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Junno JA, Väre T, Tikkanen J, Heino MT, Niskanen M, Kakko I, Honka J, Kallio-Seppä T, Kvist L, Harmoinen J, Aspi J. Stable isotope analyses of carbon and nitrogen in hair keratin of suspected man-eating wolves from 1880s. Sci Rep 2024; 14:4946. [PMID: 38418893 PMCID: PMC10902326 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-55521-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2023] [Accepted: 02/24/2024] [Indexed: 03/02/2024] Open
Abstract
The so-called man-eating wolves of Turku, a pack of three wolves, reportedly killed 22 children in South-Western Finland in 1880-1881. Enormous efforts were carried out to eradicate them. In January 1882 the last remaining wolf was killed. Since then, there has been considerable debate regarding the validity and extent of the man-eating behaviour. This study aims to clarify whether man-eating behaviour can be observed from the remains of these wolves. One of the wolves was mounted in 1882 and is on display at St. Olaf's school in Turku, enabling us to collect hair keratin samples. Additionally, hair keratin was collected from two other suspected man-eaters. We analysed carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) stable isotope values to study the wolf's diet during the last months of its life. Samples from seven temporally concurrent wolves were used to construct reference values. Our analyses indicated that δ15N values of suspected man-eaters were relatively low compared to the reference sample. We could not detect clear trends in isotope ratios associated with potential man-eating behavior. We believe that this lack of distinctive patterns can be explained by the relatively minor role that man-eating played in their overall diet.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juho-Antti Junno
- Archaeology, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland.
- Anatomy, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland.
| | - Tiina Väre
- Archaeology, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
- Laboratory of Chronology, Finnish Museum of Natural History, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Jouni Tikkanen
- Ecology and Genetics Research Unit, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
| | - Matti T Heino
- Archaeology, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
- Ecology and Genetics Research Unit, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
- Department of Forensic Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | | | - Iiro Kakko
- Ecology and Genetics Research Unit, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
| | - Johanna Honka
- Ecology and Genetics Research Unit, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
| | - Titta Kallio-Seppä
- Archaeology, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
- The Museum of Torne Valley, Tornio, Finland
| | - Laura Kvist
- Ecology and Genetics Research Unit, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
| | - Jenni Harmoinen
- Ecology and Genetics Research Unit, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
| | - Jouni Aspi
- Ecology and Genetics Research Unit, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
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Global wood anatomical perspective on the onset of the Late Antique Little Ice Age (LALIA) in the mid-6th century CE. Sci Bull (Beijing) 2022; 67:2336-2344. [PMID: 36546223 DOI: 10.1016/j.scib.2022.10.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2022] [Revised: 08/23/2022] [Accepted: 08/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Linked to major volcanic eruptions around 536 and 540 CE, the onset of the Late Antique Little Ice Age has been described as the coldest period of the past two millennia. The exact timing and spatial extent of this exceptional cold phase are, however, still under debate because of the limited resolution and geographical distribution of the available proxy archives. Here, we use 106 wood anatomical thin sections from 23 forest sites and 20 tree species in both hemispheres to search for cell-level fingerprints of ephemeral summer cooling between 530 and 550 CE. After cross-dating and double-staining, we identified 89 Blue Rings (lack of cell wall lignification), nine Frost Rings (cell deformation and collapse), and 93 Light Rings (reduced cell wall thickening) in the Northern Hemisphere. Our network reveals evidence for the strongest temperature depression between mid-July and early-August 536 CE across North America and Eurasia, whereas more localised cold spells occurred in the summers of 532, 540-43, and 548 CE. The lack of anatomical signatures in the austral trees suggests limited incursion of stratospheric volcanic aerosol into the Southern Hemisphere extra-tropics, that any forcing was mitigated by atmosphere-ocean dynamical responses and/or concentrated outside the growing season, or a combination of factors. Our findings demonstrate the advantage of wood anatomical investigations over traditional dendrochronological measurements, provide a benchmark for Earth system models, support cross-disciplinary studies into the entanglements of climate and history, and question the relevance of global climate averages.
