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Cranial morphology of early human skeletal remains from Lapa do Santo, Lagoa Santa, Brazil: implications for the settlement of the New World. DANILO V. BERNARDO1, WALTER A. NEVES1, ANDRÉ STRAUSS2, TATIANA F. ALMEIDA3 and RODRIGO E. OLIVEIRA1. 1Laboratory for Human Evolutionary Studies, Department of Genetics and Evolutionary Biology, Biosciences Institute, University of São Paulo, 2Department of Human Evolution, Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 3Children's Institute, School of Medicine of University of São Paulo. Lapa do Santo is a rock shelter located in Lagoa Santa (central Brazil) where 28 human burials have been excavated since 2001. A subset of 13 burials is of early Holocene age, with six individuals directly dated to between ca. 9,000 and 8,200 BP. The other burials are from different chronological periods, varying to between ca. 5,000 and 7,700 BP. In this study we compared the cranial morphology of eight (five from the older chronological set) best preserved adult skulls recovered from Lapa do Santo with two other early South American paleoamerican series: Sumidouro (n=13), also from Lagoa Santa, and Sabana de Bogota (n=57), from Colombia. The worldwide human cranial variation, represented by 18 populations from Howell’s databank (n=1,684) was also included in the study. The morphological affinities among the series were explored through two different multivariate statistical techniques: Principal Components Analysis and Mahalanobis Distances. Both males and females were used in the analyses and the data was previously treated by means of double standardization to correct for sexual dimorphism and size. Our results show a strong association between Lapa do Santo and the other two South American paleoamerican series represented in the study. Within a worldwide perspective Lapa do Santo shows a clear association with Africans and Australo-Melanesians instead of with Asians and late Amerindians. These results support the idea that the New World was settled by two independent Asian colonizing biological stocks along time. Howell’s databank (n=1,684) was also included in the study. The morphological affinities among the series were explored through two different multivariate statistical techniques: Principal Components Analysis and Mahalanobis Distances. Both males and females were used in the analyses and the data was previously treated by means of double standardization to correct for sexual dimorphism and size. Our results show a strong association between Lapa do Santo and the other two South American paleoamerican series represented in the study. Within a worldwide perspective Lapa do Santo shows a clear association with Africans and Australo-Melanesians instead of with Asians and late Amerindians. These results support the idea that the New World was settled by two independent Asian colonizing biological stocks along time.
The Neolithic transition in the Maghreb: a study through dental morphological data. FRANCESCA CANDILIO1, ANDREA CUCINA2 and ALFREDO COPPA1. 1Biologia Ambientale, Università di Roma "La Sapienza", Italy, 2Facultad de ciencias antropologicas, Universidad Autonoma de Yucatan, Mexico. The present study assesses diachronic relations among the different populations that have, inhabited the Maghreb during the transition to the Neolithic. Even though there is a general consensus regarding a Near, or Middle, Eastern origin of this transition that has determined indisputable changes in subsistence throughout the Mediterranean basin, its modalities and extent are still far from resolved. Two principal scenarios have been hypothesized: demic diffusion and cultural transmission; the first envisaging a change in the region’s genetic pool and the second, population continuity. In order to establish if there has been continuity in the Maghreb, the present study analyses the bearers of the Neolithic culture and establishes the relations they had with each other and with the populations that preceded them. It, furthermore, evaluates if the adoption of a Neolithic subsistence along the southern shore of the Mediterranean was an independent process or if, on the contrary, it was part of a wider phenomenon which interested, from the Near East, a great portion of the Old World. The results, indeed, seem to strongly suggest this transition was accompanied by consistent population replacement and that the Neolithic revolution spread in different directions. In particular, they seem to indicate routes along the northern and southern coasts of the Mediterranean, towards the Arabian Peninsula and along the shores of the Nile valley.
