ancient DNA (Other Keyword)
76-100 (324 Records)
This is an abstract from the "Ancient DNA in Service of Archaeology" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The genomic revolution opened up new dimensions for paleogenomic research, inconceivable only a decade ago. However, with a primary focus on big-picture population genetics like large-scale migration events, paleogenetics also became somewhat removed from problem-based archaeological research questions with a regional focus, addressing issues such...
Beyond the Genome: Unravelling Life Processes Using Epigenomes and Ancient RNA (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. The power of ancient DNA to archaeological research needs little introduction. Recent technological revolutions in DNA sequencing have allowed entire populations, lineages, ecosystems, and epidemics to be reconstructed. While these large-scale studies address 'big picture’ questions of prehistory, more subtle, specific questions about past...
Bioarchaeological and Genetic Analysis of the Tzintzuntzan Ossuary (2024)
This is an abstract from the "Looking to the West: New insights into Postclassic Archaeology in Michoacán" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This poster will present the first results from the bioarchaeological analysis of more than half a ton of human skeletal remains recovered from the ossuary of the ancient city of Tzintzuntzan on the shores of Lake Patzcuaro in the state of Michoacán, Mexico. In addition to conventional morphological analysis,...
Bioarchaeological versus Archaeological Data on the Beginnings of Southeast and Central European Early Neolithic (2023)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The short paper focuses on Early Neolithic continental Europe, with presenting new archaeological results compared to similarly recent ancient DNA and stable isotope studies. I shall address various scenarios from selected regions in the Balkans, in northern Germany before zooming in the eastern and western part of the Carpathian basin. Here again,...
Bioarchaeology and Genome Justice: What Are the Implications for Indigenous Peoples? (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Social Justice in Native North American Archaeology" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This paper examines the theme of "discovery," used in relation to Indigenous lands and peoples to designate the respective claims of Indigenous peoples and the European peoples that colonized North America. In particular, I look at the domain of "bioarchaeology" and the construct of "genome justice" to explore how DNA science attempts...
Biomolecular and zooarchaeological insights into human-turtle interactions in historical New Orleans, Louisiana (2025)
This is an abstract from the "Global Perspectives on Biomolecular Approaches to Human-Animal Interactions Past and Present" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. <html> Turtle soup is a dish synonymous with New Orleans’ cuisine, and its deep history is enshrined in historical cookbooks, newspapers, and restaurant menus. However, despite its cultural and historical importance in New Orleans and other areas of the United States, turtle soup, and the...
Biomolecular Archaeology: New Insights from the Past (2017)
The field of biomolecular anthropology has been transformed in recent years by new technological and methodological approaches, including DNA, protein and small molecule characterization. At the Laboratories of Molecular Anthropology and Microbiome Research (LMAMR) at the University of Oklahoma, we have successfully expanded these approaches to study past populations, for example through the investigation of: 1) ancient animal use, translocations, and domestication, 2) human dietary adaptations,...
Biomolecular Preservation in Dental Calculus from the Teotihuacan Ritual Landscape (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. During the Classic Period (AD 1-550), thousands of people migrated to the ancient city of Teotihuacan. This population growth forged Teotihuacan into a center for economic, political, and religious activities for the Mesoamerican region. While archaeological evidence has provided a wealth of information about the state, little is known about its...
Bloody Sharp Rocks: Optimization of aDNA Extraction from Experimental Lithic Artifacts (2021)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Species detection using DNA recovered from lithic artifacts could indicate the manner in which tools were utilized and ultimately enhance our understanding of the mobility strategies and subsistence patterns employed by past peoples. Geneticists and archaeologists in the 1980s and 1990s managed to successfully extract DNA from lithics, using both modern...
Botanical and aDNA Analysis of the Dietary Contents of Human Paleofeces from Turkey Pen Ruin, Utah (2016)
Over the last few decades archaeologists and paleontologists have made great strides in paleofecal analysis, not the least of which was the application of aDNA testing. However, most aDNA analyses of paleofeces have focused exclusively on studying human populations and researchers have largely ignored the potential for using this tool to study dietary constituents themselves. In this study, we present analyses of aDNA from both the faunal and floral dietary constituents of 20 Basketmaker II...
Building a More Precise Understanding of the Past by Merging Techniques from Archaeology and Ancient DNA Analysis (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. Ancient DNA (aDNA) data have provided unprecedented new insights on demographic changes through time. This paper demonstrates that aDNA can also enhance well-established archaeological techniques, by building on research that has explored how aDNA data can help refine radiocarbon date range estimates. Previous research established that since there...
THE BUILT SPACE, ITS INTERPRETIVE DIMENSION AND A CODED MESSAGE: THE TRIADIC ENSEMBLE OF THE BALAM GROUP OF THE GREAT CENTRAL ACROPOLIS, PETEN GUATEMALA. (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 architecture of the acropolis-type complexes of triadic pattern permeates the Preclassic environment in several important cities of the Maya area. These complexes, despite presenting different orientations, dimensions and typology, maintain a typical distribution of a...
A Call for Contextualized Ancient DNA Research in Mexico: The Importance of Developing Ancient DNA Collaborations that Further Education and Technology Transfer and Infrastructure in Developing Countries: Perspectives from Mexico's Experiences (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. Ancient DNA approaches have a long-standing history in bioanthropological and archaeological contexts in Mexico. However, we are starting to see a gap between these novel data and anthropologists; this could be the result of the mixture of the rapid advance of paleogenomics together with the lack of technological and...
