American Association of Physical Anthropologists Annual Meeting:
Cranial diversity of human
skeletal remains from Serra da
Capivara, Northeastern Brazil:
Implications for the origin of the
Native Americans.
DANILO VICENSOTTO
BERNARDO1, WALTER ALVES
NEVES1 and NIEDE GUIDON2.
1Laboratorio de Estudos Evolutivos
Humanos, Universidade de Sao
Paulo, Brazil, 2Fundacao Museu do
Homem Americano, Sao Raimundo
Nonato, Brazil.
The cranial morphology of six
prehistoric human skulls from Serra
da Capivara, Piaui, Brazil was
assessed under a global comparative
perspective. The specimens are
dated to either the Early or the Late
Holocene. The multivariate analyses
conducted (Principal Components
and Discriminant Functions)
showed that the specimens from this
region of Brazil are resolved in two
very distinct and distant groups in
the morph-space. When their cranial
morphologies were compared to the
World cranial variation, one group
exhibited a clear association with
Australo-Melanesians and Africans,
while another exhibited a clear
association with nowadays Asians
and Native Americans. These
results are congruent with the idea
that The Americas were
successively settled by two different
populations, but both coming from
Asia. This study was funded by
FAPESP, grants numbers 08/58729-
8 and 04/01321-6.
Dental variation in Holocene
humans from Kenya, East Africa.
WENDY BLACK and REBECCA
R. ACKERMANN. Department of
Archaeology, University of Cape
Town.
Previous work on Holocene dental
variation in Africa has focused on
certain groups (i.e. Congo, Gabon,
Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon and
South Africa), with relatively less
attention given to other regions.
Part of the reason for this is that
material from other sites is fairly
scarce, not well-documented, and
too often poorly preserved. There
are, however, exceptions to this.
Holocene remains from Kenya were
collected from a number of sites in
and around the Lake Turkana,
Elmenteita and Naivasha lake
28
basins in the early part of the 20th
century. To date, no detailed metric
or non-metric dental analyses of any
of these remains have been
conducted. This study describes the
location and current condition of
this Holocene dental material from
various localities, and presents an
analysis of non-metric trait variation
in the sample (N=84).
Dentition was scored for a suite of
dental morphological attributes,
including 39 common crown, root
and intra-oral osseous traits.
Results demonstrate that the Kenya
material exhibits, among others,
high frequencies of traits such as
shoveling, Tome’s root and
deflecting wrinkle, while
comparative results have revealed
trait similarities between this
material and data from both recent
West and South Africa samples.
Additionally, certain traits such as
the canine mesial ridge and lower
molar seventh cusp occur at
frequencies comparable to those
seen in the Khoesan populations of
southern Africa. Such dental trait
associations suggest that the Kenya
material has close affiliations with
the sub-Saharan African dental
complex and may offer new insights
regarding connections among
African phenotypes.
The Late Stone Age human
remains from Ishango
(Democratic Republic of Congo).
Contribution to the study of the
African Late Pleistocene modern
human diversity.
ISABELLE CREVECOEUR1,2,
PATRICK SEMAL2, ELS
CORNELISSEN3 and ALISON S.
BROOKS4. 1UMR 5199 -
Laboratoire d'Anthropologie des
Populations du Passe, Universite
Bordeaux 1, 2Laboratoire
d'Anthropologie et de Prehistoire,
Institut royal des Sciences naturelles
de Belgique (IRSNB), 3 Culturele
Antropologie/Prehistorie en
Archeologie, Koninklijk Museum
voor Midden-Afrika (KMMA),
4Department of Anthropology,
Georges Washington University.
The Ishango site (Democratic
Republic of Congo) was excavated
during two different campaigns, in
the fifties by a Belgian team
directed by the geologist J. de
Heinzelin, and in the eighties by A.
