Genetic sexing to determine the optimal discriminant functions for the analysis of archaeological remains from El Hierro (Canary Islands)

A correct sex assignment of a given bone or bone fragment is of paramount importance for the archaeologist, anthropologist and in forensic medicine. Discriminant functions, combining several anthropometric measurements obtained from individuals with known sex are useful tools for this purpose, but it is essential to know exactly the sex from which the measures are obtained. This is an easy task in modern populations, but it is problematic in ancient ones, since even when the entire skeleton is available, diagnosis of sex is not 100% accurate. Sexing by genetic methods by amplifying the first intron of the amelogenin gene constitutes a much more accurate method for sexing bones and may be the gold standard for further elaboration of discriminant functions which may serve for sexing new bones dug up in future excavations. With this aim we have genetically sexed 52 (out of 59) tibiae belonging to the prehispanic population of El Hierro, in the Canary Islands, identifying 18 women and 34 men, and then, performed discriminant functions combining several anthropometric variables. These functions show a high accuracy in sex diagnosis (94.2%; area under ROC curve = 0.954 with the best of the functions), so that they allow correct sexing of tibiae or tibiae fragments (only proximal third, distal third or midshaft). Thus, genetic sexing obviates the problem of finding an accurate gold standard for the elaboration of discriminant functions for ancient bones. This method could be applied to other populations of different antiquity and different ethnicity.     

天津博物馆文物库房部分文物与囊匣中霉菌的分离与鉴定

馆藏文物中的书画、古籍、档案、纺织品和竹木漆器等有机质文物,常常受到霉菌的破坏。为了解文物库房有机质文物中霉菌病害现状,寻找适合的防治方法,利用显微形态观察和分子生物学方法,对四个库房内文物材料与囊匣上滋生的霉菌进行采样、培养、分离和鉴定。实验分离出的14株菌株通过形态观察和分子生物学鉴定为6个属,包括毛壳菌属(Chaetomium)、畸枝霉属(Malbranchea)、曲霉属(Aspergillus)、派伦霉属(Peyronellaea)和枝孢属(Cladosporium)等,其中毛壳菌属数量最多,曲霉属次之,多数为能对文物产生危害的常见菌种,亟待采取有效防治措施。实验结果可为今后霉菌的防治工作提供依据。     

古旧纸本字画孳生霉斑的鉴定

古旧纸本字画在保存过程中,易于孳生霉菌病害,霉菌会对纸质文物造成不可逆转的破坏作用。为鉴定字画上孳生的霉菌种类,利用分子生物学方法,对馆藏的几幅古旧字画上孳生的疑似霉斑进行分离、纯化、培养、鉴定,鉴定结果确定霉菌有肉色曲霉Aspergillus carneus、草酸青霉菌Penicillium oxalicum、花斑曲霉Aspergillus versicolor、杂色曲霉Aspergullus versicolor、宛氏拟青霉Paecilomyces varioti Bainier、赤散囊菌Eurotium rubrum、产黄青霉Penicillium Chrysogenum、辐毛小鬼伞Coprinellus radians,此鉴定结果可为进一步的霉斑去除以及防霉技术研究提供科学指导。     

Millet cultivation history in the French Alps as evidenced by a sedimentary molecule

We report on the detection, in a sediment core drilled in Lake Le Bourget (French Alps), of a fossil molecule (miliacin) that was synthesized by broomcorn millet cultivated in the watershed, and then exported to the sediment. The variation in abundance of this molecule allows us reconstructing the history of millet cultivation around Lake Le Bourget. Our results support the introduction of millet around −1700 BC in the region. After an intensive cultivation during the Late Bronze Age, the failure of millet cropping during the Hallstatt period coincides with a phase of climatic deterioration. Millet cultivation recovers during the Roman and Mediaeval periods before falling most probably due to the introduction of more productive cereals. These pioneering results constitute the first continuous record of an agrarian activity covering the last 6000 years and emphasize the close relationships between local hydrology, land use and agro-pastoral activities around Lake Le Bourget.     

Evaluating chloroplast DNA in prehistoric Texas coprolites: medicinal,dietary, or ambient ancient DNA?

Molecular analysis of coprolites from Hinds Cave, Texas recovered chloroplast DNA sequences. The sequences were interpreted as evidence of diet. We analyzed 19 Hinds Cave coprolites to evaluate the potential sources of the chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) and compared our results to previous studies. This review shows that some cpDNA sequences could be from well-known prehistoric plants foods. Some other sequences could have come from ambient plant material in the guts of small animals eaten by humans in antiquity. Using pollen concentration analysis, we identify sources of ambient plant material which could have been inhaled or imbibed. It is even possible that cpDNA sequences are from proplastids within ambient pollen grains themselves. However, three sequence types cannot be explained as resulting from only dietary or ambient sources. We suggest instead that these might be from medicinal or hallucinogenic plants. We compared these three sequences to existing sequences in the GenBank. We found that these sequences are 100% matches for Rhamnus, Fouquieria, and Solanum.     

