Angela Simalcsik
@acadiasi.org
Researcher
”Olga Necrasov” Centre of Anthropological Research, Romanian Academy
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Physical anthropology, palaeoanthropology, palaeopathology, bioarchaeology, osteology
Scopus Publications
Scopus Publications
Alin Frînculeasa, Angela Simalcsik, Marta Petruneac, Marin Focşăneanu, Robert Sîrbu, and Mădălina Nicoleta Frînculeasa
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Iosif Lazaridis, Songül Alpaslan-Roodenberg, Ayşe Acar, Ayşen Açıkkol, Anagnostis Agelarakis, Levon Aghikyan, Uğur Akyüz, Desislava Andreeva, Gojko Andrijašević, Dragana Antonović,et al.
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Literary and archaeological sources have preserved a rich history of Southern Europe and West Asia since the Bronze Age that can be complemented by genetics. Mycenaean period elites in Greece did not differ from the general population and included both people with some steppe ancestry and others, like the Griffin Warrior, without it. Similarly, people in the central area of the Urartian Kingdom around Lake Van lacked the steppe ancestry characteristic of the kingdom’s northern provinces. Anatolia exhibited extraordinary continuity down to the Roman and Byzantine periods, with its people serving as the demographic core of much of the Roman Empire, including the city of Rome itself. During medieval times, migrations associated with Slavic and Turkic speakers profoundly affected the region.
Iosif Lazaridis, Songül Alpaslan-Roodenberg, Ayşe Acar, Ayşen Açıkkol, Anagnostis Agelarakis, Levon Aghikyan, Uğur Akyüz, Desislava Andreeva, Gojko Andrijašević, Dragana Antonović,et al.
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
By sequencing 727 ancient individuals from the Southern Arc (Anatolia and its neighbors in Southeastern Europe and West Asia) over 10,000 years, we contextualize its Chalcolithic period and Bronze Age (about 5000 to 1000 BCE), when extensive gene flow entangled it with the Eurasian steppe. Two streams of migration transmitted Caucasus and Anatolian/Levantine ancestry northward, and the Yamnaya pastoralists, formed on the steppe, then spread southward into the Balkans and across the Caucasus into Armenia, where they left numerous patrilineal descendants. Anatolia was transformed by intra–West Asian gene flow, with negligible impact of the later Yamnaya migrations. This contrasts with all other regions where Indo-European languages were spoken, suggesting that the homeland of the Indo-Anatolian language family was in West Asia, with only secondary dispersals of non-Anatolian Indo-Europeans from the steppe.
Iosif Lazaridis, Songül Alpaslan-Roodenberg, Ayşe Acar, Ayşen Açıkkol, Anagnostis Agelarakis, Levon Aghikyan, Uğur Akyüz, Desislava Andreeva, Gojko Andrijašević, Dragana Antonović,et al.
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
We present the first ancient DNA data from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic of Mesopotamia (Southeastern Turkey and Northern Iraq), Cyprus, and the Northwestern Zagros, along with the first data from Neolithic Armenia. We show that these and neighboring populations were formed through admixture of pre-Neolithic sources related to Anatolian, Caucasus, and Levantine hunter-gatherers, forming a Neolithic continuum of ancestry mirroring the geography of West Asia. By analyzing Pre-Pottery and Pottery Neolithic populations of Anatolia, we show that the former were derived from admixture between Mesopotamian-related and local Epipaleolithic-related sources, but the latter experienced additional Levantine-related gene flow, thus documenting at least two pulses of migration from the Fertile Crescent heartland to the early farmers of Anatolia.
Felix Adrian Tencariu, Andrei Asăndulesei, Angela Simalcsik, Casandra Mihaela Brașoveanu, Ozana-Maria Petraru, Luminita Bejenaru, Mihaela Aurelia Danu, Ana Drob, Radu Alexandru Brunchi, Radu Gabriel Pîrnău,et al.
