Songül Alpaslan-Roodenberg | University of Vienna (original) (raw)

Books by Songül Alpaslan-Roodenberg

Papers by Songül Alpaslan-Roodenberg

Arkeoloji ve Sanat 176, 2024

Günümüzde giderek artan sayıdaki antik DNA çalışması ile bu alandaki tekniklerin gelişmesi, arke-... more Günümüzde giderek artan sayıdaki antik DNA çalışması ile bu alandaki tekniklerin gelişmesi, arke- olojik kazılarda bulunan antropolojik malzemenin, diğer bir deyişle mezarlardan ele geçen insan kemiklerinden alınan küçük parça örneklerin daha hızlı ve etkin bir şekilde analiz edilmesine olanak sağlamıştır. Ancak yine de antik DNA analizleri hala oldukca zahmetli ve masraflı metotları içermek- tedir. En önemli sorunlardan birisi ise eski insan kalıntılarından elde edilen DNA’nın çok parçalı ve az miktarda ele geçmesidir. Günümüzde gelişmiş teknikler kullanan laboratuvarlarda, parçalı olarak ele geçen DNA’nın çoğaltılarak okunması ve yorumlanması mümkün olmaktadır. Araştırma konumuz eski insan kalıntılarının genetik analizleri olduğunda, elde edilen sonuçların yorumunda antropoloji ve arkeoloji ile işbirliği yaparak en anlamlı sonuçları edinebiliriz. Özellikle de, eğer eski toplulukların göç
* Araştırma. Makale geliş tarihi: 05.06.2024; Makale kabul tarihi: 07.08.2024
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ARKEOLOJİ VE SANAT | 176: MAYIS-AĞUSTOS 2024
hareketleri, birbirleri ile genetik akrabalıkları gibi konular araştırma sorularımız arasındaysa, arkeolojik ve antropolojik içeriğini bilmedigimiz insan kemiklerinin yorumu anlamlı olmayacaktır. Dolayısıyla herhangi bir antik DNA çalışmasında en azından bu üç disiplinin (ve konusuyla ilgili olarak daha fazla disiplinin) her zaman işbirligi içinde birlikte çalışması beklenir. 2022 yılında Science dergisinde yayım- lanan Anadolu merkezli ve geniş katılımlı bir antik DNA çalışmasında yukarda sözü edilen bu üç bilim dalının yanısıra, dilbilimcilerin de katkısı önemli rol oynamıştır. Yazarlar tarafından Güney Arkı olarak adlandırılan bölgede (Batı Asya ve Güney Avrupa/Balkanlar arasında kalan bölge) çanak çömleksiz Neolitik’ten Osmanlı’ya kadar olan dönemlerde, bu bölgelerin eski genetik profili ortaya koyulurken, populasyon göçleri her dönemden örneklerle detaylı olarak incelenebilmiştir.
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Currently, an increasing number of ancient DNA studies and the development of techniques in this field have enabled the anthropological material from archaeological excavations, such as small human bone samples from graves, to be analysed more effectively. However, ancient DNA analysis still involves very laborious and costly methods. One of the most critical problems is that DNA obtained from ancient human remains is scarce and very fragmented. Nowadays, it is possible to copy, read, and interpret fragmented DNA obtained in laboratories using advanced techniques. When it comes to genetic analysis of ancient human remains, the most meaningful results are obtained in close collaboration with anthropology and archeology. Especially if issues such as migration movements of ancient communities and their genetic interrelationships are among our research questions, the interpretation of human remains whose archaeological and anthropological context we do not know precisely, will not be meaningful. Therefore, it is imperative that in any ancient DNA research these three disciplines (or even more) work together. In addition to these three branches of science, the contribution of linguists played an essential role in an Anatolia-centered and widely participated ancient DNA study published in 2022 in the journal Science. This study describes the genetic profile of populations in the Southern Arc region (the area between Western Asia and Southern Europe) spanning from the Neolithic to the Ottoman period. Simultaneously, population migrations were examined in detail using samples from each period.

