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Sedentism is an adaptive alternative in human societies which is often associated with the emergence of complex societies in the Holocene. To elucidate the factors and processes of the emergence of sedentary societies, continuous accumulation of case studies based on robust evidence from across the world is required. Given abundant archaeological and geological evidence from the late Pleistocene to early Holocene, Tanegashima Island, situated in the southern Japanese Archipelago of the northwestern Pacific Rim, has significant potential to unravel factors and processes of sedentism. Our study evaluates long-term change in hunter-gatherer mobility on Tanegashima Island from the Upper Paleolithic to Incipient Jomon (ca.36,000–12,800 cal BP). Based on Bayesian age modelling, we performed diachronic analyses on lithic toolkit structure, lithic reduction technology, lithic raw material composition, and occupation intensity. The results illustrate that settlement-subsistence strategies on Tanegashima primarily correspond to the change in environmental conditions, mainly food resources, and foragers increased their degrees of sedentism when abundant forest existed. More important is that highly stable sedentism, which is not observed until the Incipient Jomon, depends not only on such a productive environment, but also on the increase in population size. High occupation intensity during the Incipient Jomon on the island is likely attributed to an influx of people from Kyushu proper. Although the relationship between cause and effect of these factors is still to be clarified in future work, our study provides insights on the fundamental causes of sedentism in the temperate forest of the late Pleistocene. 

Abstract Human societies are characterized by norms that restrict selfish behavior and promote cooperation. The oxytocin system is an important modulator of social behavior that may be involved in the evolution of cooperation. Oxytocin acts in both the nucleus accumbens and the anterior cingulate cortex to promote social bonding and social cohesion. Expression of theCD38andOXTRgenes is known to affect oxytocin secretion and binding, respectively, in these brain areas. The Andean highlands provide an excellent opportunity to evaluate the role of oxytocin in the evolution of cooperation. The rich archeological record spans 13,000 years of population growth and cooperative challenges through periods of highland exploration, hunting economies, agro‐pastoralism, and urbanization. Through allele trajectory modeling using both ancient and contemporary whole genomes, we find evidence for strong positive selection on theOXTRandCD38alleles linked with increased oxytocin signaling. These selection events commenced around 2.5 and 1.25 thousand years ago, placing them in the region's Upper Formative and Tiwanaku periods—a time of population growth, urbanization, and relatively low rates of violence. Along with remarkable and enduring cultural developments, increased oxytocin secretion and receptor binding in these brain areas may have facilitated large‐scale cooperation that promoted early urbanization in the Titicaca Basin of the Andean highlands. 

Abstract Malaria-causing protozoa of the genusPlasmodiumhave exerted one of the strongest selective pressures on the human genome, and resistance alleles provide biomolecular footprints that outline the historical reach of these species¹. Nevertheless, debate persists over when and how malaria parasites emerged as human pathogens and spread around the globe^1,2. To address these questions, we generated high-coverage ancient mitochondrial and nuclear genome-wide data fromP. falciparum,P. vivaxandP. malariaefrom 16 countries spanning around 5,500 years of human history. We identifiedP. vivaxandP. falciparumacross geographically disparate regions of Eurasia from as early as the fourth and first millenniabce, respectively; forP. vivax, this evidence pre-dates textual references by several millennia³. Genomic analysis supports distinct disease histories forP. falciparumandP. vivaxin the Americas: similarities between now-eliminated European and peri-contact South American strains indicate that European colonizers were the source of AmericanP. vivax, whereas the trans-Atlantic slave trade probably introducedP. falciparuminto the Americas. Our data underscore the role of cross-cultural contacts in the dissemination of malaria, laying the biomolecular foundation for future palaeo-epidemiological research into the impact ofPlasmodiumparasites on human history. Finally, our unexpected discovery ofP. falciparumin the high-altitude Himalayas provides a rare case study in which individual mobility can be inferred from infection status, adding to our knowledge of cross-cultural connectivity in the region nearly three millennia ago.