American Journal of Biological Anthropology最新文献

{"title":"Estimating Mean Growth Trajectories When Measurements Are Sparse and Age Is Uncertain","authors":"John A. Bunce,&nbsp;Caissa Revilla-Minaya,&nbsp;Catalina I. Fernández","doi":"10.1002/ajpa.70358","DOIUrl":"10.1002/ajpa.70358","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Objectives</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Comparing children's growth across the world and at different moments in history can yield insight into both health challenges and healthy morphological variation in humans. A difficulty of such comparative analyses is that, in marginalized populations, there are often logistical complications to obtaining repeat measures of individual children's height and weight. The problem is even more acute for historical populations: bioarcheological datasets comprise single measures of individuals at death. Additionally, for both contemporary and historical populations, there is often non-trivial uncertainty about children's ages. Both of these factors complicate estimation of growth trajectories. Here we evaluate the degree to which we can accurately estimate a population-mean growth trajectory using only a small number of (randomly) uncertain measurements, like those that compose many contemporary and bioarcheological datasets.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Materials and Methods</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>We recently derived a causal model of human growth from fundamental principles of metabolism and allometry, permitting exploration of genetic and environmental contributions to children's growth. Here, we fit this model in a Bayesian framework to simulated cross-sectional and longitudinal datasets of varying size, where age is uncertain.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Results</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>For large-scale comparisons, reasonably accurate population-mean growth trajectories may be obtained from single height measures of 100 children of a given sex and a range of ages. However, detailed analyses of pubertal growth spurts and the metabolic and allometric parameters underlying growth require longitudinal datasets.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Discussion</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>We conclude that this new model and estimation strategy constitute a potentially useful toolkit for comparing mean growth trajectories across contemporary and historical populations.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":29759,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Biological Anthropology","volume":"191 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13595483/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149018090","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Conflict, Constraint, Cooperation, and Allocation: A Plural Evolutionary Architecture for Human Reproductive Paradoxes","authors":"Cayla Karls,&nbsp;Louna Bohbot,&nbsp;Elias M. Dahdouh,&nbsp;Jacques Balayla","doi":"10.1002/ajpa.70359","DOIUrl":"10.1002/ajpa.70359","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Human reproduction presents features that appear inefficient in isolation: gamete overproduction, mechanically demanding birth, neonatal altriciality, lactational suppression of fertility, reproductive cessation, prolonged post-reproductive survival, and extensive care by individuals other than parents. Evolutionary accounts increasingly explain such features through conflict among parties with divergent fitness interests. We argue that conflict loses discriminating power when the term is extended to physical limits, to cooperative interactions, and to trade-offs within a single organism, and that this loss occurs as a formally derived concept becomes a framing metaphor in synthetic and applied literatures. We set out an explanatory architecture in which four processes—genetic conflict, constraint, cooperative dependence, and life-history allocation—occupy distinct positions within a single optimization structure: constraint specifies the feasible set and the shape of the benefit and cost functions, allocation identifies the optimum for one party within it, and conflict and cooperative dependence describe how many parties hold optima on the same joint phenotype and whether their marginal interests oppose or align. A cross-cutting temporal dimension covers traits whose consequences fall on one individual at more than one time. We restate conflict as a claim about marginal rather than total fitness returns, so that shared benefit neither establishes nor refutes it. Explicit coding rules assign nine phenomena a primary architecture and contributing processes, with evidence status, standing in the literature, and discriminating predictions. Two worked cases—the obstetrical dilemma and lactational amenorrhea—convert contested labels into separable empirical programs. The framework does not settle these questions; it specifies which measurements would.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":29759,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Biological Anthropology","volume":"191 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148963338","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Lifestyle Impacts the Oral Microbiome of Classical and Post-Classical Societies in Italy","authors":"Martina Farese,&nbsp;Markella Moraitou,&nbsp;Chenyu Jin,&nbsp;Adrian Forsythe,&nbsp;Ileana Micarelli,&nbsp;Tom van der Valk,&nbsp;Giorgio Manzi,&nbsp;Laura Parducci,&nbsp;Mary Anne Tafuri,&nbsp;Katerina Guschanski","doi":"10.1002/ajpa.70357","DOIUrl":"10.1002/ajpa.70357","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Objectives</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The fall of the Roman Empire (476 CE) profoundly affected the lives of its peoples due to the political, administrative, and territorial changes that occurred. The majority of written records of the time focus on the social élite, leaving larger parts of the population understudied. Here, we employ a bioarchaeological approach to understand how differences in lifestyle may be reflected in the oral microbiome of people from different social classes living before and after the fall.