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| 2. |
- Bærholm Schnell, Ida, et al.
(författare)
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Characterisation of insect and plant origins using DNA extracted from small volumes of bee honey
- 2010
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Ingår i: Arthropod-Plant Interactions. - Dordrecht : Springer Science+Business Media B.V.. - 1872-8855 .- 1872-8847. ; 4:2, s. 107-116
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A DNA-based tool was validated that potentially enables the characterisation of both plant and insect of origin of small (approximately 1 ml) samples of bee honey. Using this method, mitochondrial, nuclear and chloroplast DNA (mtDNA, nuDNA, cpDNA) markers were successfully extracted, PCR amplified, and sequenced from a range of honeys, and the relative amount of plant nuDNA and cpDNA, and bee mtDNA in the samples was quantified using quantitative real-time PCR.Short, but taxonomically informative lengths of insect and plant organelle DNA could be routinely recovered from all honey samples tested, and longer organelle, and nuclear DNA sequences can be recovered from many. The data also enabled preliminary characterisation of the quality of these different DNA sources in honey. Although the absolute quantity of the different genetic markers varied considerably between sample, a general trend was observed of insect mtDNA dominating over plant organelle DNA, and with plant nuclear DNA at the lowest levels. Furthermore there was a clear correlation between the plant DNA content and the success of the PCR assays. To maximise successful characterisation of samples, future studies are recommended to focus on the use of organelle markers, and limit the size of PCR amplicons targeted, although with appropriate sample selection and assay optimisation, other approaches may be possible.
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| 3. |
- Bergfeldt, Nora, et al.
(författare)
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Identification of microbial pathogens in Neolithic Scandinavian humans
- 2024
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Ingår i: Scientific Reports. - : NATURE PORTFOLIO. - 2045-2322. ; 14
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- With the Neolithic transition, human lifestyle shifted from hunting and gathering to farming. This change altered subsistence patterns, cultural expression, and population structures as shown by the archaeological/zooarchaeological record, as well as by stable isotope and ancient DNA data. Here, we used metagenomic data to analyse if the transitions also impacted the microbiome composition in 25 Mesolithic and Neolithic hunter-gatherers and 13 Neolithic farmers from several Scandinavian Stone Age cultural contexts. Salmonella enterica, a bacterium that may have been the cause of death for the infected individuals, was found in two Neolithic samples from Battle Axe culture contexts. Several species of the bacterial genus Yersinia were found in Neolithic individuals from Funnel Beaker culture contexts as well as from later Neolithic context. Transmission of e.g. Y. enterocolitica may have been facilitated by the denser populations in agricultural contexts.
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| 4. |
- Bergfeldt, Nora, et al.
(författare)
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Identification of microbial pathogens in Neolithic Scandinavian humans
- 2024
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Ingår i: Scientific Reports. - : NATURE PORTFOLIO. - 2045-2322. ; 14:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- With the Neolithic transition, human lifestyle shifted from hunting and gathering to farming. This change altered subsistence patterns, cultural expression, and population structures as shown by the archaeological/zooarchaeological record, as well as by stable isotope and ancient DNA data. Here, we used metagenomic data to analyse if the transitions also impacted the microbiome composition in 25 Mesolithic and Neolithic hunter-gatherers and 13 Neolithic farmers from several Scandinavian Stone Age cultural contexts. Salmonella enterica, a bacterium that may have been the cause of death for the infected individuals, was found in two Neolithic samples from Battle Axe culture contexts. Several species of the bacterial genus Yersinia were found in Neolithic individuals from Funnel Beaker culture contexts as well as from later Neolithic context. Transmission of e.g. Y. enterocolitica may have been facilitated by the denser populations in agricultural contexts.
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| 5. |
- Blank, Malou, 1975, et al.