Translations of the paper "Ethics of DNA research on human remains: five globally applicable... more Translations of the paper "Ethics of DNA research on human remains: five globally applicable guidelines," published and openly accessible at Nature:https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-04008-xDOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-04008-xTranslations provided in the following languages: AfrikaansArabicCatalanChineseCroatianFrenchGermanHawaiianHebrewHindiHungarianJapanesePortuguesePunjabiRussianSinhalaSpanishSwahiliSwedishTamilTurkishUrduXhosa

Journal of Archaeological Science, 2013

Nature, Aug 2, 2017

The origins of the Bronze Age Minoan and Mycenaean cultures have puzzled archaeologists for more ... more The origins of the Bronze Age Minoan and Mycenaean cultures have puzzled archaeologists for more than a century. We have assembled genome-wide data from 19 ancient individuals, including Minoans from Crete, Mycenaeans from mainland Greece, and their eastern neighbours from southwestern Anatolia. Here we show that Minoans and Mycenaeans were genetically similar, having at least three-quarters of their ancestry from the first Neolithic farmers of western Anatolia and the Aegean, and most of the remainder from ancient populations related to those of the Caucasus and Iran. However, the Mycenaeans differed from Minoans in deriving additional ancestry from an ultimate source related to the hunter-gatherers of eastern Europe and Siberia, introduced via a proximal source related to the inhabitants of either the Eurasian steppe or Armenia. Modern Greeks resemble the Mycenaeans, but with some additional dilution of the Early Neolithic ancestry. Our results support the idea of continuity but n...

Nature, Jan 23, 2015

Ancient DNA makes it possible to observe natural selection directly by analysing samples from pop... more Ancient DNA makes it possible to observe natural selection directly by analysing samples from populations before, during and after adaptation events. Here we report a genome-wide scan for selection using ancient DNA, capitalizing on the largest ancient DNA data set yet assembled: 230 West Eurasians who lived between 6500 and 300 bc, including 163 with newly reported data. The new samples include, to our knowledge, the first genome-wide ancient DNA from Anatolian Neolithic farmers, whose genetic material we obtained by extracting from petrous bones, and who we show were members of the population that was the source of Europe's first farmers. We also report a transect of the steppe region in Samara between 5600 and 300 bc, which allows us to identify admixture into the steppe from at least two external sources. We detect selection at loci associated with diet, pigmentation and immunity, and two independent episodes of selection on height.

SCIENCE, 2022

Literary and archaeological sources have preserved a rich history of Southern Europe and West Asi... more 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. Stories about the peopling?and people?of Southern Europe and West Asia have been passed down for thousands of years, and these stories have contributed to our historical understanding of populations. Genomic data provide the opportunity to truly understand these patterns independently from written history. In a trio of papers, Lazaridis et al. examined more than 700 ancient genomes from across this region, the Southern Arc, spanning 11,000 years, from the earliest farming cultures to post-Medieval times (see the Perspective by Arbuckle and Schwandt). On the basis of these results, the authors suggest that earlier reliance on modern phenotypes and ancient writings and artistic depictions provided an inaccurate picture of early Indo-Europeans, and they provide a revised history of the complex migrations and population integrations that shaped these cultures. ?SNV Polities of the ancient Mediterranean world preserved contrasts of ancestry since the Bronze Age but were linked by migration.

PloS one, 2015

The invention and development of next or second generation sequencing methods has resulted in a d... more The invention and development of next or second generation sequencing methods has resulted in a dramatic transformation of ancient DNA research and allowed shotgun sequencing of entire genomes from fossil specimens. However, although there are exceptions, most fossil specimens contain only low (~ 1% or less) percentages of endogenous DNA. The only skeletal element for which a systematically higher endogenous DNA content compared to other skeletal elements has been shown is the petrous part of the temporal bone. In this study we investigate whether (a) different parts of the petrous bone of archaeological human specimens give different percentages of endogenous DNA yields, (b) there are significant differences in average DNA read lengths, damage patterns and total DNA concentration, and (c) it is possible to obtain endogenous ancient DNA from petrous bones from hot environments. We carried out intra-petrous comparisons for ten petrous bones from specimens from Holocene archaeological...

Farming was first introduced to southeastern Europe in the mid-7thmillennium BCE – brought by mig... more Farming was first introduced to southeastern Europe in the mid-7thmillennium BCE – brought by migrants from Anatolia who settled in the region before spreading throughout Europe. To clarify the dynamics of the interaction between the first farmers and indigenous hunter-gatherers where they first met, we analyze genome-wide ancient DNA data from 223 individuals who lived in southeastern Europe and surrounding regions between 12,000 and 500 BCE. We document previously uncharacterized genetic structure, showing a West-East cline of ancestry in hunter-gatherers, and show that some Aegean farmers had ancestry from a different lineage than the northwestern Anatolian lineage that formed the overwhelming ancestry of other European farmers. We show that the first farmers of northern and western Europe passed through southeastern Europe with limited admixture with local hunter-gatherers, but that some groups mixed extensively, with relatively sex-balanced admixture compared to the male-biased...

