Galland Manon, Van Gerven Denis P, Von Cramon-Taubadel Noreen, Pinhasi Ron
School of Archaeology and Earth Institute, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle - UMR 7206 - CNRS, 75016 Paris, France.
Sci Rep. 2016 Aug 9;6:31040. doi: 10.1038/srep31040.
The transition to agriculture was a key event in human history. The extent to which this transition is associated with biological changes in different world regions remains debated. Cultural and osteological records in Lower Nubia throughout the Holocene have been interpreted as a result of in situ differentiation or alternatively as migratory events and possible admixture with surrounding populations. Here we investigated the patterns of craniofacial and mandibular variation from Mesolithic hunting-gathering to late farming, a period spanning 11,000 years. We analyzed 102 adult specimens spanning five cultural horizons: Mesolithic, A-group, C-group, Pharaonic and Meroitic, by means of 3D geometric morphometric methods, in order to assess shape variation and diachronic patterns at the transition to farming and in subsequent periods. Our results highlight a strong morphometric distinction between Mesolithic hunter-gatherers and farmers as well as differences between transitional and intensive farmers in mandibular variation which is consistent with differential impact of selective pressures on different regions of the skull. This study corroborates a major biological change during the transition from hunting to farming, supporting the masticatory-functional hypothesis for the mandible and suggesting population continuity among farming populations throughout the Holocene based on the overall shape of the cranium.
向农业的转变是人类历史上的一个关键事件。这一转变在多大程度上与不同世界区域的生物变化相关，仍存在争议。整个全新世期间下努比亚地区的文化和骨骼记录，被解释为原地分化的结果，或者解释为迁徙事件以及与周边人群可能的混合。在此，我们研究了从中石器时代狩猎采集到晚期农耕这一长达11000年的时期内颅面和下颌变异的模式。我们通过三维几何形态测量方法，分析了跨越五个文化层位的102个成年标本：中石器时代、A组、C组、法老时期和麦罗埃时期，以便评估向农耕转变及后续时期的形状变异和历时模式。我们的结果凸显了中石器时代狩猎采集者与农民之间在形态测量上的强烈差异，以及过渡型农民与集约型农民在下颌变异方面的差异，这与选择压力对颅骨不同区域的不同影响相一致。这项研究证实了从狩猎到农耕转变期间的重大生物变化，支持了下颌的咀嚼功能假说，并基于颅骨的整体形状表明全新世期间农耕人群之间的人口连续性。
