From the earliest modern humans to the onset of
farming (45,000-4,500 BP)
January 2011-December 2015 
This project, which is led by Ron Pinhasi and is carried out in collaboration with leading European scientists,
investigates the evolution and nature of major prehistoric processes
which are key to our understanding of what happened in European
prehistory: the origins and spread of modern humans during the Late
Pleistocene, their survival during the last Ice Age, post-glacial
expansions, the emergence of the first agricultural societies and the
decline and eventual disappearance of most hunter-gatherer societies in
Europe.  The focus is on the application of state of the art
methods in genetics, archaeological sciences and anthropology which
allow our team to address for the first time these major processes in
sufficient depth and resolution and to yield new knowledge about the
interface between human biology, climate , culture and life style. The colonisation of Europe by anatomically modern humans (AMHs) ca. 45,000 years before present (BP) and the transition to farming ca. 8,000 BP are two major events in human prehistory. Both events involved certain cultural and biological adaptations, technological innovations, and behavioural plasticity which are unique to our species. The reconstruction of these processes and the causality between them has so far remained elusive due to technological, methodological and logistical complexities. Major developments in our understanding of the anthropology of the Upper Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic, and advances in ancient DNA (aDNA) technology and chronometric methods now allow us to assess in sufficient resolution the interface between these evolutionary processes, and changes in human culture and behaviour. The project investigates the complex interface between the morphological, genetic,
behavioural, and cultural factors that shaped the population history of
European AMHs.
The app
 A Central European genomic time-series A petrous bone following cleaning and exposure of its high bone density section  Petrous bones versus non-petrous bones. Percentage of non-clonal endogenous DNA recovered after shotgun sequencing. The sampled bone/tooth portion is circled in red. N.A. indicates that the library did not pass quality assessment for sequencing.  The first genomic time-series for the Carpathian Basin, Central Europe spanning 5,000 years from the onset of agriculture to the Iron Age.  ANTHROPOLOGY (selected ) Divergence in Male and Female Manipulative Behaviors with the Intensification of Metallurgy in Central Europe |
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