Oldest hominid skull in Australia found near Bega
Friday, 13 January 2006
THE endocast of a primitive hominid-like skull was recovered from among the rubble of a volcanic plug in the Bega district in May 2005
The find could suggest that a race of ancestral hominids had evolved in Australia from tree-dwelling primate ancestors by seven million years ago. This is well before our primate ancestors supposedly left the trees for a terrestrial existence in Africa around six million years ago!
The fossil was discovered by noted prehistory researcher Rex Gilroy of Katoomba NSW, where he operates the 'Australian-Pacific Archaeological Research Centre'.
He discovered the fossil projecting from the base of a volcanic deposit while researching volcanic sites on the NSW far south coast.
The fossil, a chance discovery, further supports Rex Gilroy's belief that our Aboriginal people were preceded on this continent by earlier races, principally Homo erectus.
"The fossil was formed by fine volcanic ash filling the skull during an eruption. The ash gradually mineralised while the bones disintegrated, leaving the cast," he says.
"The remaining fossil has lost a portion of the underside and a shallow section of the skull dome is also gone, giving it a flattish appearance. The remaining endocast measures 15.7cm in length by 9cm in width across the facial section by 10cm in depth.
The height of the individual would have been hobbit size, ie around one metre," says Mr Gilroy.
As geologists have lately dated the volcanoes of the Bega region as having last erupted around 7 million years ago, this makes the 'Bega Man' the oldest known hominid skull found in the Australasian region.
On these grounds Rex Gilroy believes we should begin thinking 'Out of Australia', rather than Out of Africa for our human origins.
Over the last forty years he has uncovered several mineralised skull-types with undoubted Homo erectus features.
These fossils, found at various New South Wales, Queensland and South Australian sites during his countless fossicking trips, all come from early to mid-Pleistocene times, well before Aboriginal arrival (by around 68,000 years BP at current estimates).
"The Pleistocene period dates from around two million to 10,000 years ago, whereas the Bega endocast came from undoubted Pliocene period deposits.
This period immediately preceded the Pleistocene, dating back over five million years, placing the origins of the Bega Man at around the beginning of the Pliocene.
This implies that the Bega race descended from an, at present, unknown primate form dating back into the earlier Miocene period," he argues.
Rex Gilroy is aware that his claims will not be acceptable to the hard-core 'Out of Africa' school of anthropologists, but he believes that this attitude will be changed as further pre-Aboriginal fossil finds come to light in this most ancient of continents.
"I believe the Bega endocast represents a race of ancestral hominids, which in time evolved into a proto-Homo erectus race from which Homo erectus proper evolved, here in Australia before he did anywhere else, to in turn evolve into anatomically modern humans, probably by around 300,000 years ago (as suggested by 'late' Homo erectus and 'archaic' Homo sapien mineralised skull-types from a central western NSW site in his possession), well before Homo sapiens 'first' appeared in Africa by around 150,000 years ago according to current evidence.
Lately there has been much publicity surrounding the Flores Hobbits who lived a mere 13,000 years ago.
"The Bega Hobbits are considerably older than that!" concluded Mr Gilroy.
http://english.people.com.cn/200601/12/eng20060112_234751.html
New archaeological discovery rewrites Hong Kong's history of human activity
Archaeologists have discovered a new site of human activity in remote antiquity in Sai Kung, Hong Kong.
Zhang Shenshui, researcher of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told Xinhua here Wednesday that the important archaeological discovery not only rewrites the history when Hong Kong began having human activity, but also puts forward new topics of research for archaeologists.
More than 6,000 artifacts have been unearthed at the site, which is located at the Wong Tei Tung of Sai Kung, covering 8,000 square meters. The site was a field for stone artifacts making in the Paleolithic era ranging from 35,000 years to 39,000 years ago.
The significance of the discovery lies in the fact that, as the only discovery in Hong Kong from the Paleolithic era, it changes the traditional view that Hong Kong had no human activity until the Neolithic era.