Brooks and collaborators. It led to
the discovery of numerous human
remains in two stratigraphic layers,
representing a Late Pleistocene and
a Neolithic occupations. The oldest
one, the Niveau Fossilifère
Principal (N.F.Pr.), has been dated
to 20-25 Kyr and contains an
exceptional archaeological material
(engraved bones, hundred of barbed
points, quartz microliths, thousand
of faunal remains, etc.) which
attests the existence of complex
socio-cultural behaviours at that
time in the region. However, the
anthropological potential of the
N.F.Pr. collection, one of the oldest
sample of modern human
population from Central Africa, has
not yet been fully exploited. The
early publications by Twiesselmann
only focused on the most complete
and mature human remains without
taking the stratigraphic origin into
account.
We present here a new inventory
and comparative morphometric
study of these Late Pleistocene
human remains, notably by using
medical and micro-Computer
Tomography acquisitions. The
Ishango remains exhibit
morphometrical characteristics that
lie on the edge of extant modern
human diversity. The study of the
inner ear structures show closer
affinities with Middle Palaeolithic
modern humans than with recent
populations. The estimation of
dental tissue proportions of a
particularly voluminous molar also
stand on the edge of recent
variation. Together with a strong
dimorphism, these new data
question the use of recent
populations as reference for modern
human diversity. This study is
funded by the program Prospective
Research for Brussels (PRFB
2006/CN/JV/520) of the Institute
for the encouragement of Scientific
Research and Innovation of
Brussels (ISRIB) and by the
Fulbright Research Scholarship
(2009-2010).
Biometrics and loco
E. SUSANNE DALY1, STEPHEN
OUSLEY1, and RICHARD
JANTZ2. 1Department of Applied
Forensic Sciences, Mercyhurst
College, 2Department of
Anthropology, University of
Tennessee.
The past few years have seen a rise
in the use of models for
understanding the relationships of
within-population variation to
geographic distance. Recent genetic
studies demonstrate a decrease in
genetic differentiation with an
increase in geographic distance to
sub-Saharan Africa. The greatest
intra-regional genetic diversity has
been seen in Subsaharan Africans
and lower in more distant regions.
Analyses of craniometric and dental
traits have provided similar results
(Betti et al. 2008, Hanihara 2008,
Manica et al. 2007, von Cramon-
Taubadel and Lycett 2008). These
results have been used to support
the recent African origin model.
Dermatoglyphic ridge counts are
considered selectively neutral and
provide an independent comparison
with these results. This study
employs R-Matrix analysis
(Relethford and Blangero 1990) to
test the fit of dermatoglyphic finger
ridge counts to the African origin
model. Samples were limited to
males with a sample size of at least
50 from 81 populations representing
10 major geographic regions.
Simple regression analysis was used
to analyze the relationship between
intra-group variation and
geographic distance. We found no
significant correlation for withingroup
variation and distance from
Africa. In addition, North and South
America, not Subsaharan African,
showed the most diversity. These
results contradict results from
genetic and craniometric traits and
do not support the recent African
origin model. Differences in these
results are discussed in terms of trait
selection, sample selection, sample
size, and methodology.
A new look at an old problem:
Assessing population structure in
Mesolithic – C-Group Nubians
using population genetics
statistics for cranial discrete
traits.
KANYA GODDE. Department of
Anthropology, University of
Tennessee.
Irish (2005), Irish and Turner
(1990), and Turner and Markowitz
(1990) hypothesized that a
population replacement event
occurred in Nubia after the
Paleolithic. Examining this period
of time (Paleolithic – C-Group) for
population changes is complicated
by a hiatus in the archaeological
record between the A- and C-Group
(Nielson 1970), indicating an
abandonment of the area. In order
to understand the population
structure during this critical time in
Nubian history, this study applies a
population genetics approach to
cranial discrete traits. Four samples
were observed for 20 cranial
nonmetric traits: a Mesolithic group
from Wadi Halfa, an A- and CGroup
from Wadi Halfa (data
contributed by Dr. Nancy Lovell),
and a C-Group from Sayala
(Strouhal and Jungwirth 1980). The
population genetics statistics
derived from the data included an R
matrix, Mahalanobis D2 with a
tetrachoric matrix, Fst, principal
coordinates analysis (PCO), and a
Relethford and Blangero (1990)
residuals analysis modified for
cranial discrete traits. The Fst
among the four groups indicates a
high amount of variation, which
was supported by the modified
Relethford-Blangero residuals; the
residuals imply a high level of
extraregional gene flow was
maintained in Nubia during these
time periods, across all groups. The
plot from PCO depicts the two CGroups
clustering with the
preceding Mesolithic and A-Group.
