Bell Beaker DNA and Quick Out-takes

I'll give a couple of out-takes from the Haak et al paper which is the biggest study of ancient European DNA ever.  I wanted to wait until I had a chance to thoroughly read the paper (linked below) and condense the most interesting points.

"das Bode-Becher" of Quedlinburg, Germany (not #I0806 who tested R1b-P312 & H1) See burial page 1*

(*Correction.  The Quedlinburg man used in the sample was 50 years old.  Pictured is the 20 year old)

The thirty-nine authors are very notable in the fields of archaeology and genetics.  A number of the authors have been mentioned on this blog before.  Unlike previous genetics papers, the appendix includes solid explanations of sites, artifacts and why remains were selected for testing.  Good.

The study confirms, more concretely than ever, that a major genetic transformation of Europe occurred beginning early in the third millennium.  This was true in Western Europe which found itself engulfed in the Beaker enigma.

As a side note, a sharp population collapse preceded the emergence of Beaker and Corded peoples.  In many areas the abandonment of tombs and fields may point to serious social problems in Europe even before the arrival of new people.  [here]

The conclusion of the Haak authors is that the genetic shift in Central Europe is consistent with migration from the North Pontic Steppe (specifically) and implicate the steppe populations as the only source of this change coming into Europe before being reduced several hundred years later by R1b Bell Beakers and later again by Unetice who had much less of the Yamnaya-like ancestry for whatever reason.

"...first, during the Middle Neolithic, when hunter-gatherer ancestry rose again after
its Early Neolithic decline, and then between the Late Neolithic and the present, when farmer and hunter-gatherer ancestry rose after its Late Neolithic decline. This second resurgence must have started during the Late Neolithic/Bronze Age period itself, as the Bell Beaker and Unetice groups had reduced Yamnaya ancestry compared to the earlier Corded Ware, and comparable levels to that in some present-day Europeans..."

They admit they really don't know where the Yamnaya-like Corded Ware people came from, especially given the fact that all of the Yamnaya individuals they produced were uniformly R1b, whereas the Corded Ware were mostly R1a.

"We caution that the sampled Yamnaya individuals from Samara might not be directly ancestral to Corded Ware individuals from Germany. It is possible that a more western Yamnaya population, or an earlier (pre-Yamnaya) steppe population may have migrated into central Europe, and future work may uncover more missing links in the chain of transmission of steppe ancestry."

Other topics to delve into later...

>  The researchers got a positive result for R1b from a 50 year old man in the town of Quedlinburg, Germany.  (I had previously thought that Individual I0806 was the other man pictured above*corrected).  

>  R1b was present in the Early Neolithic of the Ebro Valley.  An individual from the Els Torcs cave was shown to be a basal form of R1b north of L51 (corrected) with a maternal haplogroup of T.  It looks like a solid result because the individual clusters with farmers and the individual was related to at least one other individual present who is clearly not modern. (Haplogroup F?)

It will be interesting to see how people react to this.  One question that may not be answerable for a while is, how much of the Western R1b is descended from this early positive in the Eastern Ebro region? 


>  This paper rightly bats down the western origin or Iberian emergence of R1b and favors an eastern origin that arrived as a low frequency haplogroup in the Neolithic, this in light of the Early Neolithic Iberian who tested positive for R1b.

Some have conflated the results of the Yamnaya individuals and the favored eastern emergence of R1b to mean that the authors suggest R1b Western Europeans are descended directly from R1b Yamnayans or similar through a vehicle of choice, ie. Bell Beaker wanderers.

This is not what the authors said.  They also did not say that all Indo-European languages are best explained by the Steppe Hypothesis, in fact, the Armenian plateau hypothesis is considered just as likely.   They did not say that Bell Beaker culture is descended from Yamnaya Culture.  It is not.

Bell Beaker Culture does have some similarities with Yamnaya.  They usually used hollow base barbed points, they were solar worshippers, they drank from beakers emblazoned with solar motifs.
Bell Beaker Culture is a distant cousin and the two met at a distant time in Northern Iran/Northeast Mesopotamia, not Russia.