Zhang said the artifacts unearthed mainly are middle- and large-sized ones, differing from those unearthed in the northern areas which are mainly small.
"More important, some artifacts unearthed this time had never been discovered before," he stressed.
He said the new discovery puts forward new topics for archaeological research since no new archaeological discoveries in China's coastal areas have been made in recent years.
The discovery was made at the end of 2004 by a joint team from the Hong Hong Archaeological Society and Sun Yet-sen University.
"Experts from the mainland and Hong Kong will continue to make further investigation on this site," he added.
Source: Xinhua
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1687099,00.html
Neanderthal man floated into Europe, say Spanish researchers
Giles Tremlett in Madrid
Monday January 16, 2006
The Guardian
Spanish investigators believe they may have found proof that neanderthal man reached Europe from Africa not just via the Middle East but by sailing, swimming or floating across the Strait of Gibraltar.
Prehistoric remains of hunter-gatherer communities found at a site known as La Cabililla de Benzú, in the Spanish north African enclave of Ceuta, are remarkably similar to those found in southern Spain, investigators said. Stone tools at the site correspond to the middle palaeolithic period, when neanderthal man emerged, and resemble those found across Spain.
"This could break the paradigm of most investigators, who have refused to believe in any contact in the palaeolithic era between southern Europe and northern Africa," investigator José Ramos explained in the University of Cadiz's research journal.
Although the scientists have not yet reached definite conclusions, they say the evidence that neanderthal man mastered some primitive techniques for crossing the sea into Europe from the coast near Ceuta looks promising.
If the theory could be proved, and a two-pronged arrival of neanderthal man accepted, it would help solve some of the mysteries thrown up by prehistoric sites around Europe.
During the ice ages that affected much of Europe, the distance from Africa across the Strait of Gibraltar would have been much less than its current eight miles, the investigators from Cadiz University said. There was also evidence that small islands may have existed in the middle of the strait, which would have made travelling from one side to the other much easier.
Fauna and flora evidence from the same era suggested both sides of the Mediterranean were by no means isolated. A neanderthal ability to travel across small stretches of sea would help explain why the Iberian peninsula has older examples of human remains than, say, France.
Mr Ramos said: "If the only way of getting to Europe was via the Middle East then, theoretically, they should have got to France before reaching Spain."
Investigators from Atapuerca, a Spanish site where some of the continent's oldest human remains have been found, will travel to Ceuta to help investigate.
Well-adapted to the cold climate of palaeolithic Europe and western Asia, neanderthals appear to have been the dominant hominid in the region until the emergence of anatomically modern humans. The first neanderthal skull was found in Gibraltar in 1848, although the species was not recognised until a second discovery in a German quarry in 1856.
Neanderthals are also thought to have had their last stand in southern Spain around 30,000 years ago before being wiped out by the spread of homo sapiens.
http://www.iwcp.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=1252&ArticleID=1310963
FEARS FOR ANCIENT REMAINS BELOW WAVES
By Martin Neville
DIVERS face a desperate race against time to recover 8,000-year-old artefacts from the bottom of The Solent before they are lost forever.
The underwater site, off Bouldnor, is the only one yet discovered in Britain and dates from when the sea level was 12 metres lower than today, when the IW would have been much larger and The Solent was a dry coastal valley.
It remains because it was covered in silt and protected from erosion as the sea rose above it. Most Stone Age sites on land have lost all associated organic remains, having been exposed to weathering. However, underwater, the oxygen-free mud can preserve delicate objects for thousands of years.
Unfortunately, this is being eroded by the currents and is likely to be gone within two to three years. Radiocarbon dating has underlined the international significance of the ancient drowned landscape and given archaeologists further tantalising evidence of human occupation.
Tests have revealed material, thought to be the remains of a wooden structure, are around 300 years younger than the surrounding ancient oak trees, which have been dated from around 8,400 years ago.
