28 Results Found

The gene pool of the East Caucasus, encompassing modern-day Azerbaijan and Dagestan populations, was studied alongside adjacent populations using 83 Y-chromosome SNP markers. The analysis of genetic distances among 18 populations (N = 2216) represent...

The Mongolian horse is one of the most ancient and relatively unmanaged horse breeds. The population history of the Mongolian horse remains poorly understood due to a lack of information on ancient and modern DNA. Here, we report nearly complete mito...

We review the stable isotopic data of recovered Greek bones from the Early Neolithic to the Late Bronze period in order to examine dietary changes over time. As an isotopic baseline we use the published fauna data of the periods. The analysis reveale...

Dog domestication is still largely unresolved due to time-gaps in the sampling of regions. Ancient Italian canids are particularly understudied, currently represented by only a few specimens. In the present study, we sampled 27 canid remains from Nor...

The role of human activity in shaping the terrestrial environment has been a core scientific issue of interest across various disciplines. However, it remains unclear whether there are significant differences in the patterns of the anthropogenic impa...

The chronological period from the beginning of the Chalcolithic Age to the end of the Bronze Age on the Iberian northern sub-plateau of the Iberic Peninsula involves interesting social and cultural phenomena, such as the appearance of the Bell Beaker...

The Bronze Age in Europe is characterized by major socio-economic changes, including certain aspects of animal husbandry. In the Alpine region archaeozoological data, though not very abundant, reveal that cattle were the most important domestic anima...

This paper addresses the ritual of Neolithic Malta in its island context drawing on recent research by the FRAGSUS project. Ritualised club houses placed in horticultural enclosures formed the focal point of the prehistoric Maltese landscape in the f...

The Italian peninsula was host to a strong history of migration processes that shaped its genomic variability since prehistoric times. During the Metal Age, Sicily and Southern Italy were the protagonists of intense trade networks and settlements alo...

The possibility of collecting new archaeological elements useful in reconstructing the dynamics of population, production and commercial activities in the Bronze Age at the edge of the central-southern Venice Lagoon was provided between 2023 and 2024...

Archaeobotanical studies have largely illuminated spatiotemporal differences in agricultural development across the Loess Plateau. However, the particularities of local agricultural development have not been adequately studied for complex geographica...

The characterization of prehistoric human behavior in terms of habitation practices using GIS cartography methods is an important aspect of any modern geoarchaeological approach. Furthermore, using unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) surveys to identify ar...

Throughout history, it has been observed that human populations have buried the deceased members of their communities following different patterns. During the Copper Age and the Bronze Age—periods on which this study focuses—in the northe...

In this paper, we study δ15N enrichment as an indicator not only of marine protein diet, but also of climate change. The slope of the variation of δ15N with precipitation was calculated equal to 0.38/100 mm of precipitation for Greek plan...

In the last year two publications shed new light on the linguistic and genomic history of ancient Uralic speakers. Here I show that these novel genetic and linguistic data are compatible with each-other and with the archaeological inferences, allowin...

This study investigates the Y-chromosome genetic diversity of the Turkmen population in Turkmenistan, analyzing 23 Y-STR loci for the first time in a sample of 100 individuals. Combined with comparative data from Turkmen populations in Afghanistan, I...

The fortified hilltop settlement of Monkodonja, located near Rovinj on the west coast of Istria, Croatia, provides insight into Bronze Age occupation and conflict in the Adriatic region. Established around 2000 BC, as evidenced by a series of C14 dat...

Most studies of ritual and symbolism in early complex societies of the Near East have focused on elite and/or public behavioural domains. However, the vast bulk of the population would not have been able to fully participate in such public displays....

Dental health is closely linked to an individual’s health and diet. This bioarcheological study presents dental caries and stable isotope data obtained from prehistoric individuals (n = 101) from three Early Neolithic sites (c. 5500-4800 BCE) i...

Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of plague, has triggered multiple pandemics throughout human history, yet its long-term evolutionary patterns and reservoir dynamics remain poorly understood. Here, we present a global phylogenomic analysis of anc...

This review evaluates Minoan and Indus Valley hydro-technologies in southeastern Greece and Indus Valley Pakistan, respectively. The Minoan civilization first inhabited Crete and several Aegean islands shortly after the Late Neolithic times and flour...

Background: The Balkan Peninsula has served as an important migration corridor between Asia Minor and Europe throughout humankind’s history and a refugium during the Last Glacial Maximum. Past migrations such as the Neolithic expansion, Bronze...

Phoenicians were probably the first eastern Mediterranean population to establish long-distance connections with the West, namely the Iberian Peninsula, from the final Bronze to the early Iron Age. For a long time, these colonies all over the Mediter...

The human-specific Alu elements, belonging to the class of Short INterspersed Elements (SINEs), have been shown to be a powerful tool for population genetic studies. An earlier study in this department showed that it was possible to analyze Alu prese...

The origins of the main cultivar groups of Vitis vinifera, their relationships with wild grapevine populations, and the use of other Vitaceae are relevant issues for the improvement and conservation of Vitis diversity. Morphometric studies, domestica...

During the Middle and Recent Bronze Age, the Po Plain and, more broadly Northern Italy were populated by the so-called “Terramare”, embanked settlements, surrounded by a moat. The buried remains of these archaeological settlements are cha...

This research article focuses on the evolution of a Mediterranean landscapes and the intricate interplay between natural and human-induced processes in the context of the Italian Anti-Apennine mountains. The study employs a multi-temporal approach to...

At the beginning of human history, surface water, especially from rivers and springs, was the most frequent water supply source. Groundwater was used in arid and semi-arid regions, e.g., eastern Crete (Greece). As the population increased, periodic w...