Abstract
Paleogenomic research can elucidate the evolutionary history of human and faunal populations. Although the Levant is a key land-bridge between Africa and Eurasia, thus far, relatively little ancient DNA data has been generated from this region, since DNA degrades faster in warm climates. As sediments can be a source of ancient DNA, we analyzed 33 sediment samples from different sedimentological contexts in the Paleolithic layers of Sefunim Cave (Israel). Four contained traces of ancient Cervidae and Hyaenidae mitochondrial DNA. Dating by optical luminescence and radiocarbon indicates that the DNA comes from layers between 30,000 and 70,000 years old, surpassing theoretical expectations regarding the longevity of DNA deposited in such a warm environment. Both identified taxa are present in the zooarchaeological record of the site but have since gone extinct from the region, and a geoarchaeological study suggests little movement of the sediments after their deposition, lending further support to our findings. We provide details on the local conditions in the cave, which we hypothesize were particularly conducive to the long-term preservation of DNA—information that will be pertinent for future endeavors aimed at recovering ancient DNA from the Levant and other similarly challenging contexts.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 14528 |
| Journal | Scientific Reports |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 25 Aug 2022 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2022, The Author(s).
Funding
The genetic work was funded by the Max Planck Society, the Max Planck Foundation (Grant 31-12LMP Pääbo) and the European Research Council (grant agreement no. 694707). Excavations at Sefunim Cave are conducted under license G/66 2017 from the Israel Antiquities Authority and license 052a/17 from the Nature and Parks Authority; and funded by the Zinman Institute of Archaeology, the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, The Leakey Foundation and The Irene Levi Sala CARE Archaeological Foundation. V.S. received funding from the Alon Fellowship; D.E.F. from the Tübingen Reloaded program. We thank R.A. Bianco and G.U.H. Neumann for sampling; E. Essel, F. Müller, S. Nagel, B. Nickel, J. Richter, B. Schellbach and A. Weihmann for laboratory work; L. Jáuregui for research coordination; and F. Mafessoni and S. Pääbo for their input.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Alon fellowship | |
| Israel Antiquities Authority and license | 052a/17 |
| Nature and Parks Authority | |
| Zinman Institute of Archaeology | |
| Leakey Foundation | |
| Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften | |
| Max-Planck-Förderstiftung | 31-12LMP |
| European Commission | 694707 |
| Max-Planck-Gesellschaft |