Note>

"It is still possible that the steppe migration detected by our study into Late Neolithic Europe might account for only a subset of Indo-European languages in Europe, and other Indo-European languages arrived in Europe not from the steppe but from either an early “Neolithic Anatolian” or later “Armenian plateau” homeland.."

Massive migration from the steppe is a source for Indo-European languages in Europe
Wolfgang Haak1,*, Iosif Lazaridis2,3,*, Nick Patterson3, Nadin Rohland2,3, Swapan Mallick2,3,4,
Bastien Llamas1, Guido Brandt5, Susanne Nordenfelt2,3, Eadaoin Harney2,3,4, Kristin
Stewardson2,3,4, Qiaomei Fu2,3,6,7, Alissa Mittnik8, Eszter Bánffy9,10, Christos Economou11,
Michael Francken12, Susanne Friederich13, Rafael Garrido Pena14, Fredrik Hallgren15, Valery
Khartanovich16, Aleksandr Khokhlov17, Michael Kunst18, Pavel Kuznetsov17, Harald
Meller13, Oleg Mochalov17, Vayacheslav Moiseyev16, Nicole Nicklisch5,13,19, Sandra L.
Pichler20, Roberto Risch21, Manuel A. Rojo Guerra22, Christina Roth5, Anna Szécsényi-
Nagy5,9, Joachim Wahl23, Matthias Meyer6, Johannes Krause8,12,24, Dorcas Brown25, David
Anthony25, Alan Cooper1, Kurt Werner Alt5,13,19,20 and David Reich2,3,4

We generated genome-wide data from 69 Europeans who lived between 8,000-3,000
years ago by enriching ancient DNA libraries for a target set of almost four hundred
thousand polymorphisms. Enrichment of these positions decreases the sequencing
required for genome-wide ancient DNA analysis by a median of around 250-fold,
allowing us to study an order of magnitude more individuals than previous studies1-8
and to obtain new insights about the past. We show that the populations of western and
far eastern Europe followed opposite trajectories between 8,000-5,000 years ago. At the
beginning of the Neolithic period in Europe, ~8,000-7,000 years ago, closely related
groups of early farmers appeared in Germany, Hungary, and Spain, different from
indigenous hunter-gatherers, whereas Russia was inhabited by a distinctive population
of hunter-gatherers with high affinity to a ~24,000 year old Siberian6. By ~6,000-5,000
years ago, a resurgence of hunter-gatherer ancestry had occurred throughout much of
Europe, but in Russia, the Yamnaya steppe herders of this time were descended not
only from the preceding eastern European hunter-gatherers, but from a population of
Near Eastern ancestry. Western and Eastern Europe came into contact ~4,500 years
ago, as the Late Neolithic Corded Ware people from Germany traced ~3/4 of their
ancestry to the Yamnaya, documenting a massive migration into the heartland of
Europe from its eastern periphery. This steppe ancestry persisted in all sampled central
Europeans until at least ~3,000 years ago, and is ubiquitous in present-day Europeans.
These results provide support for the theory of a steppe origin9 of at least some of the
Indo-European languages of Europe.

Iberian Horse Vessel (footnote)

This horse vessel is from the Iberian Early Chalcolithic.  (before proper Beaker Culture)  It probably came out of the dolmen of Valencia de la Concepcion (?)

Blanco de la Rubia via Valera, Evangelista, Castanheira (2014)

There's several interesting out-takes from the Valera, Evangelista, Castanheira paper on Zoomorphic Figurines of Neolithic and Early Chalcolithic Iberia.  For now, I'll just make a few comments on this horse.

Zoomorphic vessels are not exceedingly abundant in Iberia but several have been taken from funerary contexts, like all other zoomorphic creatures.  The vessels feature birds, pigs, cows and this one horse.

For a wild and free animal, this horse looks cumbersome and burdened.  On it's own merits, it'll never resolve the debate of horse domestication in Iberia much less its own categorization, but it's depiction needs to be remembered as discussion on morphology and genetics continues in Europe.

