The Paleo-Dna of Ancient Mesoamerican Peoples

Abstract

Throughout the last three decades, Ancient DNA (aDNA) has rapidly evolved from a field capable of analyzing a few genetic markers to the sequencing and analysis of genome-wide and whole-genome sequences. In this chapter, we review how the application of aDNA has allowed anthropologists to explore classic and new research questions in bioarchaeology to past and present archaeological contexts within Mesoamerica. We highlight the advantages of aDNA in key bioarchaeological contexts such as cases where the sex identification of sub-adult or highly fragmented individuals is difficult, establish the kinship relationships of individuals buried within the same household or graveyard, and the biological relationship between osteological analyses of pathogenesis and its association to bacterial aDNA. We start by reviewing recent contributions of aDNA studies to the discussion of the Peopling of the Americas and the domestication processes of plants and animals and subsequently focus on earlier studies about mitochondrial haplogroups within defined geographical regions that focused particularly on population variability and hypothesis of migration and gene flow. Next, we shift our focus to how genome-wide and whole-genome data currently provide refined analysis of past population dynamics such as admixture events, population replacement, or continuity which can provide further information to better understand the biological and cultural relationship of individuals found within given archaeological contexts. We conclude the chapter with a discussion of key biological and climatic factors that influence the scope of aDNA analysis in Mesoamerica and how bioarchaeological research can greatly benefit from the application of aDNA methods in an ethical framework to individuals from the past to answer current and future research questions within a multidisciplinary perspective that strives to develop an integrative framework from the information provided by different anthropological research that guides future interdisciplinary research to address more complex hypotheses about past societies, allowing for their mobility, diet, health, and diseases to be addressed taking into consideration the complexity of Mesoamerica.