We sequenced Early Neolithic genomes from the Zagros region of Iran (eastern Fertile Crescent), where some of the earliest evidence for farming is found, and identify a previously uncharacterized population that is neither ancestral to the first European farmers nor has contributed substantially to the ancestry of modern Europeans. These people are estimated to have separated from Early Neolithic farmers in Anatolia some 46,000 to 77,000 years ago and show affinities to modern-day Pakistani and Afghan populations, but particularly to Iranian Zoroastrians. We conclude that multiple, genetically differentiated hunter-gatherer populations adopted farming in southwestern Asia, that components of pre-Neolithic population structure were preserved as farming spread into neighboring regions, and that the Zagros region was the cradle of eastward expansion

In Oman, the presence of highly productive marine environments, coupled with relatively limited land resources, have led to intense exploitation of coastal resources, but the question of the seasonality of occupation of coastal sites remains open. Our aim is to evaluate the contribution of marine resources to the diet of the Neolithic population of Ra's al-Hamra 5 (RH-5) to shed new light on its mobility, using stable isotopes and radiocarbon ((14)C) dating as dietary tracers. Charcoal, shell, human bone and enamel apatite from eight contemporary graves were sampled. Graves are thought to provide the best chance to obtain marine and terrestrial remains that were contemporary with the human remains in order to calculate the marine reservoir effect (MRE) for this period. Inter-individual variation in human bone apatite δ(13)C value is small, suggesting a homogenous diet. Bone apatite (14)C ages are very close to the shell ages while enamel is significantly younger and plots near the charcoal ages. Older enamel ages were obtained when a stronger acetic treatment was used, demonstrating that the young ages are due to diagenetic alteration rather than a diachronic change in diet and that only bone apatite retained in vivo dietary signals. Bone ages indicate a heavy reliance on marine resources and it is therefore unlikely that the individuals analyzed here were leaving the coast seasonally, although mobility along the coast cannot be excluded.

This article describes the potential interest in forensic anthropology of the microscopic analysis of dental calculus deposits (DCD), a calcified residue frequently found on the surface of teeth. Its sampling and analysis seem straightforward and relatively reproducible. Samples came from archaeological material (KHB-1 Ra's al-Khabbah and RH-5 Ra's al-Hamra, two Prehistoric graveyards located in the Sultanate of Oman, dated between the 5th and 4th millennium B.C.; Montenzio Vecchia, an Etruscan-Celtic necropolis from the north of Italy, dated between the 5th and 3rd century B.C.; body rests of Agnès Sorel, French royal mistress died in 1450 A.D.; skeleton of Pierre Hazard, French royal notary from the 15th century A.D.). Samples were studies by direct optical microscope (OM) or scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Many cytological, histological and elemental analyses were possible, producing precious data for the identification of these remains, the reconstitution of their alimentation and occupational habits, and propositions for manner of death.