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
The article presents the context and multiple investigations of an unexpected discovery, made during the 2020 excavations, from the Ruginoasa-Dealul Ruginii Chalcolithic site in north-eastern Romania. The site, known before our research (aerial photography, geomagnetic survey, test trenches) only for its visible traces of WW2, belongs to the Cucuteni culture, phase A, and consists of five rows of burned dwellings and several pits. The surprise, and central to this paper, is a burial grave belonging to the Late Bronze Age (LBA), Noua culture, dug into the filling of a Chalcolithic clay extraction pit, consisting of a crouched human male and its funeral inventory—an animal deposition and a small ceramic vessel. For an exact chronology of the features, samples of bones were dated by AMS radiocarbon (of both the human and animal skeletons from the grave). Also, thorough anthropological investigations, analysis of dental wear of the human skeleton, archaeozoological analysis of the animal skeleton deposited as an offering and analysis of Phytoliths from several areas of the grave were applied. Although the paper presents a single burial, the results obtained from applying multiple interdisciplinary methods bring a series of unique insights (anthropological profile, rite and ritual, special status) regarding the end of the Bronze Age in north-eastern Romania, a period still insufficiently known.
Stephanie Marciniak, Christina M. Bergey, Ana Maria Silva, Agata Hałuszko, M. Furmanek, B. Veselka, P. Velemínský, G. Vercellotti, J. Wahl, G. Zariņa,et al.
SignificanceSubsistence shifts from hunting and gathering to agriculture over the last 12,000 y have impacted human culture, biology, and health. Although past human health cannot be assessed directly, adult stature variation and skeletal indicators of nonspecific stress can serve as proxies for health during growth and development. By integrating paleogenomic genotype and osteological stature data on a per-individual basis for 167 prehistoric Europeans, we observe relatively shorter than expected statures among early farmers after correcting for individual genetic contributions to stature. Poorer nutrition and/or increased disease burdens for early agriculturalists may partly underscore this result. Our integrated osteological-genetic model has exciting potential for studies of past human health and expansion into various other contexts.
Éadaoin Harney, Olivia Cheronet, Daniel M. Fernandes, Kendra Sirak, Matthew Mah, Rebecca Bernardos, Nicole Adamski, Nasreen Broomandkhoshbacht, Kimberly Callan, Ann Marie Lawson,et al.
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Ancient DNA sampling methods-although optimized for efficient DNA extraction-are destructive, relying on drilling or cutting and powdering (parts of) bones and teeth. As the field of ancient DNA has grown, so have concerns about the impact of destructive sampling of the skeletal remains from which ancient DNA is obtained. Due to a particularly high concentration of endogenous DNA, the cementum of tooth roots is often targeted for ancient DNA sampling, but destructive sampling methods of the cementum often result in the loss of at least one entire root. Here, we present a minimally destructive method for extracting ancient DNA from dental cementum present on the surface of tooth roots. This method does not require destructive drilling or grinding, and, following extraction, the tooth remains safe to handle and suitable for most morphological studies, as well as other biochemical studies, such as radiocarbon dating. We extracted and sequenced ancient DNA from 30 teeth (and nine corresponding petrous bones) using this minimally destructive extraction method in addition to a typical tooth sampling method. We find that the minimally destructive method can provide ancient DNA that is of comparable quality to extracts produced from teeth that have undergone destructive sampling processes. Further, we find that a rigorous cleaning of the tooth surface combining diluted bleach and UV light irradiation seems sufficient to minimize external contaminants usually removed through the physical removal of a superficial layer when sampling through regular powdering methods.
Alexander Immel, Stanislav Țerna, Angela Simalcsik, Julian Susat, Oleg Šarov, Ghenadie Sîrbu, Robert Hofmann, Johannes Müller, Almut Nebel, and Ben Krause-Kyora
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
AbstractThe Cucuteni-Trypillia complex (CTC) flourished in eastern Europe for over two millennia (5100–2800 BCE) from the end of the Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age. Its vast distribution area encompassed modern-day eastern Romania, Moldova and western/central Ukraine. Due to a lack of existing burials throughout most of this time, only little is known about the people associated with this complex and their genetic composition. Here, we present genome-wide data generated from the skeletal remains of four females that were excavated from two Late CTC sites in Moldova (3500–3100 BCE). All individuals carried a large Neolithic-derived ancestry component and were genetically more closely related to Linear Pottery than to Anatolian farmers. Three of the specimens also showed considerable amounts of steppe-related ancestry, suggesting influx into the CTC gene-pool from people affiliated with, for instance, the Ukraine Mesolithic. The latter scenario is supported by archaeological evidence. Taken together, our results confirm that the steppe component arrived in eastern Europe farming communities maybe as early as 3500 BCE. In addition, they are in agreement with the hypothesis of ongoing contacts and gradual admixture between incoming steppe and local western populations.
