ALBERT

Description: The pressures on honeybee (Apis mellifera) populations, resulting from threats by modern pesticides, parasites, predators and diseases, have raised awareness of the economic importance and critical role this insect plays in agricultural societies across the globe. However, the association of humans with A. mellifera predates post-industrial-revolution agriculture, as evidenced by the widespread presence of ancient Egyptian bee iconography dating to the Old Kingdom (approximately 2400 BC). There are also indications of Stone Age people harvesting bee products; for example, honey hunting is interpreted from rock art in a prehistoric Holocene context and a beeswax find in a pre-agriculturalist site. However, when and where the regular association of A. mellifera with agriculturalists emerged is unknown. One of the major products of A. mellifera is beeswax, which is composed of a complex suite of lipids including n-alkanes, n-alkanoic acids and fatty acyl wax esters. The composition is highly constant as it is determined genetically through the insect's biochemistry. Thus, the chemical 'fingerprint' of beeswax provides a reliable basis for detecting this commodity in organic residues preserved at archaeological sites, which we now use to trace the exploitation by humans of A. mellifera temporally and spatially. Here we present secure identifications of beeswax in lipid residues preserved in pottery vessels of Neolithic Old World farmers. The geographical range of bee product exploitation is traced in Neolithic Europe, the Near East and North Africa, providing the palaeoecological range of honeybees during prehistory. Temporally, we demonstrate that bee products were exploited continuously, and probably extensively in some regions, at least from the seventh millennium cal BC, likely fulfilling a variety of technological and cultural functions. The close association of A. mellifera with Neolithic farming communities dates to the early onset of agriculture and may provide evidence for the beginnings of a domestication process.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Roffet-Salque, Melanie -- Regert, Martine -- Evershed, Richard P -- Outram, Alan K -- Cramp, Lucy J E -- Decavallas, Orestes -- Dunne, Julie -- Gerbault, Pascale -- Mileto, Simona -- Mirabaud, Sigrid -- Paakkonen, Mirva -- Smyth, Jessica -- Soberl, Lucija -- Whelton, Helen L -- Alday-Ruiz, Alfonso -- Asplund, Henrik -- Bartkowiak, Marta -- Bayer-Niemeier, Eva -- Belhouchet, Lotfi -- Bernardini, Federico -- Budja, Mihael -- Cooney, Gabriel -- Cubas, Miriam -- Danaher, Ed M -- Diniz, Mariana -- Domboroczki, Laszlo -- Fabbri, Cristina -- Gonzalez-Urquijo, Jesus E -- Guilaine, Jean -- Hachi, Slimane -- Hartwell, Barrie N -- Hofmann, Daniela -- Hohle, Isabel -- Ibanez, Juan J -- Karul, Necmi -- Kherbouche, Farid -- Kiely, Jacinta -- Kotsakis, Kostas -- Lueth, Friedrich -- Mallory, James P -- Manen, Claire -- Marciniak, Arkadiusz -- Maurice-Chabard, Brigitte -- Mc Gonigle, Martin A -- Mulazzani, Simone -- Ozdogan, Mehmet -- Peric, Olga S -- Peric, Slavisa R -- Petrasch, Jorg -- Petrequin, Anne-Marie -- Petrequin, Pierre -- Poensgen, Ulrike -- Pollard, C Joshua -- Poplin, Francois -- Radi, Giovanna -- Stadler, Peter -- Stauble, Harald -- Tasic, Nenad -- Urem-Kotsou, Dushka -- Vukovic, Jasna B -- Walsh, Fintan -- Whittle, Alasdair -- Wolfram, Sabine -- Zapata-Pena, Lydia -- Zoughlami, Jamel -- Wellcome Trust/United Kingdom -- England -- Nature. 2015 Nov 12;527(7577):226-30. doi: 10.1038/nature15757.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Organic Geochemistry Unit, School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Cantock's Close, Bristol BS8 1TS, UK. ; CEPAM - Cultures et Environnements. Prehistoire, Antiquite, Moyen Age, UMR 7264, Universite Nice Sophia Antipolis - CNRS, 06300 Nice, France. ; Department of Archaeology, University of Exeter, Laver Building, North Park Road, Exeter, Devon EX4 4QE, UK. ; Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Bristol, 43 Woodland Road, Bristol BS8 1UU, UK. ; Universite Bordeaux Montaigne, 33607 Pessac, France. ; Laboratoire du Centre de Recherche et de Restauration des Musees de France (C2RMF), UMR 171, Palais du Louvre, Porte des Lions, 14 Quai Francois Mitterrand, 75001 Paris, France. ; Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK. ; Department of Anthropology, University College London, London WC1H 0BW, UK. ; Institut fur Prahistorische Archaologie, Freie Universitat Berlin, Altensteinstr. 