1
|
Stolarek I, Zenczak M, Handschuh L, Juras A, Marcinkowska-Swojak M, Spinek A, Dębski A, Matla M, Kóčka-Krenz H, Piontek J, Figlerowicz M. Genetic history of East-Central Europe in the first millennium CE. Genome Biol 2023; 24:173. [PMID: 37488661 PMCID: PMC10364380 DOI: 10.1186/s13059-023-03013-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2022] [Accepted: 07/12/2023] [Indexed: 07/26/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The appearance of Slavs in East-Central Europe has been the subject of an over 200-year debate driven by two conflicting hypotheses. The first assumes that Slavs came to the territory of contemporary Poland no earlier than the sixth century CE; the second postulates that they already inhabited this region in the Iron Age (IA). Testing either hypothesis is not trivial given that cremation of the dead was the prevailing custom in Central Europe from the late Bronze Age until the Middle Ages (MA). RESULTS To address this problem, we determined the genetic makeup of representatives of the IA Wielbark- and MA Slav-associated cultures from the territory of present-day Poland. The study involved 474 individuals buried in 27 cemeteries. For 197 of them, genome-wide data were obtained. We found close genetic affinities between the IA Wielbark culture-associated individuals and contemporary to them and older northern European populations. Further, we observed that the IA individuals had genetic components which were indispensable to model the MA population. CONCLUSIONS The collected data suggest that the Wielbark culture-associated IA population was formed by immigrants from the north who entered the region of contemporary Poland most likely at the beginning of the first millennium CE and mixed with autochthons. The presented results are in line with the hypothesis that assumes the genetic continuation between IA and MA periods in East-Central Europe.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ireneusz Stolarek
- Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Noskowskiego 12/14, 61-704, Poznan, Poland
| | - Michal Zenczak
- Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Noskowskiego 12/14, 61-704, Poznan, Poland
| | - Luiza Handschuh
- Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Noskowskiego 12/14, 61-704, Poznan, Poland
| | - Anna Juras
- Institute of Human Biology & Evolution, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan, Poland
| | | | - Anna Spinek
- Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Artur Dębski
- Department of Archaeology, Collegium Historicum, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan, Poland
| | - Marzena Matla
- Department of History, Collegium Historicum, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan, Poland
| | - Hanna Kóčka-Krenz
- Department of Archaeology, Collegium Historicum, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan, Poland
| | - Janusz Piontek
- Institute of Human Biology & Evolution, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan, Poland
| | - Marek Figlerowicz
- Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Noskowskiego 12/14, 61-704, Poznan, Poland.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Ciecierski L, Stolarek I, Figlerowicz M. Human AGEs: an interactive spatio-temporal visualization and database of human archeogenomics. Nucleic Acids Res 2023:7175335. [PMID: 37216609 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkad428] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2023] [Revised: 04/26/2023] [Accepted: 05/12/2023] [Indexed: 05/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Archeogenomics is a rapidly growing interdisciplinary research field driven by the development of techniques that enable the acquisition and analysis of ancient DNA (aDNA). Recent advances in aDNA studies have contributed significantly to increasing our understanding of the natural history of humans. One of the most significant challenges facing archeogenomics is the integration of highly heterogeneous genomic, archeological, and anthropological data and their comprehensive analysis, considering changes that occur in time and space. Only this complex approach can explain the relationship between past populations in the context of migration or cultural development. To address these challenges, we developed a Human AGEs web server. It focuses on creating comprehensive spatiotemporal visualizations of genomic, archeogenomic, and archeological information, which can be provided by the user or loaded from a graph database. The interactive map application at the center of Human AGEs can display multiple layers of data in various forms, such as bubble charts, pie charts, heatmaps, or tag clouds. These visualizations can be modified using various clustering, filtering, and styling options, and the map state can be exported to a high-resolution image or saved as a session file for later use. Human AGEs, along with their tutorial, are accessible at https://archeogenomics.eu/.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Lukasz Ciecierski
- Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poznan, Poland
| | - Ireneusz Stolarek
- Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poznan, Poland
| | - Marek Figlerowicz
- Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poznan, Poland
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Genetic continuity of Indo-Iranian speakers since the Iron Age in southern Central Asia. Sci Rep 2022; 12:733. [PMID: 35031610 PMCID: PMC8760286 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-04144-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2021] [Accepted: 12/14/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Since prehistoric times, southern Central Asia has been at the crossroads of the movement of people, culture, and goods. Today, the Central Asian populations are divided into two cultural and linguistic groups: the Indo-Iranian and the Turko-Mongolian groups. Previous genetic studies unveiled that migrations from East Asia contributed to the spread of Turko-Mongolian populations in Central Asia and the partial replacement of the Indo-Iranian populations. However, little is known about the origin of the latters. To shed light on this, we compare the genetic data on two current-day Indo-Iranian populations — Yaghnobis and Tajiks — with genome-wide data from published ancient individuals. The present Indo-Iranian populations from Central Asia display a strong genetic continuity with Iron Age samples from Turkmenistan and Tajikistan. We model Yaghnobis as a mixture of 93% Iron Age individual from Turkmenistan and 7% from Baikal. For the Tajiks, we observe a higher Baikal ancestry and an additional admixture event with a South Asian population. Our results, therefore, suggest that in addition to a complex history, Central Asia shows a remarkable genetic continuity since the Iron Age, with only limited gene flow.