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Degroot D, Anchukaitis K, Bauch M, Burnham J, Carnegy F, Cui J, de Luna K, Guzowski P, Hambrecht G, Huhtamaa H, Izdebski A, Kleemann K, Moesswilde E, Neupane N, Newfield T, Pei Q, Xoplaki E, Zappia N. Towards a rigorous understanding of societal responses to climate change. Nature 2021; 591:539-550. [PMID: 33762769 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03190-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/02/2020] [Accepted: 01/06/2021] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
A large scholarship currently holds that before the onset of anthropogenic global warming, natural climatic changes long provoked subsistence crises and, occasionally, civilizational collapses among human societies. This scholarship, which we term the 'history of climate and society' (HCS), is pursued by researchers from a wide range of disciplines, including archaeologists, economists, geneticists, geographers, historians, linguists and palaeoclimatologists. We argue that, despite the wide interest in HCS, the field suffers from numerous biases, and often does not account for the local effects and spatiotemporal heterogeneity of past climate changes or the challenges of interpreting historical sources. Here we propose an interdisciplinary framework for uncovering climate-society interactions that emphasizes the mechanics by which climate change has influenced human history, and the uncertainties inherent in discerning that influence across different spatiotemporal scales. Although we acknowledge that climate change has sometimes had destructive effects on past societies, the application of our framework to numerous case studies uncovers five pathways by which populations survived-and often thrived-in the face of climatic pressures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dagomar Degroot
- Department of History, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA.
| | - Kevin Anchukaitis
- School of Geography, Development, and Environment, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.,Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
| | - Martin Bauch
- Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern Europe, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Jakob Burnham
- Department of History, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Fred Carnegy
- School of European Languages, Culture and Society, University College London, London, UK
| | - Jianxin Cui
- Northwest Institute of Historical Environment and Socio-Economic Development, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, China
| | - Kathryn de Luna
- Department of History, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Piotr Guzowski
- Institute of History and Political Sciences, University of Białystok, Białystok, Poland
| | - George Hambrecht
- Department of Anthropology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Heli Huhtamaa
- Institute of History, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.,Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Adam Izdebski
- Paleo-Science and History Independent Research Group, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany.,Institute of History, Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Krakow, Poland
| | - Katrin Kleemann
- Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany.,Department of History, University of Freiburg, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
| | - Emma Moesswilde
- Department of History, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Naresh Neupane
- Department of Biology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Timothy Newfield
- Department of History, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA.,Department of Biology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Qing Pei
- Department of Social Sciences, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Elena Xoplaki
- Department of Geography, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany.,Center for International Development and Environmental Research, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany
| | - Natale Zappia
- Department of History, California State University Northridge, Los Angeles, CA, USA.,Institute for Sustainability, California State University Northridge, Los Angeles, CA, USA
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Abstract
Infield systems originated during the early Iron Age and existed until the 19th century, although passing many transitions and changes. The core features of infield systems were enclosed infields with hay-meadows and crop fields, and unenclosed outland mainly used for livestock grazing. We examine the transitions and changes of domesticated landscapes with infield systems using the framework of human niche construction, focusing on reciprocal causation affecting change in both culture and environment. A first major transition occurred during the early Middle Ages, as a combined effect of a growing elite society and an increased availability of iron promoted expansion of villages with partly communal infields. A second major transition occurred during the 18th and 19th centuries, due to a then recognized inefficiency of agricultural production, leading to land reforms. In outlands, there was a continuous expansion of management throughout the whole period. Even though external factors had significant impacts as well, human niche construction affected a range of cultural and environmental features regarding the management and structure of domesticated landscapes with infield systems. Thus, niche construction theory is a useful framework for understanding the historical ecology of infield systems.
