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The earliest introduction of livestock (cattle, goats, sheep, pigs) into the Carpathian Basin was an important step towards farming expansion into continental Europe. This spread beyond the environments of the southern Balkans was accompanied by a reduction in the spectrum of cultivated crops, changes in the relative representation of different domestic animals, and, most likely, adaptations of husbandry practices. How the earliest farmers in the Carpathian Basin kept their domestic stock is still understudied. We explored early animal management and land use strategies at the Starčevo settlement at Alsónyék-Bátaszék, Hungary (Early Neolithic, ca. 5800–5600 cal BC). Settled at the intersection of wide alluvial plains, waterlogged meadows and marshes to the east, and forested hills to the west, early farmers at Alsónyék had a wide variety of options for nourishing their livestock. We performed stable isotope ratio analysis of bone collagen (n = 99; δ 13 C, δ 15 N) and tooth enamel (n teeth = 28, sequentially sampled for δ 13 C and δ 18 O) from wild and domestic animals to locate them in the landscape and investigate herding practices on a seasonal scale. The bone collagen isotope ratios mostly indicate feeding in open environments. However, results from the sequential analysis of cattle and sheep enamel suggest diverse dietary strategies for winters, including consumption of forest resources, consumption of summer hay and grazing in an open environment. Most pigs appear to have had herbivorous diets, but several individuals likely supplemented their diet with animal protein. Stable isotope ratio results from the Lengyel phase at Alsónyék (ca. 4800–4300 cal BC) suggest more access to animal protein for pigs, and feeding in more open areas by wild boar, red deer and cattle compared to the Starčevo phase. This study’s results demonstrate considerable variability in early animal husbandry practices at Alsónyék.

‘Whitestone’ is a characteristic raw material in the Late Neolithic (Tisza and Lengyel culture) polished stone tool (chisel, adze, macehead) archaeological record in Southern Hungary. However, the lithology—the technical term not reflecting a petrographic definition—needs detailed petrographic-analytical investigations (by optical microscopy, PGAA, and SEM-EDS) to determine the exact rock types and to connect them to specific geological sources. This article identifies the main types of ‘whitestone’ and, furthermore, focuses on the predominant ‘silicified magnesite’ type and the secondary ‘silicified limestone/dolomite’ type. Based on our results, both types originated from the alteration of serpentinized ultramafic assemblages, most probably from the closest magnesitic alteration zones of serpentinite outcrops in Serbia. Thus, the most possible provenance of the Late Neolithic ‘whitestone’ polished stone tools is the Serbian magnesite. These lithologies are in the territory of the Late Neolithic Vinča culture, which was engaged in mass production of ‘whitestone’ tools. This fact indicates the strong relationship of that population with the Tisza and Lengyel communities.

Farming was established in Central Europe by the Linearbandkeramik culture (LBK), a well-investigated archaeological horizon, which emerged in the Carpathian Basin, in today's Hungary. However, the genetic background of the LBK genesis is yet unclear. Here we present 9 Y chromosomal and 84 mitochondrial DNA profiles from Mesolithic, Neolithic Starčevo and LBK sites (seventh/sixth millennia BC) from the Carpathian Basin and southeastern Europe. We detect genetic continuity of both maternal and paternal elements during the initial spread of agriculture, and confirm the substantial genetic impact of early southeastern European and Carpathian Basin farming cultures on Central European populations of the sixth–fourth millennia BC. Comprehensive Y chromosomal and mitochondrial DNA population genetic analyses demonstrate a clear affinity of the early farmers to the modern Near East and Caucasus, tracing the expansion from that region through southeastern Europe and the Carpathian Basin into Central Europe. However, our results also reveal contrasting patterns for male and female genetic diversity in the European Neolithic, suggesting a system of patrilineal descent and patrilocal residential rules among the early farmers.

