DNA - The Violet Volken? (Fregel et al, 2017)

Something curious is afoot.  New questions emerge from this paper.

I guess I've mis-understood the Ifri n'Amr o'Moussa cave site from the outset unless it's been re-dated, it seems that all of the human remains buried here (facing NS and EW) are dated to be Cardial Farmers more than likely, not associated with the Beaker materials of this cave.  If I understand correctly, no human remains in this cave can be attributed to the Beaker period.  These samples are called IAM after the excavation, and they look like a mixture of early farmers and native people.  

The second site of Kehf el Baroud is the site that raised my antennas.  These samples are called KEB and come from a white layer dated to around 3200-3000, right below the grey Beaker horizon.  This archaeological layer is associated with a pottery tradition that some have described as proto-Beaker, including (Daugas et al, 1989) or more often 'influences' from here can be seen on the later ceramic.

During this time, extensive trade is occurring between the Portuguese castillos, Southern Spain and nearby burial sites like Rouazi-Skhirat and El Kiffen. (also The Ivory Road) Now a genetic relationship and population movement can be demonstrated as well.  In fact, based on the mtdna profiles and comments in this draft, it looks something short of population turnover with people coming from Iberia at some point before the LN.

KEB is, to some degree, a combination of a previous Moroccan mix with a strong and distinctly European vein that is suggestive of a SW European expansion, and curiously they specifically mention this 'violet component' rise in Middle Neolithic Central Europe with Baalberge and Salzmunde, which they see as moving from SW Europe.  Another distinct part of those and Michelsberg was a spike in WHG ancestry emanating from the Paris Basin and probably further south, although there are 'steppic' or SE European elements as well .  See previous post.

IAM girl with millstone?  Moroccan Press

Remember that the results below are from only two Moroccan caves so it's definitely not the full picture, but interestingly haplogroup H is missing from the Mesolithic/Early Neolithic 'native' set. Keeping in mind it's only one cave, it still seems significant because it's there in modern times, among some Saharan and Atlas Berbers in spades.

If there were more bodies to test from the pre-Beaker and Bell Beaker period, it's likely that one or both could have some M269.  It's definitely there by the first millennium.  Canary Islander DNA from the first millennium.

"By 3,000 BCE, a European Neolithic expansion brought Mediterranean-like ancestry to the Maghreb, most likely from Iberia. Our analyses demonstrate that at least some of the European ancestry observed today in North Africa is related to prehistoric migrations, and local Berber populations were already admixed with Europeans before the Roman conquest. Furthermore, additional European/Iberian ancestry could have reached the Maghreb after KEB people; this scenario is supported by the presence of Iberian-like Bell-Beaker pottery in more recent stratigraphic layers of IAM and KEB caves."

And here something interesting

"At K=8, a new violet component is majoritarian in Iberian Neolithic_EN and most Europe_MNChL, splitting from the early farmers green component.  Europe_MNChL samples that posses 100% of the violet component include Early/Middle Neolithic and Chalcolithic sites from Iberia, Middle Neolithic sites from Germany (Baalberge and Salzmuende cultures) and a Chalcolithic site from Italy (Remedello culture) (Figure S7.4). This result could indicate an, at least partial, Iberian component in Middle Neolithic and Chalcolithic populations in Germany and Italy."

And the dating of Kehf el Baroud

"The human remains analyzed in this study were obtained from the white layer, whose
pottery remains are quite similar to Late Neolithic and Early Chalcolithic pottery from
other locations in Morocco, such as the two neighboring necropolis of Rouazi-Skhirat and El Kiffen, and from Spain and Portugal, primarily in Los Millares and Vila Nova de Sao Pedro. The dating of the white layer performed by De Wailly13, giving an age of about 3,200 BCE, has been disputed by most researchers. However, this date has been confirmed previously by thermoluminescence12 and by calibrated radiocarbon dating in this study (Table S1.1, Figure 1.4)."

I'm still puzzled by the presence of V88 in the Sahel.  I figured it'd be present among the Cardium/Impresso peoples, but that hasn't panned out so far.  Maybe it comes from Iberia with Beakers or MN Iberians?

"Background to Beakers" page 196

BTW, read the last four page of Background to Beakers beginning on page 196.  Pretty impressive.