Garry Momber, director of the Hampshire and Wight Trust for Maritime Archaeology (HWTMA), said the irregular nature of the timbers would suggest the remains were not those of a large tree.
"We know that because by this period the larger trees in the area were being killed by rising sea levels," he said.
"The remains are on an elevated piece of land with water either side of it. It's possible the area was developed because it was next to water with plentiful food nearby.
"The dates have been very interesting because they demonstrate the timber structure is not contemporary with the oak forest, which remains on the floor of The Solent.
"If it is the remains of an occupation site, the structure would have been sturdier and more substantial than a wind break or tent-like shelter, as there are some sizeable timbers remaining."
Mr Momber said the evidence also showed how quickly sea levels can rise, in this case coming at the end of an ice age, when sea levels were rising much quicker than today.
The structure is also next to a pit filled with burnt flint that is believed to be an oven or hearth and archaeologists now hope the two can be linked with further tests.
But the rapid rate of erosion of the Bouldnor site means it is a race against time before it is gone forever.
Mr Momber said: "On land you may find indicators such as post holes that would testify to the remains of Middle Stone Age buildings but the time would be lost.
"We have protected the site as best we can with sandbags but it is quickly being eroded and there's no telling what still remains today.
"We hope to dive the site this year but, despite its importance, it's very difficult to get money to do it."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=82&ObjectID=10363410
Ancient Maori artefact discovered on beach
12.01.06 4.00pm
Three Danish tourists wandering along a deserted beach on their third day in New Zealand, spotted a piece of history lying on the shoreline.
They immediately recognised that the smooth stone lying in the sand was like ancient battleaxe heads they have seen at home.
Yesterday, the three men - Martin Jacobse, 19, Kristian Kappel, 19, and Kenneth Jespersen, 21 - handed their discovery, a Maori toki (adze) to the Hawke's Bay Museum.
Their finding came last month after the trio, on their first day out of Auckland, drove 120km north to the remote Puketotara Peninsula on the west coast. When the road ended they then tramped through dense bush to scale a peak "that we could see that we would like to have dinner at".
"The bush was taller than us," Mr Jacobse said. "On the way back we found a bay and we found it lying on the sand where the water comes up to. At first we thought it was just a nice stone."
Because of their tiredness, they considered leaving the adze where it was.
"We were quite exhausted after walking and we wondered if we could carry it all the way back," he said.
"In Denmark they have them in museums and from time to time you see them on the west coast, but they're for killing people and are quite different.
"We showed it to people in garages when our car was broken down and they were very impressed and said be careful because of the spirits involved."
Yesterday the trio handed the toki to a clearly impressed Don Miller, honorary curator of archaeology at the Hawke's Bay Museum.
"I would say it would be between 500 and 600 years old. It's in very good condition and is very well made," Mr Miller said.
"It's actually used for the felling of trees and working with wood basically. It's a very good example of its kind and is made of basalt, a volcanic rock which is common in the area in which it was found."
Mr Miller said the details of the Danes' holiday discovery would be sent to Te Papa Museum and after a blessing was performed on the toki, it would most likely be given to a museum closer to where it was found in Northland.
- HAWKE'S BAY TODAY
Race to save first kingdoms in Africa from dam waters
Pieter Tesch in Doma, northern Sudan and Colin Freeman
(Filed: 08/01/2006)
They built more pyramids than the Egyptians, invented the world's first "rock" music, and were as bloodthirsty as the Aztecs when it came to human sacrifices.
Yet ever since their demise at the hands of a vengeful pharaoh, the pre-Christian civilisations of ancient Sudan have been overshadowed by their Egyptian northern neighbours. Now, the race is on to excavate black Africa's first great kingdoms - before some of their heartlands are submerged for ever.
In a highly controversial move, the Sudanese government is planning to flood a vast stretch of the southern Nile valley as part of plans for a big hydro-electric dam at Merowe, near what was once the ancient city of Napata.
