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Velsko IM, Semerau L, Inskip SA, García-Collado MI, Ziesemer K, Ruber MS, Benítez de Lugo Enrich L, Molero García JM, Valle DG, Peña Ruiz AC, Salazar-García DC, Hoogland MLP, Warinner C. Ancient dental calculus preserves signatures of biofilm succession and interindividual variation independent of dental pathology. PNAS NEXUS 2022; 1:pgac148. [PMID: 36714834 PMCID: PMC9802386 DOI: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgac148] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2022] [Accepted: 07/29/2022] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
Dental calculus preserves oral microbes, enabling comparative studies of the oral microbiome and health through time. However, small sample sizes and limited dental health metadata have hindered health-focused investigations to date. Here, we investigate the relationship between tobacco pipe smoking and dental calculus microbiomes. Dental calculus from 75 individuals from the 19th century Middenbeemster skeletal collection (Netherlands) were analyzed by metagenomics. Demographic and dental health parameters were systematically recorded, including the presence/number of pipe notches. Comparative data sets from European populations before and after the introduction of tobacco were also analyzed. Calculus species profiles were compared with oral pathology to examine associations between microbiome community, smoking behavior, and oral health status. The Middenbeemster individuals exhibited relatively poor oral health, with a high prevalence of periodontal disease, caries, heavy calculus deposits, and antemortem tooth loss. No associations between pipe notches and dental pathologies, or microbial species composition, were found. Calculus samples before and after the introduction of tobacco showed highly similar species profiles. Observed interindividual microbiome differences were consistent with previously described variation in human populations from the Upper Paleolithic to the present. Dental calculus may not preserve microbial indicators of health and disease status as distinctly as dental plaque.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irina M Velsko
- Department of Archaeogenetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig 04103, Germany
| | - Lena Semerau
- Department of Archaeogenetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig 04103, Germany.,Faculty of Biological Sciences, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena 07743, Germany
| | - Sarah A Inskip
- School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
| | - Maite I García-Collado
- GIPYPAC, Department of Geography, Prehistory and Archaeology, University of the Basque Country, Leioa 48940, Spain.,BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, York YO10 5NG, UK
| | - Kirsten Ziesemer
- University Library, Vrije Universiteit, Einsteinweg 2, Amsterdam 1081 HV, The Netherlands
| | - Maria Serrano Ruber
- School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
| | - Luis Benítez de Lugo Enrich
- Departmento de Prehistoria, Historia Antigua y Arqueología, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid 28040, Spain
| | | | - David Gallego Valle
- Facultad de Letras, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Ciudad Real 13004, Spain
| | | | - Domingo C Salazar-García
- Departament de Prehistòria, Historia i Arqueología, Universitat de València, València 46010, Spain.,Department of Geological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa
| | - Menno L P Hoogland
- Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Einsteinweg, Leiden 2333 CC, The Netherlands
| | - Christina Warinner
- Department of Archaeogenetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig 04103, Germany.,Faculty of Biological Sciences, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena 07743, Germany.,Department of Anthropology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
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3