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Material and Methods</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>We analyzed shotgun sequencing data from dental calculus, the preserved oral microbiome, of 67 individuals belonging to different social classes from two Classical cemeteries (I–III century CE, Lucus Feroniae and Isola Sacra) and one post-Classical cemetery (IV–VIII century CE, Selvicciola), all located in proximity to the city of Rome, Italy.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Results</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>We detect significant differences in the taxonomic and functional composition of the oral microbiome between the three sites, with the rural town of Lucus Feroniae standing out compared to its two counterparts. Reliable identification of dietary items was not possible.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Discussion</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The distinct oral microbiome of Lucus Feroniae could reflect differences in general health and subsistence practices, in line with previously published isotopic and morphological data. Its rural position may have mitigated the cyclical food crises that affected the contemporary Isola Sacra and the later community of Selvicciola, buffering it against the nutritional stress observed in these two locations. This finding supports the temporal stability of the dental calculus microbiome while highlighting the impact of lifestyle on the oral microbial communities.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":29759,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Biological Anthropology","volume":"191 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ajpa.70357","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148913594","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ontogenetic Changes in Intrinsic Hand and Foot Proportions in Chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes","authors":"Tom Combemorel,&nbsp;Jesse W. Young,&nbsp;François Druelle","doi":"10.1002/ajpa.70346","DOIUrl":"10.1002/ajpa.70346","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Objectives</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Ontogenetic trajectories in intrinsic hand and foot proportions are likely to vary in primates according to their locomotor adaptations. We analyzed the developmental trajectories of chimpanzees (<i>Pan troglodytes</i>), which exhibit particular locomotor adaptations related to suspensory and climbing abilities, testing whether autopodial growth reflects biomechanical and ecological constraints associated with ontogenetic changes in locomotor behavior.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Materials and Methods</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>We analyzed 157 radiographs of 7 female and 198 of 8 male <i>P. troglodytes</i> individuals, from 1.5 to 13 years old. Lengths of metapodials and proximal/intermediate phalanges were measured to compute phalangeal indices (PIs: ratio of summed non-distal phalangeal length to corresponding metapodial length). Ontogenetic allometry was assessed by regressing bone length against body mass, with sex included as a factor. Non-linear Gompertz growth models were fitted to estimate bone-specific growth rates and durations.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Results</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The results show a positively allometric relationship between all bone lengths and body mass. However, sex-related differences are observed in the allometry of phalanges and metapodials. PIs decline during growth for all digits, with this ontogenetic decline remaining highly similar between sexes. Gompertz models further indicate distinct growth rates between manual and pedal elements.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Discussion</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Ontogenetic changes in chimpanzees indicate canalized autopodial growth, with reduced intrinsic proportional changes at ~5 years, aligning with their major positional shift. Comparative analyses show species-specific phalangeal trajectories, possibly more pronounced in the foot than in the hand and likely reflecting adaptations to ecological and locomotor demands, such as terrestrial knuckle-walking in large-bodied chimpanzees.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":29759,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Biological Anthropology","volume":"191 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13542625/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148887253","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Organ Size and Metabolic Rate Co-Vary with Dimensions of the Obstetric Pelvis: The Metabolic Coordination of Childbirth Hypothesis","authors":"Jonathan C. K. Wells,&nbsp;Meghan Shirley Bezerra,&nbsp;Rasmus Wibaek,&nbsp;Owen J. Arthurs,&nbsp;Kiran K. Seunarine,&nbsp;Simon Eaton,&nbsp;Chris A. Clark","doi":"10.1002/ajpa.70342","DOIUrl":"10.1002/ajpa.70342","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Objectives</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Childbirth complications occur if fetal size is excessive for the maternal birth canal. We hypothesized that young women's metabolic traits (organ and muscle mass, resting energy expenditure (REE)) known to promote fetal growth would correlate with dimensions of the birth canal, and that some of this association would be explained by growth markers (tibia length, height).</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Materials and Methods</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>We analyzed cross-sectional data on anthropometry, organ mass (magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)), skeletal muscle (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry), fat mass (4-component model), pelvic dimensions (MRI), and REE (indirect calorimetry) in 68 nulliparous women aged 20–28 years of South Asian ancestry living in the UK. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to summarize variability in organ/muscle mass and pelvic dimensions (PCA_pelvis). Associations between metabolic and pelvic traits were assessed using Pearson correlations, and partial correlations adjusting for height or tibia length.