Early agriculture and crop transitions at Kakapel Rockshelter in the Lake Victoria region of eastern Africa.

The histories of African crops remain poorly understood despite their contemporary importance. Integration of crops from western, eastern and northern Africa probably first occurred in the Great Lakes Region of eastern Africa; however, little is known about when and how these agricultural systems coalesced. This article presents archaeobotanical analyses from an approximately 9000-year archaeological sequence at Kakapel Rockshelter in western Kenya, comprising the largest and most extensively dated archaeobotanical record from the interior of equatorial eastern Africa. Direct radiocarbon dates on carbonized seeds document the presence of the West African crop cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp) approximately 2300 years ago, synchronic with the earliest date for domesticated cattle (Bos taurus). Peas (Pisum sativum L. or Pisum abyssinicum A. Braun) and sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) from the northeast and eastern African finger millet (Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn.) are incorporated later, by at least 1000 years ago. Combined with ancient DNA evidence from Kakapel and the surrounding region, these data support a scenario in which the use of diverse domesticated species in eastern Africa changed over time rather than arriving and being maintained as a single package. Findings highlight the importance of local heterogeneity in shaping the spread of food production in sub-Saharan Africa.

Patterns of trauma across Andean South America: New discoveries and advances in interpretation.

In his review article John W. Verano covered trauma, warfare, trophy taking, and human sacrifice, but his discussion mostly focused on the results of studies of museum or private collections and the recent discovery of the mass human sacrifice from Huaca de la Luna. Due to the renewed interest in the paleopathology of South America, a trend which Verano observed, these types of investigations have grown exponentially in the past twenty years since his initial publication. Here we synthesize the published data on the study and interpretation of traumatic injuries across time and space and we tease out some of the themes that have emerged in the twenty odd years since the seminal paper written by Verano. We searched and analyzed publications from 1997 to 2017 that pertained specifically to Andean South America through the review of library databases and then narrowed our search to trauma-related topics. In our literature review and meta-analysis of published studies on traumatic injuries, we found that nearly one-third of publications related to the field of paleopathology in Andean South America dealt with subjects we classified under trauma (N = 116/378), such as trephination, violence, sacrifice, warfare, etc. Large sample sizes, population-focused research, advances in methods of analysis, and hypothesis driven investigations have led to sophisticated and nuanced interpretations along a wide range of themes so that we understand a great deal more about violence, sacrifice, trephination, warfare and their sociopolitical and environmental contexts in prehistoric and early colonial Andean South America.

A call for action: Why anthropologists can (and should) join the discussion on climate change through education.

Anthropologists, human biologists, and researchers in related fields have been investigating the human-environment interaction and its effects on health for decades. While there have been numerous studies from the medical- and health-sectors pointing to the connection between climate change and health needs, as well as studies advocating for the incorporation of appropriate curricula addressing these needs in medical schools and health-professional programs, this connection is not being systematically taught to our future healthcare professionals. Here, we first briefly summarize research highlighting the interaction between environment and health; we follow this with discussion about why this interaction is important for current and future medical professionals to understand, particularly in light of the current issues of climate change. We specifically address how anthropologists and human biologists have contributed to the literature on marginal environments and climate change, and how anthropological research may be incorporated in health-oriented and medical classrooms to aid in this discussion. Through interdisciplinary collaboration between anthropologists, human biologists, medical-health professionals, and researchers in other fields, we can learn from our past and play a part in piecing together our future health care issues and needs.

High altitude agriculture in the Titicaca basin (800 BCE-200 CE): Impacts on nutrition and disease load.

OBJECTIVES: This study investigates the biological impacts of sedentism and agriculture on humans living in the high altitude landscape of the Titicaca Basin between 800 BCE and CE 200. The transition to agriculture in other global areas resulted in increases in disease and malnutrition; the high altitude of the Titicaca Basin could have exacerbated this. Our objective is to test whether the high altitude of the Titicaca Basin created a marginal environment for early agriculturalists living there, reflected through elevated rates of malnutrition and/or disease. METHODS: To test this, we analyzed human remains excavated from seven archaeological sites on the Copacabana Peninsula for markers of diet and disease. These markers included dental caries, dental abscesses, cribra orbitalia, porotic hyperostosis, periosteal reactions, osteomyelitis, and linear enamel hypoplasia. RESULTS: Results showed that markers of diet did not support malnutrition or micronutrient deficiencies but instead, indicated a relatively diverse diet for all individuals. Markers of disease also did not vary significantly but were common, indicating circulation of pathogens or chronic bodily stress. CONCLUSIONS: We interpret these results as an indication that while diets remained nutritious, investment in the landscape exposed populations to issues of sanitation and disease. The high-altitude of the Titicaca Basin did not exacerbate the biological impacts of agriculture in terms of increased malnutrition. Additionally, disease load was likely related to problems faced by many sedentary groups as opposed to unique challenges posed by high altitude. In sum, despite the high elevation, the Titicaca Basin is not truly a marginal environment for humans.

Record-Breaking Pain: The Largest Number and Variety of Forelimb Bone Maladies in a Theropod Dinosaur.

Bone abnormalities are common in theropod dinosaur skeletons, but before now no specimen was known with more than four afflicted bones of the pectoral girdle and/or forelimb. Here we describe the pathology of a specimen of the theropod dinosaur Dilophosaurus wetherilli with eight afflicted bones of the pectoral girdle and forelimb. On its left side the animal has a fractured scapula and radius and large fibriscesses in the ulna and the proximal thumb phalanx. On its right side the animal has abnormal torsion of the humeral shaft, bony tumors on the radius, a truncated distal articular surface of metacarpal III, and angular deformities of the first phalanx of the third finger. Healing and remodeling indicates that the animal survived for months and possibly years after its ailments began, but its right third finger was permanently deformed and lacked the capability of flexion. The deformities of the humerus and the right third finger may be due to developmental osteodysplasia, a condition known in extant birds but unreported in non-avian dinosaurs before now.

Three trepanned skulls from the Copacabana Peninsula in the Titicaca Basin, Bolivia (800 BC-AD 1000).

This paper presents three trepanned skulls from the Copacabana Peninsula in the Titicaca Basin, dating from 800 BC to AD 1000. Trepanation has been practiced for two millennia in the Andes, with the earliest specimens coming from the coastal Paracas culture (circa 400 BC). Trepanned skulls have been found throughout the Andes, displaying a variety of techniques. This modification was practiced as surgical intervention after injury and treatment for headaches and other ailments, among other reasons (Verano, 2003: 234). With the exception of four examples from the Island of the Sun, few early cases of trepanation have been found in the Titicaca Basin of Peru and Bolivia. The three skulls presented here are important for several reasons: (1) they originate from a region under-represented in the literature on Andean trepanation, (2) they represent a variety of trepanation techniques, and (3) they confirm the practice of trepanation in the lake basin during the Early Horizon.