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Maaranen N, Stantis C, Kharobi A, Zakrzewski S, Schutkowski H, Doumet-Serhal C. The rise of coastal Middle Bronze Age Levant - A multidisciplinary approach for investigating in Sidon, Lebanon. Am J Biol Anthropol 2023; 182:428-439. [PMID: 37560788 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24831] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2022] [Revised: 07/21/2023] [Accepted: 07/26/2023] [Indexed: 08/11/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES The Levantine Middle Bronze Age (MBA, circa 2000-1500 BCE) marks a period of increased trade and regional interaction, spurred on by technological developments. In light of previous research exhibiting limited mobility in Sidon, further investigation was conducted using biodistance analysis to understand local population history and site development. MATERIALS AND METHODS Dental nonmetric traits, a proxy for genetic information, were explored using ASUDAS on a sub-sample of primary inhumations (n = 35). The biodistance matrix was generated using Gower distance measures, and further tested using PERMDISP, PERMANOVA, Mantel test and hierarchical cluster analysis. The data was also contrasted to 87 Sr/86 Sr and δ18 O as well as δ13 C and δ15 N values. RESULTS There were no significant diachronic differences in isotopes values, and there was biological continuity (n = 35, Mantel test r = 0.11, p = 0.02, comparing local phases and biodistance). The analysis also suggested of a sub-group of individuals with biological proximity shared a more limited range of mobility and dietary habits. CONCLUSIONS The isotopes (87 Sr/86 Sr, δ18 O, δ13 C, δ15 N) and biodistance analysis conducted on the Sidon College site skeletal assemblage exhibits stability and continuity of the people, despite the site's increasing role in the maritime network. This continuity may have been a key factor in Sidon's success, allowing it to accumulate wealth and resources for centuries to come.
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Affiliation(s)
- N Maaranen
- Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, Bournemouth University, Poole, UK
- Department of Archaeology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - C Stantis
- Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
| | - A Kharobi
- Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - S Zakrzewski
- Department of Archaeology, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
| | - H Schutkowski
- Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, Bournemouth University, Poole, UK
| | - C Doumet-Serhal
- Director of Sidon Excavation, Sidon, Lebanon
- Laboratoire UMR8167 Orient et Méditerranée, CNRS, Paris, France
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Doumet-Serhal C, Gimatzidis S, Weninger B, von Rüden C, Kopetzky K. An interdisciplinary approach to Iron Age Mediterranean chronology through combined archaeological and 14C-radiometric evidence from Sidon, Lebanon. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0274979. [PMID: 36893143 PMCID: PMC9997926 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0274979] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2022] [Accepted: 09/07/2022] [Indexed: 03/10/2023] Open
Abstract
The construction of the Iron Age Mediterranean chronology began in the Levant based on historical evidence and has been additionally supported in recent decades by means of radiocarbon analysis, although with variable precision and ratification. It is only in recent years that new evidence in the Aegean and the western Mediterranean has opened discussion towards its further acceptance as an authoritative i.e. highly reliable, and widely applicable historiographic network. Altogether, the Mediterranean Iron Age chronology has only undergone minor changes during the last hundred years. The Phoenician metropolis of Sidon in southern Lebanon now provides a new, large and robust dataset obtained through a combination of archaeological and 14C-radiometric analysis of materials from stratified contexts that allow their statistical assessment. The appearance of substantial amounts of pottery of Greek, Cypriot and Egyptian origin together with Phoenician local wares in a long stratigraphy is a benefit for the synchronisation of regional pottery styles and allows wider geographic correlation of relative chronological systems. The close association of the archaeological data with a long series of AMS-14C-dates on short-lived samples provides new evidence for the absolute dating of many of the regional pottery styles that are represented in the stratigraphy of Sidon, and contributes towards a considerable improvement of the Mediterranean chronology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claude Doumet-Serhal
- Laboratoire UMR 8167 Orient et Méditerranée, CNRS, Paris, France
- Director of the Sidon Excavations, Sidon, Lebanon
