Archaeology. Sedimentary DNA from a submerged site reveals wheat in the British Isles 8000 years ago.
The Mesolithic-to-Neolithic transition marked the time when a hunter-gatherer economy gave way to agriculture, coinciding with rising sea levels. Bouldnor Cliff, is a submarine archaeological site off the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom that has a well-preserved Mesolithic paleosol dated to 8000 years before the present. We analyzed a core obtained from sealed sediments, combining evidence from microgeomorphology and microfossils with sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA) analyses to reconstruct floral and faunal changes during the occupation of this site, before it was submerged. In agreement with palynological analyses, the sedaDNA sequences suggest a mixed habitat of oak forest and herbaceous plants. However, they also provide evidence of wheat 2000 years earlier than mainland Britain and 400 years earlier than proximate European sites. These results suggest that sophisticated social networks linked the Neolithic front in southern Europe to the Mesolithic peoples of northern Europe.
School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK.
Oliver
O
Smith
Maritime Archaeology Trust, Room W1/95, National Oceanography Centre, Empress Dock, Southampton SO14 3ZH, UK.
Garry
G
Momber
Department of Earth Sciences, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9AL, Scotland.
Richard
R
Bates
Department of Classics, Ancient History and Archaeology, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK.
Paul
P
Garwood
School of History and Cultures, University of Birmingham, IBM VISTA ERI Building, Pritchatts Road, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK.
Simon
S
Fitch
Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK.
Mark
M
Pallen
Division of Archaeological, Geographical and Environmental Sciences, University of Bradford, Bradford, West Yorkshire BD7 1DP, UK.
Vincent
V
Gaffney
School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK. r.g.allaby@warwick.ac.uk.
Robin G
RG
Allaby
D018744:DNA, Plant / Q000235:genetics / Q000266:history*; D005580:Fossils; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry; D049690:History, Ancient; D014908:Triticum / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000235:genetics / Q000266:history*; D006113:United Kingdom
D018744:DNA, Plant