Ancient DNA, lipid biomarkers and palaeoecological evidence reveals construction and life on early medieval lake settlements

Brown, A.G.; Van Hardenbroek, M.; Fonville, T.; Davies, K.; Mackay, H.; Murray, E.; Head, K.; Barratt, P.; McCormick, F.; Ficetola, G.F.; Gielly, L.; Henderson, A.C.G.; Crone, A.; Cavers, G.; Langdon, P.G.; Whitehouse, N.J.; Pirrie, D.; Alsos, I.G.

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-91057-x

Ancient DNA, lipid biomarkers and palaeoecological evidence reveals construction and life on early medieval lake settlements

Brown, A.G.; Van Hardenbroek, M.; Fonville, T.; Davies, K.; Mackay, H.; Murray, E.; Head, K.; Barratt, P.; McCormick, F.; Ficetola, G.F.; Gielly, L.; Henderson, A.C.G.; Crone, A.; Cavers, G.; Langdon, P.G.; Whitehouse, N.J.; Pirrie, D.; Alsos, I.G.

Authors

A.G. Brown

M. Van Hardenbroek

T. Fonville

K. Davies

Dr Helen Mackay helen.mackay@durham.ac.uk
Assistant Professor

E. Murray

K. Head

P. Barratt

F. McCormick

G.F. Ficetola

L. Gielly

A.C.G. Henderson

A. Crone

G. Cavers

P.G. Langdon

N.J. Whitehouse

D. Pirrie

I.G. Alsos

Abstract

Direct evidence of ancient human occupation is typically established through archaeological excavation. Excavations are costly and destructive, and practically impossible in some lake and wetland environments. We present here an alternative approach, providing direct evidence from lake sediments using DNA metabarcoding, steroid lipid biomarkers (bile acids) and from traditional environmental analyses. Applied to an early Medieval Celtic settlement in Ireland (a crannog) this approach provides a site chronology and direct evidence of human occupation, crops, animal farming and on-site slaughtering. This is the first independently-dated, continuous molecular archive of human activity from an archaeological site, demonstrating a link between animal husbandry, food resources, island use. These sites are under threat but are impossible to preserve in-situ so this approach can be used, with or without excavation, to produce a robust and full site chronology and provide direct evidence of occupation, the use of plants and animals, and activities such as butchery.

Citation

Brown, A., Van Hardenbroek, M., Fonville, T., Davies, K., Mackay, H., Murray, E., …Alsos, I. (2021). Ancient DNA, lipid biomarkers and palaeoecological evidence reveals construction and life on early medieval lake settlements. Scientific Reports, 11(1), Article 11807. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-91057-x

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	May 4, 2021
Online Publication Date	Jun 3, 2021
Publication Date	2021-06
Deposit Date	Sep 1, 2021
Publicly Available Date	Sep 2, 2021
Journal	Scientific Reports
Publisher	Nature Research
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	11
Issue	1
Article Number	11807
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-91057-x

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