‘The Farm Beneath the Sand’ – an archaeological case study on ancient ‘dirt’ DNA

It is probable that ‘The Farm Beneath the Sand’ will come to stand for a revolution in archaeological investigation. The authors show that a core of soil from an open field can provide a narrative of grazing animals, human occupation and their departure, just using DNA and AMS dating. In this case t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Antiquity 2009-06, Vol.83 (320), p.430-444
Main Authors: Hebsgaard, Martin B., Gilbert, M. Thomas P., Arneborg, Jette, Heyn, Patricia, Allentoft, Morten E., Bunce, Michael, Munch, Kasper, Schweger, Charles, Willerslev, Eske
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
AMS dating
ancient DNA
Animals
Antiquity
Archaeological dating
Archaeological research
Archaeological surveying
Archaeology
Burden of proof
Deoxyribonucleic acid
DNA
Fossils
Genetic aspects
Greenland
Method
Norse
Occupations
Paleoanthropology
Sediments
Studies
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Summary:It is probable that ‘The Farm Beneath the Sand’ will come to stand for a revolution in archaeological investigation. The authors show that a core of soil from an open field can provide a narrative of grazing animals, human occupation and their departure, just using DNA and AMS dating. In this case the conventional archaeological remains were nearby, and the sequence obtained by the old methods of digging and faunal analysis correlated well with the story from the core of ancient ‘dirt’ DNA. The potential for mapping the human, animal and plant experience of the planet is stupendous.
ISSN:0003-598X
1745-1744
DOI:10.1017/S0003598X00098537