Assessing a Minimally Invasive Method for Ancient DNA Sampling of Paleolithic Bone and Antler Tools by Micro-CT Scan and Density Measurements

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Animal Resources in Experimental Archaeology" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Osseous objects are among the most frequent archaeological remains recovered from Upper Paleolithic (UP) sites. Their analysis is thus essential to obtain insights into crucial aspects of the Pleistocene hunter-gatherer’s lifestyle, including human subsistence, social behavior, prehistoric humans’ practical/symbolic choices, and the human-animal interface. Given the critical importance of osseous tools to enhance our understanding of past human societies, their study has been improved in the last few years by combining archaeological and biomolecular (paleoproteomics and aDNA) methods. However, the latter generally implies a destructive sampling process, problematic for unique pieces like most Paleolithic osseous tools. Here, we apply a minimally invasive aDNA sampling method developed by Harney et al. for human teeth to an assemblage of 19 UP osseous tools from Iberia and the Levant. We have obtained aDNA, allowing us to identify the exploited animal taxa while assessing its impact on the integrity of both the macro-morphology and the inner structure of the pieces. We have demonstrated, by micro-CT and density measurements, that the macro-morphology, surface topography, and internal structure of objects remain broadly unchanged after sampling. Further analyses such as morphometrical, technical, genetic, radiometric, and other studies should thus not be affected by our aDNA sampling approach.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Animal Resources in Experimental Archaeology   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36233.0