Isotopic evidence of high reliance on plant food among Later Stone Age hunter-gatherers at Taforalt, Morocco.

The transition from hunting-gathering to agriculture stands as one of the most important dietary revolutions in human history. Yet, due to a scarcity of well-preserved human remains from Pleistocene sites, little is known about the dietary practices of pre-agricultural human groups. Here we present the isotopic evidence of pronounced plant reliance among Late Stone Age hunter-gatherers from North Africa (15,000-13,000 cal BP), predating the advent of agriculture by several millennia. Employing a comprehensive multi-isotopic approach, we conducted zinc (δ66Zn) and strontium (87Sr/86Sr) analysis on dental enamel, bulk carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) and sulfur (δ34S) isotope analysis on dentin and bone collagen, and single amino acid analysis on human and faunal remains from Taforalt (Morocco). Our results unequivocally demonstrate a substantial plant-based component in the diets of these hunter-gatherers. This distinct dietary pattern challenges the prevailing notion of high reliance on animal proteins among pre-agricultural human groups. It also raises intriguing questions surrounding the absence of agricultural development in North Africa during the early Holocene. This study underscores the importance of investigating dietary practices during the transition to agriculture and provides insights into the complexities of human subsistence strategies across different regions.

A detailed analysis of the spatial distribution of Schöningen 13II-4 'Spear Horizon' faunal remains.

The Middle Pleistocene Schöningen 13II-4 'Spear Horizon' (Germany) is a key site for the study of human evolution, most notably for the discovery of Paleolithic wooden weaponry and evidence for developed hunting strategies. On the other hand, the 'Spear Horizon' offers an excellent opportunity to approach hominin spatial behavior, thanks to the richness of the archeological assemblage, its exceptional preservation, and the vast expanse of the excavated surface. Analyzing how space was used is essential for understanding hominin behavior at this unique open-air site and, from a wider perspective, for approaching how humans adapted to interglacial environments. In this article, we present an exhaustive spatial study of the complete Schöningen 13II-4 'Spear Horizon' faunal assemblage and its archeological context, combining zooarcheology and spatial analysis through the extensive application of geographic information systems. Our results indicate the existence of different activity areas related to changes in the position of the shoreline due to fluctuations of water table levels of the Schöningen paleolake. These activity areas were likely used on a seasonal basis, whereas the spatial patterning observed in the distribution of faunal remains suggests a diversity of behavioral strategies in terms of intensity and/or duration of occupations. This study refines previous interpretations of the site and reconstructs human behavioral adaptations and the occupational changing lakeland environment during the Middle Pleistocene in Europe.

Bone retouchers and technological continuity in the Middle Stone Age of North Africa.

Evidence for specialised bone tools has recently been reported for the Middle Stone Age of North Africa [one], which complements similar finds of slightly younger age in South Africa [two, three]. However, until now scant reference has been made to lesser known tools also made of bone ('bone retouchers') that were employed specifically as intermediaries for working or refining stone artefacts, that are sometimes present in these assemblages. In this paper we describe 20 bone retouchers from the cave of Grotte des Pigeons at Taforalt in north-east Morocco. This is the largest stratified assemblage of bone retouchers from a North African MSA site, and the biggest single collection so far from the African Continent. A total of 18 bone retouchers was recovered in securely dated archaeological levels spanning a period from ~ 84.5 ka to 24 ka cal BP. A further two bone retouchers were found in a layer at the base of the deposits in association with Aterian artefacts dating to around 85,000 BP and so far represent the earliest evidence of this type of tool at Taforalt. In this paper we present a first, detailed description of the finds and trace the stages of their production, use and discard (chaîne opératoire). At the same time, we assess if there were diachronic changes in their form and function and, finally, explore their presence in relation to stone tools from the same occupation layers of the cave.

Infant funerary behavior and kinship in Pleistocene hunter-gatherers from Morocco.

Infant remains are relatively uncommon in the late Pleistocene (Upper Palaeolithic) archaeological record. Funerary treatment is considered indicative of social status and mirrors cultural attitudes toward the deceased or the group they represent. Here we report on the burials of six infants, including three who died at birth or shortly thereafter, from Later Stone Age (Iberomaurusian) levels at Grotte des Pigeons, Taforalt, in Morocco dating to ∼14,500 cal BP. Funerary treatment of the infants was equivalent to that of older individuals within the community, indicating an inclusive social status. The burials of two of the six infants, shown by previous aDNA analysis to be brother and sister, were overlain by ochre stained grinding stones that may have served as grave markers. In this case, a uniquely shared funerary treatment mirrored a close biological relationship, suggesting that kinship contributed to the patterning of funerary behavior within this Pleistocene burial assemblage.