The biological data here and
elsewhere agree with the
archaeological and mortuary
evidence that there was population
continuity (despite high levels of
extraregional gene flow), during this
time. Moreover, the returning
population after the hiatus is
biologically and culturally Nubian.
Body proportions of the Jebel
Sahaba sample.
TRENTON W. HOLLIDAY1.
1Department of Anthropology,
Tulane University.
The Epipaleolithic site of Jebel
Sahaba (Sudan) was discovered in
1962, ca. 1 km from the east bank
of the Nile, and ca. 3 km north of
Wadi Halfa (the site is now
submerged beneath Lake
Nasser/Nubia). From 1962-1966, a
total of 58 intentionally-buried
skeletons were uncovered at the
site. Diagnostic microliths
suggestive of the Qadan industry as
well as the site’s geology suggest an
age of 14 – 12 ka for these burials.
In this study, the body proportions
of the Jebel Sahaba hominins are
compared to those of a large (N =
ca. 1100) sample of recent human
skeletons from Europe, Africa, and
the north circumpolar region, as
well as to terminal Pleistocene
“Iberomaurusian” skeletons from
the northwestern African sites of
Afalou (Algeria) and Taforalt
(Morocco), and Natufian skeletons
from the southern Levantine sites of
El Wad and Kebara.
Univariate analyses distinguish
Jebel Sahaba from European and
circumpolar samples, but do not
tend to segregate them from North
or Sub-Saharan African samples. In
contrast, multivariate analyses
(PCA, PCO with minimum
spanning tree, NJ and UPGMA
cluster analyses) indicate that the
body shape of the Jebel Sahaba
hominins is closest to that of recent
Sub-Saharan Africans, and different
from that of either the Natufians or
the northwest African
“Iberomaurusian” samples.
Importantly, these results
corroborate those of Irish (2000),
who, using non-metric dental and
osseous oral traits, found that Jebel
Sahaba was most similar to recent
Sub-Saharan Africans, and
morphologically distinct from their
contemporaries in other parts
of North Africa. This study was
funded in part by NSF (grant
number SBR-9321339).
Appendicular morphology and
ecogeographic adaptations of the
early Holocene skeletons from
Gobero, Niger.
OSBJORN M. PEARSON1 and
CHRISTOPHER M.
STOJANOWSKI2. 1Department of
Anthropology, University of New
Mexico, 2School of Human
Evolution & Social Change,
Arizona State University.
Gobero is a series of Holocene
cemeteries centered around an
extinct paleolake in the Central
Sahara Desert (Niger).
Geochronological analysis indicates
two occupation phases (9500-8200
and 7200-4500 BP) separated by an
arid spike. The two populations
exhibit dissimilar stature and
craniofacial features but share
dental similarities which recall
Epipaleolithic populations from the
Maghreb. The present research
focuses on the earlier population
from Gobero associated locally with
the Kiffian cultural tradition.
To evaluate the appendicular
morphology and ecogeographic
adaptations of this population, we
measured the length, midshaft
diaphyseal dimensions, and
epiphyseal breadths of the major
long bones in adequately preserved
skeletons (n = 8). We calculated a
series of indices that capture
ecogeographic variation (femoral
head diameter vs. femoral length,
crural and brachial index), and
habitual activity (pilastric, cnemic,
and humeral midshaft shape) and
compared these to 12 recent and 5
fossil populations. Twenty-three
muscle insertion markers were
coded following the Mariotti et al.
system. The results show the early
people from Gobero were very tall,
with a very linear physique with
elongated distal limb segments.
They had strongly developed
femoral pilaster and platycemic
tibiae (129.3±6.8 and 58.2 ±5.3,
respectively, for males), but with
rounded rather than flattened
humeral midshafts. Most of the
muscle marks were weakly
developed. This set of postcranial
features strongly resembles Skhul-
Qafzeh and, less strikingly,
Khoesan. The Kiffian postcranial
signature resembles Epi-Paleolithic
populations of the Maghreb
corroborating craniometric evidence
for a Holocene dispersal of these
peoples into the Sahara. This work
was supported by the Wenner Gren
Foundation for Anthropological
Research (GR7747) and the
National Science Foundation
A population genetics approach to
studying Egyptian state
formation.
