mediterranean world is its westernmost region. Clear features of transcontinental ancient contacts between North African and Iberian populations surrounding the maritime region of Gibraltar Strait have been identified from archeological data. The attempt to discern origin and dates of migration between close geographically related regions has been a challenge in the field of uniparental-based population genetics. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) studies have been focused on surveying the H1, H3 and V lineages when trying to ascertain north-south migrations, and U6 and L in the opposite direction, assuming that those lineages are good proxies for the ancestry of each side of the Mediterranean. To this end, in the present work we have screened entire mtDNA sequences belonging to U6, M1 and L haplogroups in Andalusians--from Huelva and Granada provinces--and Moroccan Berbers. We present here pioneer data and interpretations on the role of NW Africa and the Iberian Peninsula regarding the time of origin, number of founders and expansion directions of these specific markers. The estimated entrance of the North African U6 lineages into Iberia at 10 ky correlates well with other L African clades, indicating that U6 and some L lineages moved together from Africa to Iberia in the Early Holocene. Still, founder analysis highlights that the high sharing of lineages between North Africa and Iberia results from a complex process continued through time, impairing simplistic interpretations. In particular, our work supports the existence of an ancient, frequently denied, bridge connecting the Maghreb and Andalusia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Candela L. Hernández
- Departamento de Zoología y Antropología Física, Facultad de Biología, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain
| | - Pedro Soares
- Instituto de Patologia e Imunologia Molecular da Universidade do Porto (IPATIMUP), Porto, Portugal
- CBMA (Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology), Department of Biology, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal
| | - Jean M. Dugoujon
- CNRS UMR 5288 Laboratoire d’Anthropologie Moléculaire et d’Imagerie de Synthèse (AMIS), Université Paul Sabatier Toulouse III, 31073 Toulouse, France
| | - Andrea Novelletto
- Dipartimento di Biologia, Università Tor Vergata di Rome, Rome, Italy
| | | | - Teresa Rito
- Instituto de Patologia e Imunologia Molecular da Universidade do Porto (IPATIMUP), Porto, Portugal
| | - Marisa Oliveira
- Instituto de Patologia e Imunologia Molecular da Universidade do Porto (IPATIMUP), Porto, Portugal
| | | | - Abdellatif Baali
- Faculté des Sciences Semlalia de Marrakech (FSSM), Université Cadi Ayyad, Marrakech, Morocco
| | - Luisa Pereira
- Instituto de Patologia e Imunologia Molecular da Universidade do Porto (IPATIMUP), Porto, Portugal
- Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
- Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Rosario Calderón
- Departamento de Zoología y Antropología Física, Facultad de Biología, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain
- * E-mail:
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Were Upper Pleistocene human/non-human predator occupations at the Témara caves (El Harhoura 2 and El Mnasra, Morocco) influenced by climate change? J Hum Evol 2014; 78:122-43. [PMID: 25281232 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2014.08.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2014] [Revised: 08/14/2014] [Accepted: 08/14/2014] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
The influence of climate change on human settlements in coastal areas is a central question for archaeologists. This paper addresses this issue by focusing on the Témara region in Morocco. The study area was selected for two main reasons. First, it contains numerous caves with Upper Pleistocene deposits, which have yielded remains of anatomically modern humans in association with Aterian and Iberomaurusian artifacts. Second, these caves are currently located on the shore, thus this region is particularly sensitive to major climate change and sea level fluctuations. Diachronic taphonomic study of faunal remains from two sites in the region, El Harhoura 2 and El Mnasra caves, shows alternating human/non-human predator occupations. The lower layers of El Mnasra Cave dating to Oxygen Isotope Stage (OIS) 5 have yielded diverse ungulate remains with significant anthropogenic impact marks, together with numerous mollusk shells, Nassarius shell beads, hearths, lithics, some bone tools and used pigments. Faunal remains from the upper layers dating to OIS 4, 3 and 2 of El Harhoura 2 and El Mnasra caves, largely dominated by gazelles, provide evidence of carnivore activities, such as tooth marks, numerous semi-digested bones and coprolites alongside some anthropogenic signatures (cut marks and burnt bones). Non-human predators appear to be the main agents responsible for faunal modifications and accumulations. The 'non-intensive' nature of human occupation is confirmed by analyses of the lithic industry at El Harhoura 2. The 'intensive' human occupations date to OIS 5 and could have taken place during wet periods in connection with high sea levels, which allowed the exploitation of shellfish in this area. 'Non-intensive' human occupations generally correspond to arid periods and lower sea levels, during which the Témara area was further inland and may have been less attractive to humans.
