A 5700 Year-old Human Genome and Oral Microbiome from Chewed Birch Pitch

Overview

Journal Nat Commun

Specialty Biology

Date 2019 Dec 19

PMID 31848342

Citations 28

Authors

Theis Z T Jensen

Jonas Niemann

Katrine Hojholt Iversen

Anna K Fotakis

Shyam Gopalakrishnan

Ashild J Vagene

Mikkel Winther Pedersen

Mikkel-Holger S Sinding

Martin R Ellegaard

Morten E Allentoft

Liam T Lanigan

Alberto J Taurozzi

Sofie Holtsmark Nielsen

Michael W Dee

Martin N Mortensen

Mads C Christensen

Soren A Sorensen

Matthew J Collins

M Thomas P Gilbert

Martin Sikora

Simon Rasmussen

Hannes Schroeder

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The rise of ancient genomics has revolutionised our understanding of human prehistory but this work depends on the availability of suitable samples. Here we present a complete ancient human genome and oral microbiome sequenced from a 5700 year-old piece of chewed birch pitch from Denmark. We sequence the human genome to an average depth of 2.3× and find that the individual who chewed the pitch was female and that she was genetically more closely related to western hunter-gatherers from mainland Europe than hunter-gatherers from central Scandinavia. We also find that she likely had dark skin, dark brown hair and blue eyes. In addition, we identify DNA fragments from several bacterial and viral taxa, including Epstein-Barr virus, as well as animal and plant DNA, which may have derived from a recent meal. The results highlight the potential of chewed birch pitch as a source of ancient DNA.

Citing Articles

Pervasive findings of directional selection realize the promise of ancient DNA to elucidate human adaptation.

Akbari A, Barton A, Gazal S, Li Z, Kariminejad M, Perry A bioRxiv. 2024; .

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Towards predicting the geographical origin of ancient samples with metagenomic data.

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Oral Infections in Ancient Human Skulls in 2000 BC/Iron Age, Iran.

Farhud D, Azari M, Rahbar M Iran J Public Health. 2024; 53(5):1115-1127.

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Inferring diet, disease and antibiotic resistance from ancient human oral microbiomes.

Dahlquist-Axe G, Standeven F, Speller C, Tedder A, Meehan C Microb Genom. 2024; 10(5).

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Hunter-gatherers and earliest farmers in western Europe.

Rowley-Conwy P Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2024; 121(10):e2322683121.

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