Evidence of a high-Andean, mid-Holocene plant community: An ancient DNA analysis of glacially preserved remains.

Genetic analysis of Paleo-Colombians from Nemocón, Cundinamarca provides insights on the early peopling of northwestern South America

The Checua site within Nemocón in the eastern Andean Region of Colombia has produced evidence of huntergatherer activities from 9500-8700 cal yr BP. The aim of this work was to analyze genetically the Checua group according to mitochondrial DNA HVR-I sequence data. Following strict criteria of authenticity for studies of ancient DNA, extracted DNA was amplified and sequenced for each of the hum...

Extraction and Analysis of Ancient DNA from Human Remains of Masjede Kabood Burial Site

Sedimentological evidence of the level and climate changes of Lake Zeribar in the Holocene

Lakes are very interesting sedimentary environments for the study of ancient climate, changes in sedimentary environments and lake level changes. Lake Zeribar is situated in the Zagros Mountains, Kurdistan, Iran. The main purpose of this research is to examine grain size sediments, geochronology and clay mineralogy accumulated in Zeribar Lake in order to check the water level fluctuations, clim...

Starch grains on human teeth reveal early broad crop diet in northern Peru.

Previous research indicates that the Nanchoc Valley in northern Peru was an important locus of early and middle Holocene human settlement, and that between 9200 and 5500 (14)C yr B.P. the valley inhabitants adopted major crop plants such as squash (Cucurbita moschata), peanuts (Arachis sp.), and cotton (Gossypium barbadense). We report here an examination of starch grains preserved in the calcu...

Diverse plant and animal genetic records from Holocene and Pleistocene sediments.

Genetic analyses of permafrost and temperate sediments reveal that plant and animal DNA may be preserved for long periods, even in the absence of obvious macrofossils. In Siberia, five permafrost cores ranging from 400,000 to 10,000 years old contained at least 19 different plant taxa, including the oldest authenticated ancient DNA sequences known, and megafaunal sequences including mammoth, bi...