Collapse
|
4
|
Jones D. Barbarigenesis and the collapse of complex societies: Rome and after. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0254240. [PMID: 34529697 PMCID: PMC8445445 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0254240] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2021] [Accepted: 06/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
"Barbarism" is perhaps best understood as a recurring syndrome among peripheral societies in response to the threats and opportunities presented by more developed neighbors. This article develops a mathematical model of barbarigenesis-the formation of "barbarian" societies adjacent to more complex societies-and its consequences, and applies the model to the case of Europe in the first millennium CE. A starting point is a game (developed by Hirshleifer) in which two players allocate their resources either to producing wealth or to fighting over wealth. The paradoxical result is that a richer and potentially more powerful player may lose out to a poorer player, because the opportunity cost of fighting is greater for the former. In a more elaborate spatial model with many players, the outcome is a wealth-power mismatch: central regions have comparatively more wealth than power, peripheral regions have comparatively more power than wealth. In a model of historical dynamics, a wealth-power mismatch generates a long-lasting decline in social complexity, sweeping from more to less developed regions, until wealth and power come to be more closely aligned. This article reviews how well this model fits the historical record of late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages in Europe both quantitatively and qualitatively. The article also considers some of the history left out of the model, and why the model doesn't apply to the modern world.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Doug Jones
- Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Schwörer C, Gobet E, van Leeuwen JFN, Bögli S, Imboden R, van der Knaap WO, Kotova N, Makhortykh S, Tinner W. Holocene vegetation, fire and land use dynamics at Lake Svityaz, an agriculturally marginal site in northwestern Ukraine. VEGETATION HISTORY AND ARCHAEOBOTANY 2021; 31:155-170. [PMID: 35273429 PMCID: PMC8897337 DOI: 10.1007/s00334-021-00844-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2021] [Accepted: 05/22/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
UNLABELLED Observing natural vegetation dynamics over the entire Holocene is difficult in Central Europe, due to pervasive and increasing human disturbance since the Neolithic. One strategy to minimize this limitation is to select a study site in an area that is marginal for agricultural activity. Here, we present a new sediment record from Lake Svityaz in northwestern Ukraine. We have reconstructed regional and local vegetation and fire dynamics since the Late Glacial using pollen, spores, macrofossils and charcoal. Boreal forest composed of Pinus sylvestris and Betula with continental Larix decidua and Pinus cembra established in the region around 13,450 cal bp, replacing an open, steppic landscape. The first temperate tree to expand was Ulmus at 11,800 cal bp, followed by Quercus, Fraxinus excelsior, Tilia and Corylus ca. 1,000 years later. Fire activity was highest during the Early Holocene, when summer solar insolation reached its maximum. Carpinus betulus and Fagus sylvatica established at ca. 6,000 cal bp, coinciding with the first indicators of agricultural activity in the region and a transient climatic shift to cooler and moister conditions. Human impact on the vegetation remained initially very low, only increasing during the Bronze Age, at ca. 3,400 cal bp. Large-scale forest openings and the establishment of the present-day cultural landscape occurred only during the past 500 years. The persistence of highly diverse mixed forest under absent or low anthropogenic disturbance until the Early Middle Ages corroborates the role of human impact in the impoverishment of temperate forests elsewhere in Central Europe. The preservation or reestablishment of such diverse forests may mitigate future climate change impacts, specifically by lowering fire risk under warmer and drier conditions. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00334-021-00844-z.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Christoph Schwörer
- Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Altenbergrain 21, 3013 Bern, Switzerland
- Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Hochschulstraße 4, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
| | - Erika Gobet
- Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Altenbergrain 21, 3013 Bern, Switzerland
- Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Hochschulstraße 4, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
| | | | - Sarah Bögli
- Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Altenbergrain 21, 3013 Bern, Switzerland
| | - Rachel Imboden
- Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Altenbergrain 21, 3013 Bern, Switzerland
| | - W. O. van der Knaap
- Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Altenbergrain 21, 3013 Bern, Switzerland
| | - Nadezhda Kotova
- Institute of Archaeology, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 12 Geroiv Stalingrada prospekt, Kyiv, 04210 Ukraine
| | - Sergej Makhortykh
- Institute of Archaeology, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 12 Geroiv Stalingrada prospekt, Kyiv, 04210 Ukraine
| | - Willy Tinner
- Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Altenbergrain 21, 3013 Bern, Switzerland
- Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Hochschulstraße 4, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Mitochondrial DNA Profiles of Individuals from a 12th Century Necropolis in Feldioara (Transylvania). Genes (Basel) 2021; 12:genes12030436. [PMID: 33808521 PMCID: PMC8003334 DOI: 10.3390/genes12030436] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2021] [Revised: 02/26/2021] [Accepted: 03/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The genetic signature of modern Europeans is the cumulated result of millennia of discrete small-scale exchanges between multiple distinct population groups that performed a repeated cycle of movement, settlement, and interactions with each other. In this study we aimed to highlight one such minute genetic cycle in a sea of genetic interactions by reconstructing part of the genetic story of the migration, settlement, interaction, and legacy of what is today the Transylvanian Saxon. The analysis of the mitochondrial DNA control region of 13 medieval individuals from Feldioara necropolis (Transylvania region, Romania) reveals a genetically heterogeneous group where all identified haplotypes are different. Most of the perceived maternal lineages are of Western Eurasian origin, except for the Central Asiatic haplogroup C seen in only one sample. Comparisons with historical and modern populations describe the contribution of the investigated Saxon settlers to the genetic history of this part of Europe.
