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Seersholm FV, Harmsen H, Gotfredsen AB, Madsen CK, Jensen JF, Hollesen J, Meldgaard M, Bunce M, Hansen AJ. Ancient DNA provides insights into 4,000 years of resource economy across Greenland. Nat Hum Behav 2022; 6:1723-1730. [PMID: 36203052 DOI: 10.1038/s41562-022-01454-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2022] [Accepted: 08/24/2022] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
The success and failure of past cultures across the Arctic was tightly coupled to the ability of past peoples to exploit the full range of resources available to them. There is substantial evidence for the hunting of birds, caribou and seals in prehistoric Greenland. However, the extent to which these communities relied on fish and cetaceans is understudied because of taphonomic processes that affect how these taxa are presented in the archaeological record. To address this, we analyse DNA from bulk bone samples from 12 archaeological middens across Greenland covering the Palaeo-Inuit, Norse and Neo-Inuit culture. We identify an assemblage of 42 species, including nine fish species and five whale species, of which the bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) was the most commonly detected. Furthermore, we identify a new haplotype in caribou (Rangifer tarandus), suggesting the presence of a distinct lineage of (now extinct) dwarfed caribou in Greenland 3,000 years ago.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frederik V Seersholm
- Section for GeoGenetics, Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
- Trace and Environmental DNA (TrEnD) Laboratory, School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
| | - Hans Harmsen
- Greenland National Museum and Archives, Nuuk, Greenland
| | | | | | - Jens F Jensen
- Modern History and World Cultures, National Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Jørgen Hollesen
- Environmental Archaeology and Materials Science, National Museum of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Morten Meldgaard
- Section for GeoGenetics, Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Institute for Health and Nature, University of Greenland, Nuuk, Greenland
| | - Michael Bunce
- Trace and Environmental DNA (TrEnD) Laboratory, School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
- Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR), Wellington, New Zealand
| | - Anders J Hansen
- Section for GeoGenetics, Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
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Jensen EL, Díez-del-Molino D, Gilbert MTP, Bertola LD, Borges F, Cubric-Curik V, de Navascués M, Frandsen P, Heuertz M, Hvilsom C, Jiménez-Mena B, Miettinen A, Moest M, Pečnerová P, Barnes I, Vernesi C. Ancient and historical DNA in conservation policy. Trends Ecol Evol 2022; 37:420-429. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2021.12.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2021] [Revised: 12/23/2021] [Accepted: 12/24/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
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