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The Neolithic Period: Archameotope Analysis

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The Neolithic period, which occurred during the Holocene Epoch, is defined as the final period of the Stone Age (Violatti, C. 2014). According Encyclopaedia Britannica it is marked as being “the final stage of the cultural evolution or technological development among prehistoric humans”. The Neolithic period saw the beginning of agricultural practices, and the keeping of livestock (Encyclopaedia Britannica. 2014). As the Neolithic phenomenon spread across Europe, populations changed from being hunter-gathers to farmers. This transition is associated with a large change in the populations’ economy, demography and genetics (Deguilloux, M-F, Leahy R, Pemonge, M-H & Rottier, S. 2012). Thus study of ancient DNA is being extensively applied to explain …show more content…

The amount of information archaeologists can learn from artefacts and ecofacts through archaeometry is staggering. Of particular use to archaeologists studying the Neolithic period is lead, strontium and oxygen isotope analysis. Lead, strontium and oxygen isotope analysis can reveal very useful information about the life of a human specimen- for example the type of diet they ate and their birthplace. This is particularly useful for studying the Neolithic period as it was a time of large cultural and demic diffusions, and the kind of diet people were eating changed drastically with the introduction and spread of farming. Ancient DNA analysis is also profusely enlightening; it can reveal much more personal details about a human specimen as a person’s DNA literally defines who they are. It can reveal details such as what the person looked like, for example their eye and hair colour, and complexion, as well as whom their ancestors were. So where isotopic analysis can tell us where the person was born, what sort of climate they lived in and what sort of diet they followed, DNA analysis can tell us who the person was descended from, what he looked like, what genetic diseases he suffered from, whether or not they were gluten or lactose intolerant, and whether they were allergic to particular foods-for example peanuts. Ancient DNA has the potential to reveal a lot more information from human remains about life …show more content…

It has provided archaeologists with information that is often difficult to procure through other means, for example migration patterns, clearer interpretations of burial sites and what sort diseases were infecting people of the Neolithic period. DNA analysis can offer much more ground-breaking insight into the Neolithic period than other archaeometry methods like lead, strontium and oxygen isotopic analysis. Ancient DNA analysis is not restricted to human remains. The analysis of ancient animal DNA can yield just as much information and has effectively be used to help provide explanations about how the Neolithic phenomenon spread across Europe by tracing genetic makers in domestic animal populations. While granted that obtaining ancient DNA from an ancient specimen is not without complications or the risk of damaging the specimen it has proved worth the risk in some cases. For example the ancient DNA that was extracted from Ötzi provided information that would have been impossible to determine otherwise. DNA studies revealed what he looked like, that he was lactose intolerant and that his ancestors likely originated in Sardinia. DNA analysis of his intestinal contents showed that he had eaten two meals shortly before his death: one of red deer meat and cereals and the other of ibex, dicots, and cereals. It is due to ancient DNA analysis we have the first undisputable concrete proof of nuclear families

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