Anthropological applications of ancient DNA: Problems and prospects

The analysis of DNA extracted from archaeological specimens to address anthropological questions is becoming increasingly common. Despite widespread interest in ancient DNA (aDNA), the difficulties inherent in aDNA analysis are not generally, appreciated by, researchers outside of the field. The majority, of samples subjected to aDNA analysis often fail to produce results, and successful analysis is typically limited to specimens that exhibit excellent preservation. Contamination of samples with exogenous DNA is an ongoing problem and requires careful design of research strategies to limit and identify all DNA contaminants. Overall, aDNA analysis is a highly specialized and technical field that requires extensive training and call be quite expensive. Thus, each aDNA study should be carefully planned with significant input from archaeologists, physical anthropologists, linguists, and related researchers and should focus oil well-preserved samples that are likely to produce a clear answer to a question that is not amenable to nongenetic analysis. In this manuscript, I explain the problems and prospects of various anthropological applications of a DNA technology I present a series of previously published studies, which are of general anthropological interest, to illustrate the strengths and weaknesses of a DNA methods in each case. I also provide a checklist of questions to evaluate the utility of archaeological remains for aDNA analysis and to provide guidelines when designing all aDNA study.