ancient DNA (Other Keyword)
201-225 (324 Records)
This is an abstract from the "From Origins to Collapses: New Insights in the Cultural and Natural Processes of the Mirador-Calakmul Karst Basin" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. La cerámica de la Cuenca Mirador es un tema bastante fascinate porque la muestra viene de por lo menos 56 sitios argueologicos a un nivel regional. Los análises de estos materiales estan a cargo de Dr. Donald W. Forth, Silvia Alvarado, y su servidor, y abarca una...
Lauricocha v2.0: Ancient highlanders grant new insights into the pre-Columbian population history of South America (2015)
The Lauricocha caves in Peru were the first known evidence for an Early Holocene presence of humans in the high altitude Andes. However, critical examination of the excavation reports cast doubts on the status and significance of Lauricocha in the archaeological record of South America. Here, we present a thorough revision of site including new radiocarbon dates, as well as morphological, craniometric, and genome-wide genetic data obtained from the human remains found at the site. Our results...
Leveraging DNA Capabilities for Lithic Analysis: Experimental Results and Best Practices (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Old Technology, New Methodology" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This paper outlines the results of a multipart experiment in obtaining DNA deposited on lithics to address questions regarding localized resource use. Previous publications hypothesize that DNA molecules can be preserved in microcracks in lithics and suggest that questions regarding resource exploitation can be addressed with lithics. The goal of this...
Limitations and Challenges of Sex Determination Methods for Archaeological Human Remains (2025)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Recent advances in molecular archaeology have complicated osteological methods of determining biological sex from human skeletal remains. Genetic and proteomic approaches are increasingly applied in bioarchaeology, and comparative studies suggest that these approaches are more accurate than osteological analyses. They can also identify biological sex in...
Linking the Past to the Present: Collaborative DNA Research with Native Californians (2021)
This is an abstract from the "Increasing the Accessibility of Ancient DNA within Archaeology" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. At the time of European contact, a high degree of linguistic diversity characterized Native California, implying a long prehistory of different ethnic groups migrating into the region. Previous research, using mitochondrial DNA samples contributed by living descendants, produced correlations between certain genetic markers...
The Long and Winding Road: Guatemala City to Rio Azul (and then to the Programme for Belize) (2025)
This is an abstract from the "Sessions in Honor of Dr. Fred Valdez Jr. and His Contributions to Archaeology, Part 2" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Proyecto Regional Ixcanrio and Programme for Belize Archaeological Projects have provided an unparalleled opportunity for creative research and professional collaboration. Under the unconditional guidance and support of Dr. Fred Valdez critical advances in our understanding of ancient Maya society...
Machays, Tombs, and Burials: The Complex Mortuary Landscape of Late Intermediate Period Sondor (2024)
This is an abstract from the "Beyond the Ancestors: New Approaches to Andean "Open Sepulchers"" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The site of Sondor in the south-central Peruvian Andes is famously known as an Inca ceremonial center in Andahuaylas, Peru. Prior to Inca presence, Sondor was occupied by cultures from the Formative period to the Late Intermediate period (LIP), with the largest occupation by the Chanka during the LIP (AD 1000–1400)....
Maize Adaptation to Changing Environments (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Subsistence Crops and Animals as a Proxy for Human Cultural Practice" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. All organisms must contend with rapidly changing environments in the face of climate change in order to ensure the survival of the population (Hoffmann and Sgrò 2011). Domesticated plants, with a 10,000 year history of adapting to new environments, provide an excellent model for understanding genetic responses to...
Maize Domestication and Dispersal in the Americas (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Fryxell Symposium in Honor of Dolores Piperno" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Dolores Piperno’s work during the last four decades transformed our understanding of maize domestication and dispersal in the Americas. To honor this legacy we synthesize current genetic, paleoecological, and archaeological data regarding the early development of this globally important staple crop. Genetic evidence indicates initial...
Malaria in the African Indian Ocean Islands: Prospects and Challenges for Biomolecular Archaeology (2024)
This is an abstract from the "Islands around Africa: State-of-the-Art and Future Directions" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Malaria remains one of the most devastating infectious diseases affecting human populations, with over 200 million cases and 500,000 deaths annually worldwide, most of which focused on the mainlands of sub-Saharan Africa. While malaria is an “old” disease on the mainland dating back tens of thousands of years, its history on...
Marine Mammal Hunting in the Kuril Islands: Zooarchaeological and Genetic Insights (2023)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. People have inhabited the NW Pacific Kuril Islands for millennia, supported by the productive marine and coastal environments. Here, we build upon previous faunal analyses that examined biogeographical patterns in faunal exploitation by conducting a chronological analysis, grouped by cultural period (Epi-Jomon, Okhotsk, Ainu and Historic). Specifically, we...
Metagenomic analysis of pre-contact diet using ancient dental calculus from Prince Rupert Harbour, British Columbia (2017)
Prior to the displacement caused by European colonization, the Coast Tsimshian harvested an array of terrestrial, freshwater, and marine dietary resources as they moved between coastal settlements and the nearby Skeena River valley. Conventional paleodietary analysis using faunal analysis and isotopic values has provided valuable data which, when paired with the knowledge of First Nations communities, can help reconstruct how ancestral communities utilized food resources prior to the cultural...
Microbial Communities from Soil and Coprolites (2018)
With implications involving health, nutrition, and even behavior, research into the human microbiome is a burgeoning field within the biological sciences. Less well understood is whether humans, both modern and past, share(d) a recognizable core microbiome. Archaeological materials represent a window into microbiome structure and function of ancient peoples. Assuming microorganisms or their DNA persist for many years under optimal conditions, coprolites should represent time capsules into the...
