The newcomers who arrived in the little farming villages of medieval Germany would have stood out: They had dark hair and tawny skin, spoke a different language and had remarkably tall heads.

Skulls unearthed from 1,400-year-old burials in southern Germany may show signs of intensive or moderate skull modification, left and center, which researchers believe is a cultural practice seen in tribes from further east [Credit: State collection for Anthropology and Palaeoanatomy Munich]

Now scientists who investigated the unusually shaped skulls say they provide evidence that women also migrated long distances across medieval Europe, not just men. A genetic analysis showed the women traveled from what is now Romania, Bulgaria and northern Greece at a time when the continent was being reshaped by the collapse of the Roman Empire.

In a study published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers say the women's elongated heads—a result of binding done after birth—suggest they might have been high-class individuals.

"These women looked extremely different to the local women, very exotic if you will," said one of the researchers, Joachim Burger, a population geneticist at the University of Mainz, Germany.

With colleagues from Europe and the United States, Burger compared the genetic profile of almost 40 human remains unearthed from 5th and 6th century burial sites in Bavaria, along the Isar and Danube rivers.

They expected to find the telltale signs of centuries of Roman presence in the area—soldiers from the Mediterranean leaving their genetic mark on the location population. Instead, it looked "very central or northern European—blond and fair-skinned, like modern-day Scandinavians," Burger said.

The exception was a group with deformed skulls. Known from various cultures across the world, artificially elongated skulls may have been considered a form of beauty or denoted high status because of the time and effort required to bandage a child's head, said Burger.

While the practice is often associated with the Huns who swept into Europe from the East during the 5th century, the genetic makeup of the women found in Bavaria showed little Asian ancestry, suggesting that either head binding had been adopted by people living in southeastern Europe or emerged there independently.

"This is a sound study with quite interesting results," said Jean-Jacques Hublin of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. He had no role in the research.

"Usually large-distance movements involve more males—explorers, soldiers, political elite, etc.—and short range movements are more common for females (spouses moving to their husband's family)," Hublin said via email.

While it's unclear why the women—apparently without men—traveled such a long distance, the study's authors speculate that they may have represented strategic alliances between distant populations across Europe.

"They must have come on purpose," said Burger. "It's not a single case, there are quite a few of them."

Despite their foreign origins, the women integrated into Bavarian society, according to the researchers. They wore the same clothes as the locals and were buried with the same artifacts. Burger said further research is needed to see whether the women intermarried with the local population.

Author: Frank Jordans | Source: The Associated Press [March 12, 2018]

In a multidisciplinary study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, an international team of researchers combined archaeological, genetic and stable isotope data to encapsulate 4000 years of Iberian biomolecular prehistory.

El Portalón cave in the Sierra de Atapuerca (northern Spain) contains four millennia of biomolecular prehistory [Credit: Eneko Iriarte (Universidad de Burgos)]

The team analyzed human remains of 13 individuals from the north and south of Spain, including the rich archaeological site of El Portalón, which forms part of the well-known site of Atapuerca in Burgos and in itself harbors four millennia of Iberian prehistory. The study also involved important sites like Cueva de los Murciélagos in Andalusia, from which the genome of a 7,245 year-old Neolithic farmer was sequenced, making it the oldest sequenced genome in southern Iberia representing the Neolithic Almagra Pottery Culture—the early agriculturalists of southern Spain.

Background

Prehistoric migrations have played an important role in shaping the genetic makeup of European populations. After the last glacial maximum about 20,000 years ago, Europe was inhabited by hunter-gatherer groups and two major migrations during the last 10,000 years had massive impacts on lifestyle and gene pool of European populations. First, groups originally coming from the Middle East and Anatolia introduced farming practices to Europe during the Neolithic. Less than 5,000 years ago, herder groups from the Pontic-Caspian steppe spread over the European continent. As both of these movements originated in the east, the most western parts of the continent were last to be reached by these migrations. While archaeogenetic studies have shown that both of these migrations have replaced more than half of the gene pool in Central and Northern Europe, much less is known about the influence of these events in Iberian populations, particularly in the most southern areas such as Andalusia.

