Exploring the potential of dental calculus to shed light on past human migrations in Oceania

Irina M. Velsko, Zandra Fagernäs, Monica Tromp, Stuart Bedford, Hallie R. Buckley, Geoffrey Clark, John Dudgeon, James Flexner, Jean-Christophe Galipaud, Rebecca Kinaston, Cecil M. Lewis, Elizabeth Matisoo-Smith, Kathrin Nägele, Andrew T. Ozga, Cosimo Posth, Adam B. Rohrlach, Richard Shing, Truman Simanjuntak, Matthew Spriggs, Anatauarii Tamarii, Frédérique Valentin, Edson Willie and Christina Warinner ()
Additional contact information
Irina M. Velsko: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Zandra Fagernäs: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Monica Tromp: Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology
Stuart Bedford: The Australian National University
Hallie R. Buckley: University of Otago
Geoffrey Clark: The Australian National University
John Dudgeon: Idaho State University
James Flexner: University of Sydney
Jean-Christophe Galipaud: Research Institute for Development and National Museum of Natural History
Rebecca Kinaston: BioArch South
Cecil M. Lewis: University of Oklahoma
Elizabeth Matisoo-Smith: University of Otago
Kathrin Nägele: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Andrew T. Ozga: Nova Southeastern University
Cosimo Posth: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Adam B. Rohrlach: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Richard Shing: Vanuatu Cultural Centre
Truman Simanjuntak: National Research and Development Centre for Archaeology
Matthew Spriggs: Vanuatu Cultural Centre
Anatauarii Tamarii: Direction de la Culture et du Patrimoine
Frédérique Valentin: MSH Mondes
Edson Willie: Vanuatu Cultural Centre
Christina Warinner: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

Nature Communications, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-17

Abstract: Abstract 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.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-53920-z

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