DNA evidence of bowhead whale exploitation by Greenlandic Paleo-Inuit 4,000 years ago.
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.
Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, 1350 Copenhagen, Denmark.|Trace and Environmental DNA(TrEnD) Laboratory, Department of the Environment and Agriculture, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia 6102, Australia.
Frederik Valeur
FV
Seersholm
Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, 1350 Copenhagen, Denmark.
Mikkel Winther
0000-0002-7291-8887
MW
Pedersen
Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, 1350 Copenhagen, Denmark.|Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 1871 Frederiksberg, Denmark.
Martin Jensen
MJ
Søe
Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, 1350 Copenhagen, Denmark.
Hussein
H
Shokry
Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, 1350 Copenhagen, Denmark.
Sarah Siu Tze
SS
Mak
Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, 1350 Copenhagen, Denmark.
Anthony
A
Ruter
Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, 1350 Copenhagen, Denmark.|Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK.
Maanasa
M
Raghavan
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012, USA.
William
W
Fitzhugh
Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, 1350 Copenhagen, Denmark.
Kurt H
KH
Kjær
Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, 1350 Copenhagen, Denmark.|Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK.
Eske
E
Willerslev
Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, 1350 Copenhagen, Denmark.|University of Greenland, Manutooq 1, Nuussuaq 3905, Greenland.
Morten
M
Meldgaard
Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 1871 Frederiksberg, Denmark.
Christian M O
CM
Kapel
Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, 1350 Copenhagen, Denmark.
Anders Johannes
AJ
Hansen
D000818:Animals; D001106:Archaeology; D044822:Biodiversity; D050642:Bowhead Whale / Q000235:genetics*; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics*; D004249:DNA Damage; D018744:DNA, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D005580:Fossils; D005843:Geography; D019015:Geologic Sediments; D006116:Greenland; D006376:Helminths / Q000145:classification; D006801:Humans; D004930:Inuit; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013997:Time Factors
D018744:DNA, Plant; D004247:DNA