Two independent migrations spread farming practices across Europe

The first farmers mainly reached Iberia following a coastal route through the northern Mediterranean Sea. The new study demonstrates that Neolithic Iberians show genetic differences to the migrant farmers that settled in Central and Northern Europe. "This suggests that all early farmers in Iberia trace most of their ancestry to the first Neolithic people that migrated into the peninsula and that later contributions from their central European counterparts were only minor," says archaeogeneticist Cristina Valdiosera from La Trobe University in Australia, one of the lead authors of the study.

Skeletal remains of a 7245-year-old Early Neolithic Farmer from Andalusia, Spain (Cueva de los Murciélagos)  sequenced in this study. 1) Diagram of funerary position, 2) Skull of the individual, 3) Funerary remains as discovered in the cave [Credit: Rafael Martínez-Sánchez (Universidad de Granada) and Antonio Moreno Rosa (Universidad de Córdoba)]

These Mediterranean route migrants show a strong genetic connection with the modern-day inhabitants of the Mediterranean island of Sardinia. "We can probably consider modern Sardinians relatively direct descendants of the people who spread farming practices across the Mediterranean region around 8,000 years ago," adds Mattias Jakobsson, population geneticist at Uppsala University, Sweden and one of the senior authors of the study.

First wave of eastern migration involved small number of individuals

Despite other potential entrances into Iberia, such as North Africa or mainland Europe, the researchers did not find substantial regional differences within Iberia. Uppsala University's Torsten Günther, population geneticist and one of the lead authors of this study, says, "While geographic differences seem minor, we do see some differences over time due to interaction and genetic exchange between groups." The first Iberian farmers show remarkably low levels of genetic diversity, indicating that the first wave of eastern migration to establish itself on the peninsula was relatively small. Following this initial period of low diversity, the newly arrived populations grew in size and mixed with the local hunter-gatherers, rapidly increasing genetic diversity during later periods.

Low genetic impact of later/Bronze Age migrations in Iberia While recent studies have demonstrated that a massive migration of Pontic-Caspian steppe herders during the Late Neolithic/Bronze Age transition is responsible for a major population turnover in central and northern Europe, the authors report in this study that the genetic influence of this migration on contemporary southwestern Europeans, namely the prehistoric Iberians, was only minor. This confirms that the genetic history of Iberia was unique as it has mostly been influenced by the main prehistoric migration associated with the introduction of farming practices—the Neolithic Revolution.

Representation of an Iberian Neolithic farmer [Credit: Maria de la Fuente (Maria de la Fuente Archaeological Illustrations)]

Homogenous diet in Iberian farmers

The authors also investigated the diet of these Neolithic farmers throughout almost 4000 years corroborating that despite the significant biological interaction between culturally different groups the farming culture predominated from the very beginning and continued over time. Molecular archaeologist Colin Smith from La Trobe University, one of the senior authors, explains: "Interestingly, while we do see a substantial genetic influx of hunter-gatherer ancestry into farmers over time, the diet of these early farmers does not change. Their terrestrial diet is characteristic of farming cultures and persist temporally and geographically across the millennia."

The study illustrates the power of interdisciplinary research to understand the full complexity of European prehistory. "Overall, these results emphasize the differences between the westernmost populations and their central European counterparts and highlight the need for detailed regional studies to reveal the full complexity of prehistoric migrations," Dr. Valdiosera concludes.

Source: Uppsala University [March 12, 2018]

A team of scientists including researchers from Washington State University has shown for the first time that nicotine residue can be extracted from plaque, also known as "dental calculus," on the teeth of ancient tobacco users.

This is a 1945 picture of a Yokuts Native American woman smoking a pipe [Credit: Clifford Relander]

Their research provides a new method for determining who was consuming tobacco in the ancient world and could help trace the use of tobacco and other intoxicating plants further back into prehistory.

"The ability to identify nicotine and other plant-based drugs in ancient dental plaque could help us answer longstanding questions about the consumption of intoxicants by ancient humans," said Shannon Tushingham, a WSU assistant professor of anthropology and co-author of a new study on the research in Journal of Archaeological Science Reports. "For example, it could help us determine whether all members of society used tobacco, or only adults, or only males or females."

