| 1. |
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| 2. |
- 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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| 3. |
- Boethius, Adam, et al.
(författare)
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Huseby Klev and the Quest for Pioneer Subsistence Strategies : Diversification of a Maritime Lifestyle
- 2018
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Ingår i: The Ecology of Early Settlement in Northern Europe : Conditions for Subsistence and Survival - Conditions for Subsistence and Survival. - 9781781795156 - 9781781796030 ; 1, s. 99-128
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The bone material from three archaeological occupation phases at Huseby Klev provides the best source of evidence currently available about the subsistence strategies of pioneer settlers in Northern Europe. The results from Huseby Klev indicate that the pioneer settlers initially relied heavily on marine mammals for their sustenance. This subsistence strategy changed during the second and third occupation phases of the site, during which fishing became the most important part of the diet. These changes in subsistence strategy are interpreted as arising from different factors. A highly nutritious ocean on the west coast of Scandinavia at the end of the last ice age resulted in large numbers of available marine mammals in the ocean, which supported a large human population able to base its economy on them. As the ocean became less nutritious withthe cessation of freshwater mixing, the marine mammals suffered a natural population decline, while humans still relied upon them heavily, resulting in a marine-mammal collapse. This forced the human populations to change their subsistence strategy, and fish became dominant in the diet. The bone material from Huseby Klev implies a good knowledge of fishing methods and seafaring, in addition to which it highlights the ocean as the main source of sustenance during the time from the Preboreal–Boreal transition to the mid Atlantic chronozone. The hunting of terrestrial mammals, also found on the site, is interpreted as mainly being undertaken to supply raw material. Finds of reindeer imply the presence of reindeer in Mesolithic western Scandinavia, but they were not prioritized in the diet, possibly only being exploited during yearly migrations. Birds are common in the bone material, and a large number of bird species with a low number of identified fragments from each species implies opportunistic hunting of all but auks, which were hunted in large numbers. The bone material from Huseby Klev is the oldest and best-preserved Atlantic coastal material in Europe, and the results indicate an advanced knowledge of utilizing aquatic resources and suggest a boom in aquatic reliance that is earlier and more widespread than previously known.
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| 4. |
- Boethius, Adam, et al.
(författare)
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The Use of Aquatic Resources by Early Mesolithic Foragers in Southern Scandinavia
- 2018
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Ingår i: The Ecology of Early Settlement in Northern Europe : Conditions for Subsistence and Survival - Conditions for Subsistence and Survival. - 9781781795156 - 9781781796030 ; 1, s. 311-334
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A long tradition in research on prehistoric southern Scandinavia recognizes full use of aquatic resources in the Late Mesolithic Ertebølle Culture (5500–4000 cal BC): coastal sites are frequently found containing well-preserved fish bones, and isotope values from human collagen indicate a high dietary intake of marine resources. However, recent finds and new methodologies suggest that the view of a terrestrially focused diet in the Early Mesolithic period (9500–6800 cal BC) can be reinterpreted, and the use of freshwater resources is found to be more important than previously known. Aquatic resources can therefore be seen to be a major source of sustenance for foraging societies in Scandinavia much earlier than has been realized previously. At Norje Sunnansund, an Early Mesolithic site located in Blekinge, south-eastern Sweden, large amounts of fish bones have been found, and these have been used to estimate the amount of fish beingcaught at the site, by analyzing different rates of taphonomic loss. The results from the excavated part of the settlement suggest that at least 48 tonnes of fish were caught. The large amount of caught fish and the evidence of the means of preparing and storing them provides the earliest example of a large-scale fishing society, and the knowledge required to catch and prepare this volume of fish has further implications at a more structural societal level. A structured society is a prerequisite for the development of sedentism and enables large groups of people to gather during an extended time period. Conservative dietary estimates from the recovered fish bone material suggest that enough fish was caught to sustain 100 adults living solely on fish for over three years.
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| 5. |
- Gopalakrishnan, Shyam, et al.
