A systematic investigation of human DNA preservation in medieval skeletons

[kingdavid]

Abstract

Ancient DNA (aDNA) analyses necessitate the destructive sampling of archaeological material. Currently the dense inner portion of the petrous pyramid, the location of the skull that houses the inner ear, is the most sought after skeletal element for molecular analyses of ancient humans as it has been shown to yield high amounts of endogenous DNA. Destructive sampling of the petrous pyramid, assuming its recovery, is often not recommended for highly valued specimens. To investigate alternatives, we present a survey of human aDNA preservation for each of ten skeletal elements in a skeletal collection from Medieval Germany. Through comparison of human DNA content and quality we confirm best performance of the petrous pyramid and identify seven additional sampling locations across four skeletal elements that yield adequate aDNA for most applications in human palaeogenetics. Our study provides a better perspective on DNA preservation across the human skeleton and takes a further step toward the more responsible use of ancient materials in human aDNA studies.

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.20.106971v1

Saxony-Anhalt


from table 3: in the pdf

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.20.106971v1.full.pdf

KRA001 R1a1a1b1a1a1c

KRA003 R1a1a

KRA004 I1a2a1a1d

KRA005 E1b1b1a1b1a (e-v13)

KRA008 I2a1a2b1a1a

KRA009 R1a1

KRA010 J2b2a1a1a1a1a

 

[Angela]

Abstract

Ancient DNA (aDNA) analyses necessitate the destructive sampling of archaeological material. Currently the dense inner portion of the petrous pyramid, the location of the skull that houses the inner ear, is the most sought after skeletal element for molecular analyses of ancient humans as it has been shown to yield high amounts of endogenous DNA. Destructive sampling of the petrous pyramid, assuming its recovery, is often not recommended for highly valued specimens. To investigate alternatives, we present a survey of human aDNA preservation for each of ten skeletal elements in a skeletal collection from Medieval Germany. Through comparison of human DNA content and quality we confirm best performance of the petrous pyramid and identify seven additional sampling locations across four skeletal elements that yield adequate aDNA for most applications in human palaeogenetics. Our study provides a better perspective on DNA preservation across the human skeleton and takes a further step toward the more responsible use of ancient materials in human aDNA studies.

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.20.106971v1

Saxony-Anhalt


from table 3: in the pdf

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.20.106971v1.full.pdf

KRA001 R1a1a1b1a1a1c

KRA003 R1a1a

KRA004 I1a2a1a1d

KRA005 E1b1b1a1b1a (e-v13)

KRA008 I2a1a2b1a1a

KRA009 R1a1

KRA010 J2b2a1a1a1a1a

I'm not surprised by the R1a; this is east Germany, after all. I am surprised there's not more R1b-U106, and especially I1.

Of course, it's a small sample of a small sample, and as always with uniparentals you can get a very distorted image of the actual distribution.

I wonder if it has changed much since then.