Dataset Information

Mixture model of pottery decorations from Lake Chad Basin archaeological sites reveals ancient segregation patterns.

ABSTRACT: We present a new statistical approach to analysing an extremely common archaeological data type--potsherds--that infers the structure of cultural relationships across a set of excavation units (EUs). This method, applied to data from a set of complex, culturally heterogeneous sites around the Mandara mountains in the Lake Chad Basin, helps elucidate cultural succession through the Neolithic and Iron Age. We show how the approach can be integrated with radiocarbon dates to provide detailed portraits of cultural dynamics and deposition patterns within single EUs. In this context, the analysis supports ancient cultural segregation analogous to historical ethnolinguistic patterning in the region. We conclude with a discussion of the many possible model extensions using other archaeological data types.

SUBMITTER: O'Brien JD

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4822455 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Mixture model of pottery decorations from Lake Chad Basin archaeological sites reveals ancient segregation patterns.

O'Brien John D JD Lin Kathryn K MacEachern Scott S

Proceedings. Biological sciences 20160301 1827

We present a new statistical approach to analysing an extremely common archaeological data type--potsherds--that infers the structure of cultural relationships across a set of excavation units (EUs). This method, applied to data from a set of complex, culturally heterogeneous sites around the Mandara mountains in the Lake Chad Basin, helps elucidate cultural succession through the Neolithic and Iron Age. We show how the approach can be integrated with radiocarbon dates to provide detailed portra ...[more]

PMID: 27009217

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Project description:BackgroundLocated in the Sudan belt, the Chad Basin forms a remarkable ecosystem, where several unique agricultural and pastoral techniques have been developed. Both from an archaeological and a genetic point of view, this region has been interpreted to be the center of a bidirectional corridor connecting West and East Africa, as well as a meeting point for populations coming from North Africa through the Saharan desert.Methodology/principal findingsSamples from twelve ethnic groups from the Chad Basin (n = 542) have been high-throughput genotyped for 230 coding region mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (mtSNPs) using Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-Of-Flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry. This set of mtSNPs allowed for much better phylogenetic resolution than previous studies of this geographic region, enabling new insights into its population history. Notable haplogroup (hg) heterogeneity has been observed in the Chad Basin mirroring the different demographic histories of these ethnic groups. As estimated using a Bayesian framework, nomadic populations showed negative growth which was not always correlated to their estimated effective population sizes. Nomads also showed lower diversity values than sedentary groups.Conclusions/significanceCompared to sedentary population, nomads showed signals of stronger genetic drift occurring in their ancestral populations. These populations, however, retained more haplotype diversity in their hypervariable segments I (HVS-I), but not their mtSNPs, suggesting a more ancestral ethnogenesis. Whereas the nomadic population showed a higher Mediterranean influence signaled mainly by sub-lineages of M1, R0, U6, and U5, the other populations showed a more consistent sub-Saharan pattern. Although lifestyle may have an influence on diversity patterns and hg composition, analysis of molecular variance has not identified these differences. The present study indicates that analysis of mtSNPs at high resolution could be a fast and extensive approach for screening variation in population studies where labor-intensive techniques such as entire genome sequencing remain unfeasible.

Dataset Information

Mixture model of pottery decorations from Lake Chad Basin archaeological sites reveals ancient segregation patterns.

Publications

Mixture model of pottery decorations from Lake Chad Basin archaeological sites reveals ancient segregation patterns.

Similar Datasets

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