A new source of information

Tracing the ancient spread of tobacco in the Americas has traditionally relied on the presence of pipes, charred tobacco seeds and the analysis of hair and fecal matter. However, these items are rare in the archeological record and are hard to link to particular individuals. As a result, tobacco use has been difficult to document archeologically.

On the other hand, dental plaque adheres to the surfaces of teeth and mineralizes over time, preserving a wide range of substances that are in the mouth. It is easy to link to particular individuals because it can be removed directly from teeth.

Nevertheless, dental plaque was largely ignored by archaeologists until recently.

However, using modern and highly sensitive instrumentation, scientists have found they can detect and characterize trace amounts of a wide variety of compounds, including proteins, bacterial DNA, starch grains and other plant fibers in dental plaque.

Because nicotine is detectable in the dental plaque of contemporary smokers, Tushingham and her collaborators wanted to find out if it also preserved in plaque taken from people who lived long ago.

She and David Gang, a professor in the WSU Institute of Biological Chemistry, Korey Brownstein, a graduate student in the WSU Molecular Plant Sciences Program, and Jelmer Eerkens, an anthropologist at the University of California, Davis, collaborated with members from the Ohlone tribe in San Francisco Bay to extract plaque from the teeth of eight individuals, buried between 6,000 and 300 years ago, and analyze it for nicotine.

Using ordinary dental picks, Eerkens and his team at UC Davis extracted the dental plaque from the ancient teeth and then sent it to Tushingham and Gang's labs at WSU for analysis. The WSU researchers used liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry to test the samples for nicotine and other plant-based drugs like caffeine and atropine, a muscle-relaxant.

Among the samples they analyzed, two tested positive for nicotine, demonstrating for the first time that the drug can survive in detectable amounts in ancient plaque. One of these individuals, an adult man, was also buried with a pipe. A surprise came from the molar of an older woman, which also tested positive for nicotine.

"While we can't make any broad conclusions with this single case, her age, sex, and use of tobacco is intriguing," Eerkens said. "She was probably past child-bearing age, and likely a grandmother. This supports recent research suggesting that younger adult women in traditional societies avoid plant toxins like nicotine to protect infants from harmful biochemicals, but that older women can consume these intoxicants as needed or desired."

While the researchers did not detect evidence of any other plant-based drugs in this particular study, they believe dental plaque could be used help trace the use and spread of other intoxicants as well.

"We think a wide variety of plant-based, intoxicating chemicals could be detected in ancient dental plaque," Brownstein said. "It really opens up a lot of interesting avenues of discovery."

Author: Will Ferguson | Source: Washington State University [February 27, 2018]

Directly following the last ice age, people from the western parts of what is now Norway were a population that had substantially different genetics from the people living in the area corresponding to present-day Sweden.

Anne-Marian Snaaijer, a PhD candidate at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology works in Trondheim's Archive Centre at Dora. The collection trays hold lots of bone discoveries [Credit: Åge Hojem, NTNU University Museum]

"We were surprised that the results showed such marked dissimilarities," says associate professor and archaeologist Birgitte Skar at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology's (NTNU) University Museum. Skar is responsible for the museum's Stone Age and Bronze Age collections.

Scandinavia was one of the last parts of Europe to become habitable when the glaciers released their icy grip more than 10,000 years ago. The ocean's resources and the coastal archipelago attracted marine hunter-gatherers of yore to the region.

Swedish and Norwegian researchers have collaborated on analysing the DNA in 9500-year-old bone samples from the southern and western Norwegian coast and from the Swedish islands of Gotland and Stora Karlsö. This period corresponds to the Mesolithic Stone Age.

Researchers examined seven excavated individuals and compared their genetic material with samples from other parts of Europe.

"People from the Norwegian south and west coast were genetically similar to populations east of the Baltic Sea that came from today's Russia. People from eastern Scandinavia - present-day Sweden - were more genetically similar to populations from central and western Europe," says population geneticist Torsten Günther from Uppsala University. He is one of the main authors of the new study.

