The origins and evolution of Human Cognition and the impact of Southwestern European coastal ecology

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SPIN enables high throughput species identification of archaeological bone by proteomics

Publication . Rüther, Patrick Leopold; Husic, Immanuel Mirnes; Bangsgaard, Pernille; Gregersen, Kristian Murphy; Pantmann, Pernille; Carvalho, Milena; Godinho, Ricardo Miguel; Friedl, Lukas; Cascalheira, João; Taurozzi, Alberto John; Jørkov, Marie Louise Schjellerup; Benedetti, Michael; Haws, Jonathan; Bicho, Nuno; Welker, Frido; Cappellini, Enrico; Olsen, Jesper Velgaard

Species determination based on genetic evidence is an indispensable tool in archaeology, forensics, ecology, and food authentication. Most available analytical approaches involve compromises with regard to the number of detectable species, high cost due to low throughput, or a labor-intensive manual process. Here, we introduce “Species by Proteome INvestigation” (SPIN), a shotgun proteomics workflow for analyzing archaeological bone capable of querying over 150 mammalian species by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Rapid peptide chromatography and data-independent acquisition (DIA) with throughput of 200 samples per day reduce expensive MS time, whereas streamlined sample preparation and automated data interpretation save labor costs. We confirm the successful classification of known reference bones, including domestic species and great apes, beyond the taxonomic resolution of the conventional peptide mass fingerprinting (PMF)-based Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS) method. In a blinded study of degraded Iron-Age material from Scandinavia, SPIN produces reproducible results between replicates, which are consistent with morphological analysis. Finally, we demonstrate the high throughput capabilities of the method in a high-degradation context by analyzing more than two hundred Middle and Upper Palaeolithic bones from Southern European sites with late Neanderthal occupation. While this initial study is focused on modern and archaeological mammalian bone, SPIN will be open and expandable to other biological tissues and taxa.

2022Journal article

Open Access

Pleistocene hunter-gatherer coastal adaptations in Atlantic Iberia

Publication . Bicho, Nuno; Esteves, Eduardo

Coastal prehistoric hunter-gatherers in Atlantic Iberia were particularly important to understanding Paleolithic human innovation and resilience. This study will focus on Middle and Upper Paleolithic adaptations to the Iberian Atlantic border. Elements such as intensity and diversity of marine foods, site location, distance to shore, submerged platform, and bathymetry are discussed for the region between Gibraltar and the Gulf of Biscay

2022-08-25Journal article

Open Access

Post-LGM environments and foragers on the move: New data from the lower Altmühl Valley (Franconian Jura, SE Germany)

Publication . Barbieri, Alvise; Maier, Andreas; Lauer, Tobias; Mischka, Carsten; Hattermann, Merlin; Uthmeier, Thorsten

After the Last Glacial Maximum, the Swabian and Franconian Jura (in SW and SE Germany, respectively) were repopulated by Magdalenian hunter-gatherers within the same communication network. However, while the Magdalenian settlement of the Swabian Jura dates to 17-14 ka cal BP, permanent Magdalenian occupations in the Franconian Jura date to 15-14 ka cal BP. In comparison with its western counterpart, the Franconian Jura was mostly excavated in the early days of archaeological research. Does this different chronology reflect the different history of research? Why did Magdalenian foragers establish permanent occupation in the Franconian Jura nearly 2 millennia after settling in Swabia, despite the fact these regions are only 150 km apart? To address these questions, we reinvestigated two sites in the Altmithl Valley with micromorphology and luminescence dating, namely Felsenhausl-Kellerhohle and Klausennische. Our data show that both sites have intact Pleistocene deposits. Among these, we identified sediments dating between 17 and 15 ka that show only rare lithic artifacts and microfeatures indicative of cold and arid conditions. Our work and published data suggest that the steady settlement of Magdalenian foragers in the Altmithl Valley starting 15 ka cal BP coincides with the end of this harsh period and the onset of cool and wetter environments. Data from the Swabian Jura demonstrated that in the Lone Valley, similar environments and Magdalenian occupations commenced earlier, starting 17 ka cal BR. Therefore, we propose that regional environments acted as a barrier against the dispersal of foragers in the Franconian Jura and determined its later Magdalenian occupation. Our research highlighted that different environments, taphonomic processes, and site uses probably coexisted across the German Jura. Therefore, it remains fundamental to expand the multisite data set proposed in this article to further test hypotheses about human/environment interaction in this region. (C) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.

2022Journal article

Open Access