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Majander K, Pfrengle S, Kocher A, Neukamm J, du Plessis L, Pla-Díaz M, Arora N, Akgül G, Salo K, Schats R, Inskip S, Oinonen M, Valk H, Malve M, Kriiska A, Onkamo P, González-Candelas F, Kühnert D, Krause J, Schuenemann VJ. Ancient Bacterial Genomes Reveal a High Diversity of Treponema pallidum Strains in Early Modern Europe. Curr Biol 2020; 30:3788-3803.e10. [PMID: 32795443 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.07.058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2020] [Revised: 04/24/2020] [Accepted: 07/16/2020] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Syphilis is a globally re-emerging disease, which has marked European history with a devastating epidemic at the end of the 15th century. Together with non-venereal treponemal diseases, like bejel and yaws, which are found today in subtropical and tropical regions, it currently poses a substantial health threat worldwide. The origins and spread of treponemal diseases remain unresolved, including syphilis' potential introduction into Europe from the Americas. Here, we present the first genetic data from archaeological human remains reflecting a high diversity of Treponema pallidum in early modern Europe. Our study demonstrates that a variety of strains related to both venereal syphilis and yaws-causing T. pallidum subspecies were already present in Northern Europe in the early modern period. We also discovered a previously unknown T. pallidum lineage recovered as a sister group to yaws- and bejel-causing lineages. These findings imply a more complex pattern of geographical distribution and etiology of early treponemal epidemics than previously understood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kerttu Majander
- Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland; Institute for Archaeological Sciences, University of Tübingen, Rümelinstrasse 19-23, 72070 Tübingen, Germany; Department of Archaeogenetics, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745 Jena, Germany; Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, Viikinkaari 9, 00014 Helsinki, Finland.
| | - Saskia Pfrengle
- Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland; Institute for Archaeological Sciences, University of Tübingen, Rümelinstrasse 19-23, 72070 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Arthur Kocher
- Transmission, Infection, Diversification and Evolution Group, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745 Jena, Germany
| | - Judith Neukamm
- Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland; Institute for Archaeological Sciences, University of Tübingen, Rümelinstrasse 19-23, 72070 Tübingen, Germany; Institute for Bioinformatics and Medical Informatics, University of Tübingen, Sand 14, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | | | - Marta Pla-Díaz
- Joint Research Unit "Infection and Public Health" FISABIO-University of Valencia, Institute for Integrative Systems Biology (I2SysBio), Valencia, Spain; CIBER de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
| | - Natasha Arora
- Zurich Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190/52, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Gülfirde Akgül
- Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Kati Salo
- Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, Viikinkaari 9, 00014 Helsinki, Finland; Archaeology, Faculty of Arts, University of Helsinki, Unioninkatu 38F, 00014 Helsinki, Finland
| | - Rachel Schats
- Laboratory for Human Osteoarchaeology, Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Einsteinweg 2, 2333CC Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Sarah Inskip
- McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3ER, UK
| | - Markku Oinonen
- Laboratory of Chronology, Finnish Museum of Natural History, University of Helsinki, Gustaf Hällströmin katu 2, 00560 Helsinki, Finland
| | - Heiki Valk
- Institute of History and Archaeology, University of Tartu, Jakobi 2, 51005 Tartu, Tartumaa, Estonia
| | - Martin Malve
- Institute of History and Archaeology, University of Tartu, Jakobi 2, 51005 Tartu, Tartumaa, Estonia
| | - Aivar Kriiska
- Institute of History and Archaeology, University of Tartu, Jakobi 2, 51005 Tartu, Tartumaa, Estonia
| | - Päivi Onkamo
- Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, Viikinkaari 9, 00014 Helsinki, Finland; Department of Biology, University of Turku, Vesilinnantie 5, 20500 Turku, Finland
| | - Fernando González-Candelas
- Joint Research Unit "Infection and Public Health" FISABIO-University of Valencia, Institute for Integrative Systems Biology (I2SysBio), Valencia, Spain; CIBER de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
| | - Denise Kühnert
- Transmission, Infection, Diversification and Evolution Group, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745 Jena, Germany
| | - Johannes Krause
- Institute for Archaeological Sciences, University of Tübingen, Rümelinstrasse 19-23, 72070 Tübingen, Germany; Department of Archaeogenetics, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745 Jena, Germany; Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment (S-HEP), University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
| | - Verena J Schuenemann
- Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland; Institute for Archaeological Sciences, University of Tübingen, Rümelinstrasse 19-23, 72070 Tübingen, Germany; Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment (S-HEP), University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
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