Exploring the potential of dental calculus to shed light on past human migrations in Oceania
The Pacific islands and Island Southeast Asia have experienced multiple waves of human migrations, providing a case study for exploring the potential of ancient microbiomes to study human migration. We perform a metagenomic study of archaeological dental calculus from 102 individuals, originating from 10 Pacific islands and 1 island in Island Southeast Asia spanning ~3000 years. Oral microbiome DNA preservation in calculus is far higher than that of human DNA in archaeological bone, and comparable to that of calculus from temperate regions. Oral microbial community composition is minimally driven by time period and geography in Pacific and Island Southeast Asia calculus, but is found to be distinctive compared to calculus from Europe, Africa, and Asia. Phylogenies of individual bacterial species in Pacific and Island Southeast Asia calculus reflect geography. Archaeological dental calculus shows good preservation in tropical regions and the potential to yield information about past human migrations, complementing studies of the human genome.
Authors
- Richard Shing
- Anatauarii Tamarii
- Zandra Fagernäs (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2667-3556)
- Christina Warinner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4528-5877)
- John Dudgeon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9505-2388)
- Cosimo Posth (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8206-3907)
- Kathrin Nägele (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3861-8677)
- Geoffrey Clark (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9055-655X)
- Hallie R. Buckley (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1047-4288)
- Cecil M. Lewis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2198-3427)
- James Thomas Flexner
- Elizabeth Matisoo‐Smith (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3500-8307)
- Edson Willie
- Jean‐Christophe Galipaud (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3546-5265)
- Monica Tromp (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0747-9099)
- Stuart Bedford (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6476-5617)
- Frédérique Valentin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0575-7681)
- Irina M. Velsko (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9810-9917)
- Matthew Spriggs (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7293-6778)
- Rebecca Kinaston (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7697-4950)
- Adam B. Rohrlach (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4204-5018)
- Andrew T. Ozga (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4540-7106)
- Truman Simanjuntak
Institutions
- Idaho State University (US)
- Australian National University (AU)
- University of Copenhagen (DK)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- The University of Sydney (AU)
- Nova Southeastern University (US)
- Harvard University Press (US)
- Université Paris Nanterre (FR)
- AgResearch (NZ)
- Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment (DE)
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (DE)
- Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (FR)
- Vanuatu Cultural Centre (VU)
- Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History (DE)
- Leibniz-Institut für Naturstoff-Forschung und Infektionsbiologie e. V. - Hans-Knöll-Institut (HKI) (DE)
- Maison des Sciences de l'Homme Mondes (FR)
- The University of Adelaide (AU)
- Friedrich Schiller University Jena (DE)
- University of Otago (NZ)
- University of Tübingen (DE)
- University of French Polynesia (PF)
- University of Oklahoma (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2024-11-24
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-53920-z
- Citations
- 10
- Primary Topic
- Forensic and Genetic Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 5.50
Funders
- National Geographic Society
- University of Otago
- Royal Society
- Royal Society Te Apārangi
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- Marsden Fund