(författare)
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The population genomic legacy of the second plague pandemic
- 2022
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Ingår i: Current Biology. - : Elsevier. - 0960-9822 .- 1879-0445. ; 32:21, s. 4743-4751.e6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Human populations have been shaped by catastrophes that may have left long-lasting signatures in their genomes. One notable example is the second plague pandemic that entered Europe in ca. 1,347 CE and repeatedly returned for over 300 years, with typical village and town mortality estimated at 10%–40%.1 It is assumed that this high mortality affected the gene pools of these populations. First, local population crashes reduced genetic diversity. Second, a change in frequency is expected for sequence variants that may have affected survival or susceptibility to the etiologic agent (Yersinia pestis).2 Third, mass mortality might alter the local gene pools through its impact on subsequent migration patterns. We explored these factors using the Norwegian city of Trondheim as a model, by sequencing 54 genomes spanning three time periods: (1) prior to the plague striking Trondheim in 1,349 CE, (2) the 17th–19th century, and (3) the present. We find that the pandemic period shaped the gene pool by reducing long distance immigration, in particular from the British Isles, and inducing a bottleneck that reduced genetic diversity. Although we also observe an excess of large FST values at multiple loci in the genome, these are shaped by reference biases introduced by mapping our relatively low genome coverage degraded DNA to the reference genome. This implies that attempts to detect selection using ancient DNA (aDNA) datasets that vary by read length and depth of sequencing coverage may be particularly challenging until methods have been developed to account for the impact of differential reference bias on test statistics.
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| 6. |
- Günther, Torsten, et al.
(författare)
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Population genomics of Mesolithic Scandinavia : Investigating early postglacial migration routes and high-latitude adaptation
- 2018
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Ingår i: PLoS biology. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1544-9173 .- 1545-7885. ; 16:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Scandinavia was one of the last geographic areas in Europe to become habitable for humans after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). However, the routes and genetic composition of these postglacial migrants remain unclear. We sequenced the genomes, up to 57x coverage, of seven hunter-gatherers excavated across Scandinavia and dated from 9,500-6,000 years before present (BP). Surprisingly, among the Scandinavian Mesolithic individuals, the genetic data display an east-west genetic gradient that opposes the pattern seen in other parts of Mesolithic Europe. Our results suggest two different early postglacial migrations into Scandinavia: initially from the south, and later, from the northeast. The latter followed the ice-free Norwegian north Atlantic coast, along which novel and advanced pressure-blade stone-tool techniques may have spread. These two groups met and mixed in Scandinavia, creating a genetically diverse population, which shows patterns of genetic adaptation to high latitude environments. These potential adaptations include high frequencies of low pigmentation variants and a gene region associated with physical performance, which shows strong continuity into modern-day northern Europeans.
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| 7. |
- Margaryan, Ashot, et al.
(författare)
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Population genomics of the Viking world
- 2020
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Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1476-4687 .- 0028-0836. ; 585:7825, s. 390-396
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The maritime expansion of Scandinavian populations during the Viking Age (about ad750–1050) was a far-flung transformation in world history1,2. Here we sequenced the genomes of 442humans from archaeological sites across Europe and Greenland (to a median depth of about 1×) to understand the global influence of this expansion. We find the Viking period involved gene flow into Scandinavia from the south and east. We observe genetic structure within Scandinavia, with diversity hotspots in the south and restricted gene flow within Scandinavia. We find evidence for a major influx of Danish ancestry into England; a Swedish influx into the Baltic; and Norwegian influx into Ireland, Iceland and Greenland. Additionally, we see substantial ancestry from elsewhere in Europe entering Scandinavia during the Viking Age. Our ancient DNA analysis also revealed that a Viking expedition included close family members. By comparing with modern populations, we find that pigmentation-associated loci have undergone strong population differentiation during the past millennium, and trace positively selected loci—including the lactase-persistence allele of LCT and alleles of ANKA that are associated with the immune response—in detail. We conclude that the Viking diaspora was characterized by substantial transregional engagement: distinct populations influenced the genomic makeup of different regions of Europe, and Scandinavia experienced increased contact with the rest of the continent.
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| 8. |
- Nilsson, Björn, et al.