The Big Square of Ilıpınar's excavation revealed 48 burials belonging to the Neolithic period... more The Big Square of Ilıpınar's excavation revealed 48 burials belonging to the Neolithic period. The greater part of these burials belonged to children and babies which indicates that child mortality was considerable in that period. Moreover, most of them were neonatals. Two third of the females constituted the majority of adults; life expectancy for both sexes was almost equal. All graves were primary and contained a single body lying in a contracted position on its right or left side. It seems that the favorite orientation to bury adults was S-N on their right side. A very interesting discovery was wooden planks on the bottom of graves of both adults and non-adults. The dead were buried on a bier or possibly in a type of wooden coffin, which may have been related to their social status. Statural reconstruction showed that the average height of females and males from Ilıpınar was 151.8 cm and 164.4 cm respectively. From a few calculated cranial indexes we can say that there was a...

Nature, 2021

We are a group of archaeologists, anthropologists, curators and geneticists representing diverse ... more We are a group of archaeologists, anthropologists, curators and geneticists representing diverse global communities and 31 countries. All of us met in a virtual workshop dedicated to ethics in ancient DNA research held in November 2020. There was widespread agreement that globally applicable ethical guidelines are needed, but that recent recommendations grounded in discussion about research on human remains from North America are not always generalizable worldwide. Here we propose the following globally applicable guidelines, taking into consideration diverse contexts. These hold that: (1) researchers must ensure that all regulations were followed in the places where they work and from which the human remains derived; (2) researchers must prepare a detailed plan prior to beginning any study; (3)researchers must minimize damage to human remains; (4) researchers must ensure that data are made available following publication to allow critical re-examination of scientific findings; and (5) researchers must engage with other stakeholders from the beginning of a study and ensure respect and sensitivity to stakeholder perspectives. We commit to adhering to these guidelines and expect they will promote a high ethical standard in DNA research on human remains going forward.

Nature, 2021

Önsöz Bizler Kasım 2020'de antik DNA araştırmaları konusunda gerçekleştirilen sanal bir etik çalı... more Önsöz
Bizler Kasım 2020'de antik DNA araştırmaları konusunda gerçekleştirilen sanal bir etik çalıştayında bir araya gelen ve 31 ülkeyi ve çeşitli küresel toplulukları temsil eden bir grup arkeolog, antropolog, müzeci ve genetikçiyiz. Küresel olarak uygulanabilir etik kurallara ihtiyaç duyulduğu konusunda yaygın bir fikir birliği halihazırda olmakla birlikte, Kuzey Amerika'dan insan kalıntıları üzerinde yapılan araştırmalarla ilgili tartışmalara dayanan son öneriler her zaman dünya çapında genelleştirilemezdi. Farklı bağlamları göz önünde bulundurarak, aşağıda verilen ve küresel olarak uygulanabilir olan kuralları öneriyoruz.
Araştırmacılar, (1) çalıştıkları ve insan kalıntılarının geldigi yerlerdeki tüm düzenlemelere uyulmasını sağlamalıdır; (2) herhangi bir çalışmaya başlamadan önce ayrıntılı bir plan hazırlamalıdır; (3) insan kalıntılarına verilen zararı en aza indirmelidir; (4) bilimsel bulguların eleştirel bir şekilde yeniden incelenmesine izin vermek için verilerin yayımlandıktan sonra kullanıma sunulmasını sağlamalıdır ve (5) bir çalışmanın başlangıcından itibaren diğer paydaşlarla ilişki kurmalı ve paydaşların görüşlerine saygı ve hassasiyet gösterilmesini sağlamalıdır. Bizler tüm bu easlara bağlı kalmayı taahhüt ediyor ve bu kuralların gelecekteki yüksek bir etik standardı teşvik etmelerini ümit ediyoruz.

Doğu Marmara’nın İlk Çiftçi Köylerinde Neler Oldu: Şiddet, İnsan Yaşamının Bir Parçası mıydı? , 2021

Violence and brute force inevitably occur in every period and environment in which people live to... more Violence and brute force inevitably occur in every period and environment in which people live together. Therefore, osteological studies show that prehistoric farmers not only lived their existence in tranquility and peace, but also experienced moments of physical threat that sometimes led to death. The lowlands east and southeast of the Sea of Marmara comprise a large number of prehistoric mound sites (hüyükler), many of which were occupied from the Early Bronze Age on. A lesser amount also included deposits from earlier occupation i.e. from the Neolithic. Since the late 80ties four of the latter period, namely Ilıpınar, Menteşe, Barcın and Aktopraklık, have been subjected to systematic and intensive archaeological investigations, much of which has already been published. Lesser known aspects of these early villages, namely general health of the inhabitants, burial customs and occurring traces of violence on their skeletons are brought together and reexamined from a bio-archaeological perspective. This study is based on data obtained by the standard methods of this discipline and the results are collected below under different headings. Besides these methods, research on ancient human genes has recently proven to contribute significantly to determining the relationships between past human populations. Analysis of human material from the villages has already yielded interesting issues.

