Papers by Kathleen McSweeney
Qidfa‘ 1: Excavation of a Late Prehistoric Tomb, Fujairah Emirate, United Arab Emirates
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Science
We present the first ancient DNA data from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic of Mesopotamia (Southeastern... more We present the first ancient DNA data from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic of Mesopotamia (Southeastern Turkey and Northern Iraq), Cyprus, and the Northwestern Zagros, along with the first data from Neolithic Armenia. We show that these and neighboring populations were formed through admixture of pre-Neolithic sources related to Anatolian, Caucasus, and Levantine hunter-gatherers, forming a Neolithic continuum of ancestry mirroring the geography of West Asia. By analyzing Pre-Pottery and Pottery Neolithic populations of Anatolia, we show that the former were derived from admixture between Mesopotamian-related and local Epipaleolithic-related sources, but the latter experienced additional Levantine-related gene flow, thus documenting at least two pulses of migration from the Fertile Crescent heartland to the early farmers of Anatolia.
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Radiocarbon, 2015
Stable isotope ratios of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur in human bone collagen are used routinely t... more Stable isotope ratios of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur in human bone collagen are used routinely to aid in the reconstruction of ancient diets. Isotopic analysis of human remains from sites in the Iron Gates section of the Lower Danube Valley has led to conflicting interpretations of Mesolithic diets in this key region of southeast Europe. One view (Bonsall et al. 1997, 2004) is that diets were based mainly on riverine resources throughout the Mesolithic. A competing hypothesis (Nehlich et al. 2010) argues that Mesolithic diets were more varied with at least one Early Mesolithic site showing an emphasis on terrestrial resources, and riverine resources only becoming dominant in the Later Mesolithic. The present article revisits this issue, discussing the stable isotope data in relation to archaeozoological and radiocarbon evidence.
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Chronology and Evolution within the Mesolithic of North-West Europe. Proceedings of an International Meeting, Brussels, May 30th–June 1st, 2007
Empirical and model data are used to re-assess the patterns of dietary change across the Mesolith... more Empirical and model data are used to re-assess the patterns of dietary change across the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in north-west Europe. A step-shift in bone collagen δ13C values can be observed among coastal populations in Great Britain and parts of southern Scandinavia c. 4000/3900 cal BC, reflecting the rapid introduction of farming. Regional and local variations are evident, and there is a clear geographical trend in the use of marine resources by Neolithic populations across north-west Europe. Our findings ...
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Analele Banatului XXII 2014, 2014
Schela Cladovei is one of the most important Mesolithic–Neolithic sites in Southeast Europe. It b... more Schela Cladovei is one of the most important Mesolithic–Neolithic sites in Southeast Europe. It belongs to a group of Stone Age settlements that were discovered ahead of dam construction in the Iron Gates section of the Danube valley in the second half of the twentieth century. It is arguably the only one of these settlements to escape ooding when the river was impounded, although the rise in the river level has led to extensive erosion of the site. However, like most of the sites investigated, published accounts of the excavations at Schela Cladovei are few and lacking in detail. In this paper we review the results of the 1982 season of excavation at Schela Cladovei, directed by Vasile Boroneanț. Our account places emphasis on both the burial remains and the pit and hearth features and is based largely on the original eld notes, plans and photographs of the excavations.
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This volume presents the results of research on pre-industrial mining in the region along the sou... more This volume presents the results of research on pre-industrial mining in the region along the south-eastern Bulgarian Black Sea coast. During rescue excavations some prehistoric settlements with traces of early of copper processing were uncovered. This initiated a thorough investigation of the copper ore deposits of Burgas, Rosen and Medni Rid that were mined until recently. Their archaeometallurgical investigation was a project of the Tübingen SFB 1070 ResourceCultures. The research results include an overview of the archaeological research along the southern Bulgarian coastal zone of the Black Sea and the now flooded sites in its shore area. The timeframe ranges from the earliest use of metals in the 5th millennium BC to the period of the 'Greek Colonisation' and later.
