Southeast Europe has played an important role in shaping the genetic diversity of sheep due to its proximity to the Danubian route of transport from the Near East into Europe, as well as its possible role as a post-domestication migration... more
Southeast Europe has played an important role in shaping the genetic diversity of sheep due to its proximity to the Danubian route of transport from the Near East into Europe, as well as its possible role as a post-domestication migration network and long tradition of sheep breeding. The history of Romania and, in particular, the historical province of Dobruja, located on the shore of the Black Sea, has been influenced by its geographical position at the intersection between the great powers of the Near East and mainland Europe, with the Middle Ages being an especially animated time in terms of trade, migration, and conflict. In this study, we analyzed the mitochondrial control region of five sheep originating from the Capidava archaeological site (Dobruja, Southeast Romania), radiocarbon dated to the Early Middle Ages (5–10th century AD), in order to better understand the genetic diversity of local sheep populations and human practices in relation to this particular livestock speci...
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Southeast Europe has played an important role in shaping the genetic diversity of sheep due to its proximity to the Danubian route of transport from the Near East into Europe, as well as its possible role as a post-domestication migration... more
Southeast Europe has played an important role in shaping the genetic diversity of sheep due to its proximity to the Danubian route of transport from the Near East into Europe, as well as its possible role as a post-domestication migration network and long tradition of sheep breeding. The history of Romania and, in particular, the historical province of Dobruja, located on the shore of the Black Sea, has been influenced by its geographical position at the intersection between the great powers of the Near East and mainland Europe, with the Middle Ages being an especially animated time in terms of trade, migration, and conflict. In this study, we analyzed the mitochondrial control region of five sheep originating from the Capidava archaeological site (Dobruja, Southeast Romania), radiocarbon dated to the Early Middle Ages (5–10th century AD), in order to better understand the genetic diversity of local sheep populations and human practices in relation to this particular livestock speci...
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Interdisciplinary investigations of the human osteological remains help us to understand the genetic diversity, the mobility or the paleodiet of the past communities and offer us insights on the diagenetic processes. The present study... more
Interdisciplinary investigations of the human osteological remains help us to understand the genetic diversity, the mobility or the paleodiet of the past communities and offer us insights on the diagenetic processes. The present study aims to assess the results of chemical, mineralogical and microscopic analyses performed on different human osteological remains selected from archaeological sites situated in Eastern Romania in order to understand the diagenetic transformations involved in the site formation processes and to estimate their influence on the historical interpretation.
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The current paper summarizes the key studies that revolutionized the field of ancient DNA research, with special focus on the mitochondrial genome. Differences between molecular markers used in bioarchaeology are presented with emphasis... more
The current paper summarizes the key studies that revolutionized the field of ancient DNA research, with special focus on the mitochondrial genome. Differences between molecular markers used in bioarchaeology are presented with emphasis on their advantages and disadvantages. As previously stated the focus of this review is on the mitochondrial DNA as a molecular marker, commonly used to answer bioarchaeological questions. The essential studies on mitochondrial DNA from ancient specimens that reveal key information about the history of Europeans are illustrated.
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Starting four decades ago, studies have examined the ecology and evolutionary dynamics of populations and species using short mitochondrial DNA fragments and stable isotopes. Through technological and analytical advances, the methods and... more
Starting four decades ago, studies have examined the ecology and evolutionary dynamics of populations and species using short mitochondrial DNA fragments and stable isotopes. Through technological and analytical advances, the methods and biomolecules at our disposal have increased significantly to now include lipids, whole genomes, proteomes, and even epigenomes. At an unprecedented resolution, the study of ancient biomolecules has made it possible for us to disentangle the complex processes that shaped the ancient faunal diversity across millennia, with the potential to aid in implicating probable causes of species extinction and how humans impacted the genetics and ecology of wild and domestic species. However, even now, few studies explore interdisciplinary biomolecular approaches to reveal ancient faunal diversity dynamics in relation to environmental and anthropogenic impact. This review will approach how biomolecules have been implemented in a broad variety of topics and speci...
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Starting four decades ago, studies have examined the ecology and evolutionary dynamics of populations and species using short mitochondrial DNA fragments and stable isotopes. Through technological and analytical advances, the methods and... more
Starting four decades ago, studies have examined the ecology and evolutionary dynamics of populations and species using short mitochondrial DNA fragments and stable isotopes. Through technological and analytical advances, the methods and biomolecules at our disposal have increased significantly to now include lipids, whole genomes, proteomes, and even epigenomes. At an unprecedented resolution, the study of ancient biomolecules has made it possible for us to disentangle the complex processes that shaped the ancient faunal diversity across millennia, with the potential to aid in implicating probable causes of species extinction and how humans impacted the genetics and ecology of wild and domestic species. However, even now, few studies explore interdisciplinary biomolecular approaches to reveal ancient faunal diversity dynamics in relation to environmental and anthropogenic impact. This review will approach how biomolecules have been implemented in a broad variety of topics and speci...