Human bacterial DNA from dental calculus: a new source of genetic material. CONSTANZA P. DE LA FUENTE1, SERGIO V. FLORES2 and MAURICIO L. MORAGA1. 1Programa de Genética Humana, ICBM, Universidad de Chile, 2Departamento de Antropología, Universidad de Chile. The diversity and evolution of human populations have been systematically analyzed through polymorphisms in the human and microbiome genomes. In fact, several microorganisms have been used to infer microevolutionary events of their human hosts. The aim of this investigation is contribute to the study of human bacterial flora as an indirect genetics marker of human populations from a new source of genetic material: dental calculus. This material can be analyzed in current and ancient samples, and it has not been genetically analyzed before. Recent and archaeological DNA samples, as old as 4,000 YBP, were successfully extracted and amplified following all the required controls for ancient DNA. Species-specific PCR primers were designed in order to identify five species (Actinomyces naeslundii, Fusobacterium nucleatum, Streptococcus gordonii, Streptococcus mutans and Porphyromonas gingivalis). Of these species, F. nucleatum was the most frequent, founded in all the recent samples and around 40% from ancient samples. Also, in this bacterium we observed the presence of two o more genetic variants from the same individual, which were detected through DNA cloning. Genomic analysis of bacteria from dental calculus is a promising source of evidence for paleopathological and microevolutionary studies, focused either on microorganisms or their human hosts
Population continuity or replacement at ancient Lachish? A dental affinity analysis in the Levant. CLARISSA R. DICKE-TOUPIN and JOEL D. IRISH. Department of Anthropology, University of Alaska Fairbanks. Are material culture changes between late Bronze and early Iron Age inhabitants of Lachish, in modern day Israel, the result of immigrants settling the region, or an in situ evolution of practices by the same indigenous peoples? The research objectives are to: 1) assess dental affinity of an Iron Age Lachish sample relative to its Bronze Age predecessor, and 2) compare data in both groups with European and North African comparative samples to estimate biological affinity within the Mediterranean area. In the process, two competing hypotheses are tested; one postulates continuity and the other population replacement between the Bronze and Iron Age. Using the Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System, up to 36 non-metric permanent crown, root, and osseous trait frequencies were compared using the mean measure of divergence statistic to determine inter-sample phenetic affinities. In support of continuity between the Lachish Bronze and Iron Ages, and 2) overall affinity to North African and European populations within the Mediterranean Diaspora – based on samples of various age from Giza, Carthage, Greece, Italy, Algeria, and Turkey, among others. These findings expand upon previous work by using a much larger number of traits and comparative samples; they also lend support to one of many competing theories identifying the ancient Lachish peoples, while providing an increased understanding of the Bronze and Iron Age transition in the Levant. This transition is often considered one of the most intriguing and volatile periods in the Near East.
Posts: 2007 | From: Washington State | Registered: Oct 2006
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Dental morphological analysis of two Portuguese Neolithic samples. BRIANA C. HORWATH and JOEL D. IRISH. Anthropology, University of Alaska, Fairbanks. The development of farming is associated with profound social and biological changes globally. Such is the case on a local scale in the Iberian Peninsula during the Middle to Late Neolithic (4500-2000 BC) – a period characterized by the emergence of agriculturally dependent and complex societies. The purpose of this study is to compare dental nonmetric traits between Neolithic samples from the sites of Feteira II and Bolores, Portugal to estimate biological affinity and identify key features that contribute to variation among the interred individuals dating to this crucial time. The burial sites of Feteira II (3600-2900 BC) and Bolores (2800-1800 BC) were in use before and during a period of ecological and social change (2000/1800 B.C.). The former is a collective burial cave site with an MNI of 42 adults and 26 sub-adults. The latter is an artificial burial cave with an MNI of 14 adults and eight sub-adults. Thirty-six dental and osseous traits from the Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System were recorded in the permanent dentition with the aid of 23 reference plaques. Quantitative analyses using, among others, the Mean Measure of Divergence statistic, suggest that despite notable cultural change, there is biological continuity between the Feteira and Bolores samples. Compared to other Mediterranean area samples, Bolores, and to a lesser extent Feteira, are more similar to North African Carthaginians, Algerians, and Berbers than to southern European samples. These findings contribute to a diachronic understanding of population variation during an important time in this consequential world region.
Population continuity after all? Potential late Pleistocene dental ancestors of Holocene Nubians have been found! JOEL D. IRISH. Department of Anthropology, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK. Since the mid-1960s, some anthropologists have posited biological continuity in late Pleistocene through recent Nubians. However, subsequent dental and skeletal research revealed that a broad range of Holocene samples, all of which share appreciable spatiotemporal phenetic homogeneity, differ significantly from those at the Late Paleolithic sites of Wadi Halfa and Jebel Sahaba. If the latter two Lower Nubian samples are representative of local peoples at that time, then post-Pleistocene discontinuity is implied. Who, then, were the ancestors of Holocene Nubians? A preliminary comparison of dental nonmetric data in 15 late Pleistocene through early historic Nubian samples (n=795 individuals) with recently discovered remains from al Khiday in Upper Nubia may provide the answer. Dating to at least 9,000+ BP, the new sample (n=40) may be the first of Late Paleolithic age recovered in >40 years; however, until additional fieldwork and dating are conducted, the excavators prefer the more conservative term of "pre-Mesolithic." Using the Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System to record traits and multivariate statistics to estimate pairwise affinities, it is evident that al Khiday is closely akin to most Holocene samples. It is widely divergent from Jebel Sahaba. As such, there does appear to be long-term biological continuity in the region after all – though with late Pleistocene Upper- instead of Lower Nubians. While it cannot be proven that the al Khiday people were directly related, they are, minimally, indicative of what such an ancestor would be like – assuming that phenetic affinities are indicators of genetic variation. Thanks to Sandro Salvatori and Donatella Usai, Archaeological Mission at El Salha, Istituto Italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente, and Tina Jakob, Durham University. Funding provided by the National Science Foundation (BNS-0104731), Wenner-Gren Foundation (#7557), National Geographic Society (#8116-06), and Institute for Bioarchaeology.