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Alt KW, Al-Ahmad A, Woelber JP. Nutrition and Health in Human Evolution–Past to Present. Nutrients 2022; 14:nu14173594. [PMID: 36079850 PMCID: PMC9460423 DOI: 10.3390/nu14173594] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2022] [Revised: 08/25/2022] [Accepted: 08/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Anyone who wants to understand the biological nature of humans and their special characteristics must look far back into evolutionary history. Today’s way of life is drastically different from that of our ancestors. For almost 99% of human history, gathering and hunting have been the basis of nutrition. It was not until about 12,000 years ago that humans began domesticating plants and animals. Bioarchaeologically and biochemically, this can be traced back to our earliest roots. Modern living conditions and the quality of human life are better today than ever before. However, neither physically nor psychosocially have we made this adjustment and we are paying a high health price for it. The studies presented allow us to reconstruct food supply, lifestyles, and dietary habits: from the earliest primates, through hunter-gatherers of the Paleolithic, farming communities since the beginning of the Anthropocene, to the Industrial Age and the present. The comprehensive data pool allows extraction of all findings of medical relevance. Our recent lifestyle and diet are essentially determined by our culture rather than by our millions of years of ancestry. Culture is permanently in a dominant position compared to natural evolution. Thereby culture does not form a contrast to nature but represents its result. There is no doubt that we are biologically adapted to culture, but it is questionable how much culture humans can cope with.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kurt W. Alt
- Center of Natural and Cultural Human History, Danube Private University, 3500 Krems, Austria
- Integrative Prehistory and Archaeological Science, University of Basel, 4055 Basel, Switzerland
- Correspondence:
| | - Ali Al-Ahmad
- Department of Operative Dentistry and Periodontology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, 71906 Freiburg, Germany
| | - Johan Peter Woelber
- Department of Operative Dentistry and Periodontology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, 71906 Freiburg, Germany
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4
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Losey RJ, Nomokonova T, Guiry E, Fleming LS, Garvie-Lok SJ, Waters-Rist AL, Bieraugle M, Szpak P, Bachura OP, Bazaliiskii VI, Berdnikova NE, Diatchina NG, Frolov IV, Gorbunov VV, Goriunova OI, Grushin SP, Gusev AV, Iaroslavtseva LG, Ivanov GL, Kharinskii AV, Konstantinov MV, Kosintsev PA, Kovychev EV, Lazin B, Nikitin IG, Papin DV, Popov AN, Sablin MV, Savel'ev NA, Savinetsky AB, Tishkin AA. The evolution of dog diet and foraging: Insights from archaeological canids in Siberia. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2022; 8:eabo6493. [PMID: 35867782 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abo6493] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Research on the evolution of dog foraging and diet has largely focused on scavenging during their initial domestication and genetic adaptations to starch-rich food environments following the advent of agriculture. The Siberian archaeological record evidences other critical shifts in dog foraging and diet that likely characterize Holocene dogs globally. By the Middle Holocene, body size reconstruction for Siberia dogs indicates that most were far smaller than Pleistocene wolves. This contributed to dogs' tendencies to scavenge, feed on small prey, and reduce social foraging. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of Siberian dogs reveals that their diets were more diverse than those of Pleistocene wolves. This included habitual consumption of marine and freshwater foods by the Middle Holocene and reliance on C4 foods by the Late Holocene. Feeding on such foods and anthropogenic waste increased dogs' exposure to microbes, affected their gut microbiomes, and shaped long-term dog population history.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert J Losey
- Department of Anthropology, University of Alberta, Tory Building 13-15 HM, Edmonton, AB T6G 2H4, Canada
- Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Saskatchewan, 55 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5B1, Canada
| | - Tatiana Nomokonova
- Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Saskatchewan, 55 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5B1, Canada
| | - Eric Guiry
- School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, United Kingdom
- Department of Anthropology, Trent University, 1600 West Bank Drive, Peterborough, ON K9L 0G2, Canada
| | - Lacey S Fleming
- Tennessee Division of Archaeology, 216 Foster Avenue, Cole Building 3, Nashville, TN 37243, USA
| | - Sandra J Garvie-Lok
- Department of Anthropology, University of Alberta, Tory Building 13-15 HM, Edmonton, AB T6G 2H4, Canada
| | - Andrea L Waters-Rist
- Department of Anthropology, University of Western Ontario, 1151 Richmond St. N., London, ON N6A 5C2, Canada
| | - Megan Bieraugle