Norwegian results are key

This finding may seem strange if you just look at the geography, but it may due to multiple waves of migration to Scandinavia. About 11,500 years ago, people migrated from the south, through Germany and Denmark and then by sea to Norway. About 1000 years later, people traveled from the northeast and followed the Norwegian Atlantic coast southward.

"To understand the migration routes, it was essential to obtain data from the Norwegian individuals," explains Skar, co-author of the study. The Norwegian skeletal remains from southern Norway are also the oldest of the individuals studied.

Over time, the various migration waves led to extensive contact between the diverse populations, and this is also reflected in the genetic data.

The researchers analysed the genetic data in conjunction with other archaeological findings and new insights from climate models to increase their understand of the migration routes, settlement patterns and the first people to settle in Scandinavia as the ice retreated.

Archaeological artefacts and isotopic analysis - which can tell us something about what people ate - help to fill out the picture. The new immigrants that came from the northeast learned new boating and fishing skills to access marine resources, which offered their main source of food.

The researchers discovered that these immigrants also introduced new tools and innovative ways to produce them. This shift in material culture can now be linked to a particular migration wave.

"We expect that a migrating population comes with an entire cultural package - a knowledge of nature, ways of life, craft traditions, beliefs and other customs," says Skar. "Now we can explore more closely how the relationship between the original and new populations evolved. The original inhabitants were highly skilled and adventurous seafaring hunters, whereas the new population was originally an inland people. Archaeologists can track the processes of change in their material culture," she adds.

Light pigmentation variants may have been advantageous

People at that time were largely dependent on the ocean for food. They braved challenging climate conditions that required behavioral adaptations in the short term, and that in the longer term could lead to changes in the population's genetic composition.

"The two groups that migrated to Scandinavia at that time were genetically distinct. People from the south probably had blue eyes and dark skin, while those from the northeast had various eye colours and light skin," says population geneticist Mattias Jakobsson from Uppsala University, another of the main authors.

The genetic variation between the Mesolithic individuals from Scandinavia is surprisingly high, and greater than in the populations who lived in western and central Europe. This contrasts with the Europe of today, where the largest genetic variation is found in the south.

The lighter variations of skin and eye color that are more common in Scandinavia than in other parts of Europe also appear to have been the case at the time of the migrations. Pigmentation, now as then, tends to decrease the farther away a population group lives from the equator. We can assume this to be an indicator of climate adaptation.

Good results

The results are presented in a research article recently published in PLoS Biology. The sample quality is very high.

The remains of one of the individuals studied yielded aDNA results with the best coverage, or depth, achieved for any human being from prehistoric times. The abbreviation aDNA stands for ancient DNA and refers to the study of genetic data obtained from fossil subjects.

Source: Norwegian University of Science and Technology [February 01, 2018]

Advances in recent years allow forensic practitioners to use bone mineral density to extract more information from human remains – but many forensic experts are unfamiliar with the techniques and technology. Now forensic researchers from North Carolina State University have published a step-by-step methodology in the video journal JOVE, providing forensic professionals with a guide that can help them extract as much information as possible from this emerging tool.

Images from a user manual developed by NC State's forensic anthropology unit [Credit: North Carolina State University]

The bone mineral density of a human skeleton can tell forensic practitioners everything from the age of the deceased to whether an individual was malnourished. This information can have multiple uses, such as helping to identify unclaimed remains or determining whether a deceased child was the victim of neglect.

"However, the use of bone mineral density in a forensic context is relatively new, and it is important for practitioners to understand how to use it properly," says Ann Ross, a professor of biological sciences at NC State and senior author of the journal article. "A video journal allows us to visually demonstrate the process."

For example, the article explains when collecting bone mineral density may be useful, how to properly scan remains and how to interpret the data.

This is particularly important for collecting and assessing bone mineral density data, both because there are so many variables that can affect that data – and because the data may be used in law enforcement contexts.

"For example, the angle of a bone is important when taking scans, which is much easier to demonstrate via video," says Amanda Hale, a Ph.D. student in Ross's lab and first author of the journal article. "And the bone mineral density of remains can be affected by variables such as whether the remains were buried.