Yussaef Bokpot previously did a translatable Arabic interview [here]

Neolithization of North Africa involved the migration of people from both the Levant and Europe

Rosa Fregel, Fernado L. Mendez, Youssef Bokbot, Dimas Martin-Socas, Maria D. Camalich-Massieu, Maria C. Avila-Arcos, Peter A. Underhill, Beth Shapiro, Genevieve L Wojcik, Morten Rasmussen, Andre E. R. Soares, Joshua Kapp, Alexandra Sockell, Francisco J. Rodriguez-Santos, Abdeslam Mikdad, Jonathan Santana, Aioze Trujillo-Mederos, Carlos D. Bustamante

doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/191569 Supplement 1
Abstract:

One of the greatest transitions in the human story was the change from hunter-gatherer to farmer. How farming traditions expanded from their birthplace in the Fertile Crescent has always been a matter of contention. Two models were proposed, one involving the movement of people and the other based on the transmission of ideas. Over the last decade, paleogenomics has been instrumental in settling long-disputed archaeological questions, including those surrounding the Neolithic revolution. Compared to the extensive genetic work done on Europe and the Near East, the Neolithic transition in North Africa, including the Maghreb, remains largely uncharacterized. Archaeological evidence suggests this process may have happened through an in situ development from Epipaleolithic communities, or by demic diffusion from the Eastern Mediterranean shores or Iberia. In fact, Neolithic pottery in North Africa strongly resembles that of European cultures like Cardial and Andalusian Early Neolithic, the southern-most early farmer culture from Iberia. Here, we present the first analysis of individuals' genome sequences from early and late Neolithic sites in Morocco, as well as Andalusian Early Neolithic individuals. We show that Early Neolithic Moroccans are distinct from any other reported ancient individuals and possess an endemic element retained in present-day Maghrebi populations, indicating long-term genetic continuity in the region. Among ancient populations, early Neolithic Moroccans share affinities with Levantine Natufian hunter-gatherers (~9,000 BCE) and Pre-Pottery Neolithic farmers (~6,500 BCE). Late Neolithic (~3,000 BCE) Moroccan remains, in comparison, share an Iberian component of a prominent European-wide demic expansion, supporting theories of trans-Gibraltar gene flow. Finally, the Andalusian Early Neolithic samples share the same genetic composition as the Cardial Mediterranean Neolithic culture that reached Iberia ~5,500 BCE. The cultural and genetic similarities of the Iberian Neolithic cultures with that of North African Neolithic sites further reinforce the model of an Iberian intrusion into the Maghreb.

Michelsberg-Pfahlbaukultur, Alpine Cattle & CWC

Rick Hern just posted this interesting [link] in an old Beakerblog post concerning bos longifrons.  Although the studied animal only represents what Basal researchers call 'small cattle', it is worth pointing out that longifrons/brachyceros is dated earliest in the Swiss lakeside pile dwellings.  Though this is only a mitochondrial study, it could foreshadow increasing validity of those early archaeozoological observations.  They do notice that the size of the cattle is coincidentally similar to Swiss Rhaetian Greys, Tyroleans long considered longifrons since Adamtz (NPI).  I'll pause here momentarily..

Let's continue peeling the onion from two posts ago and revisit a recent genetics paper that involved a mysterious folk and then pivot from there: "Multi-scale ancient DNA analyses confirm the western origin of Michelsberg farmers and document probable practices of human sacrifice" by Beau et al, 2017

In that paper the MN Gougenheim (Alsace) burial site contained two different peoples, those who were sacrificed and tumbled into a pit (NCV), and those with a high status pit burial (CV), like the Beaurieux warrior below.  They are isotopically identical.  This is what Beau et al observed:

"Whereas all "H-G lineages" (of potential western origin) were found concentrated in the NCV group, the CV group contained a strong proportion of haplogroups H (H, H1 and H3) and X, which were more common in southern European and Paris Basin farmers"

Basically, you have typical farmers on one hand, and then the H1, H3 and X folks on the other.

Michelsberg Warrior (Manolakakis, Colas, Thevenet, 2007)

We've already seen a few Michelsberg derived or influenced groups with the male signature of, surprisingly, R1 or R1b (Baalberge and Blatterhohle I1594 & I1593), and they also oddly enough distinguish themselves for considerable WHG ancestry (Lipson et al, 2017, Supp Info).  Up to this point, the re-emergence of WHG in the MN has been, fairly reasonably, viewed as the consolidation of farmer majorities with hillbilly hunters in the margins of Europe.  If gory Gougenheim represents a larger phenomenon, perhaps simple gene flow is a weak explanation.

With regard to the rapid increase of H clades in Central Europe during the LN, two different hypotheses have been put forward.  Brotherton et al, 2013 proposed that H1 and H3 came from SW Europe during the LN.  Hervella et al, 2015 proposed this rise to a second Neolithic wave originating in NW Anatolia and transmitting to Central Europe via the Central Balkan Peninsula.  Comically, Michelsberg has 'heritage' it seems from both directions, but it is more plausible that at least its maternal basis originates in the South of France.  Still waiting Dulias et al, 2017...