Aktuel Arkeoloji, 2021

Arkeolojik araştırmaların, yalnızca insanın maddi kültürünü değil, aynı zamanda arkeolojik alanla... more Arkeolojik araştırmaların, yalnızca insanın maddi kültürünü değil,
aynı zamanda arkeolojik alanlara gömülmüş ve gerçekte kendi kültürel çevrelerinin kurucuları olan insanların kalıntılarının da eşit düzeyde incelenmesine odaklanması gerekir....

Aktuel Arkeoloji, 2021

How to compare and combine data obtained from different disciplines such as archaeology, anthropo... more How to compare and combine data obtained from different disciplines such as archaeology, anthropology and genetics? Until recently, this problem received little attention. Archaeologists frequently come across human remains while excavating prehistoric, protohistoric, and historical sites. In this context, it is common practice to open graves and to remove skeletons after a preliminary inspection, while a detailed osteological study is normally supposed to take place following the initial survey.

Armagan Dizisi: Özsait Armağanı, 2011

Changes in potential regulatory elements are thought to be key drivers of phenotypic divergence. ... more Changes in potential regulatory elements are thought to be key drivers of phenotypic divergence. However, identifying changes to regulatory elements that underlie human-specific traits has proven very challenging. Here, we use 63 reconstructed and experimentally measured DNA methylation maps of ancient and present-day humans, as well as of six chimpanzees, to detect differentially methylated regions that likely emerged in modern humans after the split from Neanderthals and Denisovans. We show that genes associated with face and vocal tract anatomy went through particularly extensive methylation changes. Specifically, we identify widespread hypermethylation in a network of face-and voice-associated genes (SOX9, ACAN, COL2A1, NFIX and XYLT1). We propose that these repression patterns appeared after the split from Neanderthals and Denisovans, and that they might have played a key role in shaping the modern human face and vocal tract.

Praehistorische Zeitschrift , 2020

Following on from a few decades of osteological analysis this study presents an assessment of the... more Following on from a few decades of osteological analysis this study presents an assessment of the data retrieved from human population samples provided by four early farming sites, namely Ilıpınar, Menteşe, Barcın and Aktopraklık, located in the lake basins southeast of the Sea of Marmara. It highlights various aspects of that population such as demographic data, health, trauma, and ancient people’s attitude toward death. The research aims to identify and discuss similarities and dissimilarities between the studied Neolithic settlements in this region, especially with regard to paleo-demographic data and the use of violence. With exception of a small group of burials at Aktopraklık that contrasted with regular inhumations, it seems that mortuary practices barely differed from one community to another, and transcended across regional boundaries. The use of wooden planks covering the bottom of grave pits, which were first discovered at Ilıpınar, may serve as an example. Early farmers of the eastern Marmara region suffered mostly from joint diseases and degenera- tive arthritis. Their life expectancy was similar for adults of both sexes, at between 25–40 years, while two of the four communities showed high infant mortality.

Arkeoloji ve Sanat 176, 2024

Journal of Archaeological Science, 2013

Nature, Aug 2, 2017

Nature, Jan 23, 2015

SCIENCE, 2022

PloS one, 2015

Nature, 2021

Doğu Marmara’nın İlk Çiftçi Köylerinde Neler Oldu: Şiddet, İnsan Yaşamının Bir Parçası mıydı? , 2021

