Author
Dushka Urem-Kotsou
Other affiliations: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Bio: Dushka Urem-Kotsou is an academic researcher from Democritus University of Thrace. The author has contributed to research in topics: Pottery & Prehistory. The author has an hindex of 11, co-authored 24 publications receiving 765 citations. Previous affiliations of Dushka Urem-Kotsou include Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
Topics: Pottery, Prehistory, Carpinus orientalis, Ostrya carpinifolia, Hornbeam
Papers
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University of Mainz1, University College London2, University of Fribourg3, Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics4, Trinity College, Dublin5, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki6, University of Sheffield7, Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports8, Democritus University of Thrace9, Stony Brook University10, Ege University11, Austrian Academy of Sciences12, University of Geneva13
TL;DR: This study demonstrates a direct genetic link between Mediterranean and Central European early farmers and those of Greece and Anatolia, extending the European Neolithic migratory chain all the way back to southwestern Asia.
Abstract: Farming and sedentism first appeared in southwestern Asia during the early Holocene and later spread to neighboring regions, including Europe, along multiple dispersal routes. Conspicuous uncertainties remain about the relative roles of migration, cultural diffusion, and admixture with local foragers in the early Neolithization of Europe. Here we present paleogenomic data for five Neolithic individuals from northern Greece and northwestern Turkey spanning the time and region of the earliest spread of farming into Europe. We use a novel approach to recalibrate raw reads and call genotypes from ancient DNA and observe striking genetic similarity both among Aegean early farmers and with those from across Europe. Our study demonstrates a direct genetic link between Mediterranean and Central European early farmers and those of Greece and Anatolia, extending the European Neolithic migratory chain all the way back to southwestern Asia.
377 citations
University of Nice Sophia Antipolis1, University of Exeter2, University of Bordeaux3, University College London4, University of Évora5, University of Turku6, University of Bristol7, University of the Basque Country8, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań9, International Centre for Theoretical Physics10, University of Ljubljana11, University College Dublin12, University of Cantabria13, National University of Ireland, Galway14, University of Lisbon15, University of Pisa16, University of Toulouse17, Queen's University Belfast18, University of Hamburg19, Cardiff University20, Spanish National Research Council21, Istanbul University22, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki23, Deutsches Archäologisches Institut24, University of Tübingen25, University of Franche-Comté26, University of Southampton27, University of Vienna28, Democritus University of Thrace29
TL;DR: Temporally, it is demonstrated that bee products were exploited continuously, and probably extensively in some regions, at least from the seventh millennium cal bc, likely fulfilling a variety of technological and cultural functions.
Abstract: The pressures on honeybee (Apis mellifera) populations, resulting from threats by modern pesticides, parasites, predators and diseases, have raised awareness of the economic importance and critical role this insect plays in agricultural societies across the globe. However, the association of humans with A. mellifera predates post-industrial-revolution agriculture, as evidenced by the widespread presence of ancient Egyptian bee iconography dating to the Old Kingdom (approximately 2400 BC). There are also indications of Stone Age people harvesting bee products; for example, honey hunting is interpreted from rock art in a prehistoric Holocene context and a beeswax find in a pre-agriculturalist site. However, when and where the regular association of A. mellifera with agriculturalists emerged is unknown. One of the major products of A. mellifera is beeswax, which is composed of a complex suite of lipids including n-alkanes, n-alkanoic acids and fatty acyl wax esters. The composition is highly constant as it is determined genetically through the insect's biochemistry. Thus, the chemical 'fingerprint' of beeswax provides a reliable basis for detecting this commodity in organic residues preserved at archaeological sites, which we now use to trace the exploitation by humans of A. mellifera temporally and spatially. Here we present secure identifications of beeswax in lipid residues preserved in pottery vessels of Neolithic Old World farmers. The geographical range of bee product exploitation is traced in Neolithic Europe, the Near East and North Africa, providing the palaeoecological range of honeybees during prehistory. Temporally, we demonstrate that bee products were exploited continuously, and probably extensively in some regions, at least from the seventh millennium cal BC, likely fulfilling a variety of technological and cultural functions. The close association of A. mellifera with Neolithic farming communities dates to the early onset of agriculture and may provide evidence for the beginnings of a domestication process.
