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The biogeographic and demographic history of the house mouse, Mus musculus domesticus, has been closely linked to human history since pre-Neolithic times – this species first appeared in the Near East and subsequently dispersed westward with humans into regions with local Mus species. However, if this issue is now well known for the eastern Mediterranean, data are still lacking for the western Mediterranean, and especially for north-western Africa. In the present study, we combine morphological, geometric morphometric and genetic analyses to Mus remains from the Moroccan site of Rirha, dating to the Mauretanian period (5th to 1st century BC). Thanks to this multidisciplinary approach, we were able to confirm the first asserted record of the house mouse in a well-established archaeological context in the Maghreb. The morphometric and genetic results are largely congruent, with a single discrepancy observed for one specimen, which may be linked to possible hybridization between M. m. domesticus and M. spretus species. Further analyses are required on material from other North African sites dating to earlier chrono-cultural periods to better document the oldest appearance and the dispersal of the house mouse in the south-western Mediterranean through time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humans have a long history of transporting and trading plants, contributing to the evolution of domesticated plants. Theobroma cacao originated in the Neotropics from South America. However, little is known about its domestication and use in these regions. In this study, ceramic residues from a large sample of pre-Columbian cultures from South and Central America were analyzed using archaeogenomic and biochemical approaches. Here we show, for the first time, the widespread use of cacao in South America out of its native Amazonian area of origin, extending back 5000 years, likely supported by cultural interactions between the Amazon and the Pacific coast. We observed that strong genetic mixing between geographically distant cacao populations occurred as early as the middle Holocene, in South America, driven by humans, favoring the adaptation of T. cacao to new environments. This complex history of cacao domestication is the basis of today's cacao tree populations and its knowledge can help us better manage their genetic resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]