The Genetic Origin of the Indo-Europeans.

The Yamnaya archaeological complex appeared around 3300BCE across the steppes north of the Black and Caspian Seas, and by 3000BCE reached its maximal extent from Hungary in the west to Kazakhstan in the east. To localize the ancestral and geographical origins of the Yamnaya among the diverse Eneolithic people that preceded them, we studied ancient DNA data from 428 individuals of which 299 are reported for the first time, demonstrating three previously unknown Eneolithic genetic clines. First, a "Caucasus-Lower Volga" (CLV) Cline suffused with Caucasus hunter-gatherer (CHG) ancestry extended between a Caucasus Neolithic southern end in Neolithic Armenia, and a steppe northern end in Berezhnovka in the Lower Volga. Bidirectional gene flow across the CLV cline created admixed intermediate populations in both the north Caucasus, such as the Maikop people, and on the steppe, such as those at the site of Remontnoye north of the Manych depression. CLV people also helped form two major riverine clines by admixing with distinct groups of European hunter-gatherers. A "Volga Cline" was formed as Lower Volga people mixed with upriver populations that had more Eastern hunter-gatherer (EHG) ancestry, creating genetically hyper-variable populations as at Khvalynsk in the Middle Volga. A "Dnipro Cline" was formed as CLV people bearing both Caucasus Neolithic and Lower Volga ancestry moved west and acquired Ukraine Neolithic hunter-gatherer (UNHG) ancestry to establish the population of the Serednii Stih culture from which the direct ancestors of the Yamnaya themselves were formed around 4000BCE. This population grew rapidly after 3750-3350BCE, precipitating the expansion of people of the Yamnaya culture who totally displaced previous groups on the Volga and further east, while admixing with more sedentary groups in the west. CLV cline people with Lower Volga ancestry contributed four fifths of the ancestry of the Yamnaya, but also, entering Anatolia from the east, contributed at least a tenth of the ancestry of Bronze Age Central Anatolians, where the Hittite language, related to the Indo-European languages spread by the Yamnaya, was spoken. We thus propose that the final unity of the speakers of the "Proto-Indo-Anatolian" ancestral language of both Anatolian and Indo-European languages can be traced to CLV cline people sometime between 4400-4000 BCE.

Entwined African and Asian genetic roots of medieval peoples of the Swahili coast.

The urban peoples of the Swahili coast traded across eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean and were among the first practitioners of Islam among sub-Saharan people1,2. The extent to which these early interactions between Africans and non-Africans were accompanied by genetic exchange remains unknown. Here we report ancient DNA data for 80 individuals from 6 medieval and early modern (AD 1250-1800) coastal towns and an inland town after AD 1650. More than half of the DNA of many of the individuals from coastal towns originates from primarily female ancestors from Africa, with a large proportion-and occasionally more than half-of the DNA coming from Asian ancestors. The Asian ancestry includes components associated with Persia and India, with 80-90% of the Asian DNA originating from Persian men. Peoples of African and Asian origins began to mix by about AD 1000, coinciding with the large-scale adoption of Islam. Before about AD 1500, the Southwest Asian ancestry was mainly Persian-related, consistent with the narrative of the Kilwa Chronicle, the oldest history told by people of the Swahili coast3. After this time, the sources of DNA became increasingly Arabian, consistent with evidence of growing interactions with southern Arabia4. Subsequent interactions with Asian and African people further changed the ancestry of present-day people of the Swahili coast in relation to the medieval individuals whose DNA we sequenced.

The Genomic History of the Bronze Age Southern Levant.

We report genome-wide DNA data for 73 individuals from five archaeological sites across the Bronze and Iron Ages Southern Levant. These individuals, who share the "Canaanite" material culture, can be modeled as descending from two sources: (1) earlier local Neolithic populations and (2) populations related to the Chalcolithic Zagros or the Bronze Age Caucasus. The non-local contribution increased over time, as evinced by three outliers who can be modeled as descendants of recent migrants. We show evidence that different "Canaanite" groups genetically resemble each other more than other populations. We find that Levant-related modern populations typically have substantial ancestry coming from populations related to the Chalcolithic Zagros and the Bronze Age Southern Levant. These groups also harbor ancestry from sources we cannot fully model with the available data, highlighting the critical role of post-Bronze-Age migrations into the region over the past 3,000 years.

