Food recourses of the Khog Gzung site on the Tibetan Plateau revealed by sedimentary ancient DNA

Zhengquan Gu, Yu Gao*, Yiru Wang, Jishuai Yang, Jingkun Ran, Xiaoyan Yang, Wangdue Shargan, Mikkel W. Pedersen, Guilian Sheng, Yucheng Wang*, Fahu Chen

*Corresponding author af dette arbejde

Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskriftTidsskriftartikelForskningpeer review

4 Citationer (Scopus)

Abstract

Traditional zooarchaeological and archaeobotanical methods based on morphological identification of the excavated faunal and floral remains have been broadly used in reconstructing ancient subsistence economies. However, the accuracy and reliability of these methods rely heavily on the preservation state of the remains. By sequencing the ancient DNA of plants, animals, and microorganisms preserved in sediment, sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA) now offers a novel approach for reconstructing the taxa composition dated back to hundreds of thousands of years. Yet, its application in open-air archaeological sites is rarely reported. In this study, we attempted to apply sedaDNA shotgun metagenomics on the archaeological deposits of the Khog Gzung site (an open-air site dated to 3160–2954 cal yr BP) on the Tibetan Plateau, and then compared the reconstructed taxonomic composition to the unearthed remains. Results showed that most of the crops and domestic animals identified by the two approaches, such as barley (Hordeum vulgare) and sheep (Ovis aries), are in general consistent. Some species, such as foxtail millet (Setaria italica), however, was only detected by sedaDNA. In addition, a variety of microorganisms were also detected by the sedaDNA. The two approaches combined revealed diversified food recourses at the Khog Gzung site, which included crops such as millet, barley and wheat, domestic animals such as sheep and cattle, and likely also wild animals from fishing and hunting. Our data proves that sedaDNA has a great potential in reconstructing the faunal and floral compositions from archaeological deposits, therefore laying the foundation for its border applications.

OriginalsprogEngelsk
TidsskriftScience China Earth Sciences
Vol/bind66
Udgave nummer4
Sider (fra-til)840-851
Antal sider12
ISSN1674-7313
DOI
StatusUdgivet - 2023

Bibliografisk note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41930323, 41988101 & 42101150), the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research Program (Grant No. 2019QZKK0601), the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. XDA2004010103), the Youth Innovation Promotion Association of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. 2022068), the Open Research Fund of TPESER (Grant No. TPESER202202) and Carlsberg Foundation (Grant No. CF18-0024).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, Science China Press.

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