Michelsberg emerges at a time when morphologically domestic horses (very large and very small) are becoming established in Continental Europe among several different cultures, 4k to 3k B.C.  "Horse size and domestication: Early equid bones from the Czech Republic in the European context" (Kysely and Peske, 2016) 

Michelsberg was a drinking culture that, like Beakers, also made bothroi sacrifices, "Un dépôt de céramiques Michelsberg à Obernai « Parc d’activités économiques intercommunal" by Lefranc and Feliu, 2015

For the first time there is deep flint mines, which is where brachycephalic "Rijckholt I" died.  Point-based pottery is a strange regression, potentially a indication of new mobility.  Salzmundians seem to have had a dogster phenomenon like CA Iberia, where I believe hunter ancestry also spikes.

Fig 30 Rijckholt I skull

Who knows what Horgen DNA looks like; it probably doesn't matter much anyway.  But if pockets of elite hunter-farmers established themselves in pockets of the Western Alps and the Upper Rhine, and if those elites were R1b, then those LN pile dwelling cattle just might make sense after all. 

Full circle again - one of Maju's posts

Rhaetian Grey (Swiss Info)

Dogs and Donuts in the CWC

Last week I read a fascinating paper by Kyselý, Dobeš, Svoboda, 2017 - abstract below.  I'll briefly share some of their pay-per-view findings, but my interest is the meaning behind this phenomenon.  Related to this previous post:  "Woman with a Wolf-Toothed Necklace"

In a cemetery at Březiněves, Czech Republic, Kyselý, Dobeš, Svoboda examine what they believe is the largest collection of tooth and shell necklaces in the whole of Europe.  The distribution of shell and teeth are mostly necklaces, but in many cases the placement of shell beads or teeth also suggest decoration on certain garments, like women's hobbit cloaks, hoods, capes and purses.

Stuff and fake stuff. Fig. 7 (Kyselý, Dobeš, Svoboda, 2017)

What's interesting about Březiněves, like another recent Corded Ware site in Germany, is that the overwhelming majority of teeth are from domestic dog canines, mostly not wolves, but in a few other cases the canines or incisors of other animals, even canine imitations (above).  The shell beads are all from imported freshwater bivalves, which I imagine gave them the nacre luster of their day.

In the CWC it appears that only women wore a necklaces of canis canines separated by beads of freshwater bi-valve shells.  Although pearly buttons and solar emblems sometimes appear alone, and although dog teeth adorn certain women's accessories, the fashioning of the materials in the tooth-shell necklace is rather specific.  The tooth-shell necklace is so common and its construction is so prescribed that it would seem reasonable to think that it has a deeper meaning to the wearers than a simple fashion trend.  This is what I commented to JV in that first post, paraphrasing a few points from Theoi:

Modern Bi-vavles are called "naiads" [18th century taxonomy] after the nymphs of the springs, creeks and wetlands. Within the context of Greek religion, these nymphs of the springs are servants to Artemis (similar to Frigg), wetnurses of babies and overseers of girls. Conversely, boys are shepherded by the sun god "Apollo" [associated with wolves], as in the Roman myth of Romulus and Remus.  When a child reached a certain age, they would return to a spring for some sort of ceremony and sacrifice for thanks and passing into independence.  [Theoi, 2017]

And just to clarify after re-reading that statement, calling pearly mussels 'naiads' is only a modern-English taxonomical convention, nothing to suggest a concrete association between naidads and bivalves in ancient times that I am aware of.  Quite a few freshwater plant and animal species incorporate the mythological name in its taxonomical name.

But the point I was clumsily trying to make is that the association between these two species could be explained as a metaphor in Indo-European religion, specifically the relationship between Apollo and Artemis and their divine responsibilities, being suitable proxies for most Indo-European religions.  (And it is interesting to note the exclusivity mentioned in Kyselý et al between these necklaces and the solar crosses, and that they are generally worn by women, not men)

Romulus and Remus saved

So again, why would dog teeth be associated with wolves, wolves with a Sun god, and a Sun god with (generally child-bearing age) Corded Ware women?  Let me attempt to connect fifty thousand dots just for the heck of it.

The name of one of Apollo's epithets, Lyceius, is itself very likely a homophonic metaphor of the Proto-Indo-European names for wolf (*wĺ̥kʷos ) (or Lykeios -wolf slayer) and shining light (*lewkós).  Similar constructions can be made in the other religions as well, certainly Germanic and Celtic religions.  So how does that relate to dogs?

