0000000000711536
AUTHOR
Abigail Ash
Sagittal suture morphological variation in human archaeological populations
Cranial sutures join the many bones of the skull. They are therefore points of weakness and consequently subjected to the many mechanical stresses affecting the cranium. However, the way in which this impacts their morphological complexity remains unclear. We examine the intrinsic and extrinsic mechanisms of human sagittal sutures by quantifying the morphology from 107 individuals from archaeological populations spanning the Mesolithic to Middle ages, using standardized two-dimensional photographs. Results show that the most important factor determining sutural complexity appears to be the position along the cranial vault from the junction with the coronal suture at its anterior-most point …
The genomic history of Southern Europe
Farming was first introduced to southeastern Europe in the mid-7th millennium BCE - brought by migrants from Anatolia who settled in the region before spreading throughout Europe. However, the dynamics of the interaction between the first farmers and the indigenous hunter-gatherers remain poorly understood because of the near absence of ancient DNA from the region. We report new genome-wide ancient DNA data from 204 individuals-65 Paleolithic and Mesolithic, 93 Neolithic, and 46 Copper, Bronze and Iron Age-who lived in southeastern Europe and surrounding regions between about 12,000 and 500 BCE. We document that the hunter-gatherer populations of southeastern Europe, the Baltic, and the Nor…