Ancient DNA in Service of Archaeology

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Ancient DNA in Service of Archaeology," at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This session examines how ancient DNA can best support archaeological research. The "ancient

DNA revolution" is transforming our understanding of the human past – an understanding

meticulously built through decades of archaeological research. While the first ancient genome

was published only in 2010 and the number only reached 100 in 2015, more than 1,000 ancient

genomes were published within the last year alone. The proliferation of ancient DNA and its

inherent dependence on archaeological material for analysis requires collaborative efforts

between archaeologists and geneticists, balancing the grand narratives of demographic history

over space and time with finer-grained research questions in archaeology. To properly integrate

these two fields however – to move toward a true science of "archaeogenetics" – ancient DNA

must be made more accessible to archaeologists and be more tuned to questions posed by

archaeologists. Papers in this session provide examples of how ancient DNA can enrich our

understanding of the archaeological record, explain the techniques used in ancient DNA

research, provide case studies of integrative archaeogenetics projects, and explore how

archaeologists and geneticists can establish a symbiotic relationship in the years ahead.