Aktuel Arkeoloji, 2021

Armagan Dizisi: Özsait Armağanı, 2011

Praehistorische Zeitschrift , 2020

Arkeolojide Temel Yöntemler kitabı , 2018

Sonsöz Kulağa önemsiz gelse de, kazı yapan herkes bilir, insan kemiklerini hayvan ke- miklerin... more Sonsöz
Kulağa önemsiz gelse de, kazı yapan herkes bilir, insan kemiklerini hayvan ke- miklerinden ilk anda ayırabilmek her zaman kolay bir iş değildir. Kırık ve kü- çük kemik parçaları kazılarda topraktan çıktığında toz, toprak ve hatta çamurla kaplanmış yüzeylerinden ilk anda buluntunun ne olduğunu kestirebilmek bile zorken, hangi kemiğe ait olduklarını söylemek ancak uzun yıllarda kazanılan deneyim ve iyi bir anatomi bilgisiyle üstesinden gelinecek bir iştir. Antropolojiye gönül vermiş, arkeoloji kökenli veya diğer disiplinlerden gelen meslektaşların bu konuda zorlandıklarına şahit oldum. Çoğu sadece laboratuvarlarda ya da müze, üniversite koleksiyonlarında önlerine gelen kutularda önceden tasnif edilmiş, ve etiketlere tüm bilgileri yazılmış, temiz ve tümlenmiş örnekler üzerinde çalıştık- larından, araziye çıktıkları zaman oldukça zorlanabilmektedir. Bu nedenle özel- likle, biyolojik antropolojiyi uzmanlık alanı olarak seçen genç meslektaşlarıma tavsiyem, sadece laboratuvarda ya da kitap üzerinde kemikleri öğrenmek yerine, mümkün olduğunca arazide çalışmaları ve eğer anatomi temel bilgisini eğitim- leri sırasında almamışlarsa, bu açıklarını kısa sürede kapatmalarıdır. Ne kadar çok kemik malzeme görürler ve dokunurlarsa, o kadar fazla malzemeye aşina olacaklar ve zamanla adeta deyim yerindeyse kemikleri gözleri kapalı tanıyabi- leceklerdir. Çünkü bu işin alfabesi kemik ve diş anatomisidir. Arkeoloji öğren- cilerine ve arkeologlara ricam ise, yazımın başında da belirttiğim gibi, sonuçta bizlere getirecekleri insan kalıntılarını kazarken son derece itinalı davranmaları ve buldukları her kemik / diş buluntuyu mutlaka bize eksiksiz ulaştırmalarıdır.
Bu bölümü bitirirken son olarak, önemli gördüğüm başka bir konuya değinmek- te fayda görüyorum. Bilindiği üzere kelime anlamıyla “insan bilimi” demek olan antropoloji, insanın kültürel ve biyolojik yapısını ve özelliklerini inceler. Arkeo- loji ise özetle tanımlarsak, insan elinden çıkan seramik, mimari, alet gibi mad- di ve gelenek, görenek, inanç gibi manevi kültürleri araştırır, ortaya çıkarır ve sonuçların bir bölümünü diğer disiplinlerin de yardımıyla yorumlar. Başka bir deyişle, antropoloji insanın hem geçmişini, hem bugününü araştırır ve aydın- latmaya çalışır; arkeoloji ise geçmişini, daha iyi bir ifadeyle kültürünün tarihini araştırır. Bu nedenle, en azından Anglo-Sakson gelenek içinde arkeoloji, insanlı- ğı en geniş bakış açısıyla araştıran antropolojinin bir parçası olarak görülür. Bu bölümün ana konusunu oluşturan biyolojik antropoloji de, arkeoloji gibi antro- polojinin alt disiplinlerinden biridir. Bu nedenle bu iki disiplinin birlikte çalış- ması, verilerin değerlendirilmesi ve doğru yorumlanması açısından son derece önemlidir. Ülkemizde ne yazık ki arkeoloji ve antropoloji genel olarak birbirle- riyle ilişkisiz iki ayrı disiplin gibi görülmekte ve meslektaşlarımız birbirlerinden kopuk çalışma alanları oluşturmayı tercih etmektedirler. Arkeologların çoğu sa- dece kazı yapmayı hedeflemiş ve buna odaklanmış gibi görünürlerken, biyolojik antropologları, kazılarında buldukları insan kemiklerini inceleyen uzmanlardan biri, dolayısıyla biyolojik antropolojiyi de yalnızca arkeolojinin yardımcı bir bi- lim dalı olarak değerlendirirler. Öte yandan antropologlar da, kendi alanlarının arkeolojiyle ilgisini bütünüyle görmezden gelmekte ısrarcılar. Son yıllarda arkeo- loglar biyolojik antropolojinin önemini biraz olsun fark etmiş gibi görünüyorlar. Giderek artan sayıda arkeoloji bölümünde, antropoloji derslerinin öğretim prog- ramına dahil edildiğini sevinerek görüyoruz. Tutucu ve diğer disiplinlere kapalı bir imaj veren her iki disiplinden meslektaşlarımın, önümüzdeki dönemlerde bu kısır döngüden kurtularak, uzmanlık alanları ne olursa olsun aynı temel amaca hizmet ettiğimizi ve genelde her iki disiplinin de insanın biyolojik ve kültürel evrimini çalışmakta olduğunu hatırlaması, bu yazının da antropoloji bilimine ilgi ve sevgiyi artırması dileğiyle yazımı noktalamak isterim.