The Prehistoric Diet: Genomic Analysis of Bonneville Estates Paleofeces, Nevada

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The genetic composition of paleofeces from Bonneville Estates Rockshelter (BER) can aid environmental and dietary reconstruction, as the genomic content of coprolites change as environmental conditions shifted from cool and moist in the Pleistocene to hot and dry in the Holocene and as new food sources appeared locally. In order to analyse the potential shift in taxonomic diversity and genetic biodiversity present in prehistoric diets and microbiomes of the human occupants over this transitionary period, ancient DNA was extracted from over forty BER paleofecal samples that date between the Paleoindian and Archaic periods of western North America (12,500-1000 years ago). Taxonomic identifications of floral and faunal, and microbial parasite contents were given at the family and genus level. Results were compared to analyse how Archaic diets shifted through occupation. Further research will be done to determine if additional shifts, be they cultural, populational, or otherwise occurred alongside the dietary one. Broader applications of this study engage with the effect climate change can have on floral and faunal populations and how humans have interacted with the biotic parts of their environment both physically and microbially, leading to greater understanding of past and present relationships between humans and their ever-changing environment.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• SAA 2021: General Sessions

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 32685