15, Berlin 14195, Germany. ; Department of Archaeology, University of Turku, 20014 Turun Yliopisto, Finland. ; University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts, Department of Archaeology, Askerceva 2, box 580, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia. ; Department of Geography, Prehistory and Archaeology. University of Basque Country (EHU-UPV), Francisco Tomas y Valiente s/n, 01006 Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. ; Institute of Prehistory, Adam Mickiewicz University, Umultowska 89d, 61-614 Poznan, Poland. ; Museum Quintana - Archaologie in Kunzing, Partnermuseum der Archaologischen Staatssammlung Munchen, Osterhofener Str. 2, 94550 Kunzing, Germany. ; Musee Archeologique de Sousse, Rue Marshall Tito, 4000 Sousse, Tunisia. ; Centro Fermi, Museo Storico della Fisica e Centro di Studi e Ricerche Enrico Fermi, 00184 Rome, Italy. ; Multidisciplinary Laboratory, The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, 34151 Trieste, Italy. ; UCD School of Archaeology, University College Dublin, Dublin 4, Ireland. ; International Institute for Prehistoric Research of Cantabria, University of Cantabria, Avd de los Castros s/n, 39005 Santander, Spain. ; Department of Archaeology, University College Galway, Galway, Ireland. ; UNIARQ-Departamento de Historia, Faculdade de Letras de Lisboa, Universidade de Lisboa, 1600-214 Lisboa, Portugal. ; Istvan Dobo Castle Museum, Var ut 1, 3300 Eger, Hungary. ; Dipartimento Civilta e Forme del Sapere, Universita di Pisa, Via Galvani 1, 56126 Pisa, Italy. ; CNRS - UMR 5608 - TRACES, Maison de la recherche, Universite Toulouse Jean Jaures, 5 Allee Antonio Machado, 31058 Toulouse cedex 9, France. ; CNRPAH, Centre National de Recherche Prehistorique, Anthropologique et Historique, Algiers, Algeria. ; School of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK. ; Universitat Hamburg, Archaologisches Institut, Edmund-Siemers-Allee 1, Flugel West, 20146 Hamburg, Germany. ; a.r.t.e.s. Graduate School for the Humanities Cologne, Graduiertenschule der Philosophischen Fakultat, Aachener Str. 217, 50931 Cologne, Germany. ; IMF-CSIC, Egipciacas 15, 08001 Barcelona, Spain. ; Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters, Department of Prehistory, 34434 Laleli Istanbul, Turkey. ; Eachtra Archaeological Projects, Lickybeg, Clashmore, County Waterford, Ireland. ; School of History and Archaeology, Faculty of Philosophy, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki 54124, Greece. ; German Archaeological Institute, Podbielskiallee 69-71, 14 195 Berlin, Germany. ; Musee Rolin, 3 rue des Bancs, 71400 Autun, France. ; John Cronin &Associates, 28 Upper Main Street, Buncrana, County Donegal, Ireland. ; Aix-Marseille Universite, CNRS, Ministere de la Culture et de la Communication, UMR 7269 LAMPEA, LabexMed, 13284 Marseille, France. ; Dipartimento di Biologia Ambientale, Universita degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza, Rome 00185, Italy. ; Institute of Archaeology Belgrade, Kneza Mihaila 35/4 11000 Belgrade, Serbia. ; Eberhard-Karls-Universitat Tubingen, Institut fur Ur- und Fruhgeschichte und Archaologie des Mittelalters - Abt. Jungere Urgeschichte und Fruhgeschichte - Schloss Hohentubingen, 72070 Tubingen, Germany. ; Maison des Sciences de l'Homme et de l'Environnement C.N. Ledoux, CNRS &Universite de Franche-Comte, 32 rue Megevand, 25030 Besancon Cedex, France. ; Kampfenstr. 20, 78315 Radolfzell, Germany. ; Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Humanities, University of Southampton, Avenue Campus, Highfield, Southampton SO17 1BF, UK. ; Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 55 rue de Buffon, 75005 Paris, France. ; Department of Pre- and Protohistory, University of Vienna, 1190 Vienna, Austria. ; Landesamt fur Archaeologie, Zur Wetterwarte 7, 01109 Dresden, Germany. ; Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Philosophy, Belgrade University, 18-20 Cika Ljubina Street, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia. ; Department of History and Ethnology, Democritus University of Thrace, Komotini, Greece. ; Irish Archaeological Consultancy, Unit G1, Network Enterprise Park, Kilcoole, County Wicklow, Ireland. ; Department of Archaeology and Conservation, Cardiff University, John Percival Building, Colum Drive, Cardiff CF10 3EU, UK. ; State Museum of Archaeology Chemnitz, Stefan-Heym-Platz 1, 09111 Chemnitz, Germany. ; Institut National du Patrimoine de Tunis - Musee archeologique de Carthage, Carthage, Tunisia.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26560301" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: 〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Vigne, J-D -- Guilaine, J -- Debue, K -- Haye, L -- Gerard, P -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2004 Apr 9;304(5668):259.