The project has been criticised by environmental groups, who say it will lead to the displacement of about 50,000 people - small farmers and their families, who have tilled the Nile's fertile banks for centuries.
The Sudanese government insists, however, that the Chinese-backed project should go ahead, saying it is essential to pull the country into the developed world. With the dam scheduled for completion in 2008, archaeologists are in a race against time to survey what will eventually become a 100-mile-long lake.
The affected area lies in what is known as the Nile's fourth cataract, one of the six stretches of river divided from each other by sets of rapids impassable by boat.
Already more than 700 sites of potential interest have been discovered in just one small part of the area to be flooded - showing the need not only for an urgent programme to rescue the most important artefacts, but also for a reappraisal of Sudan's archaeological importance.
"Previously we thought the fourth cataract was something of a backwater - it is wrong to say so," said Julie Anderson of the British Museum's department of ancient Egypt and Sudan. "But in the last year alone 700 brand new sites have been discovered - an indication of the untapped riches that exist.
"Although Sudan is the largest country in Africa it has often been in the shadow of Egypt. The fourth cataract is changing that perception. It is exciting, as everything we find is brand new."
Among the surprises uncovered during the digs is the influence of the ancient empire of Kerma, which flourished as a southern rival to Egypt's pharaohs but was previously not known to have extended into the fourth cataract. Kerma's kings, who ruled between 2500BC and 1500BC, have been discovered with up to 400 human sacrifices buried alongside them - indicating that they were important potentates in their time.
As the meeting point between the cultures of Egypt and sub-Saharan Africa, Kerma grew hugely prosperous, its merchants supplying the souks of the north with everything from gold and hardwoods to exotic animals and slaves.
But just as in modern-day Sudan, ethnic tensions constantly simmered between the north and the predominantly black south. After a brutal 220-year war, -among the longest in history - Kerma was finally vanquished by the Egyptian Pharaoh Tuthmosis I, a leader whose aggression rivalled that of Genghis Khan.
The fourth cataract area also contains Paleolithic remains dating back 200,000 years, including prehistoric cave etchings of animals and "rock gongs" - primitive stone-age xylophones in which rocks produce different sounds when hit.
The archaeologists' biggest prize, however, still eludes them - a key to the ancient language of Meroitic, which first appeared on temples and artefacts during the 4th century BC but remains one of the world's few undeciphered scripts.
"We need to find a Rosetta Stone," said Dr Anderson, referring to the stone tablet discovered in 1799 which unlocked the mystery of hieroglyphics.
The Sunday Telegraph was granted rare access to the area to be flooded when the dam is built.
As the largest project of its kind to be built in Africa since the Aswan dam, 300 miles down-river in Egypt in the 1960s, it has aroused strong opposition from people who will be displaced.
Archaeologists have come under pressure to down tools from campaigners against the dam, who claim that their activity lends the project legitimacy.
Dr Anderson's colleague Derek Welsby, the deputy keeper of the British Museum's department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan, who is currently excavating near the village of ed Doma, rejected this. "The dam is going ahead whether we are here or not and it would not benefit anybody if we were not working here," he said.
He admitted that it was sad to witness the end of a lifestyle that has continued, unchanged in many ways, since it was first depicted in the ancient rock etchings.
"You sense continuity from Neolithic times with their representations of elephants, giraffes and ostriches, to the cattle drawings of the Kerma period, and followed by drawings of camels, horses and fighting men," he said.
Ali Yousef, a date palm farmer in ed Doma, voiced fears that the artificially irrigated desert land offered in government resettlement pledges might not be as fertile as that on the Nile's banks, but added: "We have to accept that the dam is for the greater benefit of Sudan."
http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/01/13/wtara13.xml
Seat of Celtic kings is threatened by motorway
By Tom Peterkin, Ireland Correspondent
(Filed: 13/01/2006)
A plan to build a motorway beside the hill where ancient Celtic kings were crowned has been challenged in court as campaigners fight to save a monument described by W B Yeats as the "most consecrated spot in Ireland".