AAPA IIII 1 recipientsCC: recipientsYou MoreBCC: recipientsYou Show Details FROM:Omari Maulana TO:omaritacoma@yahoo.com Message flagged Wednesday, January 18, 2012 12:17 PMMessage body Human fossils from the Paleolithic of Buticha Cave, Ethiopia: results from excavations in 2008 and 2011 with a consideration of the taphonomical context. O. M. PEARSON1, Z. ASSEFA2, D. PLEURDEAU3, E. HOVERS4, A. ASRAT5, Y. M. LAM6, J.-J. BAHAIN3, A. LEPLONGEON3, F. DUQUESNOY7, J.-L. LE QUELLEC7 and C. T/TSION8. 1Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, USA, 2Department of Anthropology, Archaeobiology Program and Human Origins Program, National Museum of Natural History, USA, 3Institute de Paléontologie Humaine and Département de Préhistoire, Musée National d’Histoire Naturelle, France, 4Institute of Archaeology, Hebrew University, Israel, 5Department of Earth Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia, 6Department of Anthropology, University of Victoria, Canada, 7LAMPEA/MMSH, Université Aix en Provence, France, 8retired, National Museum of Ethiopia. Excavations in 2008 and 2011 at Buticha Cave (Goda Buticha) near Dire Dawa, Ethiopia, exposed a 2.5-meter-deep sequence of cultural strata, divided into two depositional complexes. The upper complex consists of a series of very fine-grained silts, often light in color, and contains pottery, domesticated fauna, and a lithic industry dominated by obsidian tools. The lower complex occupies the bottom 140-160 cm of the sequence, consists of fine brown silt and gravel, contains wild fauna and a LSA or MSA industry dominated by chert artifacts, and has yielded ten hominin specimens. Preliminary calibrated radiocarbon dates bracket nine of the hominin specimens at between 6.3 ka and 35 ka. The last, a fragment of cranial vault, is older than 35 ka. The hominins are represented by five permanent teeth or tooth fragments, two small fragments of cranial vault, a proximal pollical phalanx, a proximal pedal phalanx, and a metacarpal diaphysis. With one exception, the teeth are small in size compared to those of modern South African blacks, of A-Group Nubians, of Nubian samples from the terminal Paleolithic, and from MSA contexts at other sites in Africa, although this last sample does include some notably small individuals. The postcranial specimens are average to small relative to those of recent Africans. The lower complex also contains abundant microfauna and numerous hyena coprolites. Human occupations of Buticha Cave appear to have been ephemeral. The mode and agent of accumulation of the hominin specimens remain to be determined
Patterns in Egyptian body size and limb proportions. MICHELLE H. RAXTER. Department of Anthropology, University of South Florida. Human body size can provide important information about adaptation and population movements. The objective of this study was to investigate body size and limb proportions of adult Egyptians using skeletal remains. It was predicted that Egyptians would be intermediate between higher and lower latitude populations in body size and limb length indices. The main skeletal sample consisted of 492 males and 528 females, all adults from the Predynastic and Dynastic Periods, a time spanning c. 5500 BCE-600 CE. The sample was analyzed as northern and southern groups within Egypt. Egyptian groups were compared regionally to Nubians, as well as to other populations in the world using anthropometrics compiled by Ruff (1994) and skeletal measures from archaeologically-derived samples from Holliday (1995). Ancient Egyptians’ limb length indices were more characteristic of tropical populations. Nubians possessed higher crural indices compared to ancient Egyptians (p < .001). Other measures such as body mass/stature and bi-iliac breadth/stature to stature were intermediate between higher latitude and lower latitude populations. These results may reflect that limb length is more plastic compared to body breadth. The results may also reflect an early Mediterranean and/or Near Eastern influence in Northeast Africa.
