Artifacts made of stone, bones, or teeth provide valuable insights into the subsistence strategies, behavior, and culture of early humans. However, it has been challenging to attribute these artifacts to specific individuals since burials and grave goods were rare in the Paleolithic era. This limitation has hindered the ability to draw conclusions about the division of labor or social roles of individuals during this period.
To gain deeper insights into Paleolithic societies, an international, interdisciplinary research team led by the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig has developed a novel, non-destructive method for DNA isolation from bones and teeth. The scientists focused on artifacts made from skeletal elements since they are more porous and are more likely to retain DNA present in skin cells, sweat, and other body fluids.
Before working with real artifacts, the team ensured that the precious objects would not be damaged. “The surface structure of Paleolithic bone and tooth artifacts provides important information about their production and use. Therefore, preserving the integrity of the artifacts, including microstructures on their surface, was a top priority,” says Marie Soressi, an archaeologist from the University of Leiden who supervised the work together with Matthias Meyer, a Max Planck geneticist.
The team developed a non-destructive phosphate-based method for DNA extraction and tested the influence of various chemicals on the surface structure of archaeological bone and tooth pieces. “One could say we have created a washing machine for ancient artifacts within our clean laboratory,” explains Elena Essel, the lead author of the study who developed the method. “By washing the artifacts at temperatures of up to 90°C, we are able to extract DNA from the wash waters, while keeping the artifacts intact.”
The team applied the method to a set of artifacts from the French cave Quinçay excavated back in the 1970s to 1990s. Although in some cases, it was possible to identify DNA from the animals from which the artifacts were made, the vast majority of the DNA obtained came from the people who had handled the artifacts during or after excavation. This made it difficult to identify ancient human DNA.
2023-05-03 21:30:04
Original from phys.org