Doctoral Dissertation Research: Investigating patterns of genetic relatedness and social inequality using ancient DNA

社会经济不平等是现代社会备受关注的话题，对过去人口的研究可以揭示不平等的起源和发展。这个博士论文项目将分析古DNA（aDNA）从骨骼在库鲁布纳蒂（公元550-800）的努比亚网站，以更好地了解如何遗传相关性，身体外观，健康和社会经济不平等的过去。该项目将提供一个基于DNA的框架，展示分子分析的力量，探索社会分层的根源。学生共同PI还将进行科学教育推广到小学学龄儿童及其家长，重点是生物文化的方法来了解人类生物多样性。该项目中使用的古代DNA方法将为未来在DNA降解情况下的遗传相关性调查提供信息。该项目是一项调查，以确定考古学的祖先和遗传关系是否与考古学观察到的社会分层相一致，这些社会分层是在苏丹努比亚遗址Kulubnarti（公元550-800年）的一个拥有土地的农民的大陆社区和一个“下层阶级”劳工的岛屿社区之间。为了确定Kulubnarti的社会等级是否与遗传上不同的亚群相关，该项目检验了一个假设，即岛民的“下层”地位反映了移民身份，而拥有土地的农民则构成了遗传上更稳定的当地人口。研究人员将1）量化墓地社区之间的遗传距离; 2）检查每个墓地社区内的内婚制; 3）估计每个墓地个体的地理祖先和表型变异。在筛选146个DNA文库后，将使用约120万个单核苷酸多态性（SNP）的阵列富集和捕获30个表现出最高DNA保存的文库。结果将揭示Kulubnarti社区内部和之间的遗传关系，将产生努比亚的第一个aDNA数据，并将整合遗传和考古数据，以研究过去社会组织的生物文化动态。

Socioeconomic inequality is a topic of great concern in modern society, and studies of past populations can shed light on the origins and development of inequality. This doctoral dissertation project will analyze ancient DNA (aDNA) from skeletons at the Nubian site of Kulubnarti (550-800 AD) to better understand how genetic relatedness, physical appearance, health, and socioeconomic inequality intersected in the past. This project will provide a DNA-based framework that demonstrates the power of molecular analyses for exploring the roots of social stratification. The student co-PI will also conduct science education outreach to elementary school-aged children and their parents, with a focus on biocultural approaches for understanding human biological diversity. Ancient DNA methods used in this project will inform future investigations of genetic relatedness in situations where DNA is degraded. This project is an investigation of whether biogeographic ancestry and genetic relationships align with archaeologically-observed social stratification between a mainland community of landowning farmers and an island community of "underclass" laborers living side-by-side at the Sudanese Nubian site of Kulubnarti (550-800 AD). To determine if social hierarchy at Kulubnarti correlates with genetically distinct subpopulations, this project tests the hypothesis that the "underclass" position of the islanders was a reflection of migrant status while the landowning farmers composed a more genetically stable local population. The investigators will 1) quantify genetic distance between cemetery communities; 2) examine endogamy within each cemetery community; and 3) estimate biogeographic ancestry and phenotypic variation of individuals from each cemetery. After screening 146 DNA libraries, 30 libraries that demonstrate the highest DNA preservation will be enriched and captured using an array of ~1.2 million single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). The results will reveal the genetic relationships within and between Kulubnarti communities, will produce the first aDNA data from Nubia, and will integrate genetic and archaeological data to examine the biocultural dynamics of social organization in the past.