-------------------- Black Roots. Posts: 2007 | From: Washington State | Registered: Oct 2006
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^No disrespect to Brandon's aspirations, but today's physical anthropologists are among the sloppiest "scientists". I won't even comment on the "Neolithic transition" mess and why using dental traits alone to trace migratory events is just stupid. Or how Irish just admitted that he wasted everyone's time for over 30 years or how Raxter presented the paper last year yet now the only difference in her abstract seems to be genuinely the most biased interpretation I've ever seen:
quote:The sample was analyzed as northern and southern groups within Egypt. Egyptian groups were compared regionally to Nubians, as well as to other populations in the world using anthropometrics compiled by Ruff (1994) and skeletal measures from archaeologically-derived samples from Holliday (1995). Ancient Egyptians’ limb length indices were more characteristic of tropical populations. Nubians possessed higher crural indices compared to ancient Egyptians (p < .001). Other measures such as body mass/stature and bi-iliac breadth/stature to stature were intermediate between higher latitude and lower latitude populations. These results may reflect that limb length is more plastic compared to body breadth. The results may also reflect an early Mediterranean and/or Near Eastern influence in Northeast Africa.
^Yet Egypt is in a mid-latitude zone. You'd EXPECT body mass/stature and other indicators to reflect that and be similar to other mid-latitude populations who happen to reside in the mediterranean region. You would not expect tropical limb proportions. Yet, when these results are obtained, this is how she explains it:
quote:These results may reflect that limb length is more plastic compared to body breadth. The results may also reflect an early Mediterranean and/or Near Eastern influence in Northeast Africa.
NOT the other way around though, that body mass/stature etc is more plastic (which it is) and that the results may be indicative of SSA ancestry in Northeast Africa. She chose the counter intuitive route, why?
^I'm just done with these people. It is easier to accuse people of an agenda than complete incompetence so I pretty much don't trust them.
Posts: 4021 | From: Bay Area, CA | Registered: Mar 2007
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I was gonna reply and say pretty much the same thing but I held back. It is good that someone else sees the glaring contradictions in these studies: on the one hand the neolithic was introduced to Europe and The Levant by Africans (implying an African origin of the neolithic agricultural lifestyle) but on the other hand neolithic populations in Africa show impact of foreign (non-African) influence during the Neolithic (implying a non African origin of the neolithic agricultural lifestyle). Which one is it?
Posts: 8896 | Registered: May 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Sundjata: ^No disrespect to Brandon's aspirations, but today's physical anthropologists are among the sloppiest "scientists".
Don't worry, I promise that I won't be nearly as sloppy as these guys. It may help that I will approach these issues from a very different perspective than most of these researchers.
Posts: 7082 | From: Fallbrook, CA | Registered: Mar 2004
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Tukuler
multidisciplinary Black Scholar
Member # 19944
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So despite protestations of any professional associations race is very much at the back of physical anthropology.
quote:Originally posted by Evergreen: Population continuity after all? Potential late Pleistocene dental ancestors of Holocene Nubians have been found! JOEL D. IRISH.
As such, there does appear to be long-term biological continuity in the region after all – though with late Pleistocene Upper- instead of Lower Nubians. While it cannot be proven that the al Khiday people were directly related, they are, minimally, indicative of what such an ancestor would be like – assuming that phenetic affinities are indicators of genetic variation.
Evergreen Writes:
At some point Irish will be forced to reconcile the fact that East and West Africans are genetically related by the PN2 clade. He posits affinity between Nile Valley Africans and Iberomaursian populations even though genetic modeling indicates Iberomaursians evolved prior to E1b1 migrating north from East Africa.
Posts: 2007 | From: Washington State | Registered: Oct 2006
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quote:Originally posted by Sundjata: ^No disrespect to Brandon's aspirations, but today's physical anthropologists are among the sloppiest "scientists".
Don't worry, I promise that I won't be nearly as sloppy as these guys. It may help that I will approach these issues from a very different perspective than most of these researchers.
If you get a PhD you will follow the lead of the academe unless you are working in forensics.
If you do any field work you will not assign the skeletal remains to any racial group. To protect your "liberal" standing you will probably only report the sex, and estimated age of the remains you study.
You will avoid reporting the metrics so you won't be identified as Afrocentric.
quote:Originally posted by Tukuler: So despite protestations of any professional associations race is very much at the back of physical anthropology.
It never left. They just stoppped talking about race because the results was supporting the Afrocentric paradigms that Blacks founded the River Valley civilizations, and beyond.
Some how, some way, these studies have to leave the door open for Eurasian genes into Egypt and Nubia.
These people don't care about truth at all. They just seem to want to muddy up Egyptian and Nubian peoples and leave the door open for racists to claim that Egypt is mixed somehow.
It's studies like these that make me sick because these people KNOW the Truth and are more concerned of not being claimed as "Afrocentric" like Dr. Winters says.
All I can say is that we must continue to critique these studes so the laymen understand the language being used in them.
Peace
Posts: 9651 | From: Reace and Love City. | Registered: Oct 2005
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