| | - Stefanos Gimatzidis
- Austrian Archaeological Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria
- * E-mail: ,
| | | | - Constance von Rüden
- Institute for Archaeological Studies - Pre- and Protohistory, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Karin Kopetzky
- Austrian Archaeological Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria
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Mikulski RNR, Schutkowski H, Smith MJ, Doumet-Serhal C, Mitchell PD. Weapon injuries in the crusader mass graves from a 13th century attack on the port city of Sidon (Lebanon). PLoS One 2021; 16:e0256517. [PMID: 34432820 PMCID: PMC8386879 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0256517] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2020] [Accepted: 08/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Archaeological excavations close to St Louis’ castle in Sidon, Lebanon have revealed two mass grave deposits containing partially articulated and disarticulated human skeletal remains. A minimum of 25 male individuals have been recovered, with no females or young children. Radiocarbon dating of the human remains, a crusader coin, and the design of Frankish belt buckles strongly indicate they belong to a single event in the mid-13th century CE. The skeletal remains demonstrate a high prevalence of unhealed sharp force, penetrating force and blunt force trauma consistent with medieval weaponry. Higher numbers of wounds on the back of individuals than the front suggests some were attacked from behind, possibly as they fled. The concentration of blade wounds to the back of the neck of others would be compatible with execution by decapitation following their capture. Taphonomic changes indicate the skeletal remains were left exposed for some weeks prior to being collected together and re-deposited in the defensive ditch by a fortified gateway within the town wall. Charring on some bones provides evidence of burning of the bodies. The findings imply the systematic clearance of partially decomposed corpses following an attack on the city, where adult and teenage males died as a result of weapon related trauma. The skeletons date from the second half of the Crusader period, when Christian-held Sidon came under direct assault from both the Mamluk Sultanate (1253 CE) and the Ilkhanate Mongols (1260 CE). It is likely that those in the mass graves died during one of these assaults.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard N. R. Mikulski
- Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, Faculty of Science & Technology, Bournemouth University, Poole, Dorset, United Kingdom
- * E-mail:
| | - Holger Schutkowski
- Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, Faculty of Science & Technology, Bournemouth University, Poole, Dorset, United Kingdom
| | - Martin J. Smith
- Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, Faculty of Science & Technology, Bournemouth University, Poole, Dorset, United Kingdom
| | | | - Piers D. Mitchell
- Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
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Haber M, Doumet-Serhal C, Scheib CL, Xue Y, Mikulski R, Martiniano R, Fischer-Genz B, Schutkowski H, Kivisild T, Tyler-Smith C. A Transient Pulse of Genetic Admixture from the Crusaders in the Near East Identified from Ancient Genome Sequences. Am J Hum Genet 2019; 104:977-984. [PMID: 31006515 PMCID: PMC6506814 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2019.03.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2019] [Accepted: 03/18/2019] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
During the medieval period, hundreds of thousands of Europeans migrated to the Near East to take part in the Crusades, and many of them settled in the newly established Christian states along the Eastern Mediterranean coast. Here, we present a genetic snapshot of these events and their aftermath by sequencing the whole genomes of 13 individuals who lived in what is today known as Lebanon between the 3rd and 13th centuries CE. These include nine individuals from the “Crusaders’ pit” in Sidon, a mass burial in South Lebanon identified from the archaeology as the grave of Crusaders killed during a battle in the 13th century CE. We show that all of the Crusaders’ pit individuals were males; some were Western Europeans from diverse origins, some were locals (genetically indistinguishable from present-day Lebanese), and two individuals were a mixture of European and Near Eastern ancestries, providing direct evidence that the Crusaders admixed with the local population. However, these mixtures appear to have had limited genetic consequences since signals of admixture with Europeans are not significant in any Lebanese group today—in particular, Lebanese Christians are today genetically similar to local people who lived during the Roman period which preceded the Crusades by more than four centuries.