ADAM RUSSELL1, and KANYA
GODDE1,2 . 1Department of
Anthropology, University of
Tennessee, Knoxville, 2Department
of Science, South College,
Knoxville.
The process of state formation has
many key archaeological signatures.
Territorial states, for example
Egypt, have defining characteristics
such as elaborate art and
architecture due to greater surplus
from economical control (Trigger
2003). However, territorial state
predecessors were less densely
populated cities, consisting mostly
of elites with agricultural
production of necessary items
(Trigger 2003). While
archaeologically it may be
somewhat apparent how populations
reacted to state formation,
biological changes can be much
more obscure. In order to detect
biological changes in population
structure in Egyptians during state
formation, a population genetics
approach was applied, using RMET.
Craniometrics of five Egyptian
samples from the sites of Badari,
Naqada, Gizeh, Lisht and one dating
to the Coptic Monk period were
obtained from Dr. Tsunehiko
Hanihara (personal
communication). Taken together,
the statistics indicate a pattern
consistent with state formation in
Egypt; the Predynastic samples are
differentiated from later groups and
extraregional gene flow was low.
The skeletal analysis agrees with the
mortuary evidence; social
complexity evolved from somewhat
egalitarian behaviors in early
Predynastic (Badari), with
stratification gradually becoming
more apparent in by the end of the
Predynastic period (Naqada) (cf.
Bard 1989 Castillos, 1983; Midant-
Reynes, 2000a,b). Consequently,
from an archaeological perspective,
social complexity most likely arose
due to changes in procurement of
goods and creation of surplus,
resulting in individual families
becoming more influential and
powerful, causing an internal
structural change. Therefore, the
skeletal and archaeological data
presented in this study agree with
Zakrzewski (2007) that state
formation occurred internally in the
Egyptians.
New research on the Iwo Eleru
cranium from Nigeria.
CHRIS STRINGER1, KATERINA
HARVATI2, PHILIP
ALLSWORTH-JONES3, RAINER
GRUN4 and CALEB ADEBAYO
FOLORUNSO5. 1Dept of
Palaeontology, The Natural History
Museum London, UK, 2Dept of
Early Prehistory and Quaternary
Ecology, Eberhard Karls Universitat
Tubingen, Germany, 3Dept of
Archaeology, Sheffield, UK,
4Research School of Earth Sciences,
Australian National University
Canberra, Australia, 5 Department
of Archaeology & Anthropology,
University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
The Iwo Eleru skeleton was
excavated from the Iwo Eleru rock
shelter in 1965 by Thurstan Shaw
and his team. This contracted burial
was found in a level with Late Stone
Age artefacts, and a radiocarbon
determination on associated
charcoal gave an age of 11,200 ±
200 BP. The poorly preserved
skeleton was of an adult and
probably male individual, and the
skull was reconstructed and studied
by Brothwell (Brothwell and Shaw,
1971, Man 6: 221-227). He linked
the skull to recent West African
populations, but recognized that its
lower vault and frontal profile were
unusual. He also supplied cranial
data for a Principal Components
Analysis performed by Peter
Andrews, and noted that this placed
the specimen apart from recent
African samples. Stringer included
the Iwo Eleru cranium in univariate
and multivariate (Canonical
Variates, Generalised Distance)
analyses for his doctoral thesis,
completed in 1974. His results
highlighted apparent archaic aspects
in the specimen in its long and
rather low cranial shape, and
although modern overall, it also
resembled fossils such as Omo
Kibish 2 and Ngandong in certain
respects. New studies using a
primary replica of Brothwell’s
reconstruction have now been
carried out by Harvati, employing
geometric morphometrics to
generate PCA, CVA, Procrustes
Distance and Minimum Spanning
Tree analyses of the specimen, and
further dating of the skeleton is also
underway. The new morphometric
studies confirm the relatively
archaic shape of the vault,
suggesting that this Late Stone Age
West African was markedly
different from succeeding
populations. This research is
supported by the Max Planck
Gesellschaft and the “EVAN”
Marie Curie Research Training
Network MRTN-CT-019564.