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Nature, 2021
Present-day people from England and Wales harbour more ancestry derived from Early European Farme... more Present-day people from England and Wales harbour more ancestry derived from Early European Farmers (EEF) than people of the Early Bronze Age1. To understand this, we generated genome-wide data from 793 individuals, increasing data from the Middle to Late Bronze and Iron Age in Britain by 12-fold, and Western and Central Europe by 3.5-fold. Between 1000 and 875 BC, EEF ancestry increased in southern Britain (England and Wales) but not northern Britain (Scotland) due to incorporation of migrants who arrived at this time and over previous centuries, and who were genetically most similar to ancient individuals from France. These migrants contributed about half the ancestry of Iron Age people of England and Wales, thereby creating a plausible vector for the spread of early Celtic languages into Britain. These patterns are part of a broader trend of EEF ancestry becoming more similar across central and western Europe in the Middle to Late Bronze Age, coincident with archaeological evidence of intensified cultural exchange2–6. There was comparatively less gene flow from continental Europe during the Iron Age, and Britain’s independent genetic trajectory is also reflected in the rise of the allele conferring lactase persistence to ~50% by this time compared to ~7% in central Europe where it rose rapidly in frequency only a millennium later. This suggests that dairy products were used in qualitatively different ways in Britain and in central Europe over this period.
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The connections between health and diet in modern populations are well established. Numerous stud... more The connections between health and diet in modern populations are well established. Numerous studies have been conducted attempting to assess the dietary health of prehistoric populations from an examination of their skeletal remains. The health status of a population can provide crucial evidence in discussions of major changes in subsistence, and, in theory, much can be established from a study of skeletal remains. Assessments of child and adult mortality, stature, dental health, the identification of specific nutritional deficiency diseases and other conditions can provide vital evidence to enable an interpretation of dietary sufficiency to be made. However, in practical terms, there are many problems in conducting such a study. Poor preservation of skeletal remains, inadequate retrieval methods, a skeletal assemblage unrepresentative of the size or composition of the whole population, inaccurate methods of osteological analysis, and the non-specific nature ofmany pathological les...
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The recent analysis of over fifty infants from Early Bronze Age (EBA; third millennium BC) jar an... more The recent analysis of over fifty infants from Early Bronze Age (EBA; third millennium BC) jar and pit burials from various sites in Bulgarian Thrace has revealed funerary practices that were previously unidentified. Varying degrees of skeletal articulation indicate that the bodies of most of the babies were in a state of partial decomposition before being placed in the containers. In addition, there was ample evidence of dismemberment, inexplicably missing bones, as well as additional isolated body parts from other individuals. These factors are suggestive of a mortuary practice in which the dead were ‘processed’ prior to burial. This paper will explore the evidence and the possible reasons for these unusual mortuary practices.
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Radiocarbon, 2001
Human bones from single inhumation burials and artifacts made from terrestrial mammal (ungulate) ... more Human bones from single inhumation burials and artifacts made from terrestrial mammal (ungulate) bone found in direct association with the skeletons were obtained from the Stone Age site of Schela Cladovei situated just below the Iron Gates Gorge of the River Danube. The results of stable isotope analyses of the human bone collagen are consistent with a heavy dependence on aquatic protein while radiocarbon dating of the samples reveals an offset of 300–500 years between the two sample types, indicating a freshwater reservoir effect in the human bone samples. Since protein consumption is by far the major source of nitrogen in the human diet we have assumed a linear relationship between δ15N and the level of aquatic protein in each individual's diet and derived a calibration for 14C age offset versus δ15N which has been applied to a series of results from the site at Lepenski Vir within the gorge. The corrected 14C ages (7310-6720 BP) are now consistent with the previous 14C age m...
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Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, 2010
In 1984 the entrance grave at Bosiliack, Cornwall, was excavated by Charles Thomas on behalf of t... more In 1984 the entrance grave at Bosiliack, Cornwall, was excavated by Charles Thomas on behalf of the Institute of Cornish Studies. It was a comparatively small example, approximately 5 m in diameter encircled by a substantial kerb. A deposit of cremated bone was found within the chamber accompanied by sherds of plain pottery from three vessels. Two radiocarbon determinations were obtained on the cremated bone. The dates were almost identical, falling between 1690 and 1500 calbc.Because Bosiliack is the only entrance grave in Cornwall to have been excavated to modern standards, and to have had any analyses undertaken on the contents of its chamber, it is significant to the study of small chambered tombs elsewhere. This paper outlines the results from the excavations before moving on to a discussion of the use of monument and a consideration of its possible affinities with monuments elsewhere.
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Papers by Kathleen McSweeney