The rise and transformation of Bronze Age pastoralists in the Caucasus.

The Caucasus and surrounding areas, with their rich metal resources, became a crucible of the Bronze Age and the birthplace of the earliest steppe pastoralist societies. Yet, despite this region having a large influence on the subsequent development of Europe and Asia, questions remain regarding its hunter-gatherer past and its formation of expansionist mobile steppe societies. Here we present new genome-wide data for 131 individuals from 38 archaeological sites spanning 6,000 years.

Diet and subsistence in Bronze Age pastoral communities from the southern Russian steppes and the North Caucasus.

The flanks of the Caucasus Mountains and the steppe landscape to their north offered highly productive grasslands for Bronze Age herders and their flocks of sheep, goat, and cattle. While the archaeological evidence points to a largely pastoral lifestyle, knowledge regarding the general composition of human diets and their variation across landscapes and during the different phases of the Bronze Age is still restricted. Human and animal skeletal remains from the burial mounds that dominate the archaeological landscape and their stable isotope compositions are major sources of dietary information.

Identification of viral DNA (Anelloviridae) in a 200-year-old dental pulp sample (Napoleon's Great Army, Kaliningrad, 1812).

Ancient human remains are potential sources of biological information including traces of past infections, since previous studies have demonstrated the effective detection of several bacterial agents or host-integrated viruses in old biological remnants like tissues or teeth. Studies of skeletal dental pulp samples are of particular interest since this location is potentially exposed to bloodborne agents during life through its vascularization, and could be considered as well preserved from environment after death of the host. DNA viruses belonging to the family Anelloviridae are highly present in human populations where they harbor an extreme genetic diversity but a yet undefined implication in hosts' health.

Brief communication: paleopathology of the Kiik-Koba 1 Neandertal.

The Kiik-Koba 1 Neandertal partial skeleton (canine, partial hands, partial leg, and feet), of a approximately 40-year-old probable male, exhibits a suite of pathological lesions, including hypercementosis, minor fibrous ossifications, pedal phalangeal fracture, and pronounced enthesopathies on the patella and calcanei in the context of no articular degenerations. The first two sets of lesions are related to age in the context of advanced dental attrition and physical strains. The third lesion joins a series of healed minor traumatic lesions among the Neandertals.

The environment and health condition of the upper palaeolithic sunghir people of Russia.

Human bones from the Sunghir Late Palaeolithic settlement of the Northern-East part of the Eastern European Plane were observed by a gross study of possible skeletal lesions. The complex of pathological conditions we studied could mirror the features of the ancient environment. The climatic conditions of the Upper Palaeolithic, especially in its final stages, were severe.

Double child burial from Sunghir (Russia): pathology and inferences for upper paleolithic funerary practices.

The double child burial from Sunghir (Russia) is a spectacular Mid Upper Palaeolithic funerary example dated to about 24,000 BP. A boy (Sunghir 2) and a girl (Sunghir 3), about 12-13 and 9-10 years old, respectively, were buried at the same time, head to head, covered by red ocher and ornamented with extraordinarily rich grave goods. Examination of the two skeletons reveals that the Sunghir 3 femora are short and exhibit marked antero-posterior bowing.