Migrating Genes, or How to Avoid the Free-Ranging Genome (2021)
This is an abstract from the "Increasing the Accessibility of Ancient DNA within Archaeology" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Migration studies address huge distances, such as the colonization of the Americas, and smaller regions, such as the peopling of specific sites. The use of genetics as a medium to enhance our understanding of population movement can be an asset. There are potential pitfalls, however, such as the misrepresentation of DNA...
Migration and Mitogenomes: analysis of West Mexican populations to better understand their place in the larger Mesoamerican social landscape (2024)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The world has always been connected through the movement of people, exchange of goods, and sharing of cultural traits; thus, evidence of such can be found within the genomes of individuals, as well as the archaeological sites they leave behind. The present research is comprised of multiple lines of inquiry that address questions of gene flow, genetic...
Migration Waves, Genetic Drift and the Peopling of Fuego-Patagonia (2016)
The colonization of Fuego-Patagonia is filled with questions of origin, timing and migratory routes taken by early colonizers (inland hunter gatherers) and later migrants, the highly-specialized marine populations. Our study compares mitochondrial DNA sequences taken from 20 prehistoric samples (teeth) ranging in age between 7,200 and 1,000 cal yrs BP (before present) to results from 38 modern Patagonians (Kaweskar, Mapuche-Huilliche and Yagan) who participated as part of the Genographic...
The Mirador-Calakmul Karst Basin Causeway System as an ElementPromoter of the Construction Peak during the Late Preclassic (2025)
This is an abstract from the "From Origins to Collapses: New Insights in the Cultural and Natural Processes of the Mirador-Calakmul Karst Basin" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Mirador-Calakmul Karst Basin is located in the south of Campeche, Mexico and north of Petén, Guatemala. For the territory of Guatemala, it has been identified that the settlement of many sites was carried out in the Middle Preclassic, but the peak of cities such as El...
Mitochondrial DNA Diversity in West Mexico (2025)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The world has always been connected through the movement of people, exchange of goods, and sharing of cultural traits; thus, evidence of such can be found within the genomes of individuals, as well as the archaeological sites they leave behind. Despite attempts at systematic research, we are still missing critical information about pre-Hispanic...
Mitochondrial DNA Results from the Kormantse Archaeological Research Project (2018)
Kormantse is an influential and celebrated place name in the African Diaspora. Some scholars estimate that more slaves were transported from Kormantse and nearby Fort William in Anamabo than most other West African ports. For the last ten years, the Kormantse Archaeological Research Project (KARP) has been studying the human skeletal remains recovered from the site. A combination of PCR-based techniques, targeted enrichment, and next-generation sequencing of Kormantse teeth has confirmed...
Mitogenome sequencing of ancient dogs in the Americas: assessing dog genetic diversity and population history (2016)
Mitochondrial DNA of ancient dogs in the Americas has been studied extensively, but most studies focus solely on the hypervariable region. We sequenced the complete mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) of dogs in the Americas from multiple geographic regions and time periods in order to compare populations between regions as well as to compare the genetic diversity of ancient dogs in the Americas to modern dogs worldwide. When comparing the HVR and mitogenome data, we found that the two data sets...
A Molecular Anthropological Re-examination of the Human Remains from La Galgada, Peru (2017)
The archaeological site of La Galgada is located on the eastern bank of the Tablachaca River in the highlands of Northern Peru. The site was dated to both the Preceramic period and Initial period through a combination of detailed archaeological investigation of the site complex, and the use of radiocarbon dating of material collected stratigraphically. Human remains found at the site were also categorized into these two periods based on stratigraphic location. However, recent radiocarbon dating...
Molecular archaeobotany from its early foundations onward: New questions and perspectives for the genomic era (2015)
Following the inception of ancient DNA-based research in the mid 1980’s, researchers began applying the new toolkit of archaeogenetics to a diverse range of questions surrounding human-plant interactions. These early studies laid the groundwork for the field of molecular archaeobotany, exploring aspects of selection and domestication, movement of crop plants alongside humans, and human impacts on ancient ecosystems. Some two decades later, ancient DNA researchers began experimenting with...
Molecular Disease characterization in a pre-Columbian Indigenous population of Punta Candelero, Puerto Rico. (2017)
Skeletal remains belonging to a Late Saladoid population from Punta Candelero site (AD 640-1200), southeast Puerto Rico were used for the detection of Pathogens. Previous studies have established the presence of trace genetic indicators of molecular disease in skeletal remains, such as syphilis and tuberculosis, with associated history or pathology. In this study, we are investigating the presence of various pathogens associated with pre-Columbian Indigenous populations of Puerto Rico....
Monks and Makurians: Tracing Biology and Mobility at Medieval Ghazali (ca. 680 to 1275 CE) (2023)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Located in the Wadi Abu Dom, approximately 15 kilometers from the Nile in modern Sudan, the medieval Makurian site of Ghazali (ca. 680–1270 CE) was the location of a large monastic community with associated lay settlement nearby. As part of ongoing research at Ghazali, individuals from the four cemeteries identified at this site were sampled for 87Sr/86Sr...
MtDNA Analysis of the Paquimé (Casas Grandes), Mexico, Population (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Ancient DNA in Service of Archaeology" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This research project investigates the population interred at the archaeological site known as Paquimé (Casas Grandes), Mexico between two time periods known as the Viejo Period (700 - 1200 A.D.) and the Medio Period (1200 - 1450 A.D.). There was a shift in culture during the latter period marked by changes in material culture and the bringing...