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉CNRS-Museum national d'Histoire naturelle, Department of Ecology and Biodiversity Management, UMR 5197, C.P. 56, F-75231 Paris Cedex 5, France. vigne@mnhn.fr〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15073370" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The Neolithic is a key period in the history of the European settlement. Although archaeological and present-day genetic data suggest several hypotheses regarding the human migration patterns at this period, validation of these hypotheses with the use of ancient genetic data has been limited. In this context, we studied DNA extracted from 53 individuals buried in a necropolis used by a French local community 5,000 y ago. The relatively good DNA preservation of the samples allowed us to obtain autosomal, Y-chromosomal, and/or mtDNA data for 29 of the 53 samples studied. From these datasets, we established close parental relationships within the necropolis and determined maternal and paternal lineages as well as the absence of an allele associated with lactase persistence, probably carried by Neolithic cultures of central Europe. Our study provides an integrative view of the genetic past in southern France at the end of the Neolithic period. Furthermore, the Y-haplotype lineages characterized and the study of their current repartition in European populations confirm a greater influence of the Mediterranean than the Central European route in the peopling of southern Europe during the Neolithic transition.

Description: The impact of the Neolithic dispersal on the western European populations is subject to continuing debate. To trace and date genetic lineages potentially brought during this transition and so understand the origin of the gene pool of current populations, we studied DNA extracted from human remains excavated in a Spanish funeral cave dating from the beginning of the fifth millennium B.C. Thanks to a “multimarkers” approach based on the analysis of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA (autosomes and Y-chromosome), we obtained information on the early Neolithic funeral practices and on the biogeographical origin of the inhumed individuals. No close kinship was detected. Maternal haplogroups found are consistent with pre-Neolithic settlement, whereas the Y-chromosomal analyses permitted confirmation of the existence in Spain approximately 7,000 y ago of two haplogroups previously associated with the Neolithic transition: G2a and E1b1b1a1b. These results are highly consistent with those previously found in Neolithic individuals from French Late Neolithic individuals, indicating a surprising temporal genetic homogeneity in these groups. The high frequency of G2a in Neolithic samples in western Europe could suggest, furthermore, that the role of men during Neolithic dispersal could be greater than currently estimated.

Description: Early Neolithic sedentary villagers started cultivating wild cereals in the Near East 11,500 y ago [Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA)]. Recent discoveries indicated that Cyprus was frequented by Late PPNA people, but the earliest evidence until now for both the use of cereals and Neolithic villages on the island dates to 10,400 y ago. Here we present the recent archaeological excavation at Klimonas, which demonstrates that established villagers were living on Cyprus between 11,100 and 10,600 y ago. Villagers had stone artifacts and buildings (including a remarkable 10-m diameter communal building) that were similar to those found on Late PPNA sites on the mainland. Cereals were introduced from the Levant, and meat was obtained by hunting the only ungulate living on the island, a small indigenous Cypriot wild boar. Cats and small domestic dogs were brought from the mainland. This colonization suggests well-developed maritime capabilities by the PPNA period, but also that migration from the mainland may have occurred shortly after the beginning of agriculture.

Description: The Neolithic transition is a particularly favorable field of research for the study of the emergence and evolution of cultures and cultural phenomena. In this framework, high-precision chronologies are essential for decrypting the rhythms of emergence of new techno-economic traits. As part of a project exploring the conditions underlying the emergence and dynamics of the development of the first agro-pastoral societies in the Western Mediterranean, this paper proposes a new chronological modeling. Based on 45 new radiocarbon (14C) dates and on a Bayesian statistical framework, this work examines the rhythms and dispersal paths of the Neolithic economy both on coastal and continental areas. These new data highlight a complex and far less unidirectional dissemination process than that envisaged so far.