(författare)
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Interdisciplinary analyses of the remains from three gallery graves at Kinnekulle: tracing Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age societies in inland Southwestern Sweden
- 2023
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Ingår i: Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences. - : SPRINGER HEIDELBERG. - 1866-9557 .- 1866-9565. ; 15:7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this paper, we investigate the Scandinavian Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age of Kinnekulle in southwestern Sweden. The above-mentioned periods in the study area are poorly understood and the archaeological record consists of a few stray finds and a concentration of 20 gallery graves. This study focuses on three of the gallery graves where commingled skeletons from successive burials were recovered. The human remains and the artefacts from the graves were used for discussing individual life stories as well as living societies with the aim of gaining new knowledge of the last part of the Neolithic and the beginning of the Early Bronze Age in southwestern Sweden. We focused on questions concerning health and trauma, mobility and exchange networks, and diet and subsistence of the people using the graves. Chronological, bioarchaeological, and biomolecular aspects of the burials were approached through the application of archaeological and osteological studies, as well as stable isotope, strontium isotope, radiocarbon, and mtDNA analyses. The study provides evidence for high mobility and diverse diets, as well as inhumations primarily dated to the transition between the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age. We suggest that the mountain plateau of Kinnekulle was mainly reserved for the dead, while the people lived in agriculture-based groups in the surrounding lower lying regions.
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| 6. |
- Blank, Malou, 1975, et al.
(författare)
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Mobility patterns in inland southwestern Sweden during the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age
- 2021
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Ingår i: Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1866-9557 .- 1866-9565. ; 13
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this paper, we investigate population dynamics in the Scandinavian Neolithic and Early Bronze Age in southwestern Sweden. Human mobility patterns in Falbygden were studied by applying strontium isotope analysis combined with archaeological and bioarchaeological data, including mtDNA and sex assessment on a large dataset encompassing 141 individuals from 21 megalithic graves. In combination with other archaeological and anthropological records, we investigated the temporal and spatial scale of individual movement, mobility patterns of specific categories of people and possible social drivers behind them. Our results of strontium and biomolecular analyses suggest that mobility increased in the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age compared to the earlier parts of the Neolithic. The data indicate individuals moving both into and away from Falbygden. Mobility patterns and contact networks also shift over time.
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| 7. |
- Fraser, Magdalena, et al.
(författare)
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Ancient DNA Preserved in 5000 Year Old Hedgehog Bones
- 2010
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Ingår i: The Gotland Papers. - : Gotland University Press. - 9789186343071 ; , s. 507-510
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The patterns of DNA degradation are partly known. Cold and dry environments with a neutral or slightly above neutral pH will preserve DNA better than hot, humid, or acidic conditions. But little is yet known on what types of material preserves DNA. So far, most of the genetic studies on ancient specimens have been conducted on mammals with large bones, few studies have been done on micro mammals. Here we investigate the possibility to retrieve DNA from small mammalian bones, from hedgehogs, from the Baltic island Gotland. We use bones from ancient hedgehogs from known archaeological sites. Of the 13 samples used in the study, all between 5000 and 1000 years old, 6 yielded reproducible DNA that could be assigned to hedgehog. We conclude that it is possible to retrieve DNA, and that this opens the possibility to study early migrations routs to the Baltic island Gotland.
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| 8. |
- Fraser, Magdalena, et al.
(författare)
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Neolithic Hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) from the Island of Gotland show early contacts with the Swedish mainland
- 2012
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Ingår i: Journal of Archaeological Science. - London : Academic Press. - 0305-4403 .- 1095-9238. ; 39:2, s. 229-233
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Previous research probing early migrations and contacts in the Baltic Sea area is characterized by the analysis of different chronologies and subsistent strategies on all sides of the Sea. Several studies performed on artifact typology, ceramics, grave rituals and physical anthropology ended with varying results. Although the question of human origins remains inconclusive, in this study, we rely on the phylogeography of an animal associated with humans to elucidate findings regarding prehistoric human migration and contacts. Hedgehogs, along with other fauna on Gotland, were brought over to the island by humans. We examined hedgehog mitochondrial DNA from the Pitted Ware Culture (Middle Neolithic). The genetic signatures of the animals on the island were investigated to determine the animals origin. From the 23 bones originally examined, twelve bones from all five locations studied yielded reliable results and resembled published extant Erinaceus europaeus sequences from Sweden, Norway and Denmark. We postulate that a western heritage for the Neolithic hedgehogs on Gotland indicates early human contact with the Swedish mainland.
