Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Francisco Martinez-Sevilla, Maria Herrero-Otal, Maria Martin-Seijo, Jonathan Santana, Jose A. Lozano Rodriguez, Ruth Maicas Ramos, Miriam Cubas, Anna Homs, Rafael M. Martinez Sanchez, Ingrid Bertin, Rosa Bermejo, Primitiva Bueno Ramirez, Rodrigo de Balbin Behrmann, Antoni Palomo Perez, Antonio M. Alvarez-Valero, Leonor Pena-Chocarro, Mercedes Murillo-Barroso, Eva Fernandez-Dominguez, Manuel Altamirano Garcia, Ruben Pardo Martinez, Mercedes Iriarte Cela, Javier L. Carrasco Rus, Carmen Alfaro Giner, Raquel Pique Huerta
Summary: Plant material culture provides unique insights into prehistoric societies, but its perishable nature has hindered a comprehensive understanding of its diverse uses. The burial site of Cueva de los Murcielagos contains well-preserved hunter-gatherer basketry and other organic artifacts associated with early farming communities. By analyzing and dating these materials, we are able to gain valuable information about their technological and chrono-cultural context.
Review
Agronomy
Silviane Scharl, Tanja Zerl, Eileen Eckmeier, Renate Gerlach
Summary: The beginnings of food production, animal husbandry, and crop cultivation marked a significant change in human history, leading to a sedentary way of life. However, this also resulted in an increasing human impact on nature, mainly caused by agricultural practices. Agriculture, including deforestation, cultivation, land maintenance, and harvesting, alters not only vegetation cover but also soil fertility.
JOURNAL OF PLANT NUTRITION AND SOIL SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Anthropology
Elizabeth Wright
Summary: The study reveals a clear correlation between %NISP and body size of cattle during the Swiss Neolithic, indicating broad changes in cattle husbandry that align with cultural shifts in both the east and west regions. Of particular interest is a significant increase in %NISP and body size during the introduction of the Corded Ware culture, contrary to the trend seen in other parts of Europe at the time. This suggests the introduction of larger cattle populations into the region, potentially representing early evidence of cattle improvement in Europe.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2021)
Review
Anthropology
Michael J. O'Brien, R. Alexander Bentley
Summary: The distinction between biological traits and culturally based traits was blurred in the early 1980s by mathematical models, which allowed for a co-dependent evolution of genetic transmission and cultural information. Niche-construction theory has further challenged standard evolutionary theory by viewing niche construction as a cause of evolutionary change, rather than just a product of selection. However, the empirical challenge lies in obtaining time-series data on the causal pathways involved in the coevolution of genes, culture, and behavior, especially in archaeology where such data is often sparse.
EVOLUTIONARY ANTHROPOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Geography, Physical
Anneke Janzen, Bethan Upex
Summary: Specialized pastoralists inhabited south-central Kenya before iron-using agriculturalists. Analyses of slaughter patterns, dental hypoplasias, and stable isotope data reveal subtle differences in herd management strategies at three pastoralist sites in Kenya. Environmental differences influence herd management strategies as herders in different regions adjust slaughter patterns to cope with suboptimal grazing conditions.
QUATERNARY INTERNATIONAL
(2023)
Article
Veterinary Sciences
Malede Birhan, Yeshambel Mekuriaw, Asaminew Tassew, Firew Tegegne
Summary: This study presents a background model to evaluate the relationship between dairy farm production factors and production determinants. The results show causal relationships between various production parameters and farm efficiency parameters. The use of structural equation modelling (SEM) allows for the estimation of latent variables that are not directly quantifiable.
VETERINARY MEDICINE AND SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Chong Yu, Hao Zhao, Songmei Hu, Miaomiao Yang, Xiaoning Guo, Chuenyan Ng
Summary: This study uses biometric assessments to investigate the husbandry of domesticated cattle in ancient China and how it changed over time. The results showed that the general body size of cattle initially decreased and then increased, and the sex ratios affected size variation. Furthermore, herding and slaughtering strategies also varied over time.
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Yannis Maniatis, Fotini Adaktylou
Summary: The Neolithic settlement at Revenia in North Greece is among the earliest in the region, with an initial habitation phase dating back to around 6600/6550 BC. The use of radiocarbon dates was crucial in sequencing the use of the settlement and identifying the transition from pit dwellings to above-ground structures.
