All,
For your information, here are four interesting abstracts I lifted from the program of the “The 6th International Conference on Ancient DNA & Associated Molecules - July 21 -25, 2002 – Tel Aviv, Rehovot and Jerusalem, Israel.” The program, presenting many other abstracts that could also be of interest to some of the Forum members, can be found at:
http://www.dna6.com/Jacques Cinq-Mars
HAFTING IN THE ACHEULEAN?
Gorski, A
Kuvin Center for the Study of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, The Hebrew University,
Jerusalem, Israel
The Acheulean Period is a period in the Lower Paleolithic Period (( 250000 BP). The Lower Paleolithic culture typified by hand held bifacial tools with round cutting edges. Black “stains” and material present in depressions and cracks of the posterior ages of tools from the Upper Acheulean Layers of Tabun cave in Israel seemed to indicate that the tools had been hafted. If so, the finding would significantly push back the date of hafting in Archaeological theory. Two of the tools were analyzed by microscopic methods and by GCMS.
It was found that the stains and matter was limited to the back of the flint tools, in a pattern consistent with hafting practices. Palmitic acid was identified in the material as were phytoliths consistent with grasses. This indicates that the tool might have been hafted onto a shaft using a resin from Palm Trees and tied with grasses. This indicates the practice of hafting might significantly pre-date the time previous believed.
ADNA IN BONES: THE USE OF COLLAGEN CONTENT AS AN INDICATOR OF DNA PRESERVATION
Kaufman M1, Arensburg, B2 and Weiner, S1
1 Department of Structural Biology, Weizmann Institute, Rehovot
2 Department of Anatomy and Anthropology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv*
Email: michal.kaufman@weizmann.ac.il
Most bones excavated from prehistoric sites in the Levant are poorly preserved both with respect to mineral and organic contents (Weiner and Bar-Yosef, 1990). It is thus difficult to identify bones with preserved DNA. As direct analyses of aDNA content is expensive and time-consuming, several proxies for DNA preservation have been developed. These include the C/N ratio and the state of racemization of the collagen amino acids. Here we propose using collagen content as a proxy, as this analysis can be performed rapidly and requires small amounts of sample.
About 100mg of bone powder were dissolved in 1ml of 1N HCl. The insoluble fraction was washed twice by distilled water and dried at 40°C overnight. Approximately 50_g of sample were uniformly ground using an agate mortar and pestle. The sample was mixed with about 80mg of KBr and a 7mm pellet was made. The infrared spectrum was obtained using MIDAC FTIR and GRAMS/32 software. FTIR spectrum of the HCl-insoluble phase shows absorption’s at 1653, 1539 and 1457cm-1 that arise from the amide I, amide II and proline of the collagen molecule respectively. The presence or absence of other absorption peaks determines the quality of the collagen (DeNiro and Weiner, 1988).
In this study we determine the quantities and preservation state of collagen within bones from different prehistoric sites in Israel. Bones were studied from the Peqi’in Cave (4500-3500 BCE) in the Galilee, Wadi Makhukh Cave (4500-3500 BCE) and "The Cave of Letters" (100-200 AD) in the Judean desert. The amounts of collagen preserved ranged from 4.6-14.6% by weight.
We extracted aDNA from these bones using both the organic and silica methods. We found the decalcification step to be essential in both methods and we monitored this step by means of FTIR. In order to define the state of mtDNA preservation in these samples, we amplified four PCR products of increasing size: 112bp, 165bp, 219bp and 308bp, using the same 5’-primer. When these four sequences were not identical in their overlapping part, we defined the sample as "less-preserved with regard to aDNA". These irreproducible sequences may reflect DNA damage or polymerase errors caused by low number of amplifiable copies of DNA. The results show a positive correlation between the states of collagen preservation and that of a DNA.
RESIDUE ANALYSIS: THE VIEW FROM THE STERKFONTEIN VALLEY, SOUTH AFRICA.
Loy, T H and Kajewski, P J
Institute for Molecular Bioscience and the School of Social Science, University of Queensland, St. Lucia Queensland, Australia, 4072
The goal of artifact residue analysis is to reconstruct past life styles using direct evidence from the past. Ancient DNA analysis is a linear process – remove external contaminants, grind the bone/tissue, purify the DNA, amplify and sequence. The analysis of other biomolecules using instrumental methods is similarly linear. Residue analysis is however a complex interlocking set of methods that begins with high magnification light microscopy. Analysis then proceeds through relatively simple screening tests and depending upon what is microscopically observed other more powerful bimolecular and genetic methods can be chosen. The choice of methods is based upon an evaluation of those methods, which are suitable and useful to either verify the observed residues as being of a particular type, or to extend the specificity of identification, using DNA speciation for example. Over the past 5 years we have been analyzing use residues on stone artifacts from the Oldowan (2 ma to 1.7 ma) and early Acheulean (1.7 ma to 1.3 ma) assemblages from the Sterkfontein Cave site in South Africa. Of the 75 artifacts examined so far, the residues observed include blood films, blood cells, collagen sheets and cables, hair and feather fragments, fatty acids and marrow fat cells, plant exudates, starch grains, raphides, cellulose fibers and cell walls. Multiple lines of observational evidence, replication experiments, and biochemical analysis are revealing patterns sufficient to permit inferences about pre-Homo hominid subsistence and technology in that very distant past.
TRACES OF EARLY EURASIANS IN ANCIENT POPULATIONS OF NORTHERN SIBERIA REVEALED BY MTDNA ANALYSIS (Poster)
Sukernik, R I1, Derbeneva, O A1, Starikovskaya, E B1, Volodko, N V1 and Wallace, D C2
1 Institute of Cytology and Genetics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia;
2 Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta GA, USA
In this study, we analyzed mitochondrial mtDNA variation in 160 Native Siberians representing the remnants of a few hunting-gathering populations – the Nganasan of the Taimir Peninsula, the Entsi and Ket of the Lower Yenisey, and the Mansi of the Lower Ob river. Almost half of their overall mtDNA pool falls into ‘west’ Eurasian lineages including haplogroups UK, TJ, HV, and W, and the remaining encompass a subset of ‘east’ Eurasian lineage’s including haplogroups A, C, D, F, G and Z. Among the ‘west’ Eurasian lineage’s, U4 was found at a remarkable frequency of 28.9 % in the Ket, 20.8% in the Nganasan and 16.3% in the Mansi. The presence of subhaplogroup U4 in hunting-gathering populations residing to the east of the Ural Mountains supports the conjecture of its proto-Eurasian origin ~16,000-35,000 years ago (Richards et all. 2000). The structure and phylogeny of western European and eastern Siberian mtDNA lineages revealed in the trans-Ural region and adjacent part of Siberia suggests that may encompass remnants of the early Upper Paleolithic expansion from the Middle East. It is possible that proto-Eurasians encompassed a range of macro-haplogroup M and N lineages which subsequently became geographically distributed, and that the Paleolithic expansion might have reached this part of Siberia before it split into western and eastern human groups.