"You really need to know when and how you can make measurements that are scientifically robust."

"The forensic application of bone mineral density is still an active area of research, so knowing how to collect this data properly is likely to become even more important as we learn more about how to properly apply these techniques," Ross says. "Hopefully our video article will help to ensure that the forensic community is using a consistent suite of methods."

The paper, "Scanning Skeletal Remains for Bone Mineral Density in Forensic Contexts," is in press – and available online – in JOVE.

Author: Matt Shipman | Source:  North Carolina State University [January 29, 2018]

Forensic researchers at North Carolina State University have found a more accurate way to assess an individual's age at death, based on the bone mineral density of the femur. The technique could be used to help identify human remains.

Forensic researchers at North Carolina State University have found a more accurate way to assess an individual's age at death, based on the bone mineral density of the femur. The technique could be used to help identify human remains [Credit: Matt Shipman]

"Current techniques for assessing an individual's age at death rely on reviewing the wear and tear on a skeleton's joint surfaces," says Ann Ross, a professor of biological sciences at NC State and corresponding author of a paper on the work. "But there is a lot of variability there, based on an individual's lifestyle and how a forensic practitioner interprets those skeletal features. Depending on the method being used, current approaches could list a deceased individual in his or her 40s as being anywhere from 27 to 70 years old.

"However, bone mineral content and density increase as we grow, then decline at a fairly steady rate once we reach adulthood - making it a potentially useful way of assessing age," Ross says.

While using bone mineral density to assess age is a concept that's been around for several years, the NC State team has found a way to fine-tune the practice.

Specifically, the researchers found that assessing bone mineral density at the neck of the femur provided the best sampling data for determining age.

In a study assessing the remains of 33 men and eight women, the researchers found that bone mineral density could be used to determine age within a 13-year margin of error.

"This, in itself, is a step in the right direction," Ross says. "But we think the method could be made even more accurate if we were able to significantly increase the sample size, including more women and more representatives from each age group."

The researchers found no significant difference between men and women based on the bone mineral density of the femur. However, they did find difference between sexes in the density of the skull.

The researchers think the skull is better for assessing sex because it's not a load-bearing bone, meaning it is subject to fewer outside forces - allowing forensic practitioners to detect bone mineral density differences that result from an individual's biological sex.

"However, while promising, we didn't have a large enough sample size to draw firm conclusions about using bone mineral density to determine sex - that would require a larger study," Ross says.

The study is published in the journal Science & Justice.

Source: North Carolina State University [January 23, 2018]

It has long been recognized that the Inka incorporated diverse peoples into their empire, but how these ethnic groups developed historically during the political upheaval of the preceding Late Intermediate Period (LIP; AD 1100-1450) is only now receiving commensurate attention.

Proto Nazca deformed skull, c 200-100 BC [Credit: WikiCommons]

Before the expansion of the Inka empire, the Late Intermediate Period was marked by political upheaval and the emergence of new cultural practices. In "Ethnogenesis and Social Difference in the Andean Late Intermediate Period (AD 1100-1450): A Bioarchaeological Study of Cranial Modification in the Colca Valley, Peru," published in Current Anthropology, Matthew C. Velasco examines how the prevalence and evolution of cranial modification practices during the Late Intermediate Period influenced ethnic identity formation in Peru's Colca Valley. In the study, Velasco explores how head-shaping practices may have enabled political solidarity and furthered social inequality in the region.

The study employs ethnogenetic research to determine the historical processes responsible for the formation and embodiment of new group identities during this period.

Cranial modification is a deliberate, permanent, and highly visible identity marker that is inscribed during infancy. Head shape may have served as an indicator of ethnic affiliation, kin categorization, or geographic origin. Archaeological and ethnohistoric data offer insights into the head-shaping practices of two major ethnic groups in the Colca Valley, the Collaguas and the Cavanas. The Collaguas employed methods to make their heads assume a longer, narrower shape while the Cavanas sought to make their heads wide and squat.