Article
Agronomy
Kenneth J. Boote, Adegbola T. Adesogan, Mulubrhan Balehegn, Alan Duncan, James P. Muir, Jose C. B. Dubeux, Esteban F. Rios
Summary: Livestock systems are crucial for the sustainability and livelihood in sub-Saharan Africa, but face challenges such as low productivity and insufficient management practices. This special issue addresses key aspects of crop and livestock systems in SSA, aiming to provide insight for future development and implementation of efficient and sustainable integrated systems.
Article
Oceanography
Caitlin D. Kuempel, Halley E. Froehlich, Benjamin S. Halpern
Summary: The Neolithic Revolution marked the transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture due to population pressure, cultural diffusion, property rights, and climate change. Today, there is a potential shift towards fish farming from hunting wild fish, driven by environmental and cultural pressures, technological advancements, environmental awareness, and globalization. This transition, known as the Blue Revolution, presents possibilities for proactive governance mechanisms to balance fisheries and aquaculture for economic, environmental, cultural, and social objectives.
OCEAN & COASTAL MANAGEMENT
(2021)
Article
Archaeology
Kuanrong Zhai, Guoping Sun, Yunfei Zheng, Meng Wu, Bingjian Zhang, Longguan Zhu, Qi Hu
Summary: The discovery of the earliest lacquerwares at the Jingtoushan Neolithic site in the Yangtze River Delta confirms that humans in the region were using natural lacquer over 8,000 years ago. This finding also adds to the history of organic coatings used during the Neolithic period in China.
Review
Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science
Priyanath Jayasinghe, Thiagarajah Ramilan, Daniel J. Donaghy, Keith G. Pembleton, David G. Barber
Summary: This study systematically analyzed the nutritive values of tropical pastures and the implications of potential methane gas production. Results showed that pasture quality and methane gas production varied among and within species, and were significantly affected by climate and agronomic management. Hybrid and newer tropical cultivars performed well across different climates, with small variations in herbage quality. This study provides important information for improving pasture-based livestock production systems.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Sarah Pederzani, Kate Britton, Vera Aldeias, Nicolas Bourgon, Helen Fewlass, Tobias Lauer, Shannon P. McPherron, Zeljko Rezek, Nikolay Sirakov, Geoff M. Smith, Rosen Spasov, N-Han Tran, Tsenka Tsanova, Jean-Jacques Hublin
Summary: This study reveals that early Homo sapiens in Europe experienced subarctic climates similar to 45,000 years ago, challenging previous assumptions about the role of warm climates in human expansion. This highlights the need for revising key models of human expansion and reconsidering the deterministic role of climate in our evolutionary history.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Maria Martinon-Torres, Francesco d'Errico, Elena Santos, Ana Alvaro Gallo, Noel Amano, William Archer, Simon J. Armitage, Juan Luis Arsuaga, Jose Maria Bermudez de Castro, James Blinkhorn, Alison Crowther, Katerina Douka, Stephan Dubernet, Patrick Faulkner, Pilar Fernandez-Colon, Nikos Kourampas, Jorge Gonzalez Garcia, David Larreina, Francois-Xavier Le Bourdonnec, George MacLeod, Laura Martin-Frances, Diyendo Massilani, Julio Mercader, Jennifer M. Miller, Emmanuel Ndiema, Belen Notario, Africa Pitarch Marti, Mary E. Prendergast, Alain Queffelec, Solange Rigaud, Patrick Roberts, Mohammad Javad Shoaee, Ceri Shipton, Ian Simpson, Nicole Boivin, Michael D. Petraglia
Summary: This study describes the partial skeleton of a roughly 2.5- to 3.0-year-old child dating to 78,000 years ago found in the Middle Stone Age (MSA) layers of Panga ya Saidi (PYS) in Kenya. The discovery sheds light on how MSA populations interacted with the dead, providing insight into early human burial practices in Africa.
Article
Geography, Physical
Junjie Qiu, Jianhui Jin, Xiaoyang Wang, Changfu Wei, Xinxin Zuo, Junjie Wei
Summary: This study used optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) technology to conduct archaeological chronology research on the Jianhu site in the southeast coastal area of China. The results showed that the site is one of the earliest Neolithic sites in the coastal area of Fujian, and provided the earliest OSL data on pottery in South China.