The formation of human populations in South and Central Asia.

By sequencing 523 ancient humans, we show that the primary source of ancestry in modern South Asians is a prehistoric genetic gradient between people related to early hunter-gatherers of Iran and Southeast Asia. After the Indus Valley Civilization's decline, its people mixed with individuals in the southeast to form one of the two main ancestral populations of South Asia, whose direct descendants live in southern India. Simultaneously, they mixed with descendants of Steppe pastoralists who, starting around 4000 years ago, spread via Central Asia to form the other main ancestral population. The Steppe ancestry in South Asia has the same profile as that in Bronze Age Eastern Europe, tracking a movement of people that affected both regions and that likely spread the distinctive features shared between Indo-Iranian and Balto-Slavic languages.

Vergisson 4: a left-handed Neandertal.

OBJECTIVES: Handedness is an important marker for lateralization of humans in the modern and fossil record. For the most part, Neandertals and their ancestors are strongly right-handed. We describe a single tooth from a Neandertal level at Vergisson 4 (Vg 4-83). This left upper central incisor shows all the features typical of Neandertal incisors. It also exhibits a predominance of left-handed striations. METHODS: Striations on the incisor's labial surface were mapped at 20x magnification using Photoshop. Angulations of the striations were determined from their deviation from the maximum mesio-distal line and were analyzed using NIH's freeware, Image J. RESULTS: Of the 60 labial surface striations, Vg 4-83 shows a strong predominance of left-handed striations (46; 76.7%), which are statistically significantly different (p < .001 with a two-tailed chi2 test) from the small number (3) of right-handed striations. DISCUSSION: The identification of another left-handed Neandertal adds to our understanding about handedness variation in this fossil hominin. Given the high frequency of right-handed Neandertals, the 90: 10 modern ratio is still preserved in this group.

Genomic insights into the origin of farming in the ancient Near East.

We report genome-wide ancient DNA from 44 ancient Near Easterners ranging in time between ~12,000 and 1,400 bc, from Natufian hunter-gatherers to Bronze Age farmers. We show that the earliest populations of the Near East derived around half their ancestry from a 'Basal Eurasian' lineage that had little if any Neanderthal admixture and that separated from other non-African lineages before their separation from each other. The first farmers of the southern Levant (Israel and Jordan) and Zagros Mountains (Iran) were strongly genetically differentiated, and each descended from local hunter-gatherers. By the time of the Bronze Age, these two populations and Anatolian-related farmers had mixed with each other and with the hunter-gatherers of Europe to greatly reduce genetic differentiation. The impact of the Near Eastern farmers extended beyond the Near East: farmers related to those of Anatolia spread westward into Europe; farmers related to those of the Levant spread southward into East Africa; farmers related to those of Iran spread northward into the Eurasian steppe; and people related to both the early farmers of Iran and to the pastoralists of the Eurasian steppe spread eastward into South Asia.

The anatomy of the mummy: mortui viventes docent--when ancient mummies speak to modern doctors.

There is almost a universal fascination with prehistoric, protohistoric, and historic human remains that preserve the soft tissues (nonskeletal) of the body (general definition of a mummy). While most people within the general public engage with mummies as part of a museum exhibit process, many scientists have taken that fascination much further. Starting as a general fascination with mummification, the scientific process involved in the study of mummies began in earnest in the late 18th Century AD. This issue of the Anatomical Record was conceived and formulated to bring together a series of researchers to highlight their most groundbreaking research on the scientific advances that surround the 21st Century AD study of these preserved biological beings including an illumination of the cultural processes that purposefully or inadvertently are preserved either within their tissues or are present within the context (archaeological) in which they are found (excavated). Twenty-six research articles are presented in this volume on a variety of topics all related to the rich transdisciplinary fields that are now directing their research efforts to the state-of-the art analysis of human mummified remains.

Computed tomographic evidence of atherosclerosis in the mummified remains of humans from around the world.

