#CLST6 For my #CYO3, I listened to The Arch and Anth Podcast Episode 3: “How do we use ancient DNA to understand Neolithic Britain?” In this podcast, Dr. Tom Booth discusses his work with ancient DNA. /1 https://archandanth.com/episode-3-interview-with-tom-booth/

He explains how ancient DNA studies began in the 80s and 90s, but huge advances in technology have been made in the past 10 years. Booth explains that cold, dry areas preserve DNA, which naturally decays, the best. /2

The oldest thing to ever be genome sequenced was a 700,000 year old horse which was buried in and cold and dry area. Caves often preserve human DNA very well because of their relatively consistent temperature. /3

Booth also explains how DNA can be used to track the movement of large groups of ancient people. During the Neolithic period, we get the first evidence of farming. /4

Archaeologists questioned if this was due to the local hunter-gather population transitioning to a farming lifestyle or if people came from other locations who already knew how to farm. /5

By using genome sequencing, Booth and others discovered that people, probably from northern France, were moving into Britain during this time and introducing farming techniques. Booth focused a lot of his time on the ‘Cheddar Man’--a 10,400 year-old skeleton from Great Britain.

The Cheddar Man is so significant in the archaeological world because he is the first nearly-complete human skeleton. He was found in a cave--which represents a funerary practice during the Mesolithic period--explaining the condition of the skeleton. /7

Through the study of his DNA, archaeologists were able to infer that the Cheddar Man had dark skin. /8

Booth says that the mixing of diverse populations in ancient history “completely demolishes the idea of there being pure racial groupings” and goes on to say that “any attempt by people who promote racial nationalism...don’t have a leg to stand on.” /9

Booth finishes by explaining that there is still a lot of work to be done in the study of ancient DNA, especially in the Americas, east Asia, and Africa. /10

First, this podcast reminded me of our study of Neolithic farmers. In the First Farmers powerpoint, we learned that simple farming tools like the ones seen below were found in caves [1] [2]. This podcast opened my eyes to an aspect of ancient farming I never considered. /11

I had previously assumed that Neolithic people slowly adapted to a farming lifestyle, but this is only partly true as farming practices were also a result of the mass-movement of different people during this time period. This also reminded me of our study of Bioarchaeology. /12

Some people questioned the validity of the Chedder Man’s dark pigmentation. This reminded me of the black figures in classical Greek art [3]. It is important to seperate our modern notions of race from ancient peoples who had none of our racial conotations or stereotypes. /13

Maria Liston studies human remains and looked at a well full of newborn skeletons [4]. She remarked how she often needed to take a break from her study due to the overwhelming experience of researching deceased babies. /14

It is always important to remember that ancient peoples, like the Chedder Man, were real people who deserve our respect. Finally, “The Bioarchaeology of People” reading discussed more generally the ways in which archaeologists can study ancient peoples [5]. /15

They can look at teeth, soft tissue, and DNA--to name a few areas of study. The reading also discussed neanderthal DNA. In the podcast, Booth said that most Europeans have 4% of their DNA being neanderthal. /16

In conclusion, it is always important to remember that archaeologists have to separate their modern notions of people and society when studying the past. /17

Ancient peoples were culturally and genetically very different from us and it is nearly impossible to accurately force our modern opinions into their lives. /18

Sources:
[1] First Farmers powerpoint slide 8
[2] First Farmers powerpoint slide 6
[3] video lecture: an intro to Bioarchaeology
[4] Interview with maria liston
[5] Renfrew Bahn 2016 The Bioarchaeology of People