Posted by Evergreen (Member # 12192) on :
quote:Originally posted by Evergreen: American Association of Physical Anthropologists Annual Meeting:
A new look at an old problem: Assessing population structure in Mesolithic – C-Group Nubians using population genetics statistics for cranial discrete traits.
The plot from PCO depicts the two C-Groups clustering with the preceding Mesolithic and A-Group. The biological data here and elsewhere agree with the archaeological and mortuary evidence that there was population continuity (despite high levels of extraregional gene flow), during this time. Moreover, the returning population after the hiatus is biologically and culturally Nubian.
Evergreen Writes: Now we have continuity between Mesolithic and C-Group Nubians. We see in the latest dental analysis from Joel D. Irish that C-Group Nubians and Ancient Egyptian samples were proximate. This implies change, yet continuity between mesolithic Nubians and Ancient Egyptians.
Posted by Evergreen (Member # 12192) on :
quote:Originally posted by Evergreen:
quote:Originally posted by Evergreen: American Association of Physical Anthropologists Annual Meeting:
A new look at an old problem: Assessing population structure in Mesolithic – C-Group Nubians using population genetics statistics for cranial discrete traits.
The plot from PCO depicts the two C-Groups clustering with the preceding Mesolithic and A-Group. The biological data here and elsewhere agree with the archaeological and mortuary evidence that there was population continuity (despite high levels of extraregional gene flow), during this time. Moreover, the returning population after the hiatus is biologically and culturally Nubian.
Evergreen Writes: Now we have continuity between Mesolithic and C-Group Nubians. We see in the latest dental analysis from Joel D. Irish that C-Group Nubians and Ancient Egyptian samples were proximate. This implies change, yet continuity between mesolithic Nubians and Ancient Egyptians.
Evergreen Writes: Keep in mind that mesolithic Nubians cluster with recent west Africans in terms of dental, cranial and now skeletal analysis.
quote:Originally posted by Evergreen: [QUOTE]Originally posted by Evergreen: [qb] American Association of Physical Anthropologists Annual Meeting:
Body proportions of the Jebel Sahaba sample.
Importantly, these results corroborate those of Irish (2000), who, using non-metric dental and osseous oral traits, found that Jebel Sahaba was most similar to recent Sub-Saharan Africans, and morphologically distinct from their contemporaries in other parts of North Africa.
Posted by .Charlie Bass. (Member # 10328) on :
quote:Originally posted by Evergreen:
quote:Originally posted by Evergreen: American Association of Physical Anthropologists Annual Meeting:
A new look at an old problem: Assessing population structure in Mesolithic – C-Group Nubians using population genetics statistics for cranial discrete traits.
The plot from PCO depicts the two C-Groups clustering with the preceding Mesolithic and A-Group. The biological data here and elsewhere agree with the archaeological and mortuary evidence that there was population continuity (despite high levels of extraregional gene flow), during this time. Moreover, the returning population after the hiatus is biologically and culturally Nubian.
Evergreen Writes: Now we have continuity between Mesolithic and C-Group Nubians. We see in the latest dental analysis from Joel D. Irish that C-Group Nubians and Ancient Egyptian samples were proximate. This implies change, yet continuity between mesolithic Nubians and Ancient Egyptians.
I do have friendly email contact with Goode et al so I will query about the source of this extra-regional geneflow.
Posted by Kalonji (Member # 17303) on :
1st Truth, was you referring to that study about the limb proportions of the Natufians?
2nd What Natufians are we talking about here? The African componant in the Natufians was just one phase of the general Natufian history was it not?
Larry Angel (1972) noted: one can identify Negroid traits of nose and prognathism appearing in Natufian latest hunters.
If the late Pleistocene Natufian sample from Israel is the source from which that Neolithic spread was derived, there was clearly a sub-Saharan African element present of almost equal importance as the Late Prehistoric Eurasian element.