The Irish government's proposal to build a new commuter route for Dublin through the valley containing the Hill of Tara has infuriated archaeologists, historians and conservationists.
The battle, which has been depicted as a conflict between Ireland's mystical past and the materialistic modern nation of the Celtic Tiger, yesterday came to the High Court in Dublin.
The hearing, which is scheduled to last for five days, is the culmination of a two-year campaign to stop the 30-mile M3 motorway passing less than a mile from the coronation site of around 100 Irish High Kings in Co Meath.
Dublin's decision to press ahead with the road was challenged by Vincent Salafia, an environmentalist, who has argued that Dick Roche, the environment minister, should not have granted the motorway permission.
Gerry Hogan, senior counsel for Mr Salafia, claimed the legislation used to push through the project was unconstitutional.
He said the National Monuments (Amendment) Act 2004 weakened the role of the Oireachtas (Ireland's national parliament) by giving the minister discretionary powers to determine the fate of the country's heritage. Mr Hogan claimed the state's duty to protect monuments had been "seriously compromised".
Under the terms of the Act, Mr Roche is able to decide whether to preserve a site on the basis of the public interest as well as archaeological considerations.
According to Pat Wallace, the director of the National Museum of Ireland, the Hill of Tara is one Ireland's most important treasures.
Mr Hogan told the court that 38 archaeological sites had been identified along the M3's route.
Tara's importance as a religious centre dates from around 4,000 BC. The oldest visible man-made feature is the Mound of the Hostages, which dates from the third millennium BC.
It is associated with Cormac Mac Art, the legendary Irish High King. Tara became a pagan spiritual and political centre in the third century AD. It has remained a potent symbol of Ireland's nationhood.
During the rebellion of 1798 the United Irishmen camped on the hill, but were attacked and defeated by British troops.
In 1843, Daniel O'Connell, the Irish MP, hosted a peaceful Home Rule political demonstration at Tara that is reputed to have attracted one million supporters.
The application for judicial review is being heard before Mr Justice Thomas Smyth. The environment minister, Meath county council, the National Roads Authority and the attorney-general dispute Mr Hogan's assertion that a wider zone around the hill should be considered part of the existing national monument.
The hearing continues.
http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=32682006
Braveheart killing 'topped bill at fair'
GEORGE MAIR
WILLIAM Wallace's execution was the opening attraction of a giant medieval carnival, according to research which sheds new light on the freedom fighter's death in August 1305.
The killing of 'Braveheart' Wallace, during which he was hanged, drawn and quartered, is now believed to have marked the opening of Bartholomew Fair - the largest medieval market in England, held annually for centuries to commemorate St Bartholomew's Day on August 24.
Tens of thousands flocked to Smithfield - the site of his execution - for the fortnight-long celebration, which featured vast cloth and meat markets as well as sideshows, musicians, wire-walkers, acrobats, puppets, freaks and wild animals.
The fair, which was first held in 1133, was unique in that everyone from peasants to the upper echelons of England's aristocracy attended. By the 18th century it was one of the most spectacular national and international events of the year. It ended in 1855.
The convener of the Society of William Wallace, David Ross, who discovered the link, said: "Wallace was captured near Glasgow on August 3, 1305, and was rushed to London, where he arrived on August 22.
"I had always wondered why he was taken down to London in only 19 days, which included some time during which he was kept at Dumbarton Castle, where his famous sword was left.
"The English king, Edward Longshanks, had Wallace rushed to London, where his trial was hastily set up at Smithfield, facing St Bartholomew's Church.
"Unlike most prisoners, who were thrown into dungeons to languish for months or even years, Wallace appeared in London on August 22, was tried on the 23rd and executed immediately after. That is extremely unusual, but until now we have never known why - other than that Wallace was to be made an example of.
