We report genome-wide ancient DNA from 44 ancient Near Easterners ranging in time between ~12,000 and 1,400 bc, from Natufian hunter–gatherers to Bronze Age farmers. We show that the earliest populations of the Near East derived around half their ancestry from a ‘Basal Eurasian’ lineage that had little if any Neanderthal admixture and that separated from other non-African lineages before their separation from each other. The first farmers of the southern Levant (Israel and Jordan) and Zagros Mountains (Iran) were strongly genetically differentiated, and each descended from local hunter–gatherers. By the time of the Bronze Age, these two populations and Anatolian-related farmers had mixed with each other and with the hunter–gatherers of Europe to greatly reduce genetic differentiation. The impact of the Near Eastern farmers extended beyond the Near East: farmers related to those of Anatolia spread westward into Europe; farmers related to those of the Levant spread southward into East Africa; farmers related to those of Iran spread northward into the Eurasian steppe; and people related to both the early farmers of Iran and to the pastoralists of the Eurasian steppe spread eastward into South Asia.

The dental microwear analysis (DMA) focuses on diet reconstructions, being able to provide proxy indicators of some events regarding technological shifts in food processing and social hierarchy and differences between individuals. Although DMA approaches diet characterization in ancient times, medieval samples have received limited attention, especially in Eastern Europe. The aim of this article is to explore, identify, and describe within-group patterns of dental microwear variation depending on sex and anatomic position (i.e., left/right, superior/inferior). The bioarchaeological material belongs to the Princely Court Necropolis of the seventeenth century discovered in Iasi (Romania)—the former capital city of Medieval Moldavia. We analyzed the micromorphological features on the occlusal surface of the second molar tooth through scanning electronic microscopy and imaging. Quantification of the microwear features (i.e., fine and coarse scratches, small and large pits) along with their bidimensional measurements (i.e., length and width) has been subjected to multivariate analysis. Our results show heterogeneous distribution of the microwear features within the analyzed second molars. Although the general microwear profile is dominated by fine and coarse scratches, large pits are also present. We can generally characterize the food as abrasive and relatively hard. In females, there are two microwear profiles highlighted based on the molar laterality, which suggests the use of the right side of the oral cavity to process harder foods. In males, the microwear profile is homogeneous and does not differ by laterality; it shows a great affinity with the pattern of the female right molars.

This paper reviews identification of the auroch (Bos primigenius) during the Holocene in Romania based on data from 190 archaeological sites, corresponding to Neolithic (including Chalcolithic), Bronze Age, Iron Age, Antiquity and the Middle Ages. The assemblages were analysed according to the geographical and historical regionalisation of the Romanian territory (i.e. Moldavia, Dobrudja, Wallachia, Banat, and Transylvania). The data reveal the rather low contribution of hunted aurochs to local economies, though with spatial and temporal variations. Although the species is currently extinct, aurochs still appear in the medieval samples from the 14–15th centuries, and the coincidence of the archaeozoological data with those from documentary sources is marked.

Early Neolithic communities penetrated in southwestern Transylvania and were established in the Mureș Valley where they found suitable territories for domestic animal herds and probably plant cultivation. The present study tries to answer questions related to the beginnings of the neolithisation in this area, from an interdisciplinary perspective, valuing archeozoologically and archeobotanically the Starčevo-Criș site of Soimuș-Teleghi (Hunedoara County), dating to the 7th–6th millennium BC. Animal skeletal remains and phytoliths are the proxies analysed in this paper, offering data about the palaeoeconomy and palaeoenvironment of the Early Neolithic settlement. In the archaeozoological samples, the remains coming from domestic mammals are the most frequent, being identified as cattle (Bos taurus), sheep/goat (Ovis aries/Capra hircus), pig (Sus domesticus), and dog (Canis familiaris). The fact that pig remains are almost absent in the samples is significant, suggesting a mobility of the evaluated communities. The skeletal remains of wild mammal species are rare, belonging to red deer (Cervus elaphus), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), aurochs (Bos primigenius), wild boar (Sus scrofa), and polecat (Mustela putorius). The strong dominance of grasses is attested through the phytoliths’ assemblages. ELONGATE DENDRITIC phytoliths are well represented. This morphotype, which originates from the inflorescence or the husk of Poaceae, is most likely derived from cultivated plants (cereals such as wheat, barley, etc.). Archaeozoological and archaeobotanical data resulting from this study suggest an open environment around the Early Neolithic settlement, where communities of the Starčevo-Criș culture mainly raised herds of cattle and sheep/goat. Sporadically, hunting and gathering molluscs were practised by the inhabitants, as indicated by archaeozoological results.