Although atherosclerosis is widely thought to be a disease of modernity, computed tomographic evidence of atherosclerosis has been found in the bodies of a large number of mummies. This article reviews the findings of atherosclerotic calcifications in the remains of ancient people-humans who lived across a very wide span of human history and over most of the inhabited globe. These people had a wide range of diets and lifestyles and traditional modern risk factors do not thoroughly explain the presence and easy detectability of this disease. Nontraditional risk factors such as the inhalation of cooking fire smoke and chronic infection or inflammation might have been important atherogenic factors in ancient times. Study of the genetic and environmental risk factors for atherosclerosis in ancient people may offer insights into this common modern disease.

Fibrous dysplasia in a 120,000+ year old Neandertal from Krapina, Croatia.

We describe the first definitive case of a fibrous dysplastic neoplasm in a Neandertal rib (120.71) from the site of Krapina in present-day Croatia. The tumor predates other evidence for these kinds of tumor by well over 100,000 years. Tumors of any sort are a rare occurrence in recent archaeological periods or in living primates, but especially in the human fossil record. Several studies have surveyed bone diseases in past human populations and living primates and fibrous dysplasias occur in a low incidence. Within the class of bone tumors of the rib, fibrous dysplasia is present in living humans at a higher frequency than other bone tumors. The bony features leading to our diagnosis are described in detail. In living humans effects of the neoplasm present a broad spectrum of symptoms, from asymptomatic to debilitating. Given the incomplete nature of this rib and the lack of associated skeletal elements, we resist commenting on the health effects the tumor had on the individual. Yet, the occurrence of this neoplasm shows that at least one Neandertal suffered a common bone tumor found in modern humans.

Atherosclerosis across 4000 years of human history: the Horus study of four ancient populations.

BACKGROUND: Atherosclerosis is thought to be a disease of modern human beings and related to contemporary lifestyles. However, its prevalence before the modern era is unknown. We aimed to evaluate preindustrial populations for atherosclerosis. METHODS: We obtained whole body CT scans of 137 mummies from four different geographical regions or populations spanning more than 4000 years. Individuals from ancient Egypt, ancient Peru, the Ancestral Puebloans of southwest America, and the Unangan of the Aleutian Islands were imaged. Atherosclerosis was regarded as definite if a calcified plaque was seen in the wall of an artery and probable if calcifications were seen along the expected course of an artery. FINDINGS: Probable or definite atherosclerosis was noted in 47 (34%) of 137 mummies and in all four geographical populations: 29 (38%) of 76 ancient Egyptians, 13 (25%) of 51 ancient Peruvians, two (40%) of five Ancestral Puebloans, and three (60%) of five Unangan hunter gatherers (p=NS). Atherosclerosis was present in the aorta in 28 (20%) mummies, iliac or femoral arteries in 25 (18%), popliteal or tibial arteries in 25 (18%), carotid arteries in 17 (12%), and coronary arteries in six (4%). Of the five vascular beds examined, atherosclerosis was present in one to two beds in 34 (25%) mummies, in three to four beds in 11 (8%), and in all five vascular beds in two (1%). Age at time of death was positively correlated with atherosclerosis (mean age at death was 43 [SD 10] years for mummies with atherosclerosis vs 32 [15] years for those without; p<0·0001) and with the number of arterial beds involved (mean age was 32 [SD 15] years for mummies with no atherosclerosis, 42 [10] years for those with atherosclerosis in one or two beds, and 44 [8] years for those with atherosclerosis in three to five beds; p<0·0001). INTERPRETATION: Atherosclerosis was common in four preindustrial populations including preagricultural hunter-gatherers. Although commonly assumed to be a modern disease, the presence of atherosclerosis in premodern human beings raises the possibility of a more basic predisposition to the disease. FUNDING: National Endowment for the Humanities, Paleocardiology Foundation, The National Bank of Egypt, Siemens, and St Luke's Hospital Foundation of Kansas City.

Hurler syndrome: a case report of a 5-year follow-up of dental findings after bone marrow transplantation.