Indo-Europeanists Gamkrelidze and Ivanov have made the case that dogs and wolves were conflated in Indo-European speech and religion (1995, page 505).  Perhaps PIE dogs were more wolf-like and a lot less like Neolithic village dogs.  Regardless, I'd venture to bet that dog canines were suitable substitutes for a preference of rarer wolf teeth and that the hypothesis might testable by looking at the most elite CWC female burials or the oldest burials.  It's also possible that CWC folks saw no functional distinction between teeth of the two sub-species whatsoever.

Another possibility is that the canines of shepherd dogs were incorporated into these amulet necklaces for protection against wolves in addition to general misfortune.  A paper by Jean-Marc Moriceau (2014) relates a sad reality once common in wolf-infested Europe; from a small village in France, 1749:

“Marie, aged approximately 7 years, daughter of Jacques Prudent and his first wife, Tiennette Maroyer, was snatched from her doorway by a wolf and devoured in a field. Only her head, one arm and her stomach were found, and nothing besides. These pitiful remains were buried in the cemetery of this church the following day, fifth October, before my entire parish, who had gathered for Sunday Mass.”

Ironic that such a dark animal subject to local bounties and tributes, a terror of children's stories, an epithet of raiders and berserkers, and a real-life menace to children and livestock would be so venerated in IE folklore and religion.  Could it be that the purpose of the teeth and shell is not so much a fashion, but the fact that women of a certain belief system have male and female children?

Dance of the Naiades (Adolphe Lalyre)

Drilled teeth and shell artefacts from a grave at Prague-Březiněves and a review of decorative artefacts made from animal material from Corded Ware culture in the Czech Republic
Kyselý, R., Dobeš, M. & Svoboda, K. Archaeol Anthropol Sci (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-017-0514-5 [Link]

Necklaces or other decorations made from drilled animal teeth and small perforated shell beads are typical burial objects of graves from the Late Eneolithic Corded Ware culture (c. 2900–2300 bc) in the territories of the Czech Republic, based on local data, central Germany, and to lesser degree in some other European regions. The richest collection of tooth pendants and shell beads so far discovered in Bohemia, and potentially the whole of Europe, derives from the recent excavation at Prague-Březiněves (595 tooth finds; 2801 complete shell beads and their 5586 fragments). A detailed analysis of this find forms the first part of the paper. The second, comparative section reviews all available graves (134 graves) of this culture from the territories of the Czech Republic that contain decorative items made from animal material: drilled teeth and imitation teeth, small beads of shell or bone and larger discs made of shell (or sometimes bone) called “solar” discs because of the decoration based on the symbol of a cross. Altogether, over 4000 teeth finds (from 88 graves) and over 30,000 finds of shell ring (68 graves), serving as beads or pendants, were recorded. Furthermore, 58 solar discs in 37 graves were recorded. The graves discussed here are mostly of women, either young or older; but children also appear. The frequent co-occurrence of teeth and shell beads (small decorative items) and their tendency to be mutually exclusive with larger solar discs (possibly brooches with a variety of functions) attest to two phenomena. Dog teeth, especially canines and incisors, clearly predominate in the collections of drilled teeth (in Březiněves min. 502 tooth finds representing at least 403 teeth and at least 73 dogs). Teeth of wild carnivores—wolf (Canis lupus), fox (Vulpes vulpes), wild cat (Felis silvestris), badger (Meles meles), otter (Lutra lutra), smaller mustelids, and brown bear (Ursus arctos)—and deer (Cervus elaphus) provide clear evidence of their presence in the environment. Two drilled human premolars are highly exceptional finds. Decorated discs made from the shells of the non-autochthonous freshwater mussel Margaritifera auricularia found at Prague-Březiněves and other Czech sites suggest importation from western or southern Europe. Despite there being significant inter-grave differences in the composition of the collections, the regular appearance of the phenomena described in this research in c. 10% of all graves of this culture, together with the uniformities in the manufacture of the items, suggests relatively strict rules with respect to Corded Ware funeral customs. Nevertheless, differences in the proportions of artefacts within the region were observed, such as a shift to a relatively higher frequency of discs, a greater specialisation on dog canines and incisors and the exclusion of imitation teeth between typological (and probably chronological) groups of this culture. The role of dogs, the meaning of these phenomena and their relation to the broader temporo-spatial context are widely discussed.