Research Interests:
OBJECTIVE This study aims to discuss the differential diagnosis for the pathological alterations displayed on an infant skeleton from Romania. MATERIALS One infant skeleton retrieved form the bathhouse of an abandoned Roman fort and dated... more
OBJECTIVE This study aims to discuss the differential diagnosis for the pathological alterations displayed on an infant skeleton from Romania. MATERIALS One infant skeleton retrieved form the bathhouse of an abandoned Roman fort and dated between the 2nd and the 4th centuries AD. METHODS All available skeletal elements were analyzed macroscopically. In addition, the isotopic signatures (δ13C and δ15N) and the control region of the human mitochondrial genome for this archaeological sample were analyzed. RESULTS Based on dental development and long bone length, the skeleton was aged between birth and 2 months of age. Pathological lesions were noted on the mandible and diaphyses of long bones, but spared the metaphyses. CONCLUSIONS The perinatal age of the individual, along with lesion morphology and location, suggests a diagnosis of infantile cortical hyperostosis. LIMITATIONS The analysis would benefit from further stable isotope and mitochondrial genome analyses, which was limited due to the absence of comparative human and faunal remains from the site. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH Further multidisciplinary research on human archaeological remains from Romania would provide a clearer image of past disease and life histories in this geographic area.
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Human skeletal remains may be considered bio-archives due to their particular combination of mechanical, structural, and chemical properties that render natural resistance against post-mortem degradation of ancient biomolecules. The... more
Human skeletal remains may be considered bio-archives due to their particular combination of mechanical, structural, and chemical properties that render natural resistance against post-mortem degradation of ancient biomolecules. The survival of organic matter in ancient tissues is of great interest due to its potential in recovering information on the historical past of individuals and populations including health, dietary history, ancestry, and migration patterns. Even though the ancient biomolecules have become a powerful research tool, the archeogenetic research field can often deal with obstacles regarding the limited availability of osteological material and/or ethical concerns as their analysis is destructive. Here, we describe an alternative, efficient method for simultaneous extraction of DNA and proteins from the same archeological sample source, thus limiting the damage to valuable ancient human skeletal remains. The proposed method consists of overnight decalcification of powdered tissue, purification and concentration of biomolecules, and separation of the resulting solution for subsequent DNA purification and protein precipitation. Its performance was assessed relative to previously described approaches, comparing the concentration of the retrieved biomolecules. Our results show that this method designed to co-purify DNA and proteins is appropriate to obtain authentic sequences of the human mitochondrial control region from medieval or more recent human teeth. Also, the resulting proteins can be used for immunochromatographic detection of malaria in skeletal material suspect of infection with Plasmodium sp.
Research Interests: Archaeology and Geology
Given the paucity of archaeogenetic data available for medieval European populations in comparison to other historical periods, the genetic landscape of this age appears as a puzzle of dispersed, small, known pieces. In particular,... more
Given the paucity of archaeogenetic data available for medieval European populations in comparison to other historical periods, the genetic landscape of this age appears as a puzzle of dispersed, small, known pieces. In particular, Southeastern Europe has been scarcely investigated to date. In this paper, we report the study of mitochondrial DNA in 10 th century AD human samples from Capidava necropolis, located in Dobruja (Southeastern Romania, Southeastern Europe). This geographical region is particularly interesting because of the extensive population flux following diverse migration routes, and the complex interactions between distinct population groups during the medieval period. We successfully amplified and typed the mitochondrial control region of 10 individuals. For five of them, we also reconstructed the complete mitochondrial genomes using hybridization-based DNA capture combined with Next Generation Sequencing. We have portrayed the genetic structure of the Capidava medieval population, represented by 10 individuals displaying 8 haplotypes (U5a1c2a, V1a, R0a2'3, H1, U3a, N9a9, H5e1a1, and H13a1a3). Remarkable for this site is the presence of both Central Asiatic (N9a) and common European mtDNA haplotypes, establishing Capidava as a point of convergence between East and West. The distribution of mtDNA lineages in the necropolis highlighted the existence of two groups of two individuals with close maternal relationships as they share the same haplotypes. We also sketch, using comparative statistical and population genetic analyses, the genetic relationships between the investigated dataset and other medieval and modern Eurasian populations.