Bronze age Archives - The Silver Ink

Bronze Age DNA helps in finding the origins of modern Europeans

June 15, 2015 By Stephanie James Leave a Comment

It is the largest study of the ancient Europe DNA, where two research teams from the University of Copenhagen and Harvard University have learned that the last of three main groups of immigrants helped initiating modern Europe.

Approximately 4,500 years ago, during the Bronze Age, that the third group moved into Europe land from southern Russia and Georgia in a mass migration. With them they brought a gene which can tolerate lactose, as well as the tradition of dairy farming, and a language that can be traces forward into today’s modern languages in Europe, where many of them share the same traits.

The first migration to Europe happened a lot earlier almost 4,500 years ago where people were mainly hunters and gatherers, and the second move from Near East was made 8,000 years ago where people were farmers.

“Our study is the first real large-scale population genomic study ever undertaken on ancient individuals. We analyzed genome sequence data from 101 past individuals. This is more than a doubling of the number of genomic sequenced individuals of prehistoric man generated to date. The study is without any comparison to anything previously made,” said Eske Willerslev, a geneticist and professor of evolutionary genetics at the University of Copenhagen.

The skeletons were form several place, from Spain to Russia, and indicates that these Caucasians or Eurasians, called Yamnaya, were part of a major migration talking place some 3,000 years B.C. The Yamnayas were known to be nomadic sheepherders, originating from Western Russia.

“It’s pretty clear that these eastern cultures in the Bronze Age are linked to the Yamnaya,” said Pontus Skoglund, population geneticist at Harvard University Medical School.

Yamnaya influenced native Europeans and their culture with bothe their customs, technology and geneomes, which is also traceable into modern areas and way of life.

Willerslev concludes by saying, “The results show that the genetic composition and distribution of peoples in Europe and Asia today is a surprisingly late phenomenon, only a few thousand years old.”

Ancient DNA throws light on Bronze Age Migration

June 13, 2015 By Carrie Davis Leave a Comment

Scientists have discovered how the Bronze Age has changed Europe by examining the genetic past of old European residents and the involved migration.

Using the DNA samples of unearthed 170 skeletons from different parts of Europe, two new studies offer explanation on the history of modern Europe. These two studies are done by researchers of Harvard University and archaeologists at the University of Copenhagen.

The migration of the Bronze Age people to Europe is considered as one of the major movements of pre-historic people that lived in the third millennium.

The migration has brought new metal skills, language that became the basic spoken language of Europeans i.e. German and English.

In addition, Yamnaya Culture has the genes that link to lactose tolerance, allowing people to drink and consume dairy products. Researchers said that it shows diary food has important part of European diet.

This migration has contributed a radical change; people were directed towards subsistence agriculture leaving the hunting and gathering strategy depicting the rise of urban civilization.

Before 3,000 B.C., the study revealed that the genetic makeup of the people were of early farmers from Middle East, with the evidence disclosing the early Europeans as hunters.

To understand the social and economical changes in third millennium, researches looked at migration activities of different migrants to Europe. Yamnaya people migrated from Caucasus to western Siberia around 5,000 years ago, with new family system and property. They have mingled to Stone Age people in Northern Europe. The study also said that Sintashta Culture evolved in Caucasus 4,000 years ago. These people have brought new weapons and chariots that expanded across the region.

Study revealed that there have been significant physical changes among these migrants and inhabitants of the European region. In the studies, 83 ancient Europeans DNA displayed characteristics of thick hair and several sweat glands, which were common traits among Scandinavians as early as 7,700 years ago. These traits believed to have surface on East Asia, showing that there might be a link between these two different races.

Further studies with DNA improvement are needed to know more about the ancient populations’ origin and how they survived and adapted the changes.

Archaeologists discover the ancient gold trade route

June 6, 2015 By Dave Smith 1 Comment

Researchers have employed an advanced technique known as laser ablation mass spectrometer for sampling gold from 50 early Bronze Age artifacts.

Evidence has been found of an ancient gold route between the southwest Britain and Ireland by archaeologists that date to the early Bronze Age, 2500 BC.

The new technique which has been applied by researchers in measuring the chemical composition of some of the earliest gold artifacts in Ireland established that the objects has been made from gold that is imported from Cornwall in Britain.

Chris Standish from the University of Southampton in Britain, and the lead author of the study said, “This is an unexpected and particularly interesting result as it suggests that Bronze Age gold workers in Ireland were making artifacts out of material sourced from outside of the country, despite the existence of a number of easily-accessible and rich gold deposits found locally.”

Standish went on to say, “It is unlikely that knowledge of how to extract gold did not exist in Ireland, as we see large scale exploitation of other metals. It is more probable that an ‘exotic’ origin was cherished as a key property of gold and was an important reason behind why it was imported for production.”

The researchers have employed this advanced method for sampling gold from 50 early Bronze Age artifacts in the collections of the National Museum of Ireland, such as the basket ornaments, lunula and discs (necklaces).

Researchers have measured the isotopes of lead in small fragments and then compared it with the composition of gold deposits that is found in a range of locations.

The archaeologists have concluded after making further analysis that the gold in the objects most probably originated from Cornwall, rather than Ireland and it is possible that it has been extracted and traded as part of the tin mining industry.

The findings of the study are published in the journal Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society.

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