In the second half of the Late Neolithic (4700 − 4500 cal BCE), the first malachite and copper artefacts appeared in large quantities in the territory of present-day Hungary. They are known only as grave goods such as beads, rings and bracelets. Copper artefacts are concentrated in South-eastern Transdanubia, and archaeological literature has argued that this copper wealth may have been due to the exploitation of local malachite resources in the Mecsek Mountains. In our study, we compared lead isotope and chemical composition measurements of Mecsek malachite sources, Late Neolithic malachite and copper artefacts, and other potential ore sources to investigate the provenance of the raw material of these artefacts. The results of our analysis clearly exclude the exploitation of local, Mecsek sources. The malachite and copper artefacts found in the same grave may have come from the same source in the majority of the cases. This suggests that a set of ornaments was made using either technology. Among the potential sources, several mining regions emerged, primarily in the territory of present-day Bulgaria. A group of copper artefacts with high purity, common in contemporaneous Balkan sites, may come from a single source, which remains unknown. A smaller group of artefacts might be derived from the Bihor region. These results can be interpreted as a long-distance prestige exchange network, in which a composite set of ornaments were circulated in long distances and the source areas of the raw materials and the sites where they were finally deposited were not certainly directly linked.

Good quality high pressure (HP) metaophiolite rock types (e.g. Na-pyroxenite/jade, eclogite) suitable for making prehistoric polished stone implements were unknown among Hungarian findings for a long time. Nowadays they are still among the rarest types of polished stone implements found in Hungary in the respect of raw material. After the first discovery of Neolithic stone tools made of HP metaophiolites in the records of Hungarian archaeological assemblages, detailed petrological investigations of large stone implement collections revealed their presence in a relatively large number. According to our current knowledge, 25 HP metaophiolite stone implements are known as found in Hungary. Unfortunately, most of them are stray finds, but 11 pieces from four localities have a known archaeological context. They were mainly located in Transdanubia (except for one piece from Tiszántúl) and are mostly attributable to the Late Neolithic Lengyel Culture and secondarily to the Late Neolithic Tisza Culture. In this study, we used only non-destructive analytical methods (macroscopic observation, magnetic susceptibility measurements, non-destructive SEM-EDX, and Prompt Gamma Activation Analysis). As a result of this study, the prehistoric stone implements were classified into raw material types. Based on our data, the high pressure-low temperature (HP-LT) metaophiolite stone implements found in Hungary probably originated from the same raw material sources as the Italian HP-LT metaophiolite stone tools (sourcing from North-western Italy). According to the literature on the topic, both primary (Western Alps in the vicinity of the Monviso in Piedmont or the Voltri Massif in Liguria) and secondary occurrences (in Quaternary deposits of the rivers Po, Staffora and Curone) are potential sources. These analyses confirmed the existence of long-distance trade routes connecting the Po Valley and its vicinity with the Carpathian Basin during the V th Millennium BC.

There can be no doubt that one of the major archaeological discoveries made in Hungary during the past ten years was the prehistoric settlement at Alsónyék–Bátaszék. The area was intermittently occupied from the Early Neolithic to the end of the Late Neolithic and the onset of the Copper Age. The prehistoric settlement attained its greatest extent during the Late Neolithic Lengyel period, as shown by the 2359 burials and over 100 post-framed buildings uncovered at the site. This preliminary report describes previous research on the architecture of the Late Neolithic Lengyel culture in Hungary and the Lengyel settlement at Alsónyék and its architecture.

