Reconstructing Asian faunal introductions to eastern Africa from multi-proxy biomolecular and archaeological datasets

Simple item page
dc.citation.articleNumbere0182565
dc.citation.issueNumber8
dc.citation.journalTitlePLoS ONE
dc.citation.volumeNumber12
dc.contributor.authorPrendergast, Mary E.
dc.contributor.authorBuckley, Michael
dc.contributor.authorCrowther, Alison
dc.contributor.authorFrantz, Laurent
dc.contributor.authorEager, Heidi
dc.contributor.authorLebrasseur, Ophélie
dc.contributor.authorHutterer, Rainer
dc.contributor.authorHulme-Beaman, Ardern
dc.contributor.authorVan Neer, Wim
dc.contributor.authorDouka, Katerina
dc.contributor.authorVeall, Margaret-Ashley
dc.contributor.authorMorales, Eriéndira M. Quintana
dc.contributor.authorSchuenemann, Verena J.
dc.contributor.authorReiter, Ella
dc.contributor.authorAllen, Richard
dc.contributor.authorDimopoulos, Evangelos A.
dc.contributor.authorHelm, Richard M.
dc.contributor.authorShipton, Ceri
dc.contributor.authorMwebi, Ogeto
dc.contributor.authorDenys, Christiane
dc.contributor.authorHorton, Mark
dc.contributor.authorWynne-Jones, Stephanie
dc.contributor.authorFleisher, Jeffrey
dc.contributor.authorRadimilahy, Chantal
dc.contributor.authorWright, Henry
dc.contributor.authorSearle, Jeremy B.
dc.contributor.authorKrause, Johannes
dc.contributor.authorLarson, Greger
dc.contributor.authorBoivin, Nicole L.
dc.date.accessioned2017-09-19T14:07:18Z
dc.date.available2017-09-19T14:07:18Z
dc.date.issued2017
dc.description.abstractHuman-mediated biological exchange has had global social and ecological impacts. In sub-Saharan Africa, several domestic and commensal animals were introduced from Asia in the pre-modern period; however, the timing and nature of these introductions remain contentious. One model supports introduction to the eastern African coast after the mid-first millennium CE, while another posits introduction dating back to 3000 BCE. These distinct scenarios have implications for understanding the emergence of long-distance maritime connectivity, and the ecological and economic impacts of introduced species. Resolution of this longstanding debate requires new efforts, given the lack of well-dated fauna from high-precision excavations, and ambiguous osteomorphological identifications. We analysed faunal remains from 22 eastern African sites spanning a wide geographic and chronological range, and applied biomolecular techniques to confirm identifications of two Asian taxa: domestic chicken (Gallus gallus) and black rat (Rattus rattus). Our approach included ancient DNA (aDNA) analysis aided by BLAST-based bioinformatics, Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS) collagen fingerprinting, and direct AMS (accelerator mass spectrometry) radiocarbon dating. Our results support a late, mid-first millennium CE introduction of these species. We discuss the implications of our findings for models of biological exchange, and emphasize the applicability of our approach to tropical areas with poor bone preservation.
dc.identifier.citationPrendergast, Mary E., Buckley, Michael, Crowther, Alison, et al.. "Reconstructing Asian faunal introductions to eastern Africa from multi-proxy biomolecular and archaeological datasets." <i>PLoS ONE,</i> 12, no. 8 (2017) Public Library of Science: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0182565.
dc.identifier.digitalReconstructing_Asian_faunal_introductions
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0182565
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/97398
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherPublic Library of Science
dc.rightsThis is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.titleReconstructing Asian faunal introductions to eastern Africa from multi-proxy biomolecular and archaeological datasets
dc.typeJournal article
dc.type.dcmiText
dc.type.publicationpublisher version
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Reconstructing-introductions.pdf
Size:
26.77 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download
Collections
Faculty Publications
Anthropology Publications