"But Bartholomew Fair presented the perfect opportunity for King Edward to demonstrate his power to the maximum number of people.
"A vast number of people thronging to the medieval fair would have seen the champion of Scotland torn to pieces, and known what would happen to those who crossed Edward."
Ross added: "Bartholomew Fair was the biggest fair in the country - the population of London doubled as traders came from far and wide to Smithfield.
"The fair centred around St Bartholomew's feast day, and at its focal point was St Bartholomew's Church, outside which Wallace was executed.
"It was customary for the Lord Mayor of London to open the fair formally at that place on St Bartholomew's Eve - the very day Wallace was executed.
"It seems clear that Wallace's hideous murder was the fair's opening spectacle, timed perfectly for the day when most people congregated from all over the country - and led by the Lord Mayor himself to commence the celebrations."
Published: 11th January 2006
Archaeological dig unearths ‘exciting’ medieval treasure
THE medieval arrowhead.A MEDIEVAL arrowhead, possibly forged as a weapon to slay poachers hunting on the king’s land, has been unearthed at Mellor hill top.
The 13th to 14th century arrowhead was recovered from a medieval post pit following this summer’s excavations by Manchester University’s Archaeological Unit, in co-ordination with Mellor Archaeological Trust.
Wrought from iron, the arrowhead is 8cm long and is deliberately designed to maim humans, rather than animals.
Categorised as a war arrow, the find is the latest treasure to be unearthed from a site that has yielded an Iron Age hill fort, neolithic and mesolithic flints and a bronze age flint dagger since it was discovered more than seven years ago.
Adam Thompson, of Manchester University’s Archaeological Unit, said: "It is a particularly impressive find although it's even more exciting that it came out of a post pit. The post pits would originally have been the foundations for a large medieval timber framed aisled hall. This is possibly a site of foresters who would have looked after the king’s land and made sure no-one was poaching."
Carbon dating of charcoal from the post pit produced a date of AD1000–AD1250 while analysis of pottery fragments recovered from associated pits are dated from the 11th–13th and 13th–15th centuries.
Ann Hearle, of Mellor Archaeological Trust, said: "It’s very exciting because it gives us another piece of the jigsaw puzzle. We have a medieval structure and we will have another go at it this summer."
The Trust is currently applying for lottery funding as part of a Mellor Heritage Project.
Further information on the site is available online at www.mellorarchaeology.org.uk.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article338504.ece
3.5 million Ashkenazi Jews 'traced to four female ancestors'
By Donald Macintyre in Jerusalem
Published: 14 January 2006
A total of 3.5 million Ashkenazi Jews are descended from just four "founding mothers" who lived in Europe at least 1,000 years ago, according to a study by Israeli geneticists.
The four women were part of a small group which founded the Ashkenazi community, established in Europe after migration from the Middle East, and was ultimately descended from Jews who migrated to Italy in the first and second centuries AD.
The discovery that the women are the ancestors of some 40 per cent of all eight million Ashkenazi, or European Jews, has been made possible by analysing the michrondrial DNA [mtDNA] component of the human genome. MtDNA is only transmitted through the female line.
The researchers found that the mtDNA common to the Ashkenazi group of women is virtually unknown among non-Jews but is also found in a minority of non-European, or Sephardic Jews, which the study team says is "evidence of shared maternal ancestry of Ashkenazi and non-Ashkenazi Jews".
The study showed that it was common to the group during what the team say was "a major overall expansion in Europe during the last millennium". The Ashkenazi population has frequently been studied by human geneticists because some 20 recessive hereditary disorders are found within the group.
The research is part of the human genome project, in which mapping of human DNA has significantly increased not only the possibility of predicting genetic diseases, but also of identifying the shared ancestries of individuals.
The researchers say the women had apparently lived somewhere in Europe, but not necessarily in the same place or even the same century.