In European Neolithic populations, the arrival of farmers prompted admixture with local hunter-gatherers over many centuries, resulting in distinct signatures in each region due to a complex series of interactions. Early European union of farmers David Reich and colleagues analyse genome-wide data from 180 individuals from the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods of Hungary, Germany and Spain to study the population dynamics of Neolithization in European prehistory. They examine how gene flow reshaped European populations during the Neolithic period, including pervasive admixture—the interbreeding between previously isolated populations—between groups with different ancestry profiles. In each region, they find that the arrival of farmers prompted admixture with local hunter-gatherers, over the course of 3,000 years. Ancient DNA studies have established that Neolithic European populations were descended from Anatolian migrants 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 who received a limited amount of admixture from resident hunter-gatherers 3 , 4 , 5 , 9 . Many open questions remain, however, about the spatial and temporal dynamics of population interactions and admixture during the Neolithic period. Here we investigate the population dynamics of Neolithization across Europe using a high-resolution genome-wide ancient DNA dataset with a total of 180 samples, of which 130 are newly reported here, from the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods of Hungary (6000–2900 bc , n  = 100), Germany (5500–3000 bc , n  = 42) and Spain (5500–2200 bc , n  = 38). We find that genetic diversity was shaped predominantly by local processes, with varied sources and proportions of hunter-gatherer ancestry among the three regions and through time. Admixture between groups with different ancestry profiles was pervasive and resulted in observable population transformation across almost all cultural transitions. Our results shed new light on the ways in which gene flow reshaped European populations throughout the Neolithic period and demonstrate the potential of time-series-based sampling and modelling approaches to elucidate multiple dimensions of historical population interactions.

The earliest introduction of livestock (cattle, goats, sheep, pigs) into the Carpathian Basin was an important step towards farming expansion into continental Europe. This spread beyond the environments of the southern Balkans was accompanied by a reduction in the spectrum of cultivated crops, changes in the relative representation of different domestic animals, and, most likely, adaptations of husbandry practices. How the earliest farmers in the Carpathian Basin kept their domestic stock is still understudied. We explored early animal management and land use strategies at the Starcevo settlement at Alsónyék-Bátaszék, Hungary (Early Neolithic, ca. 5800-5600 cal BC). Settled at the intersection of wide alluvial plains, waterlogged meadows and marshes to the east, and forested hills to the west, early farmers at Alsónyék had a wide variety of options for nourishing their livestock. We performed stable isotope ratio analysis of bone collagen (n = 99; [delta].sup.13 C, [delta].sup.15 N) and tooth enamel (n.sub.teeth = 28, sequentially sampled for [delta].sup.13 C and [delta].sup.18 O) from wild and domestic animals to locate them in the landscape and investigate herding practices on a seasonal scale. The bone collagen isotope ratios mostly indicate feeding in open environments. However, results from the sequential analysis of cattle and sheep enamel suggest diverse dietary strategies for winters, including consumption of forest resources, consumption of summer hay and grazing in an open environment. Most pigs appear to have had herbivorous diets, but several individuals likely supplemented their diet with animal protein. Stable isotope ratio results from the Lengyel phase at Alsónyék (ca. 4800-4300 cal BC) suggest more access to animal protein for pigs, and feeding in more open areas by wild boar, red deer and cattle compared to the Starcevo phase. This study's results demonstrate considerable variability in early animal husbandry practices at Alsónyék.

Ancient DNA studies have established that Neolithic European populations were descended from Anatolian migrants1–8 who received a limited amount of admixture from resident hunter-gatherers3–5,9. Many open questions remain, however, about the spatial and temporal dynamics of population interactions and admixture during the Neolithic period. Using the highest-resolution genome-wide ancient DNA data set assembled to date—a total of 180 samples, 130 newly reported here, from the Neolithic and Chalcolithic of Hungary (6000–2900 BCE, n = 100), Germany (5500–3000 BCE, n = 42), and Spain (5500–2200 BCE, n = 38)—we investigate the population dynamics of Neolithization across Europe. We find that genetic diversity was shaped predominantly by local processes, with varied sources and proportions of hunter-gatherer ancestry among the three regions and through time. Admixture between groups with different ancestry profiles was pervasive and resulted in observable population transformation across almost all cultural transitions. Our results shed new light on the ways that gene flow reshaped European populations throughout the Neolithic period and demonstrate the potential of time-series-based sampling and modeling approaches to elucidate multiple dimensions of historical population interactions.