DNA evidence of bowhead whale exploitation by Greenlandic Paleo-Inuit 4,000 years ago

Frederik Valeur Seersholm; Mikkel Winther Pedersen; Martin Jensen Søe; Hussein Shokry; Sarah Mak; Anthony Henry Ruter; Maanasa Raghavan; William Fitzhugh; Kurt H. Kjær; Eske Willerslev; Morten Meldgaard; Christian Kapel; Anders Johannes Hansen

doi:10.1038/ncomms13389

DNA evidence of bowhead whale exploitation by Greenlandic Paleo-Inuit 4,000 years ago

Frederik Valeur Seersholm, Mikkel Winther Pedersen, Martin Jensen Søe, Hussein Shokry, Sarah Mak, Anthony Henry Ruter, Maanasa Raghavan, William Fitzhugh, Kurt H. Kjær, Eske Willerslev, Morten Meldgaard, Christian Kapel, Anders Johannes Hansen

Section for Organismal Biology

30 Citations (Scopus)

185 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The demographic history of Greenland is characterized by recurrent migrations and extinctions since the first humans arrived 4,500 years ago. Our current understanding of these extinct cultures relies primarily on preserved fossils found in their archaeological deposits, which hold valuable information on past subsistence practices. However, some exploited taxa, though economically important, comprise only a small fraction of these sub-fossil assemblages. Here we reconstruct a comprehensive record of past subsistence economies in Greenland by sequencing ancient DNA from four well-described midden deposits. Our results confirm that the species found in the fossil record, like harp seal and ringed seal, were a vital part of Inuit subsistence, but also add a new dimension with evidence that caribou, walrus and whale species played a more prominent role for the survival of Paleo-Inuit cultures than previously reported. Most notably, we report evidence of bowhead whale exploitation by the Saqqaq culture 4,000 years ago.

Original language	English
Article number	13389
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	7
Number of pages	9
ISSN	2041-1723
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms13389
Publication status	Published - 8 Nov 2016

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DNA evidence of bowhead whale exploitation by Greenlandic Paleo-Inuit 4,000 years agoFinal published version, 2.04 MBLicence: CC BY

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title = "DNA evidence of bowhead whale exploitation by Greenlandic Paleo-Inuit 4,000 years ago",

abstract = "The demographic history of Greenland is characterized by recurrent migrations and extinctions since the first humans arrived 4,500 years ago. Our current understanding of these extinct cultures relies primarily on preserved fossils found in their archaeological deposits, which hold valuable information on past subsistence practices. However, some exploited taxa, though economically important, comprise only a small fraction of these sub-fossil assemblages. Here we reconstruct a comprehensive record of past subsistence economies in Greenland by sequencing ancient DNA from four well-described midden deposits. Our results confirm that the species found in the fossil record, like harp seal and ringed seal, were a vital part of Inuit subsistence, but also add a new dimension with evidence that caribou, walrus and whale species played a more prominent role for the survival of Paleo-Inuit cultures than previously reported. Most notably, we report evidence of bowhead whale exploitation by the Saqqaq culture 4,000 years ago.",

author = "Seersholm, {Frederik Valeur} and Pedersen, {Mikkel Winther} and S{\o}e, {Martin Jensen} and Hussein Shokry and Sarah Mak and Ruter, {Anthony Henry} and Maanasa Raghavan and William Fitzhugh and Kj{\ae}r, {Kurt H.} and Eske Willerslev and Morten Meldgaard and Christian Kapel and Hansen, {Anders Johannes}",

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T1 - DNA evidence of bowhead whale exploitation by Greenlandic Paleo-Inuit 4,000 years ago

AU - Seersholm, Frederik Valeur

AU - Pedersen, Mikkel Winther

AU - Søe, Martin Jensen

AU - Shokry, Hussein

AU - Mak, Sarah

AU - Ruter, Anthony Henry

AU - Raghavan, Maanasa

AU - Fitzhugh, William

AU - Kjær, Kurt H.

AU - Willerslev, Eske

AU - Meldgaard, Morten

AU - Kapel, Christian

AU - Hansen, Anders Johannes

PY - 2016/11/8

Y1 - 2016/11/8

N2 - The demographic history of Greenland is characterized by recurrent migrations and extinctions since the first humans arrived 4,500 years ago. Our current understanding of these extinct cultures relies primarily on preserved fossils found in their archaeological deposits, which hold valuable information on past subsistence practices. However, some exploited taxa, though economically important, comprise only a small fraction of these sub-fossil assemblages. Here we reconstruct a comprehensive record of past subsistence economies in Greenland by sequencing ancient DNA from four well-described midden deposits. Our results confirm that the species found in the fossil record, like harp seal and ringed seal, were a vital part of Inuit subsistence, but also add a new dimension with evidence that caribou, walrus and whale species played a more prominent role for the survival of Paleo-Inuit cultures than previously reported. Most notably, we report evidence of bowhead whale exploitation by the Saqqaq culture 4,000 years ago.

AB - The demographic history of Greenland is characterized by recurrent migrations and extinctions since the first humans arrived 4,500 years ago. Our current understanding of these extinct cultures relies primarily on preserved fossils found in their archaeological deposits, which hold valuable information on past subsistence practices. However, some exploited taxa, though economically important, comprise only a small fraction of these sub-fossil assemblages. Here we reconstruct a comprehensive record of past subsistence economies in Greenland by sequencing ancient DNA from four well-described midden deposits. Our results confirm that the species found in the fossil record, like harp seal and ringed seal, were a vital part of Inuit subsistence, but also add a new dimension with evidence that caribou, walrus and whale species played a more prominent role for the survival of Paleo-Inuit cultures than previously reported. Most notably, we report evidence of bowhead whale exploitation by the Saqqaq culture 4,000 years ago.

U2 - 10.1038/ncomms13389

DO - 10.1038/ncomms13389

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SN - 2041-1723

VL - 7

JO - Nature Communications

JF - Nature Communications

M1 - 13389

ER -

DNA evidence of bowhead whale exploitation by Greenlandic Paleo-Inuit 4,000 years ago

Abstract

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