A Comparison of DNA Metabarcoding and Macroremains Analysis for Dietary Reconstruction using Coprolites from Bonneville Estates Rockshelter, Nevada

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Coprolites are increasingly the subject of multiproxy analyses, but there is need to determine how the data, results, and interpretation of coprolite contents could differ depending on the methods chosen. This study presents a comparison of DNA metabarcoding and macroremains analysis performed on ten coprolites from Bonneville Estates Rockshelter, Nevada. While the dietary information from both genetic and macroscopic remains largely conform to previous knowledge about subsistence practices from the site, the two methods show minimal overlap in identified taxa. The findings suggest that if genetic data is bolstered with a targeted comparative library, it may detect more digestible foods than macroremains analysis, while macroremains are likely to contain a large amount of less digestible but identifiable taxa. The two methods are complementary, but because they give different levels of data, they should be used together when possible.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37380.0