Ancient DNA and the European Neolithic

Ancient DNA and the European Neolithic PDF Author: Alasdair Whittle
Publisher: Oxbow Books
ISBN: 1789259126
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 205

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Book Description
The current paradigm-changing ancient DNA revolution is offering unparalleled insights into central problems within archaeology relating to the movement of populations and individuals, patterns of descent, relationships and aspects of identity – at many scales and of many different kinds. The impact of recent ancient DNA results can be seen particularly clearly in studies of the European Neolithic, the subject of contributions presented in this volume. We now have new evidence for the movement and mixture of people at the start of the Neolithic, as farming spread from the east, and at its end, when the first metals as well as novel styles of pottery and burial practices arrived in the Chalcolithic. In addition, there has been a wealth of new data to inform complex questions of identities and relationships. The terms of archaeological debate for this period have been permanently altered, leaving us with many issues. This volume stems from the online day conference of the Neolithic Studies Group held in November 2021, which aimed to bring geneticists and archaeologists together in the same forum, and to enable critical but constructive inter-disciplinary debate about key themes arising from the application of advanced ancient DNA analysis to the study of the European Neolithic. The resulting papers gathered here are by both geneticists and archaeologists. Individually, they form a series of significant, up-to-date, period and regional syntheses of various manifestations of the Neolithic across the Near East and Europe, including particularly Britain and Ireland. Together, they offer wide-ranging reflections on the progress of ancient DNA studies, and on their future reach and character.

Ancient DNA and the European Neolithic

Ancient DNA and the European Neolithic PDF Author: Alasdair Whittle
Publisher: Oxbow Books
ISBN: 1789259126
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 205

Get Book

Book Description
The current paradigm-changing ancient DNA revolution is offering unparalleled insights into central problems within archaeology relating to the movement of populations and individuals, patterns of descent, relationships and aspects of identity – at many scales and of many different kinds. The impact of recent ancient DNA results can be seen particularly clearly in studies of the European Neolithic, the subject of contributions presented in this volume. We now have new evidence for the movement and mixture of people at the start of the Neolithic, as farming spread from the east, and at its end, when the first metals as well as novel styles of pottery and burial practices arrived in the Chalcolithic. In addition, there has been a wealth of new data to inform complex questions of identities and relationships. The terms of archaeological debate for this period have been permanently altered, leaving us with many issues. This volume stems from the online day conference of the Neolithic Studies Group held in November 2021, which aimed to bring geneticists and archaeologists together in the same forum, and to enable critical but constructive inter-disciplinary debate about key themes arising from the application of advanced ancient DNA analysis to the study of the European Neolithic. The resulting papers gathered here are by both geneticists and archaeologists. Individually, they form a series of significant, up-to-date, period and regional syntheses of various manifestations of the Neolithic across the Near East and Europe, including particularly Britain and Ireland. Together, they offer wide-ranging reflections on the progress of ancient DNA studies, and on their future reach and character.

The Neolithic Transition and the Genetics of Populations in Europe

The Neolithic Transition and the Genetics of Populations in Europe PDF Author: Albert J. Ammerman
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400853117
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 194

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Book Description
This book explores the shift from hunting and gathering to agriculture as a way of life and the implications of this neolithic transition for the genetic structure of European populations. Originally published in 1984. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

The Not Very Patrilocal European Neolithic

The Not Very Patrilocal European Neolithic PDF Author: Bradley E. Ensor
Publisher: Archaeopress Publishing Ltd
ISBN: 1789699819
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 252

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Book Description
Two decades of strontium isotope research on Neolithic European burials – reinforced by high-profile ancient DNA studies – has led to widespread interpretations that these were patrilocal societies, implying significant residential mobility for women. This volume questions that narrative from a social anthropological perspective on kinship.

Africa, the Cradle of Human Diversity

Africa, the Cradle of Human Diversity PDF Author:
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004500227
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 341

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Book Description
This book explores important chapters of past and recent African history from a multidisciplinary perspective. It covers an extensive time range from the evolution of early humans to the complex cultural and genetic diversity of modern-day populations in Africa. Through a comprehensive list of chapters, the book focuses on different time-periods, geographic regions and cultural and biological aspects of human diversity across the continent. Each chapter summarises current knowledge with perspectives from a varied set of international researchers from diverse areas of expertise. The book provides a valuable resource for scholars interested in evolutionary history and human diversity in Africa. Contributors are Shaun Aron, Ananyo Choudhury, Bernard Clist, Cesar Fortes-Lima, Rosa Fregel, Jackson S. Kimambo, Faye Lander , Marlize Lombard, Fidelis T. Masao, Ezekia Mtetwa, Gilbert Pwiti, Michèle Ramsay, Thembi Russell, Carina Schlebusch, Dhriti Sengupta, Plan Shenjere-Nyabezi, Mário Vicente.