(författare)
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Seascapes of stability and change: the archaeological and ecological potential of the early mesolithic seascapes with examples from Haväng in SE Baltic, Sweden
- 2018
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Ingår i: Ecology of Early Settlement in Northern Europe Conditions for Subsistence and Survival The Early Settlement of Northern Europe, Volume 1. - 9781781795156 - 9781781796030 ; 1, s. 335-352
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The sea level low stand period during the Early Mesolithic in SE Baltic (c. 9,500-6,500 BC) has resulted in vast inundated areas. Some of the sites have yielded extensive remains of lagoonal and riverine sediments, as well as areas with trees preserved in situ. Investigations at one of the sites - Haväng in eastern Scania - have resulted in archaeological findings from the entire period. The preservation of organic materials are very good, and gives new insights in material culture and fishing technologies. Extensive surveying and hydro-acoustic mapping gives possibilities to draw some conclusion of the possible timing of the introduction of stationary fishing and how this relates to cultural and natural changes. The paper proposes that riverine stationary fisheries in the southern Baltic were introduced during the Boreal period (7000 BC or earlier). The Maglemose fisheries are proposed as indirect evidence of early seascape territorialisation, which must be understood in a cultural and ecological context.
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| 9. |
- Rodríguez-Varela, Ricardo, et al.
(författare)
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The genetic history of Scandinavia from the Roman Iron Age to the present
- 2023
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Ingår i: Cell. - : Elsevier. - 0092-8674 .- 1097-4172. ; 186:1, s. 32-46
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We investigate a 2,000-year genetic transect through Scandinavia spanning the Iron Age to the present, based on 48 new and 249 published ancient genomes and genotypes from 16,638 modern individuals. We find regional variation in the timing and magnitude of gene flow from three sources: the eastern Baltic, the British-Irish Isles, and southern Europe. British-Irish ancestry was widespread in Scandinavia from the Viking period, whereas eastern Baltic ancestry is more localized to Gotland and central Sweden. In some regions, a drop in current levels of external ancestry suggests that ancient immigrants contributed proportionately less to the modern Scandinavian gene pool than indicated by the ancestry of genomes from the Viking and Medieval periods. Finally, we show that a north-south genetic cline that characterizes modern Scandinavians is mainly due to the differential levels of Uralic ancestry and that this cline existed in the Viking Age and possibly earlier.
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| 10. |
- Skar, Birgitte, et al.
(författare)
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A submerged Mesolithic grave site reveals remains of the first Norwegian seal hunters
- 2016
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Ingår i: Marine Ventures. - Sheffield : Equinox Publishing. - 9781781791363 - 9781781793879 ; , s. 225-239
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Submerged Mesolithic settlement sites and graves have shown to provide repositories of well-preserved organic remains particularly in the Baltic Sea region. Although marine Stone Age archaeology In Norway is in its infancy it has already led to discoveries that shed new light on Middle Mesolithic livelihood and death, so far unknown from the terrestrial archaeological record. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes (δ13C, δ15N) analyzed from individuals from submerged burials on the Hummervikholmen site in southern Norway reveal that the deceased had lived off a diet consisting of more than 80% marine protein from the highest trophic level. The find circumstances of the three to five individuals, found west of Kristiansand, confirm the existence of a Middle Mesolithic burial tradition and indicate that this hunter-gatherer population in southern Norway possessed boat technology. The finds highlight a period during the Middle Mesolithic of Norway where cultural change so far has only been indicated in the lithic technology.
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| 11. |
- Speed, James, et al.
(författare)
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Natural and cultural heritage in mountainlandscapes: towards an integrated valuation
- 2012
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Ingår i: International Journal of Biodiversity Science, Ecosystem services & management. - New York : Taylor & Francis. - 2151-3740 .- 2151-3732. ; 8:4, s. 313-320
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Mountain areas of Europe have been managed by humans for a long time, leading to a prevalence of semi-natural habitats in mountain landscapes today. These landscapes contain both natural and cultural heritage; however, natural and cultural heritage are rarely considered together when valuing landscapes and developing management plans in protected areas. Here we present a case study of seven protected areas in the mountains of Great Britain and Norway. We take a long-term perspective on landscape and land-use change and propose an integrated model of landscape valuation on the basis of combined natural and cultural heritage. Our model plots indicators of natural and cultural heritage along a gradient of land-use intensity, allowing simultaneous assessment and highlighting how valuation depends on what type of heritage is considered. We show that while contemporary land-use changes follow similar trajectories in Norway and Britain, different land-use histories mean that the loss of heritage differs between the regions. The model presented here thus allows for the consolidation of valuation based on both cultural and natural heritage in landscapes
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