The research, published in the American Journal of Human Genetics, was conducted as part of a doctoral thesis by Dr Doron Behar under the supervision of Professor Karl Skorecki of the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine and Research Institute at the Haifa-based Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. A team of other researchers from other universities around the world contributed to the study.
Professor Skorecki is famous for his 1997 discovery of genetic evidence that most latter-day Kohanim, Jewish priests entitled to give blessings and whose office is handed down from generation to generation, are descendants of a single male. Those findings were consistent with the religious view that the Kohanim were descended from Aaron, the biblical high priest and older brother of Moses.
The professor said yesterday that the DNA type provided no evidence of whether the four women were themselves especially fertile. But he said it was clear the group as a whole had "enjoyed reproductive success despite their living ... in a continent characterised by natural and human disaster". He said the population growth had happened despite plague, wars and other events.
The research team says the study has "significant implications beyond their inherent interest and relevance to human history; they are vital to understanding the mechanisms of genetic health and disease in human populations".
Professor Skorecki was modest about the study's findings. He said that as a "physician who is also interested in history" he was surprised that the study had aroused as much interest as it had.
Suggesting he was not sure genetics deserved such an especially high profile as a tool for studying population development, he added: "There are many other ways of learning history, like archaeology, the study of archives, linguistics and so on. But somehow genetics seems to capture the public imagination."
A total of 3.5 million Ashkenazi Jews are descended from just four "founding mothers" who lived in Europe at least 1,000 years ago, according to a study by Israeli geneticists.
The four women were part of a small group which founded the Ashkenazi community, established in Europe after migration from the Middle East, and was ultimately descended from Jews who migrated to Italy in the first and second centuries AD.
The discovery that the women are the ancestors of some 40 per cent of all eight million Ashkenazi, or European Jews, has been made possible by analysing the michrondrial DNA [mtDNA] component of the human genome. MtDNA is only transmitted through the female line.
The researchers found that the mtDNA common to the Ashkenazi group of women is virtually unknown among non-Jews but is also found in a minority of non-European, or Sephardic Jews, which the study team says is "evidence of shared maternal ancestry of Ashkenazi and non-Ashkenazi Jews".
The study showed that it was common to the group during what the team say was "a major overall expansion in Europe during the last millennium". The Ashkenazi population has frequently been studied by human geneticists because some 20 recessive hereditary disorders are found within the group.
The research is part of the human genome project, in which mapping of human DNA has significantly increased not only the possibility of predicting genetic diseases, but also of identifying the shared ancestries of individuals.
The researchers say the women had apparently lived somewhere in Europe, but not necessarily in the same place or even the same century.
The research, published in the American Journal of Human Genetics, was conducted as part of a doctoral thesis by Dr Doron Behar under the supervision of Professor Karl Skorecki of the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine and Research Institute at the Haifa-based Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. A team of other researchers from other universities around the world contributed to the study.
Professor Skorecki is famous for his 1997 discovery of genetic evidence that most latter-day Kohanim, Jewish priests entitled to give blessings and whose office is handed down from generation to generation, are descendants of a single male. Those findings were consistent with the religious view that the Kohanim were descended from Aaron, the biblical high priest and older brother of Moses.
The professor said yesterday that the DNA type provided no evidence of whether the four women were themselves especially fertile. But he said it was clear the group as a whole had "enjoyed reproductive success despite their living ... in a continent characterised by natural and human disaster". He said the population growth had happened despite plague, wars and other events.
The research team says the study has "significant implications beyond their inherent interest and relevance to human history; they are vital to understanding the mechanisms of genetic health and disease in human populations".
Professor Skorecki was modest about the study's findings. He said that as a "physician who is also interested in history" he was surprised that the study had aroused as much interest as it had.
Suggesting he was not sure genetics deserved such an especially high profile as a tool for studying population development, he added: "There are many other ways of learning history, like archaeology, the study of archives, linguistics and so on. But somehow genetics seems to capture the public imagination."