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| 9. |
- Fraser, Magdalena, et al.
(författare)
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New insights on cultural dualism and population structure in the Middle Neolithic Funnel Beaker culture on the island of Gotland
- 2018
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Ingår i: Journal of Archaeological Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 2352-409X .- 2352-4103. ; 17, s. 325-334
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In recent years it has been shown that the Neolithization of Europe was partly driven by migration of farming groups admixing with local hunter-gatherer groups as they dispersed across the continent. However, little research has been done on the cultural duality of contemporaneous foragers and farming populations in the same region. Here we investigate the demographic history of the Funnel Beaker culture [Trichterbecherkultur or TRB, c. 4000–2800 cal BCE], and the sub-Neolithic Pitted Ware culture complex [PWC, c. 3300–2300 cal BCE] during the Nordic Middle Neolithic period on the island of Gotland, Sweden. We use a multidisciplinary approach to investigate individuals buried in the Ansarve dolmen, the only confirmed TRB burial on the island. We present new radiocarbon dating, isotopic analyses for diet and mobility, and mitochondrial DNA haplogroup data to infer maternal inheritance. We also present a new Sr-baseline of 0.71208 ± 0.0016 for the local isotope variation. We compare and discuss our findings together with that of contemporaneous populations in Sweden and the North European mainland.The radiocarbon dating and Strontium isotopic ratios show that the dolmen was used between c. 3300–2700 cal BCE by a population which displayed local Sr-signals. Mitochondrial data show that the individuals buried in the Ansarve dolmen had maternal genetic affinity to that of other Early and Middle Neolithic farming cultures in Europe, distinct from that of the contemporaneous PWC on the island. Furthermore, they exhibited a strict terrestrial and/or slightly varied diet in contrast to the strict marine diet of the PWC. The findings indicate that two different contemporary groups coexisted on the same island for several hundred years with separate cultural identity, lifestyles, as well as dietary patterns.
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| 10. |
- Fraser, Magdalena
(författare)
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People of the Dolmens and Stone Cists : An archaeogenetic Investigation of Megalithic Graves from the Neolithic Period on Gotland
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The study of ancient genomics of pre-historic human remains has in recent years offered unprecedented knowledge regarding pre-historic migration and population structure on the European continent which has fundamentally altered the current views in the archaeological community. However, the merging of the two fields, archaeology and genetics, is still in its infancy and much work is still needed in order for these fields to integrate. In this thesis I explore how genetic analyses, in combination with contextual radiocarbon dating and isotopic analyses for diet and mobility can be used to investigate demographic events on a local and regional level. This is done through the investigation of people buried in five previously excavated megalithic tombs on the Island of Gotland dated to the Neolithic period. I present the genomic population structure and archaeological background for the pre-historic European reference data and show how this is used to investigate population continuity, demographic shifts, cultural duality, and admixture for local and regional contexts. I present new data and explore the Strontium-baseline for the Gotland biosphere which is used for the mobility analyses. I show that mitochondrial haplogroup data is especially useful in combination with isotopic data, and radiocarbon dating for investigation of demographic shifts on a larger scale. I also show that genomic data gives unique insights into the individuals’ life history which, together with the established demographic background allows for fine scale investigation of population demographic events within and between different archaeological contexts. Finally I show that the different Neolithic contexts on Gotland to a large extent involves immigration of new groups to the island, and that the contextual breaks seen in the archaeological record during the Neolithic period are connected with cultural and population demographic shifts. This dissertation demonstrates that genomic analyses, in combination with archaeology and isotopic analyses, as well as contextual osteological analyses and radiocarbon dating, present unique insights into the life history of the actual people who lived the lives we try to understand.
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