Population and forest dynamics during the Central European Eneolithic (4500–2000 BC)

Kolář, Jan; Kuneš, Petr; Szabó, Péter; Hajnalová, Mária; Svobodova, Hélèna; Macek, Martin; Tkáč, Peter

doi:10.1007/s12520-016-0446-5

Cited by 15 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…There is a lot of potential for new geostatistical approaches that could be designed to combine various types of datasets in an integrative approach for the study of the past, including at more local scales than considered here. This could encompass, for example, the combination of strontium and oxygen isotope analyses together with radiocarbon data and contextual archaeological information (70,71), the joint analysis of genetic and linguistic changes over time (72), or the study of the interactions between population density and vegetation (73,74).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The spatiotemporal spread of human migrations during the European Holocene

Racimo

Woodbridge

Fyfe

et al. 2020

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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The European continent was subject to two major migrations of peoples during the Holocene: the northwestward movement of Anatolian farmer populations during the Neolithic and the westward movement of Yamnaya steppe peoples during the Bronze Age. These movements changed the genetic composition of the continent’s inhabitants. The Holocene was also characterized by major changes in vegetation composition, which altered the environment occupied by the original hunter-gatherer populations. We aim to test to what extent vegetation change through time is associated with changes in population composition as a consequence of these migrations, or with changes in climate. Using ancient DNA in combination with geostatistical techniques, we produce detailed maps of ancient population movements, which allow us to visualize how these migrations unfolded through time and space. We find that the spread of Neolithic farmer ancestry had a two-pronged wavefront, in agreement with similar findings on the cultural spread of farming from radiocarbon-dated archaeological sites. This movement, however, did not have a strong association with changes in the vegetational landscape. In contrast, the Yamnaya migration speed was at least twice as fast and coincided with a reduction in the amount of broad-leaf forest and an increase in the amount of pasture and natural grasslands in the continent. We demonstrate the utility of integrating ancient genomes with archaeometric datasets in a spatiotemporal statistical framework, which we foresee will enable future studies of ancient populations’ movements, and their putative effects on local fauna and flora.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The spatiotemporal spread of human migrations during the European Holocene

Racimo

Woodbridge

Fyfe

et al. 2020

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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show abstract

“…We believe there is also a lot of potential for new geostatistical approaches that could be designed to combine other types of datasets in an integrative approach for the study of the past, even at more local scales than we looked at here. This could encompass, for example, the combination of strontium and oxygen isotope analyses together with radiocarbon data and contextual archaeological information (Sjögren, Price, and Kristiansen, 2016;Mittnik et al, 2019), the joint analysis of genetic and linguistic changes over time (Kristiansen, Allentoft, et al, 2017) or the study of the interactions between population density and vegetation (Müller, 2015;Kolář et al, 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A geostatistical approach to modelling human Holocene migrations in Europe using ancient DNA

Racimo

Woodbridge

Fyfe

et al. 2019

Preprint

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The European continent was subject to two major migrations of peoples during the Holocene: the northwestward movement of Anatolian farmer populations during the Neolithic and the westward movement of Yamnaya steppe peoples during the Bronze Age. These movements changed the genetic composition of the continent's inhabitants, via admixture and population replacement processes. The Holocene was also characterized by major changes in vegetation composition, which altered the environment occupied by the original hunter-gatherer populations. Here, we use a combination of paleogenomics and geostatistical modelling to produce detailed maps of the movement of these populations over time and space, and to understand how these movements impacted the European vegetation landscape. We find that the dilution of hunter-gatherer ancestries and the Yamnaya steppe migration coincided with a reduction in the amount of broad-leaf forest and an increase in the amount of pasture lands in the continent. We also show that climate played a role in these vegetational changes. Additionally, we find that the spread of Neolithic farmer ancestry had a two-pronged wavefront, in agreement with similar findings based on patterns of the cultural spread of farming from radiocarbon-dated archaeological sites. With thousands of ancient genomes publicly available and in production, we foresee that the integration of ancient DNA with geostatistical techniques and large-scale archaeological datasets will revolutionize the study of ancient populations movements, and their effects on local fauna and flora.

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“…Both cultures met and partially overlapped at the Upper Danube region of modern Germany and Austria (Allentoft et al, 2015). As Yamna steppe pastoralists (predominantly R1b) arrived to the same area via the Balkan Danube route, they displayed an opposing approach to the existing cultures in the region, which experienced a rapid decline in human activities due to climatic changes 4000-3000 BC (Kolář et al, 2018). While they largely displaced and pushed the Corded Ware people further to the east, they rather admixed and spread their influence over the Bell Beaker people to the west.…”

Section: Genetic History Of Celtic Tribesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Celtic Provenance in Traditional Herbal Medicine of Medieval Wales and Classical Antiquity

2020

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The Celtic linguistic community dominated large spans of Central and Western Europe between 800 BC and 500 AD, but knowledge of their traditional medicine is very limited. Multiple progressive plant gains in Neolithic settlements along the Danube and up the Rhine valleys suggested that taxon diversity of gathered plants peaked at the Balkans and was subsequently reduced as crop and gathered plants packages were adopted and dispersed throughout Neolithic Europe. This process coincided with the Bronze Age migration of the R1b proto-Celtic tribes, and their herbal traditions were occasionally recorded in the classic Greco-Roman texts on herbal medicines. The provenance of Celtic (Gallic) healing methods and magical formulas as recorded by Pliny, Scribonius Largus, and Marcellus Empiricus can still be found in the first part of the medieval Welsh (Cymry) herbal manuscript Meddygon Myddfai (recipes 1-188). Although the majority of Myddfai I recipes were based on the Mediterranean herbal tradition of Dioscorides and Macer Floridus, they preserved the unique herbal preparation signatures distinct from continental and Anglo-Saxon counterparts in increased use of whey and ashes as vehicles for formulation of herbal remedies. Six plants could be hypothetically attributed to the Celtic (Welsh) herbal tradition including foxglove (Digitalis purpurea L.), corn bellflower (Legousia speculum-veneris L.), self-heal (Prunella vulgaris L.), sharp dock (Rumex conglomeratus Murray), water pimpernel (Samolus valerandi L.), and river startip (Scapania undulata L.) This review provides initial evidence for traces of Celtic framework in the Welsh herbal tradition and warrants further investigations of bioactivity and clinical applications of the described plant leads.

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Population and forest dynamics during the Central European Eneolithic (4500–2000 BC)

Cited by 15 publications

References 52 publications

The spatiotemporal spread of human migrations during the European Holocene

The spatiotemporal spread of human migrations during the European Holocene

A geostatistical approach to modelling human Holocene migrations in Europe using ancient DNA

Celtic Provenance in Traditional Herbal Medicine of Medieval Wales and Classical Antiquity

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