Increasing the Accessibility of Ancient DNA within Archaeology
Part of: Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)
This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Increasing the Accessibility of Ancient DNA within Archaeology" at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.
Building on 2019's session examining how ancient DNA research can best support the goals of archaeology, we focus this year’s session on how ancient DNA research and the data it generates can be made more accessible to archaeologists, and why this is essential for the future of archaeogenetics. The field of ancient DNA continues along a trajectory of rapid growth, with many studies now analyzing tens or hundreds of individuals from previously unexplored regions of the world or periods of time. This trend emphasizes the need for an increase in the quantity and quality of communication between archaeologists and geneticists surrounding the standards and guidelines used to develop research agendas as well as the analytical methods used and interpretations made in studies of the past. The papers in this session provide examples of integrative archaeogenetics projects, present methodological developments that have enabled such projects, and otherwise discuss and explore the symbiotic relationship between archaeology and genetics. By increasing the transparency of our research and taking further steps toward a common language understood by researchers from these different, but complementary, disciplines, the papers in this session broadly contribute to the overarching goal of furthering active dialogue between archaeologists and geneticists.
Other Keywords
ancient DNA •
Migration •
contact period •
Historical Archaeology •
Ethics •
Historic •
Indigenous •
Ancestral Pueblo •
Paquime •
Bronze Age
Geographic Keywords
North America (Continent) •
United Mexican States (Country) •
United States of America (Country) •
Republic of El Salvador (Country) •
Belize (Country) •
Republic of Guatemala (Country) •
USA (Country) •
North America •
Mesoamerica •
Tamaulipas (State / Territory)
Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-9 of 9)
- Documents (9)
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Ancient DNA from Campeche, Mexico, Reveals a Socially Segregated Population in the First Two Centuries after Hispanic Contact (2021)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
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. The colonial period in Mexico was an unprecedented time when previously disparate populations began living together under Hispanic leadership and Catholic faith, often unwillingly. Immediately after the conquest, Spanish colonists established urban strongholds, often bringing African slaves and servants with them. In these...
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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)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
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...
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Exploring Male Sex-Bias in Ancient DNA Research (2021)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
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. Preliminary research and anecdotal evidence suggest that there is an overrepresentation of male samples relative to female samples in published ancient DNA research; however, the reason behind this bias is poorly understood. In this paper, we quantify this sex bias within an ancient DNA database of 3,365 individuals for whom...
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First Results of the “Proyecto de investigación de poblaciones antiguas en el norte y occidente de México” (2021)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
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. Genomic analytical techniques have matured enough to address longstanding problems about the interactions and migrations of ancient populations inhabiting the north and west border of Mesoamerica, as well with populations from the US Southwest. With this in mind, we have established a collaborative, binational project...
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Genetic Change in South Patagonia over Seven Millennia (2021)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
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. South Patagonia, the austral extreme of South America, has been inhabited for at least 12,600 years. Following European contact, five ethnic groups of hunter-gatherers (Yámana, Kawéskar, Selk’nam, Haush, and Aónikenk) were documented. They based their subsistence on two broad strategies optimized for maritime or terrestrial...
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Identifying Seventeenth-Century Africans and High-Status Englishmen at Jamestown, Virginia (2021)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
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. Emerging investigative techniques and access to reference skeletal series and comparative databases allow enhanced interpretation and recognition of individuals in the seventeenth-century Chesapeake region for which few documentary sources or identifying artifacts exist. As part of a pilot study of burials from Jamestown,...
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Integrating Grapevine Palaeogenomics with Archaeobotanical Methods to Explore the History of Winemaking (2021)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
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. Genomic analyses of archaeological seeds and other plant remains are playing an increasingly important role in unravelling domestication histories. In some cases, these findings are revising longstanding interpretations developed from archaeobotanical methods, and questions remain on how archaeological and genomic methods...
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Linking the Past to the Present: Collaborative DNA Research with Native Californians (2021)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
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...
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Migrating Genes, or How to Avoid the Free-Ranging Genome (2021)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
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...