Stature and the Neolithic transition– Skeletal evidence from southern Sweden

Tornberg, Anna

doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2017.10.031

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…In two recent papers, we have hypothesized that many of the phenotypic and health consequences of cultural and dietary change in the Holocene can be linked through energetic trade-offs, which provide a diversity of phenotypic outcomes in different contexts ( 18 ), and an adaptive shift toward milk consumption and lactase persistence may have mediated nutritional stress and “turbo-charged” growth in regions where chronic nutritional deficiency was mediated by dairying ( 19 ). There is some evidence that increases in stature in southern Sweden occurred during the early Bronze Age due to a consolidation of an agro-pastoral economy, rather than the onset of farming ( 20 ). Collectively, these papers support what we term the Lactase Growth Hypothesis (LGH), which suggests that lactase persistence and the ability to digest primary dairy products and lactose increased available dietary energy, shifted the energetic biology of human growth, and fueled regional differences in human body size.…”

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confidence: 99%

Long-term trends in human body size track regional variation in subsistence transitions and growth acceleration linked to dairying

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Pomeroy

Ruff

et al. 2023

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Evidence for a reduction in stature between Mesolithic foragers and Neolithic farmers has been interpreted as reflective of declines in health, however, our current understanding of this trend fails to account for the complexity of cultural and dietary transitions or the possible causes of phenotypic change. The agricultural transition was extended in primary centers of domestication and abrupt in regions characterized by demic diffusion. In regions such as Northern Europe where foreign domesticates were difficult to establish, there is strong evidence for natural selection for lactase persistence in relation to dairying. We employ broad-scale analyses of diachronic variation in stature and body mass in the Levant, Europe, the Nile Valley, South Asia, and China, to test three hypotheses about the timing of subsistence shifts and human body size, that: 1) the adoption of agriculture led to a decrease in stature, 2) there were different trajectories in regions of in situ domestication or cultural diffusion of agriculture; and 3) increases in stature and body mass are observed in regions with evidence for selection for lactase persistence. Our results demonstrate that 1) decreases in stature preceded the origins of agriculture in some regions; 2) the Levant and China, regions of in situ domestication of species and an extended period of mixed foraging and agricultural subsistence, had stable stature and body mass over time; and 3) stature and body mass increases in Central and Northern Europe coincide with the timing of selective sweeps for lactase persistence, providing support for the “Lactase Growth Hypothesis.”

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confidence: 99%

Long-term trends in human body size track regional variation in subsistence transitions and growth acceleration linked to dairying

Stock

Pomeroy

Ruff

et al. 2023

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…However, CWC statures in Southern Sweden are higher than in continental Europe, indicating that new genetic input is not sufficient to explain this dramatic change alone (Tornberg 2018b). Not only does new genetic contribution have the possibility to increase stature; genetic variation within Anna Tornberg & Helle Vandkilde Anna.tornberg@ark.lu.se a population is also highly contributory (Stinson 2012, 601).…”

Section: Discussion: Economy Population and Societymentioning

confidence: 99%

Modelling age at death reveals Nordic Corded Ware paleodemography

Tornberg,

Vandkilde

2024

Preprint

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Drawing on modelling of age at death in skeletal remains, this article unveils hitherto unrecognized demographic patterns in the Nordic Corded Ware complex. This population formed part of the European Corded Ware complex that has been linked to disruption observed in the archaeological and genetic record. The newly developed methods of transition analysis 3 (TA3) and death rate ratio (DRR) were used to process skeletal data from 67 individuals deriving from single, double, and multiple graves in Scandinavia. The results disclose a high proportion of immature individuals aged less than twenty years. Attrition, however, complies with a demography with high age-nonspecific mortality, and this may connect to stressors such as epidemic diseases and endemic warfare. Compared to the partly contemporaneous Pitted Ware complex and the succeeding Late Neolithic–earliest Bronze Age period, the Nordic Corded Ware burials overall point to robust population growth, especially in the later period. This in turn aligns with a sedentary lifestyle rather than a mobile pastoral economy. Short-distance seasonal movements could fit in but cannot yet be measured. Recent genetics have demonstrated biological input in the female line from populations such as Funnel Beaker, Pitted Ware, and herders of the steppe forest zone: the remarkable tallness of Nordic Corded Ware individuals may well be an effect of such admixture. The burials moreover evidence a distinct adult male sex bias, which diminishes over time along with the growth in the number of buried females and young individuals. Judging from investment in graves and grave goods, immatures were highly valued. The scale of social status operates independently of age. Alongside the revealed Nordic Corded Ware demography and the burial and material record more broadly, this could indicate social inequality based on kinship and warrior values.

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“…76 Siler 1979;1983;Wood et al 2002. 77 Ahlström 2015Tornberg 2018. with an age at death of under three years. The age distribution of the Hermione material then clearly shows a decline in mortality in older children, in line with the mortality decline suggested by Siler.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The humans of ancient Hermione. The necropolis in the light of bioarchaeology

Tornberg

2023

OpAthRom

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Bioarchaeology has the potential to substantially inform about ancient lifeways through osteological analyses of the remains of the once-living individuals. This article provides insights of the demography and health of the people of ancient Hermione (Geometric–Roman period). A minimum number of 85 individuals from the Hermione necropolis was osteologically analysed. Although the analysis was limited by taphonomic processes and the long period of use of the necropolis, the results point towards a population affected by urban hazards, such as infections, high child mortality, and, possibly, decreased opportunity to survive into senescence. Further, stunted growth, evidence of general stress primarily in the juvenile skeletal assemblage, and a possible case of child abuse informs of the hardships experienced by children in ancient Hermione. The osteological analysis also confirms that the two individuals buried in the “Warrior Tomb” were of both sexes. The skeletal remains were unfortunately too poorly preserved for detailed analyses of trauma or other health-related patterns. The practice of burying all age groups and both sexes in collective graves between the 6th–5th and 2nd centuries BC might correspond to the necropolis as a communal burial ground, while older and younger graves were assigned for single individuals only.

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Stature and the Neolithic transition– Skeletal evidence from southern Sweden

Cited by 5 publications

References 49 publications

Long-term trends in human body size track regional variation in subsistence transitions and growth acceleration linked to dairying

Long-term trends in human body size track regional variation in subsistence transitions and growth acceleration linked to dairying

Modelling age at death reveals Nordic Corded Ware paleodemography

The humans of ancient Hermione. The necropolis in the light of bioarchaeology

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