Chicken Hen?!

Another issue is its presence among the other animals mentioned.  Two of the four are certainly domesticates, cows and pigs.  The fourth is the bird depicted above which comprises the majority of the collection.  What type of bird?

It appears to be a bird from the order of Galliformes.  Is is a native black grouse hen?  or a chicken hen?
It's head shape looks like a grouse, a fat, wild bird used for eggs and meat.  In Iberia, this would probably be the black grouse, a bird distantly related to chickens.
Domesticated chickens (jungle fowl) appear in Europe around this time (West and Zhou (1988, 1989) also (Zlatozar Boev, 2009)  Either way, it looks more like a captive bird than a wild and free bird.

The 'vessel-ization' of these animals seems to me to indicate these animals were viewed as resources for exploitation, not idealizations.

Valera, António Carlos, Lucy Shaw Evangelista, and Patrícia Castanheira. "ZOOMORPHIC FIGURINES AND THE PROBLEM OF HUMAN-ANIMAL RELATIONSHIPIN THE NEOLI-THIC AND CHALCOLITHIC SOUTHWEST IBERIA."

DNA - "Grass Fire Pattern"

The map below will go a long way for understanding the puzzling presence of R1b in the under-gird of North Africa.  Taken with a host of other artifacts, such as lithics, pottery, metallurgy and domestics, it offers at least one explanation for the changes in Western Iberia in the late 4th millennium B.C.

North African climate change is a slow and steady process punctuated by sudden collapses.  One collapse began in the early 4th millennium (5.9 kiloevent) and possibly flooded the Upper Nile valley with immigrants from the Acacus (c3,600 B.C.).  At the same time, this process pushed immigrants to Western Morocco (also archaeologically detectable) and eventually Iberia (IMO) which also experience dramatic social change and traditions. 

The important point here is to note the population peak of grassy Sahara during its pastoral/dairy phase, followed by a burnout in which the population center begins shifting South and West, to the Sub-Sahel and the Oases.  This burnout progressed since then; the Western Desert (Morocco, not Egypt) once respectably populated, is now in modern times completely uninhibited -completely-.

Still frames from the kernel density animation showing the key stages of demographic development across time and space. A shows initial Early Holocene incursions into the Sahara between 14,000 and 11,000 years BP, B–C show gradual population increase across the Sahara between 11,000 and 10,000 years BP, especially in the eastern Sahara and northern Air mountains, D shows exponential growth especially in the eastern Sahara, E shows the early Holocene population peak around 7500 years BP with most regions, except the western littoral being populated, F shows population retraction, especially in the central Sahara and the start of occupation along the western littoral, G shows renewed population expansion in the Middle Holocene, H shows retraction in all areas coinciding with the termination of the AHP, and I shows the de-population of the Sahara and southwestward movement of late Holocene populations.

The presence of R1b in Northern Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Mali, etc, is the most likely the result of those immigrant populations looking for greener pastures.  This is important in light of the modern emergence of Afro-Asiatics like the Berbers (at least the male half) that developed a nomadic life-style in the (now) desert based on browsing domesticates.  (They apparently coming from a more easterly direction)

One thing worth checking out is Andrew's blog where he discusses the dichotomous situation between the genetics of Western Europe and Northern Africa.  I think he has laid some of the problems out a little better than I've tried to.


The demographic response to Holocene climate change in the Sahara, Katie Manning, Adrian Timpson, (2014)  [Link]

Lead Mining in the British Isles (1800 B.C.)

This paper by David Barrowclough examines evidence for the earliest lead mining in Northern Europe. 

Compelling evidence of lead mining in Anglezarke‐Rivington shows predicted spikes in the Heavy Metals Assay and the Saturated Isothermal Remanent Magnetism (SIRM) of radio-carbon dated peat bog sections.  The results appear to show spikes corresponding to the times when lead smelting was active.