126 citations
TL;DR: Overall, it appears that milk or the by-products of milk was an important foodstuff, which may have contributed significantly to the spread of these cultural groups by providing a nourishing and sustainable product for early farming communities.
Abstract: In the absence of any direct evidence, the relative importance of meat and dairy productions to Neolithic prehistoric Mediterranean communities has been extensively debated. Here, we combine lipid residue analysis of ceramic vessels with osteo-archaeological age-at-death analysis from 82 northern Mediterranean and Near Eastern sites dating from the seventh to fifth millennia BC to address this question. The findings show variable intensities in dairy and nondairy activities in the Mediterranean region with the slaughter profiles of domesticated ruminants mirroring the results of the organic residue analyses. The finding of milk residues in very early Neolithic pottery (seventh millennium BC) from both the east and west of the region contrasts with much lower intensities in sites of northern Greece, where pig bones are present in higher frequencies compared with other locations. In this region, the slaughter profiles of all domesticated ruminants suggest meat production predominated. Overall, it appears that milk or the by-products of milk was an important foodstuff, which may have contributed significantly to the spread of these cultural groups by providing a nourishing and sustainable product for early farming communities.
110 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the first evidence for the use of birch-bark tar on Late Neolithic pottery from Greece is presented, which appears to have been used for two different purposes, to seal a fracture and to line the interior walls.
Abstract: The authors discuss the first evidence for the use of birch-bark tar on Late Neolithic pottery from Greece. This appears to have been used for two different purposes, to seal a fracture and to line the interior walls. The authors also discuss other possible uses.
71 citations
TL;DR: Pottery lipid residues from sites in the Iron Gates region of the Danube in the northern Balkans show that here, Neolithic pottery was being used predominantly for processing aquatic resources, providing evidence for the strategic diversity within the wider cultural and economic practices during the Neolithic.
Abstract: The spread of early farming across Europe from its origins in Southwest Asia was a culturally transformative process which took place over millennia. Within regions, the pace of the transition was probably related to the particular climatic and environmental conditions encountered, as well as the nature of localized hunter-gatherer and farmer interactions. The establishment of farming in the interior of the Balkans represents the first movement of Southwest Asian livestock beyond their natural climatic range, and widespread evidence now exists for early pottery being used extensively for dairying. However, pottery lipid residues from sites in the Iron Gates region of the Danube in the northern Balkans show that here, Neolithic pottery was being used predominantly for processing aquatic resources. This stands out not only within the surrounding region but also contrasts markedly with Neolithic pottery use across wider Europe. These findings provide evidence for the strategic diversity within the wider cultural and economic practices during the Neolithic, with this exceptional environmental and cultural setting offering alternative opportunities despite the dominance of farming in the wider region.
37 citations
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TL;DR: The second edition of The Biomarker Guide as mentioned in this paper provides a comprehensive account of the role that biomarker technology plays both in petroleum exploration and in understanding Earth history and processes.
Abstract: The second edition of The Biomarker Guide is a fully updated and expanded version of this essential reference. Now in two volumes, it provides a comprehensive account of the role that biomarker technology plays both in petroleum exploration and in understanding Earth history and processes. Biomarkers and Isotopes in the Environment and Human History details the origins of biomarkers and introduces basic chemical principles relevant to their study. It discusses analytical techniques, and applications of biomarkers to environmental and archaeological problems. The Biomarker Guide is an invaluable resource for geologists, petroleum geochemists, biogeochemists, environmental scientists and archaeologists.
2,163 citations
Broad Institute1, Whitman College2, Simon Fraser University3, Howard Hughes Medical Institute4, University College Dublin5, University of Coimbra6, Emory University7, Chinese Academy of Sciences8, University of Ferrara9, University of Miskolc10, Armenian National Academy of Sciences11, University of Pennsylvania12, University of Winnipeg13, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University14, University of Edinburgh15, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland16, Spanish National Research Council17, Imperial College London18, Max Planck Society19, Binghamton University20, University of Huddersfield21, University of Pavia22, Yerevan State University23
TL;DR: This paper reported 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, showing 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.