Middle Pleistocene protein sequences from the rhinoceros genus Stephanorhinus and the phylogeny of extant and extinct Middle/Late Pleistocene Rhinocerotidae.

BACKGROUND: Ancient protein sequences are increasingly used to elucidate the phylogenetic relationships between extinct and extant mammalian taxa. Here, we apply these recent developments to Middle Pleistocene bone specimens of the rhinoceros genus Stephanorhinus. No biomolecular sequence data is currently available for this genus, leaving phylogenetic hypotheses on its evolutionary relationships to extant and extinct rhinoceroses untested. Furthermore, recent phylogenies based on Rhinocerotidae (partial or complete) mitochondrial DNA sequences differ in the placement of the Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis). Therefore, studies utilising ancient protein sequences from Middle Pleistocene contexts have the potential to provide further insights into the phylogenetic relationships between extant and extinct species, including Stephanorhinus and Dicerorhinus. METHODS: ZooMS screening (zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry) was performed on several Late and Middle Pleistocene specimens from the genus Stephanorhinus, subsequently followed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to obtain ancient protein sequences from a Middle Pleistocene Stephanorhinus specimen. We performed parallel analysis on a Late Pleistocene woolly rhinoceros specimen and extant species of rhinoceroses, resulting in the availability of protein sequence data for five extant species and two extinct genera. Phylogenetic analysis additionally included all extant Perissodactyla genera (Equus, Tapirus), and was conducted using Bayesian (MrBayes) and maximum-likelihood (RAxML) methods. RESULTS: Various ancient proteins were identified in both the Middle and Late Pleistocene rhinoceros samples. Protein degradation and proteome complexity are consistent with an endogenous origin of the identified proteins. Phylogenetic analysis of informative proteins resolved the Perissodactyla phylogeny in agreement with previous studies in regards to the placement of the families Equidae, Tapiridae, and Rhinocerotidae. Stephanorhinus is shown to be most closely related to the genera Coelodonta and Dicerorhinus. The protein sequence data further places the Sumatran rhino in a clade together with the genus Rhinoceros, opposed to forming a clade with the black and white rhinoceros species. DISCUSSION: The first biomolecular dataset available for Stephanorhinus places this genus together with the extinct genus Coelodonta and the extant genus Dicerorhinus. This is in agreement with morphological studies, although we are unable to resolve the order of divergence between these genera based on the protein sequences available. Our data supports the placement of the genus Dicerorhinus in a clade together with extant Rhinoceros species. Finally, the availability of protein sequence data for both extinct European rhinoceros genera allows future investigations into their geographic distribution and extinction chronologies.

Iberomaurusian funerary behaviour: evidence from Grotte des Pigeons, Taforalt, Morocco.

Grotte des Pigeons at Taforalt, north-east Morocco, is well known for a large assemblage of Iberomaurusian (Epipalaeolithic) skeletons, possibly representing the earliest and most extensively used prehistoric cemetery in North Africa. New archaeological excavations carried out in 2005 and 2006 revealed further human remains in a largely undisturbed burial area in an alcove at the back of the cave. This discovery provides the first opportunity to report on Iberomaurusian human mortuary activity at this site. Reported here are a closely spaced and inter-cutting series of four burials. These contained the remains of four adults, of which three were buried in a seated or slightly reclining position facing towards the cave entrance and one was buried in a highly flexed position on its left side. The distribution of articulated and disarticulated bones suggested intensive use of the area, with earlier burials disturbed or truncated by subsequent burials, and displaced skeletal elements deliberately or unwittingly incorporated into later depositions. Through this process, parts of a single skeleton were redistributed among several discrete graves and within the surrounding deposit. Some aspects of the Iberomaurusian funerary tradition that are evident from the human remains excavated in the 1950s are absent in the newly excavated adult burials, suggesting a possible elaboration of funerary activity over time.

Lanthanum carbonate is an effective hypophosphatemic agent for hemodialysis patients intolerant of other phosphate binders.