Alin Frînculeasa, Roxana Munteanu, Daniel Garvăn, Cătălin Dinu, Octav Negrea, Bianca Preda-Bălănică, Laurențiu Grigoraș, Angela Simalcsik, Luminiţa Bejenaru, Daniela Cristea-Stan,et al.
PERSEE Program
The aim of this paper is to present a series of discoveries attributed to the Turkic nomadic populations (11th– 12th centuries), resulting from archaeological research conducted in 2018 and 2019 in several burial mounds placed in the localities of Târgșoru Nou and Inotești from Prahova County, as well as Lunca from Buzău county. It includes descriptions of the investigated archaeological features, the results of the anthropological and archaeozoological determinations as well as those of the physico-chemical investigations of some metal artefacts, and absolute chronology dates. Given that artefacts were part of the archaeological features investigated, we briefly present information regarding their analogies and occurrence. These discoveries highlight a time period which is otherwise scarcely known in this region and at the same time add weight to other materials already published during past years.
Lavinia Grumeza and Angela Simalcsik
Institute of Archaeology and Art History
The present paper aims to analyse two graves and other stray finds dated to the Roman period and discovered in 1979 and 1983 in the site of Ripiceni – La Stâncă (Botoșani County/RO). Grave 1 belongs to an adult female (around 55-60 years old) with the skull intentionally deformed in the first years after her birth. The calvaria of the deceased no. 2 (a child around 2-3 years old) had also traces of artificial deformation. The morphology of both skeletons and the funerary inventory (beads, astragals, ceramics, etc.) can be associated with the Sarmatian culture. Based on analogies one can date the two graves from Ripiceni – La Sâncă during the second half of the 2nd century – 3rd century AD. Probably this features are only a small part of a bigger cemetery destroyed by the animal farm complex constructed in the communist era.
Susan Stratton, Seren Griffiths, Raluca Kogălniceanu, Angela Simalcsik, Alexandru Morintz, Cristian Eduard Ştefan, Valentin Dumitraşcu, Christopher Bronk Ramsey, Olaf Nehlich, Nancy Beavan,et al.
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
ABSTRACTThe emergence of separate cemeteries for disposal of the dead represents a profound shift in mortuary practice in the Late Neolithic of southeast Europe, with a new emphasis on the repeated use of a specific space distinct from, though still often close to, settlements. To help to time this shift more precisely, this paper presents 25 dates from 21 burials in the large cemetery at Cernica, in the Lower Danube valley in southern Romania, which are used to formally model the start, duration of use and end of the cemetery. A further six dates were obtained from four contexts for the nearby settlement. Careful consideration is given to the possibility of environmental and dietary offsets. The preferred model, without freshwater reservoir offsets, suggests that use of the Cernica cemetery probably began in5355–5220 cal BC (95% probability)and ended in5190–5080 cal BC (28% probability)or5070–4940 (67% probability). The implications of this result are discussed, including with reference to other cemeteries of similar age in the region, the nature of social relations being projected through mortuary ritual, and the incorporation of older, Mesolithic, ways of doing things into Late Neolithic mortuary practice.
Among the numerous vestiges of the Iron Age at Saharna Mare / “Dealul Mănăstirii”, there are 11 finds of human remains, which are of particular in¬terest for the interdisciplinary research of the site. In this article, we propose combining archaeological data with anthropological ones. The analyzed skele¬tal material comes from six types of archaeological contexts: “cultic structure”, “ditch”, “rampart”, “grave”, “dwelling”, and “cultural layer” (Fig. 2; 3). In all the analyzed cases the identified osteological remains come from a single individu¬al. In total, seven individuals were identified, one of whom is female and six are male. Regarding age distribution, most individuals fall within the age range of 30-60 years (maturus). One individual falls within the age range of 20-30 years (adultus), and another one has passed the age of 60 (senilis). As a result of the paleopathological analyses, a wide spectrum of dental pathologies (supragingi¬val calculus, cavities, abscess, antemortem tooth loss) and bone pathologies (os¬teoarthritis, intervertebral disc herniation, porotic hyperostosis) were recorded. The analysis of occupational indicators showed over-demanding physical activities, spatial mobility, and horseback riding. Traces of violent death, such as cra¬nial and postcranial fractures, have been reported in several cases. There were also identified injuries with signs of healing.
