▼ The initial settlement of Remote Oceania represents the world’s last major wave of human dispersal. While transdisciplinary models involving linguistic, archaeological, and biological data have been utilized in the Pacific to develop basic chronologies and trajectories of initial human settlement, a number of elusive gaps remain in our understanding of the region’s colonization history. This is especially true in Micronesia, where a paucity of human skeletal material dating to the earliest periods of settlement have hindered biological contributions to colonization models. The Chelechol ra Orrak site in Palau, western Micronesia, contains the largest and oldest human skeletal assemblage in the region, and is one of only two known sites that represent some of the earliest settlers in the Pacific. As such, Chelechol ra Orrak provides an excellent opportunity for direct study of population dispersals into Micronesia. This dissertation draws on bioarchaeological data from Chelechol ra Orrak to address research questions related to the initial human settlement and subsequent adaptation of small island environments in Palau, and more broadly, Remote Oceania. The results of ancient DNA and radiocarbon dates are used to test hypotheses related to a potential place of origin for early Palauan people. I also present a case study from Ucheliungs, a mortuary and small-scale habitation site located in Palau that is contemporary with Chelechol ra Orrak, to assess claims of insular dwarfing following initial settlement. The second half of the dissertation focuses on aspects of behavioral adaptation to Palau. Results of stable isotope analysis from Chelechol ra Orrak are used to reconstruct early human diet, while the role of habitual chewing of betel nut is explored within the context of temporomandibular joint osteoarthritis. Together, these case studies provide fundamental baselines for understanding initial human settlement and small island adaptation in Palau from a bioarchaeological perspective. Advisors/Committee Members: Fitzpatrick, Scott (advisor).

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Assessing population diversity in southern Italy has traditionally relied on archaeological and historic evidence. Although informative, these lines of evidence do not establish specific instances of within lifetime mobility, nor track population diversity over time. In order to investigate the population structure of ancient South Italy I sequenced the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from 15 Iron Age (7th – 4th c. BCE) and 30 Roman period (1st – 4th c. BCE) individuals buried at Iron Age Botromagno and Roman period Vagnari, in southern Italy, and analyzed δ18O and 87Sr/86Sr values from a subset of the Vagnari skeletal assemblage. Phylogenetic analysis of 15 Iron Age mtDNAs together with 231 mtDNAs spanning European prehistory suggest that southern Italian Iapygians share close genetic affinities to Neolithic populations from eastern Europe and the Near East. Population pairwise analysis of Iron Age, Roman, and mtDNA datasets spanning the pan-Mediterranean region (n=357), indicate that Roman maternal genetic diversity is more similar to Neolithic and Bronze Age populations from central Europe and the eastern Mediterranean, respectively, than to Iron Age Italians. Genetic distance between population age categories imply moderate mtDNA turnover and constant population size during the Roman conquest of South Italy in the 3rd century BCE. In order to determine the local versus non-local demographic at Vagnari, I measured the 87Sr/86Sr and 18O/16O of composition of 43 molars, and the 87Sr/86Sr composition of an additional 13 molars, and constructed a preliminary 87Sr/86Sr variation map of the Italian peninsula using disparate 87Sr/86Sr datasets. The relationship between 87Sr/86Sr and previously published δ18O data suggest a relatively low proportion of migrants lived at Vagnari (7%). This research is the first to generate whole-mitochondrial DNA sequences from Iron Age and Roman period necropoleis, and demonstrates the ability to gain valuable information from the integration of aDNA, stable isotope, archaeological and historic evidence.

Thesis

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

With biochemical information obtained from teeth, this study examines the population structure and geographic origins in two archaeological communities located in southern Italy. Analysis of classical remains has traditionally been the subject of historical and archaeological inquiry. However, new applications evaluate these population changes with integrated stable isotope and ancient DNA techniques. Overall, the biochemical results suggest that the pre-Roman communities harbor deep maternal ancestry originating from eastern Europe and the eastern Mediterannean. These results, when compared to the genetic diversity of Roman and broader Mediterranean populations, indicate that the Romans share closer genetic similarity with ancient Stone and Bronze Age communites from Europe and the eastern Mediterranean, than with the pre-Roman community studied here. Furthermore, tooth chemistry results indicate a predominantly local population buried in…

Advisors/Committee Members: Prowse, Tracy, Poinar, Hendrik, Schwarcz, Henry, Anthropology.