BACKGROUND: Lanthanum carbonate (LC) is a noncalcium-containing phosphate binder of proven utility in treating hyperphosphatemia in dialysis patients, and displays a good tolerability profile. OBJECTIVE: This study addressed whether this tolerability profile could result in improved phosphate control in patients intolerant of other phosphate binders, and who remain hyperphosphatemic despite intensive dietary advice and adequate dialysis provision. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PATIENTS: This 18-month study, from a large urban hemodialysis unit, studied 55 patients identified by the multidisciplinary team as fulfilling the following criteria: persistent hyperphosphatemia; intolerance of, or admitted nonadherence to, prescribed phosphate binders (either calcium-based or sevelamer); and provision of adequate dialysis (urea reduction ratio, >65%). INTERVENTION AND MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: LC was substituted for existing phosphate binders, and results were compared between baseline and 3 months after the initiation of LC. RESULTS: A significant fall in phosphate level from 2.28+/-0.55mmol/L to 1.89+/-0.45mmol/L (7.06+/-1.70mg/dL to 5.85+/-1.39mg/dL) was evident 3 months after the medication switch (P < .001). This fall was associated with a significant increase in the number of patients achieving United Kingdom Renal Association guidelines for serum phosphate level (17% to 48%; P=.001). Mean phosphate-binder pill burden fell significantly by 3 months after the initiation of LC, from 7.8+/-3.4 tablets daily to 3.6+/-2.3 tablets daily. A small but significant increase also occurred in serum bicarbonate levels, from 23.3+/-2.2mmol/L (23.3+/-2.2 mEq/L) at baseline to 23.9+/-2.5mmol/L (23.9+/-2.5 mEq/L) at 3 months (P=.03). This was observed despite a prescribed reduction in dialysate bicarbonate concentration across the population (P=.03). CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated the utility of LC in hemodialysis patients intolerant of alternative phosphate binders, and suggests an advantage of this agent in this patient group.

82,000-year-old shell beads from North Africa and implications for the origins of modern human behavior.

The first appearance of explicitly symbolic objects in the archaeological record marks a fundamental stage in the emergence of modern social behavior in Homo. Ornaments such as shell beads represent some of the earliest objects of this kind. We report on examples of perforated Nassarius gibbosulus shell beads from Grotte des Pigeons (Taforalt, Morocco), North Africa. These marine shells come from archaeological levels dated by luminescence and uranium-series techniques to approximately 82,000 years ago. They confirm evidence of similar ornaments from other less well dated sites in North Africa and adjacent areas of southwest Asia. The shells are of the same genus as shell beads from slightly younger levels at Blombos Cave in South Africa. Wear patterns on the shells imply that some of them were suspended, and, as at Blombos, they were covered in red ochre. These findings imply an early distribution of bead-making in Africa and southwest Asia at least 40 millennia before the appearance of similar cultural manifestations in Europe.

Ancient DNA reveals lack of postglacial habitat tracking in the arctic fox.

How species respond to an increased availability of habitat, for example at the end of the last glaciation, has been well established. In contrast, little is known about the opposite process, when the amount of habitat decreases. The hypothesis of habitat tracking predicts that species should be able to track both increases and decreases in habitat availability. The alternative hypothesis is that populations outside refugia become extinct during periods of unsuitable climate. To test these hypotheses, we used ancient DNA techniques to examine genetic variation in the arctic fox (Alopex lagopus) through an expansion/contraction cycle. The results show that the arctic fox in midlatitude Europe became extinct at the end of the Pleistocene and did not track the habitat when it shifted to the north. Instead, a high genetic similarity between the extant populations in Scandinavia and Siberia suggests an eastern origin for the Scandinavian population at the end of the last glaciation. These results provide new insights into how species respond to climate change, since they suggest that populations are unable to track decreases in habitat avaliability. This implies that arctic species may be particularly vulnerable to increases in global temperatures.

Interactive learning for congregate nutrition site nutrition education: a pilot study.

Older adults who participate in the Older Americans Act Title III-C Elderly Nutrition Program often are at moderate to high nutritional risk. Although nutrition education is a component of the Elderly Nutrition Program, there are numerous barriers to promoting behavior change in older adults. Nutrition education programs targeted to congregate nutrition site participants must address their unique nutritional needs, while engaging them in activities that promote learning and motivate them to make positive behavior changes. This paper describes a pilot study of a theory-driven, five-lesson educational module designed to promote healthful eating behaviors among congregate nutrition site participants through interactive learning.