Additionally, the presence of galena crystal over the Collared Urns* of two Early Bronze Age individuals seems to confirm that the site was active by at least 1800 B.C.  To Barrowclough, this suggests an association between these individuals and the mines.

Lead Mines in Lancashire

These finds continue to show the sophistication of the metalworking craft that came to the Isles in the second half of the third millennium.  The spikes also show what may be a fairly significant lead smelting industry.  If the individuals associated with the galena specialized in a lead extraction operation, then it certainly indicates that lead was widely used for something.

As Barrowclough mentions in this paper, it's easy to become ensnared in viewing ancient metallurgy through the warped lens of periodization.  Lead has an ancient history and surprising uses.

What could lead have use for in the Early Bronze Age? 

Lead sulfide (galena) can be used to make domestic pottery glaze which is honey-colored but can also be made, orange, copper or red.  Lead was also used in cosmetics, paints and sweeteners?!

The Earliest Evidence for Lead Extraction in Northern Europe and Possible Lead Miners’ Burials: Early Bronze Age Lead Mining dated to the Second Millennium BC.  David Barrowclough, University of Cambridge (undated) [Link]

*Collared Urns and Food Vessels probably developed from interaction between Bell Beakers and the native Peterborough.  Both retain the somewhat older Beaker motifs and develop alongside the lagging Beakers.

AOO Beaker Deposited in Urnfield Culture Cemetary?

Below is an AOO/AOC (All over corded beaker) that was found with a cremation in an Urnfield Culture Cemetery.  The authors argue against intrusion and instead suggest potential reuse of pottery. Regardless of the validity of this particular case, numerous examples of very late contexts with Beaker material can be found in other places.

(As a side note, Harry Fokkens thankfully makes this clarification for non-Dutch speakers [here], which is that within the Netherlander Archaeological community AOO Beakers are generally considered Single Grave Culture (as in this paper, Drenth and Hogestijn*) or Intermediary; outside the Netherlands they are considered Bell Beaker with possible SGC influences)**

AOC Beaker with cremation from Urnfield Cemetery

Here's an interesting except concerning this AOO Beaker:

It's associated pottery suggest a Late Neolithic date for the Vaassen grave, but things may not be as straightforward as they seem.  Theoretically, the Vaassen grave could represent an anachronism.  Occasionally typologically older artefacts are encountered within a demonstrably younger context, which suggests that some items were being reused (in the widest sense of the word).  An example is provided by barrow 9 at Mainzlar-'Schabenberg', Landkreis Giessen, Germany.  Here, an AOO beaker of type 2IId (after the typology by Lanting & van der Waals, 1976: 6) was discovered on the old surface, placed upside down over a cremation (Jorns, 1976: 29 and pl. 29.2).  A sample of the incinerated bone has been radiocarbon dated to 3090 +/- BP (GrA-16041; Land & van der Plicht, 1999/2000: 81).  This date points to the Middle or Late Bronze Age.  We know of two comparable finds from the Netherlands.

Also:

These examples suggest that some Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age artefacts were being reused during the Middle Bronze Age and the Urnfield period.

Other examples can be pointed to.   Drenth and Hogestijn give examples from the Netherlands and Germany, but there are Iberian examples as well.  So rather than one or two outliers or grave intrusions, there may be a widespread phenomenon of occasional beaker reuse.

It makes you wonder if grave robbing was so pervasive in the Bronze Age that the burial rites were actually modified to protect the deceased?



* It seems to me that Drenth and Hogestijn give evidence to contradict the notion that AOO Beakers should be associated with SGC.  As the mention in their concluding remarks, cremation is virtually unknown to SGC in this region, wheres the Beakers were more accepting of this practice, included the cremated individual in this AOO Beaker.

**Several Early AOC Beakers in Iberia would seem to give some support to the later.

A Cremation Grave with AOO Pottery at Vaassen (Epe, prov. of Gelderland, NL)  Notae Praehistoricae, 34/2014 : 105-113, Erik Drenth & Willem-Jan Hogestijn (2014) [Link]