A Canadian Perspective on Later Paleoindian Technocomplexes and Emerging Genetic Data (2021)
This is an abstract from the "Paleo Lithics to Legacy Management: Ruthann Knudson—Inawa’sioskitsipaki" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Ruthann Knudson had an abiding interest in the later Paleoindian world and an affinity for Canadian research, keeping in regular touch with colleagues across the 49th parallel. Geneticists consistently identify three clades in the early prehistory of the New World: an ancient Beringian population in Alaska, and...
Captive management and sacrificial power: Using ancient genomics to study animal sacrifice in Teotihuacán (2021)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Excavations of the Moon and Sun Pyramids (1998-2004) at Teotihuacan have yielded both human and animal sacrifices, interred as part of state rituals. These rituals demonstrated the power of the state, and the species chosen reflected that power. Isotopic and zooarchaeological analyses of the sacrificed animals show that some of them were held for extended...
Ceremonial Fowl: An Iconographic Analysis of Turkey Effigy Vessels from Greater Nicoya, Costa Rica (2025)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Animal imagery is an essential component ubiquitously present in the ancient cultures of southern Central America. Despite the immense variety of local avian species in the tropics, non-native turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) feature prominently in high-quality polychrome ceramics from the Greater Nicoya area in Costa Rica. In this poster, I present an...
Challenges of Using NGS to Detect T. cruzi in Human Remains from Pre-Columbian South America (2017)
The trypanosomatid parasites are responsible for devastating human disease worldwide. In the Americas, Trypanosoma cruzi is the causative agent of Chagas Disease (CD), the most epidemic zoonosis in Latin America today. The clinical manifestations of CD, however, have been recognized in archaeological human remains from South America as early as 9,000 years ago. We present preliminary results of a project that applies paleogenomic methods, including targeted enrichment and next-generation...
Challenging environments: ancient DNA research in the circum-Caribbean (2016)
Ancient DNA (aDNA) studies have had a major impact in archaeology. However, until now most aDNA studies have been conducted on samples from cold or temperate environments, as DNA degrades more rapidly at higher temperatures. With average annual temperatures of over 25°C, the Caribbean represents a particularly challenging environment for aDNA research and very few aDNA studies have been conducted in the Caribbean to date. Yet, there are many questions in Caribbean archaeology that could be...
Characterization of a Multiple Burial context from Pachacamac, Peru: Complementarity between Bioarchaeology and Molecular Archaeology. (2024)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Pachacamac is a major pre-Columbian site located on Peru’s Central Coast. Covering approximately 6 km2, the site was occupied for over a thousand years before the Spanish conquest in the early 16th century. In 2012, the Ychsma Project discovered a unique Late Intermediate Period (900 to 1470 AD) multiple burial ('Cx4') made of two funerary chambers with a...
Children of Casas Grandes: A Molecular Examination of Subadults at Convento and Paquimé (2023)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Bioarchaeological research has played a significant role in understanding the Casas Grandes region of Northwest Mexico. Excavations at the archaeological sites of Convento and Paquimé recovered at least 652 burials dating to AD 700–1450, providing a robust skeletal population for investigations, including research on population demographics, patterns of...
Climbing Steep Learning Curves in Ancient DNA Research: An Example of Mastering qPCR (2025)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In this study, we illustrate the steep learning curve associated with learning quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), while also demonstrating its value as an effective training method for ancient DNA research. Utilizing sensitive fluorescent signals, qPCR monitors DNA amplification in real time, serving as an invaluable tool for the quantitation...
Collaborating with Descendant Communities to Explore the Biological Heritage of Enslaved People at James Madison’s Montpelier through Ancient DNA Analysis (2018)
Over the past 30 years, historical archaeologists have studied the sites and material remains of enslaved people from across the American South. Recently, archaeologists have actively worked with descendants in this research, including excavation and archaeological interpretation. However, little has been done to build the connection between biological and historical heritages of enslaved people and their descendants. In this study, we utilized ancient DNA methodology to contextualize the...
Collinsella intestinalis as Potential Marker of Processed Dairy Consumption (2025)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Maillard Reaction products (MRPs) are formed during the polymerization of a sugar and amino acid in the presence of heat, most of which add desirable flavor and aroma to the food we eat such as bread, powdered milk products and other thermally treated items. MRPs have been shown to impact the composition and diversity of the human gut microbiome,...
A Comparison of DNA Metabarcoding and Macroremains Analysis for Dietary Reconstruction using Coprolites from Bonneville Estates Rockshelter, Nevada (2023)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Coprolites are increasingly the subject of multiproxy analyses, but there is need to determine how the data, results, and interpretation of coprolite contents could differ depending on the methods chosen. This study presents a comparison of DNA metabarcoding and macroremains analysis performed on ten coprolites from Bonneville Estates Rockshelter, Nevada....
Comparisons of Commercial, Local, Wild, and Ancient Avocado Genomes (2025)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Avocados are a globally important fruit, crucial to the diets of urban and indigenous groups alike. Despite their utility, the origin of domesticated avocados is still largely a mystery. To better understand when, where, and how a wild plant species fell under domestication, geneticists must examine that species from the perspectives of commercial,...