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Results</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Mean height was 161 cm and body mass index 22.3 kg/m². There were positive correlations between REE, organ/muscle mass, head girth and the first PCA_pelvis score, which were partly explained by variability in tibia and height. Fat mass was associated with REE and organ/muscle mass but not pelvic dimensions.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Discussion</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Correlations between metabolic and pelvic traits indicate a degree of coordination: women with greater metabolic capacity to promote fetal growth also have larger pelvic dimensions, partly explained by linear growth patterns. However, body fat in nulliparous women correlates with REE but not pelvic dimensions; hence high adiposity could increase risk of childbirth complications when these women give birth.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":29759,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Biological Anthropology","volume":"191 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13541417/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148887576","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Oral Microbiome of King Richard III of England","authors":"Irina M. Velsko,&nbsp;Alexander Hübner,&nbsp;Zandra Fagernäs,&nbsp;James A. Fellows Yates,&nbsp;Allison E. Mann,&nbsp;Courtney A. Hofman,&nbsp;Andrew T. Ozga,&nbsp;Cecil M. Lewis Jr.,&nbsp;Camilla Speller,&nbsp;Sarah Fiddyment,&nbsp;Michael Francken,&nbsp;Joachim Wahl,&nbsp;Johannes Krause,&nbsp;Anita Radini,&nbsp;Turi King,&nbsp;Christina Warinner","doi":"10.1002/ajpa.70350","DOIUrl":"10.1002/ajpa.70350","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Objectives</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Metagenomic investigations of ancient dental calculus provide insights into oral health, disease, and diet. Here, we analyze the dental calculus metagenome of King Richard III of England (1452–1485).</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Materials and Methods</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Dental calculus DNA was extracted from three teeth of King Richard III and shotgun sequenced to a depth of nearly 400 million reads. The metagenomic data were taxonomically profiled and compared to new and previously published dental calculus metagenomes from England, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Germany spanning the Neolithic to the present. Sequencing data were <i>de novo</i> assembled, and metagenome-assembled genomes assigned to the genus <i>Tannerella</i> were investigated for phylogenetic relatedness and virulence. Putative dietary DNA was assessed for authenticity.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Results</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The dental calculus of King Richard III was well-preserved and yielded an exceptionally high quantity of DNA. Oral microbiome species diversity fell within the range previously observed among other northern European populations, suggesting that a royal lifestyle and a rich diet did not substantially impact his oral microbiota. The reconstructed <i>Tannerella</i> genomes contained many virulence factors found today among oral <i>Tannerella</i> species. No putative dietary DNA could be authenticated.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Discussion</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The dental calculus of King Richard III produced one of the richest ancient oral metagenomes published to date, yet the species diversity was indistinguishable from that of commoners living in northern Europe over the last 7000 years. Insufficient plant and animal DNA were recovered to investigate diet, suggesting that dental calculus may not be a sufficient source of dietary DNA even when exceptionally well-preserved.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":29759,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Biological Anthropology","volume":"191 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13539363/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148881895","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Dental Microwear Evidence of Holocene Dietary Variability in the Argentinian Pampas and Paraná Delta","authors":"Maria Rita Guedes Carvalho,&nbsp;Pablo G. Messineo,&nbsp;María Agustina Ramos van Raap,&nbsp;Gustavo Flensborg,&nbsp;Gustavo Martínez,&nbsp;Nahuel A. Scheifler,&nbsp;Mariela E. Gonzalez,&nbsp;María Clara Álvarez,&nbsp;Cristian A. Kaufmann,&nbsp;Mariano Bonomo,&nbsp;Clara Scabuzzo,&nbsp;Gustavo G. Politis,&nbsp;Sireen El Zaatari,&nbsp;Katerina Harvati","doi":"10.1002/ajpa.70330","DOIUrl":"10.1002/ajpa.70330","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Objectives</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>This study explores the subsistence strategies of Middle-to-Late Holocene human populations in the Argentinean Pampas and Paraná River Delta by analyzing dental microwear patterns.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Materials and Methods</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>We examined occlusal molar microwear textures of individuals from the Middle and Late Holocene recovered from 12 archaeological sites across three ecologically distinct areas: the Upper Delta of the Paraná River, Central Pampas, and the lower Colorado River Valley.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Results</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Our results reveal both expected and unexpected trends. Individuals from the resource-rich Upper Delta of the Paraná River exhibited the predicted high dietary diversity (indicated by elevated mean heterogeneity (<i>Hasfc81</i>) values) but also showed surprisingly high mean complexity values (<i>Asfc</i>)—exceeding even those from the two semi-arid areas (Central Pampas and lower Colorado River Valley), where environmental abrasives would have been expected to have resulted in greater microwear texture complexity.