▼ The Dawenkou Neolithic Culture (ca. 4300-2600 cal. BC) in Shandong, northern Jiangsu and Anhui Provinces, China, has been intensively investigated because it provides insights into the origin of complex stratified societies. Dawenkou is well known for its extremely elaborate burials indicating incipient social stratification. The initial spread of rice from southern China to the millet agriculture-based societies of the Yellow River Valley, including Dawenkou region, also occurred during this period. Dawenkou is also the assumed critical transitional period during which societies were changing from matrilineal/matriarchal clans to patrilineal/patriarchal families. In this thesis, I shall argue that rice consumption had been used as an important identity marker (including ethnicity, gender, and social status) of individuals at some Dawenkou site, and the introduction of rice possibly facilitated the development of incipient social stratification. I shall also argue that the assumed transition to patrilineal/patriarchal families did not occur simultaneously across all Dawenkou sites. Some late Dawenkou site was still matrilineal, while females seem to have special status than males at some other late Dawenkou site. My thesis focuses on the questions of the relationships among social organization, gender relations, and staple food preferences in identity formation and the development of social complexity in four Dawenkou sites (Dongjiaying, Fujia, Huating, and Liangwangcheng). Key to understanding these questions are the integration of mortuary evidence, radiocarbon dating, stable isotope analysis, and ancient DNA analysis of human remains. My radiocarbon dating results suggest that Liangwangcheng, Fujia, and Huating all date to 2800-2500 cal. BC, while Dongjiaying is a few centuries later (2600-2300 cal. BC). The contemporary nature of these sites permits synchronic and diachronic comparisons of diet composition and burial customs among communities over a few centuries. Despite the contemporaneity there is significant variation in the development of social stratification. Huating seems to be the most stratified with evidence of human sacrifices in some burials. Liangwangcheng also shows signs of social stratification by the lavishness of some burials, and the inclusion of exotic goods that suggest long distance trade. In addition, some females seem to have privilege over others in the community. There is no evidence supporting the hypothesis that a transition to patriarchal families occurred at this late Neolithic site with increasing social complexity. Based on the limited information available, Fujia community seems to be more egalitarian. My stable isotopic analysis of human and faunal remains from these sites suggests that food consumption varied across landscape and among different individuals within sites. Fujia and Dongjiaying human diets were dominated by millets and millet-fed pigs, while Huating and Liangwangcheng people had more diverse diets, including significant amount of C3 plants such as rice and… Advisors/Committee Members: Ambrose, Stanley H. (advisor), Ambrose, Stanley H. (Committee Chair), Underhill, Anne P. (committee member), Malhi, Ripan S. (committee member), Lucero, Lisa J. (committee member).

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Syftet med litteraturstudien är att sammanfatta vilken gensekvens som används vid genetisk barcoding av växter och hur väl metoden i fråga tillämpas i tre biologiska yrkesområden: dietanalyser i ekologin, analys av pollensporer i forensisk biologi samt analys av uråldrigt DNA (ancient DNA) i paleontologin. Vidare var det även av intresse att se hur genetisk barcoding kan användas i den gymnasiala undervisningen och hur väl den passar in med de svenska styrdokumenten för skolan. Hur elever har gynnats av den valda metoden samt vilka begränsningar som har uppstått har också berörts. Litteraturstudien baseras på vetenskapliga artiklar som har sökts fram med de nedan listade nyckelorden. Resultaten visar att en kombination av gensekvenser, däribland rbcL, matK, trnH-psbA och ITS, fungerar bäst vid identifiering av växter. I dagsläget är genetisk barcoding fortfarande i utvecklingsfasen, där metoden begränsas av antalet referenssekvenser i databaserna, vilket gör det svårt att utesluta morfologiska identifieringsmetoder i de tre yrkesområdena. Vid användning av barcoding i den gymnasiala undervisningen visar det sig att det stämmer väl överens med de svenska styrdokumenten och ökar elevers intresse för de naturvetenskapliga ämnena, då de kan bidra med värdefull forskning genom tillägg av referenssekvenser i databaserna. De största begränsningarna är att det blir ett stort arbetslass för läraren, att läraren i fråga måste vara bekväm med de olika laboratiska momenten och att skolan ska ha tillgång till nödvändig apparatur.

The purpose of the literature study is to conclude which gene sequences are being used in DNA barcoding on plants and how the method in question is being used in three different biological occupations: diet analysis in ecology, analysis of pollen in forensics and analysis of ancient DNA (aDNA) in paleontology. Further it was also of interest to study how DNA barcoding can be used in high school settings and how the method correlates with the Swedish curriculum. How pupils have benefited from the chosen method and what limitations have arisen have also been touched upon. This literature study is based on scientific articles that have been sought with the keywords listed below. The results show that a combination of gene sequences, including rbcL, matK, trnH-psbA and ITS, works best in plant identification. At present, genetic barcoding is still in the developmental phase, where the method is limited by the number of reference sequences in the databases, which makes it difficult to exclude morphological-based methods in the three occupational fields. When using barcoding in upper secondary education it turns out that it’s in good agreement with the Swedish curriculum and increases the students' interest in the scientific subjects, since they can contribute with genuine research when adding reference sequences in the databases. The main limitations are the workload for the teacher, the teacher in question must be comfortable with the different laboratory steps and that the school must have…