- Department of Anthropology, University of Alberta, Tory Building 13-15 HM, Edmonton, AB T6G 2H4, Canada
| | - Paul Szpak
- Department of Anthropology, Trent University, 1600 West Bank Drive, Peterborough, ON K9L 0G2, Canada
| | - Olga P Bachura
- Palaeoecology Laboratory, Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology, Ural Division of the Russian Academy of Science, 8 Marta Street #202, Ekaterinburg 620144, Russian Federation
| | - Vladimir I Bazaliiskii
- Laboratory of Archaeology, Ethnology, Problems of Paleoecology and Human Evolution of the Faculty of History, Irkutsk State University, 5th Army Street 52, Irkutsk 664025, Russian Federation
| | - Natalia E Berdnikova
- Scientific Research Center "Baikal Region", Irkutsk State University, K. Marx St. 1, Irkutsk 664003, Russian Federation
| | - Natal'ia G Diatchina
- Trans-Baikal State University, Aleksandro-Zavodskaia St. 30, Chita 672039, Russian Federation
| | - Iaroslav V Frolov
- Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography of Altai, Altai State University, Dimitrova St. 66, Barnaul 656049, Russian Federation
| | - Vadim V Gorbunov
- Department of Archaeology, Ethnography and Museology, Altai State University, Lenin Prospekt St. 61, Barnaul 656049, Russian Federation
| | - Olga I Goriunova
- Scientific Research Center "Baikal Region", Irkutsk State University, K. Marx St. 1, Irkutsk 664003, Russian Federation
| | - Sergei P Grushin
- Department of Archaeology, Ethnography and Museology, Altai State University, Lenin Prospekt St. 61, Barnaul 656049, Russian Federation
| | - Andrei V Gusev
- Scientific Center of Arctic Studies, Respublika St. 20, Salekhard, Iamal-Nenets Autonomous District 629008, Russian Federation
| | - Larisa G Iaroslavtseva
- National Museum of the Republic of Buryatia, Kuibyshev St. 29, Ulan-Ude 670000, Russian Federation
| | - Grigorii L Ivanov
- Irkutsk Museum of Regional Studies, K. Marx St. 13, Irkutsk 664003, Russian Federation
| | - Artur V Kharinskii
- Laboratory of Archaeology, Paleoecology and the Subsistence Strategies of the Peoples of Northern Asia, Irkutsk National Research Technical University, Lermontov St. 83, Irkutsk 664074, Russian Federation
- Faculty of History, Irkutsk State University, K. Marx St. 1, Irkutsk 664003, Russian Federation
| | - Mikhail V Konstantinov
- Trans-Baikal State University, Aleksandro-Zavodskaia St. 30, Chita 672039, Russian Federation
| | - Pavel A Kosintsev
- Palaeoecology Laboratory, Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology, Ural Division of the Russian Academy of Science, 8 Marta Street #202, Ekaterinburg 620144, Russian Federation
| | - Evgenii V Kovychev
- Trans-Baikal State University, Aleksandro-Zavodskaia St. 30, Chita 672039, Russian Federation
- Institute of Mongolian, Buddhist, and Tibetan Studies, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Science, Sakhiyanovoi St. 6, Ulan-Ude 670047, Russian Federation
| | - Boris Lazin
- Science Museum, Far East Federal University, Okeanskii Prospect 37, Vladivostok 690091, Russian Federation
| | - Iurii G Nikitin
- Museum of Archaeology and Ethnographies, Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnography of the Peoples of the Far East, Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Science, Pushkinskaia St. 89, Vladivostok 690091, Russian Federation
| | - Dmitri V Papin
- Barnaul Laboratory of Archaeology and Ethnography of South Siberia, Altai State University, Dmitrova St. 66, Barnaul 656049, Russian Federation
- Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 17, Acad. Lavretiev Avenue, Novosibirsk 630090, Russian Federation
| | - Alexandr N Popov
- Science Museum, Far East Federal University, Okeanskii Prospect 37, Vladivostok 690091, Russian Federation
| | - Mikhail V Sablin
- Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Science, Universitetskaia nab. 1, Saint Petersburg 199034, Russian Federation
| | - Nikolai A Savel'ev
- Laboratory of Archaeology, Ethnology, Problems of Paleoecology and Human Evolution of the Faculty of History, Irkutsk State University, 5th Army Street 52, Irkutsk 664025, Russian Federation
| | - Arkady B Savinetsky
- A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Science, Leninskii prospect 33, Moscow 119071, Russian Federation
| | - Alexey A Tishkin
- Department of Archaeology, Ethnography and Museology, Altai State University, Lenin Prospekt St. 61, Barnaul 656049, Russian Federation
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5