Abstract: 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.
695 citations
TL;DR: Genome-wide data from 400 Neolithic, Copper Age and Bronze Age Europeans is presented, finding limited genetic affinity between Beaker-complex-associated individuals from Iberia and central Europe, and excludes migration as an important mechanism of spread between these two regions.
Abstract: From around 2750 to 2500 bc, Bell Beaker pottery became widespread across western and central Europe, before it disappeared between 2200 and 1800 bc. The forces that propelled its expansion are a matter of long-standing debate, and there is support for both cultural diffusion and migration having a role in this process. Here we present genome-wide data from 400 Neolithic, Copper Age and Bronze Age Europeans, including 226 individuals associated with Beaker-complex artefacts. We detected limited genetic affinity between Beaker-complex-associated individuals from Iberia and central Europe, and thus exclude migration as an important mechanism of spread between these two regions. However, migration had a key role in the further dissemination of the Beaker complex. We document this phenomenon most clearly in Britain, where the spread of the Beaker complex introduced high levels of steppe-related ancestry and was associated with the replacement of approximately 90% of Britain's gene pool within a few hundred years, continuing the east-to-west expansion that had brought steppe-related ancestry into central and northern Europe over the previous centuries.
479 citations
TL;DR: Organic residue analysis utilizes analytical organic chemical techniques to identify the nature and origins of organic remains that cannot be characterized using traditional techniques of archaeological investigation (because they are either amorphous or invisible).
Abstract: Organic residue analysis utilizes analytical organic chemical techniques to identify the nature and origins of organic remains that cannot be characterized using traditional techniques of archaeological investigation (because they are either amorphous or invisible). The field is founded upon the principle that the biomolecular, or biochemical, components of organic materials associated with human activity survive in a wide variety of locations and deposits at archaeological sites. The archaeological information contained in organic residues is represented by the biomolecular components of the natural products that contribute to the formation of a given residue. By applying appropriate separation (chromatographic) and identification (mass spectrometric) techniques, the preserved, and altered, biomolecular components of such residues can be revealed. Once identified, the Archaeological Biomarker Concept can be applied, wherein the structure and even isotopic composition(s) of a given biomolecule or suite of biomolecules (the ‘chemical fingerprint’) can be related to the compositions of organisms exploited by humans in the past. As the organic residue field emerges from its pre-paradigmatic phase, and the organic residue revolution gathers pace, the way is open for challenging many long-held archaeological hypotheses and offering new perspectives on the study of human activity in the past.
468 citations
Harvard University1, University of Tübingen2, Max Planck Society3, Hungarian Academy of Sciences4, Howard Hughes Medical Institute5, University College Dublin6, University of Vienna7, University of Coimbra8, University of Ferrara9, University of Adelaide10, University of Cambridge11, Trinity College, Dublin12, Broad Institute13, Emory University14, University of Florence15, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences16, Danube Private University17, Romanian Academy18, Centre national de la recherche scientifique19, Eötvös Loránd University20, Sofia University21, University of Oxford22, University of Wyoming23, University of Zagreb24, Pennsylvania State University25, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine26, Université de Montréal27, University of Bucharest28, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich29, University of Edinburgh30, University of Wisconsin-Madison31, University of Palermo32, Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts33, Naturhistorisches Museum34, Russian Academy of Sciences35, University of Toronto36, University of Latvia37, Durham University38, University of Hull39, Grand Valley State University40, Columbia University41
TL;DR: It is shown that southeastern Europe continued to be a nexus between east and west after the arrival of farmers, with intermittent genetic contact with steppe populations occurring up to 2,000 years earlier than the migrations from the steppe that ultimately replaced much of the population of northern Europe.
Abstract: Farming was first introduced to Europe in the mid-seventh millennium bc, and was associated with migrants from Anatolia who settled in the southeast before spreading throughout Europe. Here, to und ...
447 citations