The "Troisième caverne" of Goyet yielded recently new human remains that belong to the latest Neandertals and earliest “MH in Northwestern Europe. Together with the late Neandertals from the nearby site of Spy and the coeval faunal remains from Scladina cave, this ”elgian bone material provides a unique opportunity to investigate the potential ecological and cultural differences among the last Neandertals and first “MH in North-western Europe. This study focuses on collagen isotopic results on human and animal bones. Collagen is the predominant protein in bone and its isotopic composition directly provides insights in ecological aspects such as diet, habitat, and landscape use patterns of both hominins as well as the herbivorous and carnivorous mammal species. Statistical treatment of the obtained isotopic raw data with statistical software R and JMP yielded quantitative estimates of the trophic relationships among the animal and human species.The isotopic analysis of several elements carbon, nitrogen allowed amongst other aspects to establish the ecological niche partitioning and the prey-predator relationships at Scladina, Spy and Goyet caves, all sites being relatively close to each other ±km and of similar age. These isotopic results show that the dietary strategies of Neandertals from Goyet are very similar to those of Spy, with a high dietary contribution of mega-herbivores. We compared these results with the ones obtained from the AMHs corresponding to the Aurignacian technocomplex from "Troisième caverne" of Goyet in Belgium. On the other hand the sulfur isotopic composition of collagen being linked to the characteristics of the bedrock, significant differences were found within and across the sites, which are interpreted as indicating dierent foraging areas for several mammal species including the Neandertals and “MH from Spy and Goyet.
Located in
Library
/
RBINS Staff Publications
The growing interest in paleopathogenomics and microbial archaeology of the last decade offered the chance to investigate the complex relationships between human hosts and microorganisms, making it possible to identify and characterize the etiologic agents of epidemics in our past [1]. The spread of zoonotic disease in human history was associated with the progressively closer contact with domestic animals[1]. However, the role of animal hosts in the emergence of zoonoses has been only marginally explored, the main focus of paleopathogenomic research being primarily on human hosts. Due to their pivotal role as pest control agents and their long-standing relationship with humans, cats are hosts of several zoonotic diseases representing a threat for human health. Here we present the results of the metagenomic screening for ancient pathogen identification on more than 100 ancient cat remains from different geographic locations (Europe, North Africa and Southwest Asia) spanning several millennia from prehistory to historical times. Various bone substrates (teeth, postcranial skeletal elements, and petrous bones) were analyzed via shotgun sequencing and metagenomic screening with Kraken 2[2] and MetaPhlAn 4[3]. By applying strict authentication guidelines, we provide a framework of ancient microbial DNA preservation in cat remains across time and space, discussing the identification of potential zoonotic candidates. The identification of zoonotic microorganisms in ancient animals represents a yet overlooked field of research, which may offer unprecedented insights into zoonotic epidemics and inter-species transmissibility.
Located in
Library
/
RBINS Staff Publications 2023
