DNA increases our understanding of contact between Stone Age cultures


Date:
June 5, 2020
Source:
Uppsala University
Summary:
What kind of interactions did the various Stone Age cultures have
with one another? In a new interdisciplinary study, researchers
have combined archaeological and genetic information to better
understand Battle Axe cultural influences discovered in graves of
the Pitted Ware culture.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
What kind of interactions did the various Stone Age cultures have with
one another? In a new interdisciplinary study, researchers have combined archaeological and genetic information to better understand Battle Axe
cultural influences discovered in graves of the Pitted Ware culture. The findings are published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology.


========================================================================== Archaeological remains have shown that in the middle part the Stone Age,
there were at least three different but partially contemporary cultural
groups in Sweden. The groups are often called: Funnel Beaker culture,
which is associated with Scandinavia's first farmers; Pitted Ware culture, which is mainly linked to fishing and hunting; and Battle Axe culture,
which represents a blended culture of herding and farming.

In addition to sustaining themselves in different ways, the three groups
had different burial rituals and different kinds of objects. The research
team behind the new study has previously been able to show that people
in the three cultural groups also differed genetically.

The genetic mapping the researchers did at that time was invaluable as
they investigated why some Pitted Ware graves seemed to be influenced
by the Battle Axe culture, even though the two cultures lived relatively differently during their centuries of co-existence.

Gotland has several large, well-preserved cemeteries with typical Pitted
Ware culture graves. The dead were usually buried lying on their backs
and with gifts, such as hunting tools and bones from seals, among other
things. Neither large stone blocks nor mounds were placed on the graves.

"In addition to the typical Pitted Ware graves, there were also several atypical graves with apparent influences from Battle Axe culture. For
example, some individuals were buried lying on their sides with their
legs pulled up, and some had battle axes as burial gifts, which is
usually associated with Battle Axe culture," says Professor Jan Storaa, archaeologist at Stockholm University and one of the authors of the study.

The researchers have analysed DNA from 25 Stone Age individuals from
four Pitted Ware culture burial grounds on Gotland. About half of the individuals were buried in typical Pitted Ware culture graves and the
other half of the graves showed influences from Battle Axe culture.

To their surprise, the researchers found that none of the individuals
were genetically related to people from Battle Axe culture. On the
contrary, everyone appeared to belong to a very homogeneous group that demonstrated the most genetic similarity to the hunter-gatherer groups
of earlier periods.

"This is a unique study that contributes to our understanding of the interactions between the cultural groups of the Stone Age. We can conclude
that people in Pitted Ware culture were influenced by, among others,
Battle Axe culture, but because we found no genetic connection between
the groups, contact was likely in the form of trade and other means,
rather than through migration," says Helena Malmstro"m, archaeogeneticist
at Uppsala University and one of the authors of the study.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Uppsala_University. Note: Content
may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Alexandra Coutinho, Torsten Gu"nther, Arielle R. Munters, Emma M.

Svensson, Anders Go"therstro"m, Jan Storaa, Helena Malmstro"m,
Mattias Jakobsson. The Neolithic Pitted Ware culture foragers
were culturally but not genetically influenced by the Battle Axe
culture herders. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 2020;
DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24079 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/06/200605132436.htm

--- up 19 weeks, 3 days, 2 hours, 59 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1337:3/111)