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Discussion</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Within the Paraná Delta, significant intra-site variation at Los Tres Cerros 1 suggests differential food access, possibly tied to social stratification in the Goya-Malabrigo archaeological entity. In the Central Pampas, Middle Holocene individuals from the Arroyo Seco 2 archaeological site displayed greater dietary heterogeneity than contemporaneous and Late Holocene sites, contradicting expectations of progressive diversification during this period. These findings underscore that prehistoric subsistence strategies emerged from complex interactions between ecological constraints and cultural practices, including food processing and social organization.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":29759,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Biological Anthropology","volume":"191 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13527593/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148866901","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ancient Maya Teeth. Dental Modification, Cosmology, and Social Identity in Mesoamerica. By Vera Tiesler, Austin: University of Texas Press, 2024. 263 pp. $60.00 (hardback). ISBN: 978-1-47-732757-9","authors":"James T. Watson","doi":"10.1002/ajpa.70356","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.70356","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":29759,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Biological Anthropology","volume":"191 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148943491","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Intraskeletal Variation in Cortical Bone Quantity in a Medieval Italian Sample: A Multivariate Exploratory Approach","authors":"Katherine M. Kinkopf,&nbsp;Trent M. Trombley,&nbsp;Jeffrey A. Seckinger,&nbsp;Sabrina C. Agarwal,&nbsp;Valentina Giuffra,&nbsp;Simona Minozzi,&nbsp;Stefano Campana,&nbsp;Giulia Riccomi","doi":"10.1002/ajpa.70341","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.70341","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Bioarcheologists interpret skeletal health by examining variability within and between individuals. Studies of bone loss have generated contradictory and conflicting results regarding the onset and severity of age-related bone loss on a global and temporal scale, perhaps due to mismatched methodologies. Intraskeletal comparisons of bone tissue prove challenging precisely because of heterogeneous baselines in quantity and remodeling of cortical bone throughout the skeleton, as well as evolutionary histories and environmental impacts on growth and development. Here we analyze cortical bone indicators from the rib, metacarpal, and femoral cortical bone in a subset of individuals (<i>n</i> = 72) regions from the medieval Italian archaeological site of Pieve di Pava. To facilitate intraskeletal comparisons across elements with different biological baselines, we standardize cortical bone parameters using <i>z</i>-scores. Variation in relative intraskeletal cortical bone was assessed using accessible multivariate methods (principal component analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis). Results suggest an association between femoral and metacarpal cortical bone values, with stochastic trends in metacarpal and femoral relative bone quantity in relation to the rib bone quantity at the sample level. Our study demonstrates that while intraskeletal analyses are challenging, they are made more robust by synthesizing multivariate methods alongside exploratory data analysis (EDA) methods to tack between sample-level and individual-level scales and variability. Ultimately, we advocate for leveraging multivariate techniques not as a final step, but rather as a means of generating new hypotheses and challenging tendencies to a priori establish typological groups in the research process.</p>","PeriodicalId":29759,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Biological Anthropology","volume":"191 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ajpa.70341","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148823333","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ancient DNA Reveals Limited Hunter-Gatherer Ancestry in the Cerny Culture (Middle Neolithic, France) Despite Hunting-Associated Practices","authors":"Juliette Sauvage,&nbsp;Maël Lefeuvre,&nbsp;Marine Delvigne,&nbsp;Françoise Dessarps,&nbsp;Sophie Lafosse,&nbsp;Amélie Chimènes,&nbsp;José Utge,&nbsp;Romain Laurent,&nbsp;Aline Thomas,&nbsp;Marie-Claude Marsolier,&nbsp;Céline Bon","doi":"10.1002/ajpa.70351","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.70351","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The arrival of the Neolithic way of life in Europe is associated with the migration of Anatolian farmers and their admixture with local hunter-gatherers. In the Paris Basin (Northern France), the Middle Neolithic Cerny culture (4700–4300 <span>bce</span>) combines agricultural practices with funerary items linked to hunting, suggesting a particular connection with the local descendants of Mesolithic hunter-gatherers. The monumental burials gathering only a handful of deceased indicate the development of an elite. To better understand Cerny social structures, we generated genome-wide data for 28 individuals from the Paris basin, including 5 individuals from the Early Neolithic and 23 from various Cerny-associated necropolises. Our analysis revealed no significantly higher Mesolithic hunter-gatherer ancestry compared to other European Neolithic contemporaneous populations, indicating that distinctive cultural traits of the Cerny burials were not linked to biological admixture. We observed genetic continuity among the Paris Basin populations between the Early and Middle Neolithic, with minimal gene flow from other areas and a high degree of genetic homogeneity at the regional level. Finally, genetic relatedness and haplotype-sharing analyses identified only two close biological relationships, suggesting that Cerny necropolises in the Paris Basin were not organized only around biologically related individuals.</p>","PeriodicalId":29759,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Biological Anthropology","volume":"191 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ajpa.70351","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148823130","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}