生物学和分子生物学在考古学研究中的应用

本文就生物学技术,特别是分子生物学技术在考古学研究中的应用进行了综述。主要介绍植 物硅酸体分析技术在农业起源研究中的应用,人和动物骨骼学应用于人类起源和进化、畜牧业的起 源和发展等研究领域。还简单介绍了分子生物学的一些基础知识。并重点论述了分子生物学技术, 如线粒体ＤＮＡ分析技术和Ｙ－染色体ＤＮＡ分析技术在人类起源和现代人种族起源研究中的应 用。ＤＮＡ分析技术在农作物和家畜的起源和进化研究中亦发挥着作用。     

长沙铜官窑谭家坡遗迹馆内优势病害真菌的分子鉴定

针对长沙铜官窑谭家坡遗迹馆内大肆爆发的微生物病害,为确定造成考古遗迹污染的优势真菌类型,项目组开展了病害真菌的现状调查和快速检测鉴定工作。利用无菌手术刀收集考古遗迹表面典型病害微生物的菌体样品,通过提取样品基因组总DNA、真菌ITS区PCR扩增、构建克隆文库、序列测定和系统发生关系分析等技术完成了病害菌的分子生物学鉴定和类群组成特点分析。结果表明,遗迹馆内考古遗迹表面爆发的主要病害菌为尖孢镰刀菌(Fusarium oxysporum)、白腐菌(Phlebia brevispora)、荷叶离褶伞(Lyophyllum decastes),它们分别隶属于丛赤壳科(Nectriaceae)、伏革菌科(Corticiaceae)、离褶伞科(Lyophyllaceae),均为营腐生真菌,与土壤中木质材料的降解密切相关。考古现场大量的根系残留为病害菌的大肆繁殖提供了重要的营养源,而高的温度和相对湿度是促进病害菌快速生长扩散的主要环境因素。建议人工清除病害菌和根系残留,并对遗迹馆进行适当的环境控制。     

壁画菌害主要种群之分子生物学技术检测

微生物是影响古代壁画安全保存与展示的一个重要因素,其检测是壁画保护研究的重要环节。分子生物学技术通过直接分析微生物遗传物质确定种属,可以避免传统检测技术必需的微生物培养过程,不仅快速、全面,更重要的是能够确定主要致病菌。本研究用分子生物学技术检测中国北方两个5世纪壁画墓,确定导致壁画菌害的主要种群为假诺卡氏菌(Pseudonocardia sp.),为微生物病害治理和预防提供了基本依据。     

Further developments in molecular sex assignment: a blind test of 18th and 19th century human skeletons

The identification of sex in human remains recovered from archaeological locations is important in order to understand the social and biological structure of past societies, and to reconstruct past population demographic events. Sex determination is usually based on morphological traits of the skeletons, with the drawback that most methods do not apply to juveniles and require well preserved remains. In cases where morphological methods cannot be used, or are ambiguous, methods of molecular sexing systems are an alternative. In this methodological study we tested and validated the accuracy and usefulness of a molecular sexing method based on the amelogenin gene using pyrosequencing. We did this in a double blind study of documented 18th and 19th century human remains.     

Osteometric and molecular sexing of cattle metapodia

Sex identification of skeletal remains based on morphology is a common practice in Zooarchaeology. Knowledge of the sex distribution of slaughtered or hunted animals may help in the interpretation of e.g. hunting or breeding strategies. Here we investigate and evaluate several osteometric criteria used to assess sex of cattle (Bos taurus) metapodia using molecular sex identification as a control of the metric data. The bone assemblage used to assess these new criteria derives from the Eketorp ringfort in the southern parts of Öland Island in Sweden. One hundred metapodia were selected for molecular analysis of sex and we were able to genetically identify the sex of 76 of these elements. The combined results of the molecular and osteometric analyses confirm a significant size difference between females and males for several measurements for both metacarpals (Mc) and metatarsals (Mt). Our results show that some measurements are applicable for metapodials. These measurements include the slenderness indices such as the Mennerich’s index 1 and 3, as well as the distal breadth (Bd), the breadth between the articular crests (Bcr), and the maximum breadth of the lateral trochlea (BFdl). We show that they can be used for sexing of both metacarpals and metatarsals. The latter measurements offer an opportunity to study fragmented elements and thus a higher number of elements may be utilized for morphological sexing of archaeological bones. Size comparisons of Mc and Mt may also aid in the separation of bulls and oxen.