Africans settled in Eurasia earlier than they did in europe, so theoretically speaking, they probably moved away from their African derived body plan earlier than Europeans. Perhaps this is why they found:
quote: indicate that the body shape of the Jebel Sahaba hominins is closest to that of recent Sub-Saharan Africans, and different from that of either the Natufians or the northwest African “Iberomaurusian” samples.
Kalonji
Posted by xyyman (Member # 13597) on :
At least this is worth reading!!
Posted by xyyman (Member # 13597) on :
Help me out here guys. Stop responding to the BS threads from Hammer and Recovered,(These guys are irrelevant, their time have come and GONE). Here is something to sink your teeth into.
Africans in the North East of Brazil. For those who don’t know geography. Northeast Brazil is closest point of the Americas to . . . . West Africa. Even closer than Asia. It seems more logical to conclude that these Africans travelled across the Atlantic rather than Asia, Straits, North America, Central America to NorthEast South America. That migration would of taken 10-15kya. Looks like the Australians did island hopping to the tip of South America then up the coast. But what path did the Africans take?
They haven't found any ships so. . . they assume Asia.
Am I missing something? Is Clyde right?
1. Six skeletal remains from Serra da Capivara, Northeastern Brazil.
2. assessed under a global comparative perspective
3. The specimens are dated to either the Early or the Late Holocene.
4. resolved in two very distinct and distant groups in the morph-space
5. one group exhibited a clear association with Australo-Melanesians and Africans,
6. another exhibited a clear association with nowadays Asians and Native Americans
Conclusion: These results are congruent with the idea that The Americas were
successively settled by two different populations, but both coming from Asia.
Are they grouping Australians and Africans as one? They are not sure.
Posted by Kalonji (Member # 17303) on :
^ You do know that Brazille was populated by 50.000bc right?
Posted by xyyman (Member # 13597) on :
No. . . . I did not know the exact time. But my point is if they were Africans, how did they get there and what path?
BTW- we are talking pre-history, more specifically Helocene(10kya?). NOT 50kya . . .for the newbies.
Are we making the assumption that West Africans could NOT possibly make the trip across the ocean. Even given the geographic proximity of West Africa to North East Brazil.
So 10kya were there Africans, Australians and Asians living in North East Brazil????
Is that what the paper is telling us?
Posted by Kalonji (Member # 17303) on :
If black people were present by 50.000bc, I think one needs to look for their descendants when assessing the origins of holocene remains, before looking to other black people whether they are located in Africa or Melanesia, unless new evidence surfaces to suggest otherwise.
Posted by xyyman (Member # 13597) on :
Tell me if I go this right. 50kya-10kya (40ky) they were Black people (Africans).
40ky there remained virtually UNCHANGED then what happened. . . . . .?
And why can't they be Africans. . . .? because they don't know how to sail?
Posted by Kalonji (Member # 17303) on :
Then at the very maximum they by that time resembled (genetically) the comtemporary African population they sprouted from. It still doesn't allow you to make a case for relatedness to present day black Africans anymore than to other OOA migrated present day peoples, in particular Asiatic black people who they would have seperated from by 50.000bc.
Posted by xyyman (Member # 13597) on :
You bring up an telling point. Genetic testing should conclude if these are modern West Africans ie 3-5kya or ancient Australians ie black people pre-Helocene.
Posted by xyyman (Member # 13597) on :
The Ishango site (Democratic Republic of Congo) was excavated during two different ampaigns, in the fifties by a Belgian team directed by the geologist J. De Heinzelin,
1. Together with a strong dimorphism, these new data question the use of recent populations as reference for modern human diversity.
Posted by xyyman (Member # 13597) on :
E. SUSANNE DALY1, STEPHEN OUSLEY1, and RICHARD JANTZ2. 1Department of Applied
Forensic Sciences, Mercyhurst
College, 2Department of
Anthropology, University of
Tennessee.
The past few years have seen a rise in the use of models for understanding the relationships of within-population variation to geographic distance. Recent genetic studies demonstrate a decrease in genetic differentiation with an increase in geographic distance to sub-Saharan Africa. The greatest intra-regional genetic diversity has been seen in Subsaharan Africans and lower in more distant regions. Analyses of craniometric and dental traits have provided similar results.