Iain Mathieson, Songül Alpaslan-Roodenberg, Cosimo Posth, Anna Szécsényi-Nagy, Nadin Rohland, Swapan Mallick, Iñigo Olalde, Nasreen Broomandkhoshbacht, Francesca Candilio, Olivia Cheronet,et al.
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Farming was first introduced to Europe in the mid-seventh millennium bc, and was associated with migrants from Anatolia who settled in the southeast before spreading throughout Europe. Here, to understand the dynamics of this process, we analysed genome-wide ancient DNA data from 225 individuals who lived in southeastern Europe and surrounding regions between 12000 and 500 bc. We document a west–east cline of ancestry in indigenous hunter-gatherers and, in eastern Europe, the early stages in the formation of Bronze Age steppe ancestry. We show that the first farmers of northern and western Europe dispersed through southeastern Europe with limited hunter-gatherer admixture, but that some early groups in the southeast mixed extensively with hunter-gatherers without the sex-biased admixture that prevailed later in the north and west. We also show that southeastern Europe continued to be a nexus between east and west after the arrival of farmers, with intermittent genetic contact with steppe populations occurring up to 2,000 years earlier than the migrations from the steppe that ultimately replaced much of the population of northern Europe.
Gloria González-Fortes, Eppie R. Jones, Emma Lightfoot, Clive Bonsall, Catalin Lazar, Aurora Grandal-d’Anglade, María Dolores Garralda, Labib Drak, Veronika Siska, Angela Simalcsik,et al.
Elsevier BV
Summary The transition from hunting and gathering to farming involved profound cultural and technological changes. In Western and Central Europe, these changes occurred rapidly and synchronously after the arrival of early farmers of Anatolian origin [1, 2, 3], who largely replaced the local Mesolithic hunter-gatherers [1, 4, 5, 6]. Further east, in the Baltic region, the transition was gradual, with little or no genetic input from incoming farmers [7]. Here we use ancient DNA to investigate the relationship between hunter-gatherers and farmers in the Lower Danube basin, a geographically intermediate area that is characterized by a rapid Neolithic transition but also by the presence of archaeological evidence that points to cultural exchange, and thus possible admixture, between hunter-gatherers and farmers. We recovered four human paleogenomes (1.1× to 4.1× coverage) from Romania spanning a time transect between 8.8 thousand years ago (kya) and 5.4 kya and supplemented them with two Mesolithic genomes (1.7× and 5.3×) from Spain to provide further context on the genetic background of Mesolithic Europe. Our results show major Western hunter-gatherer (WHG) ancestry in a Romanian Eneolithic sample with a minor, but sizeable, contribution from Anatolian farmers, suggesting multiple admixture events between hunter-gatherers and farmers. Dietary stable-isotope analysis of this sample suggests a mixed terrestrial/aquatic diet. Our results provide support for complex interactions among hunter-gatherers and farmers in the Danube basin, demonstrating that in some regions, demic and cultural diffusion were not mutually exclusive, but merely the ends of a continuum for the process of Neolithization.
Raluca Kogălniceanu, Ana Ile, Monica Mărgărit, Angela Simalcsik, and Valentin Dumitraşcu
University of Ljubljana
This article presents the discovery of 25 abraded and perforated ovicaprid astragals in a burned house at the Gumelnita Copper Age settlement at Iepuresti in Southern Romania. They were analysed in terms of their processing, of the taphonomic processes that affected them (burning), and of their spatial distribution. These astragals were also analysed in the wider context of more or less similar discoveries made mainly south and east of the Carpathian Mountains, in Romania, but also south of the Danube, in Bulgaria.