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Dong J, Wang S, Chen G, Wei W, Du L, Xu Y, Ma M, Dong G. Stable Isotopic Evidence for Human and Animal Diets From the Late Neolithic to the Ming Dynasty in the Middle-Lower Reaches of the Hulu River Valley, NW China. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.905371] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The study of human and animal paleodiets, representing the unique subsistence strategies and human-environment interactions adopted over evolutionary time, has attracted intensive research attention. Historically, the western Loess Plateau (WLP) served as a key area for the evolution of human-land relationship. The human subsistence patterns in the WLP changed significantly from prehistoric to historical periods based on archaeobotanical data. However, the trajectory and influencing factors of ancient human and animal diets in the WLP remain unclear, mainly due to the lack of isotopic data in the upper reaches of the Wei River. In this paper, we reported 172 human and animal isotope samples (C and N) and 23 radiocarbon dates from three sites in the middle-lower reaches of the Hulu River Valley (HRV). At least three periods of dietary patterns for humans were observed in the WLP from the late Neolithic to Ming Dynasty. During 5300–4000 Before Present (BP), humans and domesticated animals such as pigs and dogs consumed a greater proportion of millets and millet byproducts. Between 3000 and 2200 BP, the diets of pigs and dogs remained largely comprised of C4 foods, while humans consumed both C3 and C4 foods, which contradicted the evidence of an overwhelming proportion of wheat and barley (C3 crops) from the contemporaneous cultural sediment. The contradictions between plant remains and human diets are probably related to geopolitical factors. Between 1000–500 BP, human diets were more diverse and heterogeneous in this region. Combined with environmental and archaeological evidence, the changes in diets and subsistence strategies over the three periods can be attributed to the comprehensive influence of regional cultural development, geopolitics and technological innovation. This paper not only reveals the trajectory and influencing factors of ancient human and animal diets in the middle-lower HRV, but also explores how subsistence strategies, particularly in terms of dietary structure, will change in the context of cultural exchange and diffusion, and emphasizes the important influence of geopolitical interactions in the WLP.
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Blanco G, Sánchez-Marco A, Negro JJ. Night Capture of Roosting Cave Birds by Neanderthals: An Actualistic Approach. Front Ecol Evol 2021. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2021.733062] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Evidence is accumulating on the regular and systematic Neanderthal exploitation of birds. However, the motivations, mechanisms, and circumstances underlying this behavior remains little explored despite their potential implications on Neanderthal ecology and capabilities. Fossil remains of choughs (Pyrrhocorax, Corvidae) are among the most abundant in cave sites with Mousterian technology. We reviewed the evidence showing that Neanderthals processed choughs for food, and confirmed that it occurred frequently over a widespread spatial and temporal scale. This lead us to propose the hypothesis that the cave-like refuge is the keystone resource connecting Neanderthals and choughs captured at night in rocky shelters eventually used by both species. By adopting an actualistic approach, we documented the patterns of refuge use and population dynamics of communally roosting choughs, the strategies and technology currently used to capture them, and their behavioral response against experimental human predators at night. Actualistic experiments showed that large numbers of choughs can be captured without highly sophisticated tools at night regularly and periodically, due to their occupation year-round during long-term periods of the same nocturnal shelters, the constant turnover of individuals, and their high site tenacity at these roost-sites even after recurrent disturbance and predation. Captures even with bare hands are further facilitated because choughs tend to flee confused into the cavity in darkness when dazzled and cornered by human (experimental) predators. Given the extreme difficulty of daylight chough capturing in open country, nocturnal hunting with the help of fire in the roosting caves and consumption in situ are proposed as the most plausible explanations for the strong association of choughs and Neanderthals in fossil assemblages. Night hunting of birds has implications for the social, anatomical, technological, and cognitive capacities of Neanderthals.
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