See also:
"The Structure and Complexity of Corded Ware Mortuary Practices; a bi-ritual communal burial at Slany (Bohemia) and its social significance" (Jan Turek)

"Dog tooth studded purse" (National Geographic)

"A Reader in Comparative Indo-European Religion"  Ranko Matasović, 2016

"Indo-European and the Indo-Europeans. A Reconstruction and Historical Analysis of a Proto-Language and a Proto-Culture by Th.V.Gamkrelidze & V.V. Ivanov (page 505)

Alpine Savages, Valencia de Vucedol, Westphalian Weirdos

"Piece of Cake!"

Maybe a soul or two will remember this odd paper by Beau et al, 2017.  It's significance seems lost so far, so here's a simplified narrative: A predatory and expansive ethnic emerged in the MN Michelsberg, apparently a lightly-footed, pit-burying, hunter-heavy Atlantic with short heads.  Either the savages 'hunted' farmers beyond their borders or they represent a localized ethnic stratum, either way they appear genetically distinct from the people they ritually victimized.  Is this genetic apartheid also visible at Blatterhole in Westphalia? (Blätterhof, Blätterhohle)

This culture bleeds influences into a few other successor cultures; important ones that may become more important in this story later.  The Michelsberg mito-profiles are interesting in that light.  A paper by Katrina Dulias et al was due to be published already this month and it will be interesting to see their analysis on the expansion of H1 and H3 from the Southwest.  More on Christina Roth, 2016 with mito-turnover in the Mesetas below. 

Before moving on to Baalbergers, Blatterhohleans and Barcelonans, it might be helpful or not helpful to look back on how American anthropologists viewed the origin of big-bodied brachycephals of the Late Neolithic during this last century.  Earnest Hooton and his students viewed the rugged 'Alpine' racial type to likely be a Mesolithic relict from small pockets of Western Europe that slowly re-emerged through a combination of selection and miscegenation.  Of course they understood that brachycephals were also lightly represented in pockets of the Near East and recognized a general brachycephalization trend, but they also understood that the Late Neolithic saw massive migration from the East into the West of Europe.  Despite this, Hooton preferred the view that this massive physique was more likely a re-emergence of the savage in the horridly barbaric Middle Neolithic.

While modern osteologists working in Central and Eastern Europe are dodgy about the directional origin of the Beaker 'Alpine ethnic', from what I've read of the six or so leading experts in Central Europe, I'd bet they prefer a Western origin of the Beaker physique.  To make the matter more complex is the fact that most ethnic Bell Beakers very likely have substantial Corded Ware ancestry and cultural heritage (if not a majority) even if the communities didn't exactly overlap spatially or chronologically.  And for extra credit to this problem, it's also likely that later ethnic Beakers of the Eastern group intermingled with unrelated Steppe groups (to both themselves or a separate Corded Ware); personally I would point to Szigetszentmiklós (I2787) as direct evidence of a potential Beaker-Yamna hybrid.

The nearly certain Corded Ware ancestry of the North Central Beakers, and really almost all non-Iberian Beakers, is problematic when looking at the Bell Beaker racial type because not many of their distinct features could be attributable to the more slightly built CWC.  OTOH, Beakers clearly have a larger amount of what looks like WHG ancestry and it would necessarily have to be this specific ancestry that accounts for some of their unique features if Corded Ware ancestry represents the entirety of their recent Steppe heritage.  Clearly the Meseta underwent a large change about the time of the Beakers, and these bulbous-headed giants lack a significant Steppe component.  So what the heck does that mean?


Anyhow, when you look at the Baalbergers from Salzmünde or the Blatterhohle Westphalians such as Bla16 I1593, something interesting becomes a possibility.  So for fun, let's pretend for a moment that the so-called Steppe migration did in fact happen in multiple waves instead of a single wave as currently understood by the Allentoft, Haack and Olalde papers.  Would the earliest waves have comparable amounts of CHG compared to the last wave, assuming the Corded Ware represents the last wave?  And what was the make up of the Northwest and Western Black Sea if that was an area that the initial wave formed?

Finally, we go to the Barcelonan Bell Beakers.  The current view is that Iberian Beakers contributed almost nothing to the Continental Beaker ethnic.  This is put forth in "The Bell Beaker Phenomenon and the Genomic Transformation of Northwestern Europe".  That must be a false dichotomy because it is inconceivable on multiple grounds.  Iberian Beakers expanded powerfully into Europe.  That is not the same as 'Iberians expanded powerfully into Europe'.  So like Heyd has written, in broad strokes a picture is forming, but the details might be different than expected.  Right now there is a simple narrative, but by this time next year, we might find ourselves again passing the same tree.

It might be a good idea to, once again, re-read "Kossinna's Smile".