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Haber M, Doumet-Serhal C, Scheib C, Xue Y, Danecek P, Mezzavilla M, Youhanna S, Martiniano R, Prado-Martinez J, Szpak M, Matisoo-Smith E, Schutkowski H, Mikulski R, Zalloua P, Kivisild T, Tyler-Smith C. Response to Giem. Am J Hum Genet 2018; 102:331. [PMID: 29395077 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2018.01.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Marc Haber
- The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambs. CB10 1SA, United Kingdom.
| | | | - Christiana Scheib
- Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 1QH, UK
| | - Yali Xue
- The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambs. CB10 1SA, United Kingdom
| | - Petr Danecek
- The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambs. CB10 1SA, United Kingdom
| | - Massimo Mezzavilla
- The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambs. CB10 1SA, United Kingdom
| | - Sonia Youhanna
- Institute of Physiology, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Rui Martiniano
- The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambs. CB10 1SA, United Kingdom
| | - Javier Prado-Martinez
- The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambs. CB10 1SA, United Kingdom
| | - Michał Szpak
- The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambs. CB10 1SA, United Kingdom
| | | | - Holger Schutkowski
- Department of Archaeology, Anthropology, and Forensic Science, Bournemouth University, Talbot Campus, Poole BH12 5BB, UK
| | - Richard Mikulski
- Department of Archaeology, Anthropology, and Forensic Science, Bournemouth University, Talbot Campus, Poole BH12 5BB, UK
| | - Pierre Zalloua
- The Lebanese American University, Chouran, Beirut 1102 2801, Lebanon; Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Toomas Kivisild
- Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 1QH, UK
| | - Chris Tyler-Smith
- The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambs. CB10 1SA, United Kingdom.
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Haber M, Doumet-Serhal C, Scheib C, Xue Y, Danecek P, Mezzavilla M, Youhanna S, Martiniano R, Prado-Martinez J, Szpak M, Matisoo-Smith E, Schutkowski H, Mikulski R, Zalloua P, Kivisild T, Tyler-Smith C. Continuity and Admixture in the Last Five Millennia of Levantine History from Ancient Canaanite and Present-Day Lebanese Genome Sequences. Am J Hum Genet 2017; 101:274-282. [PMID: 28757201 PMCID: PMC5544389 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2017.06.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2017] [Accepted: 06/27/2017] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
The Canaanites inhabited the Levant region during the Bronze Age and established a culture that became influential in the Near East and beyond. However, the Canaanites, unlike most other ancient Near Easterners of this period, left few surviving textual records and thus their origin and relationship to ancient and present-day populations remain unclear. In this study, we sequenced five whole genomes from ∼3,700-year-old individuals from the city of Sidon, a major Canaanite city-state on the Eastern Mediterranean coast. We also sequenced the genomes of 99 individuals from present-day Lebanon to catalog modern Levantine genetic diversity. We find that a Bronze Age Canaanite-related ancestry was widespread in the region, shared among urban populations inhabiting the coast (Sidon) and inland populations (Jordan) who likely lived in farming societies or were pastoral nomads. This Canaanite-related ancestry derived from mixture between local Neolithic populations and eastern migrants genetically related to Chalcolithic Iranians. We estimate, using linkage-disequilibrium decay patterns, that admixture occurred 6,600–3,550 years ago, coinciding with recorded massive population movements in Mesopotamia during the mid-Holocene. We show that present-day Lebanese derive most of their ancestry from a Canaanite-related population, which therefore implies substantial genetic continuity in the Levant since at least the Bronze Age. In addition, we find Eurasian ancestry in the Lebanese not present in Bronze Age or earlier Levantines. We estimate that this Eurasian ancestry arrived in the Levant around 3,750–2,170 years ago during a period of successive conquests by distant populations.
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