Hurler syndrome is a rare autosomal recessive disorder of mucopolysaccharide metabolism. It results from a deficiency in lysosomal enzymes responsible for the breakdown of glycosaminoglycans. Affected individuals may show progressive physical and mental deterioration as glycosaminoglycans are deposited in the organs of the body. Bone marrow transplantation (BMT) is effective in improving some of the clinical manifestations of Hurler syndrome. Death is caused by cardiorespiratory failure and usually occurs before the second decade of life. In this case report, the course of dental development was followed over 5 years, from the primary dentition into the permanent dentition, of a child who was successfully treated with a bone marrow transplant in infancy. The timing of bone marrow therapy has significant and variable effect on the stages of tooth development with implications for the long-term maintenance of the dentition.

Bipedalism and parturition: an evolutionary imperative for cesarean delivery?

Human biologic evolution involves a compromise between the physical adaptations for bipedalism with effects on birthing success and the much later increases in encephalization of our species. Much of what comes to define life history parameters like gestation length, and brain and birth weight in our species is best understood from this evolutionary perspective. Human populations have been dealing with the obstetric dilemma for many hundreds of thousands of years and modern biomedicine, using techniques like cesarean sections, has alleviated, but not eliminated, birthing as a "scar" of human evolution. If women begin to demand access to universal cesarean delivery, what will the outcome be for the future of human evolution? We can only speculate on the social, biologic, and demographic costs of this transition.

Validation of plaster endocast morphology through 3D CT image analysis.

A crucial component of research on brain evolution has been the comparison of fossil endocranial surfaces with modern human and primate endocrania. The latter have generally been obtained by creating endocasts out of rubber latex shells filled with plaster. The extent to which the method of production introduces errors in endocast replicas is unknown. We demonstrate a powerful method of comparing complex shapes in 3-dimensions (3D) that is broadly applicable to a wide range of paleoanthropological questions. Pairs of virtual endocasts (VEs) created from high-resolution CT scans of corresponding latex/plaster endocasts and their associated crania were rigidly registered (aligned) in 3D space for two Homo sapiens and two Pan troglodytes specimens. Distances between each cranial VE and its corresponding latex/plaster VE were then mapped on a voxel-by-voxel basis. The results show that between 79.7% and 91.0% of the voxels in the four latex/plaster VEs are within 2 mm of their corresponding cranial VEs surfaces. The average error is relatively small, and variation in the pattern of error across the surfaces appears to be generally random overall. However, inferior areas around the cranial base and the temporal poles were somewhat overestimated in both human and chimpanzee specimens, and the area overlaying Broca's area in humans was somewhat underestimated. This study gives an idea of the size of possible error inherent in latex/plaster endocasts, indicating the level of confidence we can have with studies relying on comparisons between them and, e.g., hominid fossil endocasts.

Arterial ligation for pediatric epistaxis: developmental anatomy.

BACKGROUND: Anatomic studies of adult skulls have aided in the design of operations for the surgical ligation of nasal feeding vessels in the treatment of severe epistaxis. Lack of appropriate specimens has prevented similar studies in children. We performed an anthropometric study of archeological specimens to learn the effects of growth on key anatomic relationships. METHODS: We studied the skulls of children who died between 200 and 8000 years ago, recovered from archeological digs around the world. Measurements of the distances from the posterior lacrimal crest to the foramina of anterior and posterior ethmoidal arteries and optic canal and the pyriform aperture to the foramen of the sphenopalatine artery were made and compared with postnatal age, estimated from facial growth and dental eruption patterns. RESULTS: There is rapid growth in the orbit and midface during the first 6 years of life and gradual growth between 7 years and adulthood. The length of the medial wall of the orbit doubles during development with disproportionate enlargement of its anterior half. CONCLUSION: Arterial ligation is sometimes required for intractable pediatric epistaxis, especially after trauma. The changing relationships of critical structures in the orbital must be understood to allow safe ethmoidal artery ligation. The transantral approach to the maxillary artery is greatly limited by lack of midfacial development and maxillary pneumatization. We describe the necessary parameters for endoscopic, transnasal sphenopalatine artery ligation in growing children.