Investigating the Nature and Timing of the Earliest Human Occupation of North America Using a Lipid Biomarker Approach

Summary

Coprolites contain a suite of lipid biomolecules and are an invaluable source of palaeobiological and palaeoecological information. The identification of faecal matter through the presence of highly-specific lipid biomarkers (5β-stanols and bile acids) has been used to identify and characterise faecal input from a range of different sources. Differentiation of these faecal markers is enabled through the diet, digestion and metabolism of the source animal. Lipid analysis of coprolites has also been used to identify dietary biomarkers, providing information regarding available plant resources. The question of how, when and why people first settled the Americas is a subject of intense debate. Evidence of human occupation in North America obtained through DNA analysis of coprolites from the Paisley Caves, south-central Oregon, has dated the earliest occupation to 14,300B.P., one thousand years earlier than previous evidence suggests. Here, a lipid biomarker approach will be applied to sediment and coprolite samples from the Paisley Caves with the aim of identifying the timing of the earliest occupation of North America by characterising the origin of coprolites found in well-stratified archaeological deposits. Biomarker analysis will also be applied to investigate diet which will enhance our understanding of the relationship between early humans and their environment.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 21212