Collapse
|
7
|
Philips A, Stolarek I, Handschuh L, Nowis K, Juras A, Trzciński D, Nowaczewska W, Wrzesińska A, Potempa J, Figlerowicz M. Analysis of oral microbiome from fossil human remains revealed the significant differences in virulence factors of modern and ancient Tannerella forsythia. BMC Genomics 2020; 21:402. [PMID: 32539695 PMCID: PMC7296668 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-020-06810-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2020] [Accepted: 06/08/2020] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Recent advances in the next-generation sequencing (NGS) allowed the metagenomic analyses of DNA from many different environments and sources, including thousands of years old skeletal remains. It has been shown that most of the DNA extracted from ancient samples is microbial. There are several reports demonstrating that the considerable fraction of extracted DNA belonged to the bacteria accompanying the studied individuals before their death. RESULTS In this study we scanned 344 microbiomes from 1000- and 2000- year-old human teeth. The datasets originated from our previous studies on human ancient DNA (aDNA) and on microbial DNA accompanying human remains. We previously noticed that in many samples infection-related species have been identified, among them Tannerella forsythia, one of the most prevalent oral human pathogens. Samples containing sufficient amount of T. forsythia aDNA for a complete genome assembly were selected for thorough analyses. We confirmed that the T. forsythia-containing samples have higher amounts of the periodontitis-associated species than the control samples. Despites, other pathogens-derived aDNA was found in the tested samples it was too fragmented and damaged to allow any reasonable reconstruction of these bacteria genomes. The anthropological examination of ancient skulls from which the T. forsythia-containing samples were obtained revealed the pathogenic alveolar bone loss in tooth areas characteristic for advanced periodontitis. Finally, we analyzed the genetic material of ancient T. forsythia strains. As a result, we assembled four ancient T. forsythia genomes - one 2000- and three 1000- year-old. Their comparison with contemporary T. forsythia genomes revealed a lower genetic diversity within the four ancient strains than within contemporary strains. We also investigated the genes of T. forsythia virulence factors and found that several of them (KLIKK protease and bspA genes) differ significantly between ancient and modern bacteria. CONCLUSIONS In summary, we showed that NGS screening of the ancient human microbiome is a valid approach for the identification of disease-associated microbes. Following this protocol, we provided a new set of information on the emergence, evolution and virulence factors of T. forsythia, the member of the oral dysbiotic microbiome.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Anna Philips
- Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, 61-704, Poznan, Poland
| | - Ireneusz Stolarek
- Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, 61-704, Poznan, Poland
| | - Luiza Handschuh
- Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, 61-704, Poznan, Poland
| | - Katarzyna Nowis
- Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, 61-704, Poznan, Poland
| | - Anna Juras
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Anthropology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, 61-614, Poznan, Poland
| | - Dawid Trzciński
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Anthropology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, 61-614, Poznan, Poland
| | - Wioletta Nowaczewska
- Department of Human Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Wroclaw University, 50-138, Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Anna Wrzesińska
- Anthropological Laboratory, Museum of the First Piasts at Lednica, 62-261, Lednogora, Poland
| | - Jan Potempa
- Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University, 30-387, Krakow, Poland.,Department of Oral Immunity and Infectious Diseases, University of Louisville School of Dentistry, Louisville, KY, 40202, USA
| | - Marek Figlerowicz
- Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, 61-704, Poznan, Poland. .,Institute of Computing Science, Poznan University of Technology, 60-965, Poznan, Poland.
| |
Collapse
|