Dietary C reservoir effects and the chronology of prehistoric burials at Sakhtysh, central European Russia.

We present a robust radiocarbon (C) chronology for burials at Sakhtysh, in European Russia, where nearly 180 inhumations of Lyalovo and Volosovo pottery-using hunter-gatherer-fishers represent the largest known populations of both groups. Past dating attempts were restricted by poor understanding of dietary C reservoir effects (DREs). We developed a DRE correction approach that uses multiple linear regression of differences in C, δC, and δN between bones and teeth of the same individuals to predict DREs of up to approximately 900 years.

Koban culture genome-wide and archeological data open the bridge between Bronze and Iron Ages in the North Caucasus.

The North Caucasus played a key role during the ancient colonization of Eurasia and the formation of its cultural and genetic ancestry. Previous archeogenetic studies described a relative genetic and cultural continuity of ancient Caucasus societies, since the Eneolithic period. The Koban culture, which formed in the Late Bronze Age on the North Caucasian highlands, is considered as a cultural "bridge" between the ancient and modern autochthonous peoples of the Caucasus.

Genetic admixture and language shift in the medieval Volga-Oka interfluve.

The Volga-Oka interfluve in northwestern Russia has an intriguing history of population influx and language shift during the Common Era. Today, most inhabitants of the region speak Russian, but until medieval times, northwestern Russia was inhabited by Uralic-speaking peoples. A gradual shift to Slavic languages started in the second half of the first millennium with the expansion of Slavic tribes, which led to the foundation of the Kievan Rus' state in the late 9 century CE.

Species-specific reservoir effect estimates: A case study of archaeological marine samples from the Bering Strait.

Due to the marine reservoir effect, radiocarbon dates of marine samples require a correction. Marine reservoir effects, however, may vary among different marine species within a given body of water. Factors such as diet, feeding depth and migratory behaviour all affect the C date of a marine organism.

Caring for the sick in a medieval rural community: A study based on paleopathological and archaeological data from Medieval Rus'.

Objective: This research seeks to identify the way the sick were treated in the 14th-15th centuries АD in a rural community located close to the medieval urban centre of Suzdal in central medieval Russia MATERIALS: Skeletons of 26 humans were examined from the cemetery associated with the rural settlement of Mikhali 3/Mininskoe (central Russia) (14th-15th centuries A.D.) METHODS: Archaeological study, paleodemographic analysis, description of physiological stress markers, stature reconstruction, X-ray, 3D scan.

Ten millennia of hepatitis B virus evolution.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) has been infecting humans for millennia and remains a global health problem, but its past diversity and dispersal routes are largely unknown. We generated HBV genomic data from 137 Eurasians and Native Americans dated between ~10,500 and ~400 years ago. We date the most recent common ancestor of all HBV lineages to between ~20,000 and 12,000 years ago, with the virus present in European and South American hunter-gatherers during the early Holocene.

Upper palaeolithic and late stone age human diet.

Undoubtedly modern mankind is an omnivorous species. Nevertheless, types of diet changed at the time of anthropogenesis. The Upper Palaeolithic period is the crucial time because of the appearance of anatomically modern humans in Europe.