Investigating the early human settlement of Iceland with ancient soil DNA

利用古代土壤 DNA 调查冰岛早期人类定居点

• 批准号: NE/X010929/1
• 负责人: Nicholas Cutler
• 金额: $ 8.06万
• 依托单位: Newcastle University
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=NE%2FX010929%2F1
• 关键词: Investigating; early; human; settlement; Iceland

This project aims to establish if early human settlement of Iceland can be detected and described through the analysis of ancient (centuries-old) DNA (aDNA) in soil. Iceland is an important model system for human-environment interactions, but the timing and ecological impacts of human settlement are contested: aDNA in soil offers a novel approach to these problems. To generalise the Icelandic experience, we need to understand when humans first settled Iceland and if this event was earlier than the currently accepted date of 874 CE (Landnám in Icelandic). We also need to understand the ecological impact of expanding human populations in the early phases of settlement to a high degree of spatial and temporal resolution. Finally, to reconstruct ecological change from soil aDNA, we need to understand the mobility and longevity of DNA in the soil.To establish if early human settlement of Iceland can be detected and described through the analysis of aDNA in soil, we will 1) analyse soil aDNA from three archaeological sites in Iceland and 2) track the fate of experimentally applied exotic DNA. To address when humans first settled Iceland, we will analyse aDNA from pre-Landnám soils, targeting taxa that can only have arrived in Iceland with humans. To assess the ecological impact of expanding human populations in the early phases of settlement, we will analyse aDNA from soils immediately post-Landnám, comparing our inferences with those derived from well-established proxies. To investigate the mobility and longevity of DNA in the soil, we will apply modern, exotic DNA to test plots and, over a period of six months, repeatedly test for its presence and abundance at different soil depths.Overall, the project will address long-standing questions about the early human colonisation of Iceland and the test an innovative technique with huge potential for Holocene palaeoenvironmental reconstruction.

该项目旨在确定是否可以通过分析土壤中的古代（数百年）DNA（aDNA）来检测和描述冰岛的早期人类定居点。冰岛是人类与环境相互作用的重要模式系统，但人类定居的时间和生态影响存在争议：土壤中的DNA为解决这些问题提供了一种新方法。为了概括冰岛的经验，我们需要了解人类何时首次定居冰岛，以及这一事件是否早于目前公认的公元874年（冰岛语为Landnám）。我们还需要以高度的空间和时间分辨率来理解在定居的早期阶段人口增长对生态的影响。最后，为了从土壤aDNA重建生态变化，我们需要了解土壤中DNA的流动性和寿命，为了确定是否可以通过分析土壤中的aDNA来检测和描述冰岛早期人类定居，我们将1）分析冰岛三个考古遗址的土壤aDNA，2）跟踪实验应用的外来DNA的命运。为了解决人类何时首次定居冰岛的问题，我们将分析来自前Landnám土壤的DNA，目标是只能与人类一起到达冰岛的类群。为了评估人类定居早期人口增长对生态的影响，我们将分析Landnám之后立即从土壤中提取的aDNA，将我们的推断与来自完善的代理人的推断进行比较。为了研究DNA在土壤中的流动性和寿命，我们将在测试地块上应用现代的外来DNA，并在六个月的时间内反复测试其在不同土壤深度的存在和丰度。总的来说，该项目将解决有关早期人类在冰岛殖民的长期问题，并测试一项创新技术，该技术具有巨大的全新世古环境重建潜力。