Landscapes in Transition

Landscapes in Transition PDF Author: Bill Finlayson
Publisher: Levant Supplementary Series
ISBN: 9781842174166
Category : Agriculture
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
This volume presents a collection of papers focusing on archaeological approaches to landscape in the context of the adoption of agriculture in Southwest Asia and Northwest Europe. Case studies are presented from these contrasting regions, one where the transition to farming is indigenous, and the other where the transformation is initiated externally. This allows us to consider to what extent hunter-gatherer and farmer landscapes may be different, or the degree to which apparent differences have been constructed by our expectations and traditions of interpretation. While the concept 'landscape' enjoys considerable popularity in archaeological interpretation, it is somewhat ill-defined and inconsistently used. Some have suggested that this fluidity allows landscape to be a 'usefully ambiguous concept' but at times there is a danger that this very ambiguity affords imprecision in our narratives. This is particularly important where differing traditions of archaeological interpretation meet, as, for example, in the transition from hunting and gathering to farming. The transition has been understood as a major division in archaeological practice and attitudes to 'landscape' across the transition reflect this dichotomy. The results of these debates are illuminating, and raise questions beyond the immediate geographical scope of the volume. The contrast between the two regions provides valuable comparisons between traditions of archaeological theory and interpretation and the bodies of evidence. Bill Finlayson is the Director of the Council for British Research in the Levant, Graeme Warren is a College Lecturer in the School of Archaeology, UCD, Ireland.

The First Farmers of Europe

The First Farmers of Europe PDF Author: Stephen Shennan
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108395260
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 613

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Book Description
Knowledge of the origin and spread of farming has been revolutionised in recent years by the application of new scientific techniques, especially the analysis of ancient DNA from human genomes. In this book, Stephen Shennan presents the latest research on the spread of farming by archaeologists, geneticists and other archaeological scientists. He shows that it resulted from a population expansion from present-day Turkey. Using ideas from the disciplines of human behavioural ecology and cultural evolution, he explains how this process took place. The expansion was not the result of 'population pressure' but of the opportunities for increased fertility by colonising new regions that farming offered. The knowledge and resources for the farming 'niche' were passed on from parents to their children. However, Shennan demonstrates that the demographic patterns associated with the spread of farming resulted in population booms and busts, not continuous expansion.

Mitochondrial DNA

Mitochondrial DNA PDF Author: Herve Seligmann
Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand
ISBN: 1789842654
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description
The very short genomes of mitochondria summarize the complexity of molecular biology and its interactions with cellular and whole organism biology. Studies of mitogenomes contribute to the understanding of molecular biology and evolution, and to health management. Despite or even due to their small sizes, mitogenomes continue to surprise us. Studies of mitogenomes reveal the details of molecular organization and its evolution under constraints for miniaturization.

Times of Neolithic Transition along the Western Mediterranean

Times of Neolithic Transition along the Western Mediterranean PDF Author: Oreto García-Puchol
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9783319932170
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The study of the Neolithic transition constitutes a major theme in prehistoric research. The process of economic change, from foraging to farming, involved one of the main transformations in human behavior patterns. This volume focuses on investigating the neolithization process at the periphery of one of the main routes in the expansion of the Neolithic in Europe: the Western Mediterranean region. Recent advances in radiocarbon dating, mathematical and computational models, archaeometric analysis and biomolecular techniques, together with new archaeological discoveries, provide novel insights into this topic. This volume is organized into five sections: · new discoveries and new ideas about the Mediterranean Neolithic · reconstructing times and modeling processes · landscape interaction: farming and herding · dietary subsistence of early farming communities · human dispersal mechanisms and cultural transmission This volume will also provide new empirical data to help readers assess different theoretical frameworks and narratives which underlie the models proposed to explain the expansion of farming from the Middle East into Europe.

My European Family

My European Family PDF Author: Karin; Graham Bojs (Fiona)
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472941454
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 409

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Book Description
This book tells the story of Europe and its people through its genetic legacy, weaving in the latest archaeological findings. Karin goes deep in search of her genealogy; by having her DNA sequenced and tested and effectively becoming an experimental subject, she was able to trace the path of her ancestors back, through the Viking age, through the Bronze age to the Neolithic and beyond into prehistory, back even further to a time when Neanderthals ran the European show.

Documenting Domestication

Documenting Domestication PDF Author: Melinda A. Zeder
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520246381
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 376

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Book Description
"A genetic revolution has transformed the study of the domestication of plants and animals. Documenting Domestication presents the best research and resolves issues that had been intractable in the past."—Richard I. Ford, University of Michigan