To analyze how the frequency and significance of cranial modification changed over time, skeletal samples were collected from two mortuary sites in the Collagua region and submitted for radiocarbon measurement. Crania were assorted into five categories based on modification type. Utilizing newly-calibrated radiocarbon dates, the samples were divided into two groups representing the early LIP (AD 1150-1300) and the late LIP (AD 1300-1450).

Bioarchaeological and radiometric data present a significant increase in the prevalence of cranial modification practices. During the early LIP, 39.2% of individuals exhibited modification. This percentage rose to 73.7% during the later portion of the Late Intermediate Period. The study also reveals a significant change in the distribution of modification types as time progresses. Initially, there is an equal distribution of individuals among four modification types: tabular, erect, oblique, and slight. However, results indicate that by the late LIP, oblique modification -- similar to the elongated head shape of the Collaguas -- became the predominant style of cranial modification.

Increased homogeny of head shapes in the late LIP suggests that modification practices contributed to the creation of a new collective identity, and while cranial modification consolidated prior social boundaries, the author argues that the standardization of these practices may have exacerbated emerging social differences.

Acting as a signifier of affiliation, head shape may have encouraged unity among elites and fostered increased cooperation in politics. Involvement in political and social matters may have, in turn, elevated the status of modified individuals and conferred on them distinct privileges that were not available to unmodified individuals. Bioarchaological evidence also suggests that modification practices reinforced structures of inequality that prioritized modified females. Compared to unmodified females, modified females possessed greater access to diverse food options and were less likely to encounter violence.

Source: University of Chicago Press Journals [January 22, 2018]

Avgi, a young girl aged 9,000 years old, among the first inhabitants of what is today known as Greece, was introduced for the first time to Athenians on Friday, in the Museum of Acropolis. Avgi (or “Dawn”) lived at the end of the Mesolithic Period, around 7000 BC, and called home the Cave of Theopetra in Thessaly, Central Greece, where she was buried after her precocious death aged between 18 and 25. Her remains were brought to light by chief archaeologist Nina Kyparissi – Apostolika of the Ephorate for Paleoanthropology and Speleology.

The reconstructed face of Avgi [Credit: Oscar Nilsson]

Theopetra is the first cave to have been excavated in Thessaly and the only one to date with Mesolithic deposits. The remains of the girl, named by Orthodontist Prof. Manolis Papagrigorakis after the dawn of civilization in Greece, were recovered in 1993, while the reconstruction of her features involved an international team including the Swedish laboratory of archaeologist and sculptor Oscar Nilsson, specialising in reconstructions.

Her “unveiling” came at the conclusion of the 13-lectures seminar “Dawn at the Dawn of Civilization” held in the Acropolis Museum, during which a series of renowned scientists and artists delivered their knowledge on the prehistoric world of Avgi based on facts from the fields of archeology, art history, architecture, economics, law, psychology and astronomy, as well as gastronomy, clothing and aesthetics.

View of the Theopetra cave [Credit: GCT]

Avgi is the second creation of Orthodontist and Assistant Professor of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Manolis Papagrigorakis: In 2010 he and his team reconstructed the face of Myrtis, an 11-year-old girl who lived and died of typhoid fever in Athens during the so called “Golden Age of Pericles” in the 5th century BC. Some 2,500 years after her death, in 2010, Myrtis was named a United Nations “Millennium Friend”, supporting the organization’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by sending a message to the world about disease prevention, while her reconstructed face has been included in Australian coursebooks.

“My joy is great that today, along with my friends and colleagues, we are presenting the second reconstructed ancient person”, Papagrigorakis said at the opening of the conference, announcing delightful news: “It seems that the Acropolis Museum generates beautiful messages: On the 15th of February, the Greek Post Office is issuing a postage stamp with the United Nations ‘Millennium Friend’, Myrtis. I wish the new ‘Daughter’, Avgi, to have the same fortune”, he added while calling on the audience, who had literally overwhelmed the amphitheater, to watch the “journey” of quest and research as presented by the speakers.