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Secher B, Fregel R, Larruga JM, Cabrera VM, Endicott P, Pestano JJ, González AM. The history of the North African mitochondrial DNA haplogroup U6 gene flow into the African, Eurasian and American continents. BMC Evol Biol 2014; 14:109. [PMID: 24885141 PMCID: PMC4062890 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2148-14-109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2013] [Accepted: 05/09/2014] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Complete mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genome analyses have greatly improved the phylogeny and phylogeography of human mtDNA. Human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup U6 has been considered as a molecular signal of a Paleolithic return to North Africa of modern humans from southwestern Asia. Results Using 230 complete sequences we have refined the U6 phylogeny, and improved the phylogeographic information by the analysis of 761 partial sequences. This approach provides chronological limits for its arrival to Africa, followed by its spreads there according to climatic fluctuations, and its secondary prehistoric and historic migrations out of Africa colonizing Europe, the Canary Islands and the American Continent. Conclusions The U6 expansions and contractions inside Africa faithfully reflect the climatic fluctuations that occurred in this Continent affecting also the Canary Islands. Mediterranean contacts drove these lineages to Europe, at least since the Neolithic. In turn, the European colonization brought different U6 lineages throughout the American Continent leaving the specific sign of the colonizers origin.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Ana M González
- Department of Genetics, Faculty of Biology, Universidad de La Laguna, La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain.
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Aldeias V, Goldberg P, Dibble HL, El-Hajraoui M. Deciphering site formation processes through soil micromorphology at Contrebandiers Cave, Morocco. J Hum Evol 2014; 69:8-30. [PMID: 24650737 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2013.12.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2013] [Revised: 12/11/2013] [Accepted: 12/22/2013] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Contrebandiers Cave preserves a Late Pleistocene sequence containing Middle Stone Age (MSA) so-called Maghrebian Mousterian and Aterian occupations, spanning from ∼126 to 95 ka (thousands of years ago), followed by spatially restricted Iberomaurusian industries. Micromorphological analyses, complemented by instrumental mineralogical identification and fabric orientation, allowed for the reconstruction of the main site formation processes at the site. Initial deposition is characterized by local reworking of marine shelly sands dating to Marine Isotopic Stage 5e (MIS5e). The subsequent stratification reveals sedimentary dynamics predominantly associated with gravity-driven inputs and contributions from weathering of the encasing bedrock, at the same time that anthropogenic sediments were being accumulated. The allochthonous components reflect soil degradation and vegetation changes around the cave during the last interglacial. Human occupations seems to be somewhat ephemeral in nature, with some stratigraphic units apparently lacking archaeological components, while in others the human-associated deposits (e.g., burned bones, charcoal, and ashes) can be substantial. Ephemeral breaks in sedimentation and/or erosion followed by stabilization are mainly discernible microscopically by the presence of phosphatic-rich laminae interpreted as short-lived surfaces, peaks of increased humidity and colonization by plants. More substantial erosion affects the uppermost Aterian layers, presumably due to localized reconfigurations of the cave's roof. The subsequent Iberomaurusian deposits are not in their primary position and are associated with well-sorted silts of aeolian origin. While the effects of chemical diagenesis are limited throughout the whole stratigraphic sequence, physical bioturbation (e.g., by wasps, rodents, and earthworms) is more pervasive and leads to localized movement of the original sedimentary particles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vera Aldeias
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany; Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Pennsylvania, Hayden Hall 240 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6316, USA.
| | - Paul Goldberg
- Institute for Archaeological Sciences, University of Tübingen, Rümelinstr. 23, 72070 Tübingen, Germany; Department of Archaeology, 675 Commonwealth Ave., Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Harold L Dibble
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany; Department of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania, 3260 South Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6398, USA; Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Box 874101, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85282, USA
| | - Mohamed El-Hajraoui
- Institut National des Sciences de l'Archéologie et du Patrimoine, 10001 Rabat, Morocco
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Earliest evidence for caries and exploitation of starchy plant foods in Pleistocene hunter-gatherers from Morocco. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2014; 111:954-9. [PMID: 24395774 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1318176111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 102] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Dental caries is an infectious disease that causes tooth decay. The high prevalence of dental caries in recent humans is attributed to more frequent consumption of plant foods rich in fermentable carbohydrates in food-producing societies. The transition from hunting and gathering to food production is associated with a change in the composition of the oral microbiota and broadly coincides with the estimated timing of a demographic expansion in Streptococcus mutans, a causative agent of human dental caries. Here we present evidence linking a high prevalence of caries to reliance on highly cariogenic wild plant foods in Pleistocene hunter-gatherers from North Africa, predating other high caries populations and the first signs of food production by several thousand years. Archaeological deposits at Grotte des Pigeons in Morocco document extensive evidence for human occupation during the Middle Stone Age and Later Stone Age (Iberomaurusian), and incorporate numerous human burials representing the earliest known cemetery in the Maghreb. Macrobotanical remains from occupational deposits dated between 15,000 and 13,700 cal B.P. provide evidence for systematic harvesting and processing of edible wild plants, including acorns and pine nuts. Analysis of oral pathology reveals an exceptionally high prevalence of caries (51.2% of teeth in adult dentitions), comparable to modern industrialized populations with a diet high in refined sugars and processed cereals. We infer that increased reliance on wild plants rich in fermentable carbohydrates and changes in food processing caused an early shift toward a disease-associated oral microbiota in this population.
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