Ancient biomolecular analysis of 39 mammoth individuals from Kostenki 11-Ia elucidates Upper Palaeolithic human resource use
Circular structures made from woolly mammoth bones are found across Ukraine and west Russia, yet the origin of the bones remains uncertain. We present ten new mammoth radiocarbon dates from the largest circular structure at Kostenki 11-Ia, identifying two mammoth mandibles ∼200–1200 years older than...
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Elsevier
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Quaternary Environments and Humans |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2950236524000471 |
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| author | Alba Rey-Iglesia Alexander J.E. Pryor Deon de Jager Tess Wilson Mathew A. Teeter Ashot Margaryan Ruslan Khaskhanov Louise Le Meillour Gaudry Troché Frido Welker Paul Szpak Alexandr E. Dudin Eline D. Lorenzen |
| author_facet | Alba Rey-Iglesia Alexander J.E. Pryor Deon de Jager Tess Wilson Mathew A. Teeter Ashot Margaryan Ruslan Khaskhanov Louise Le Meillour Gaudry Troché Frido Welker Paul Szpak Alexandr E. Dudin Eline D. Lorenzen |
| author_sort | Alba Rey-Iglesia |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Circular structures made from woolly mammoth bones are found across Ukraine and west Russia, yet the origin of the bones remains uncertain. We present ten new mammoth radiocarbon dates from the largest circular structure at Kostenki 11-Ia, identifying two mammoth mandibles ∼200–1200 years older than the other dated materials from the site, suggesting skeletal material from long-dead individuals was scavenged and used in the site construction. Biomolecular sexing of 30 individuals showed a predominance of females, suggesting the Kostenki mammoths are primarily from herds. We identify seven mitochondrial lineages across 16 samples, and thus the mammoths are not all from the same matriline. Integrating biomolecular sexing with stable δ13C and δ15N isotope analysis, we find no isotopically-differentiated resource use by females and males, providing the first analysis of foraging differences between sexes in any Late Pleistocene megafauna. Our study highlights the significance of integrating ancient biomolecular approaches in archaeological inference. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-fdabbe72ae2b4b7a8eded1b816091b21 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2950-2365 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Quaternary Environments and Humans |
| spelling | doaj-art-fdabbe72ae2b4b7a8eded1b816091b212025-08-20T02:51:36ZengElsevierQuaternary Environments and Humans2950-23652025-03-013110004910.1016/j.qeh.2024.100049Ancient biomolecular analysis of 39 mammoth individuals from Kostenki 11-Ia elucidates Upper Palaeolithic human resource useAlba Rey-Iglesia0Alexander J.E. Pryor1Deon de Jager2Tess Wilson3Mathew A. Teeter4Ashot Margaryan5Ruslan Khaskhanov6Louise Le Meillour7Gaudry Troché8Frido Welker9Paul Szpak10Alexandr E. Dudin11Eline D. Lorenzen12Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, 1350, Denmark; Corresponding authors.Department of Archaeology and History, University of Exeter, EX4 4QE, United KingdomGlobe Institute, University of Copenhagen, 1350, DenmarkDepartment of Anthropology, Trent University, K9L 0G2, CanadaDepartment of Anthropology, Trent University, K9L 0G2, CanadaGlobe Institute, University of Copenhagen, 1350, DenmarkComplex Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 364051, RussiaGlobe Institute, University of Copenhagen, 1350, DenmarkGlobe Institute, University of Copenhagen, 1350, DenmarkGlobe Institute, University of Copenhagen, 1350, DenmarkDepartment of Anthropology, Trent University, K9L 0G2, CanadaKostenki Museum-Preserve, Voronezh 396815, RussiaGlobe Institute, University of Copenhagen, 1350, Denmark; Corresponding authors.Circular structures made from woolly mammoth bones are found across Ukraine and west Russia, yet the origin of the bones remains uncertain. We present ten new mammoth radiocarbon dates from the largest circular structure at Kostenki 11-Ia, identifying two mammoth mandibles ∼200–1200 years older than the other dated materials from the site, suggesting skeletal material from long-dead individuals was scavenged and used in the site construction. Biomolecular sexing of 30 individuals showed a predominance of females, suggesting the Kostenki mammoths are primarily from herds. We identify seven mitochondrial lineages across 16 samples, and thus the mammoths are not all from the same matriline. Integrating biomolecular sexing with stable δ13C and δ15N isotope analysis, we find no isotopically-differentiated resource use by females and males, providing the first analysis of foraging differences between sexes in any Late Pleistocene megafauna. Our study highlights the significance of integrating ancient biomolecular approaches in archaeological inference.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2950236524000471MammothsKostenkiAncient DNAPalaeoproteomicsStable isotope analysis |
| spellingShingle | Alba Rey-Iglesia Alexander J.E. Pryor Deon de Jager Tess Wilson Mathew A. Teeter Ashot Margaryan Ruslan Khaskhanov Louise Le Meillour Gaudry Troché Frido Welker Paul Szpak Alexandr E. Dudin Eline D. Lorenzen Ancient biomolecular analysis of 39 mammoth individuals from Kostenki 11-Ia elucidates Upper Palaeolithic human resource use Quaternary Environments and Humans Mammoths Kostenki Ancient DNA Palaeoproteomics Stable isotope analysis |
| title | Ancient biomolecular analysis of 39 mammoth individuals from Kostenki 11-Ia elucidates Upper Palaeolithic human resource use |
| title_full | Ancient biomolecular analysis of 39 mammoth individuals from Kostenki 11-Ia elucidates Upper Palaeolithic human resource use |
| title_fullStr | Ancient biomolecular analysis of 39 mammoth individuals from Kostenki 11-Ia elucidates Upper Palaeolithic human resource use |
| title_full_unstemmed | Ancient biomolecular analysis of 39 mammoth individuals from Kostenki 11-Ia elucidates Upper Palaeolithic human resource use |
| title_short | Ancient biomolecular analysis of 39 mammoth individuals from Kostenki 11-Ia elucidates Upper Palaeolithic human resource use |
| title_sort | ancient biomolecular analysis of 39 mammoth individuals from kostenki 11 ia elucidates upper palaeolithic human resource use |
| topic | Mammoths Kostenki Ancient DNA Palaeoproteomics Stable isotope analysis |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2950236524000471 |
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