As explained, “Avgi had a height of 1.57 m. while the anthropological examination brought up evidence of mild alterations of inflammation, possible anemia or scurvy, as well as suspicions of an endocrine or metabolic problem. She also had remarkable prognathism, while dietary studies suggest food consumption from an inland environment rather than a marine one”. Despite the fact that her bones appeared to belong to a 15-year-old-girl, her teeth indicated she was no less than 18, Papagrigorakis clarified. Endocrinologists, orthopedists, neurologists, pathologists, and radiologists had to work together in order to produce an accurate image of the prehistoric girl.

“Distant times are not easily at the center of interest, thus we are facing big gaps. There, you have found a key place of activity and with your scientific ability you have managed a small ‘miracle’: ‘Resurrecting’ people, bringing them closer to us and providing us with a detailed representation of data as it has never been achieved before”, Deputy Rector of Academic Affairs and International Relations of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Prof. Konstantinos Bourazelis underlined addressing Papagrigorakis. “In the case of Myrtis and Avgi, we have a pioneering and uncommon flawless collaboration of science and art”, Prof. Angelos Kotios, Rector of the University of Piraeus, added during his own address.

On her behalf, archaeologist Nina Kyparissi – Apostolika provided the audience with valuable information and a thorough insight of the Cave of Theopetra, the burial of the young girl as well as of the period she lived, the Mesolithic, between 9000 and 6700 BC. “Her name accurately attributes the dawn of today’s civilization”, she characteristically pointed out. Until 1993 “little have been found in Greece and specifically Thessaly from the Mesolithic Period”, Kyparissi – Apostolika explained adding that Avgi’s well-preserved skull led to her facial reconstruction that can now be used for teaching purposes.

Author: Aggelos Skordas | Source: Greek City Times [January 21, 2018]

Women today tend to live longer than men almost everywhere worldwide -- in some countries by more than a decade.

Migrant mother and children during the Great Depression. Women survive better than men in times of adversity,  research shows [Credit: Dorothea Lange, 1936, Library of Congress]

Now, three centuries of historical records show that women don't just outlive men in normal times: They're more likely to survive even in the worst of circumstances, such as famines and epidemics, researchers report.

Most of the life expectancy gender gap was due to a female survival advantage in infancy rather than adulthood, the researchers found. In times of adversity, newborn girls are more likely to survive.

The fact that women have an edge in infancy, when behavioral differences between the sexes are minimal, supports the idea that explanation is at least partly biological, the researchers say.

Led by Virginia Zarulli, an assistant professor at the University of Southern Denmark, and James Vaupel, a research professor at Duke University, the team analyzed mortality data going back roughly 250 years for people whose lives were cut short by famine, disease or other misfortunes.

The data spanned seven populations in which the life expectancy for one or both sexes was a dismal 20 years or less. Among them were working and former slaves in Trinidad and the United States in the early 1800s, famine victims in Sweden, Ireland and the Ukraine in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, and Icelanders affected by the 1846 and 1882 measles epidemics.

In Liberia, for example, freed American slaves who relocated to the West African country in the 1800s experienced the highest mortality rates ever recorded. More than 40 percent died during their first year, presumably wiped out by tropical diseases they had little resistance to. Babies born during that time rarely made it past their second birthday.

Another group of people living in Ireland in the 1840s famously starved when a potato blight caused widespread crop failure. Life expectancy plummeted by more than 15 years.

Overall the researchers discovered that, even when mortality was very high for both sexes, women still lived longer than men by six months to almost four years on average.

Girls born during the famine that struck Ukraine in 1933, for example, lived to 10.85, and boys to 7.3 -- a 50 percent difference.

When the researchers broke the results down by age group, they found that most of the female survival advantage comes from differences in infant mortality. Newborn girls are hardier than newborn boys.

The results suggest that the life expectancy gender gap can't be fully explained by behavioral and social differences between the sexes, such as risk-taking or violence.

Instead, the female advantage in times of crisis may be largely due to biological factors such as genetics or hormones. Estrogens, for example, have been shown to enhance the body's immune defenses against infectious disease.

"Our results add another piece to the puzzle of gender differences in survival," the researchers said.

The findings were published in the early online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Author: Robin A. Smith | Source: Duke University [January 09, 2018]