Abstract

Paleofeces or coprolites are often used to reconstruct diet at archaeological sites, usually using macroscopic analyses or targeted DNA amplification and sequencing. Here we present an integrative analysis of dog coprolites, combining macroscopic analyses, stable isotope measurements, and DNA shotgun sequencing to examine diet and health status. Dog coprolites used in this study were recovered from the Janey B. Goode and East Saint Louis archaeological sites, both of which are located in the American Bottom, an extensive Mississippi River floodplain in Southwestern Illinois. Based on the context of recovery, coprolites are assigned to the Late Woodland and Terminal Late Woodland periods (ca. 600–1050 AD). Given the scarcity of human remains from this time period, these dog coprolites can be useful as a proxy for understanding human diet during the Late Woodland period. We find that the Late Woodland dogs consumed a variety of fish as well as bird and plant taxa, possibly including maize, and also harbored intestinal parasites and pathogenic bacteria. By sequencing the fecal microbiome of the coprolites, we find some similarities to modern dog microbiomes, as well as specific taxa that can be used to discriminate between modern and ancient microbiomes, excluding soil contaminants. As dogs are often used as a surrogate to assess human diet, humans living with these dogs likely had a similar diet and were affected by similar parasites. These analyses, when integrated, show a more comprehensive view of ancient dog and human diet and health in the region during the initial expansion of maize agriculture than any individual method could alone.

Details

Title
Integrative analysis of DNA, macroscopic remains and stable isotopes of dog coprolites to reconstruct community diet
Author
Witt, Kelsey E 1 ; Yarlagadda Karthik 2 ; Allen, Julie M 3 ; Bader, Alyssa C 4 ; Simon, Mary L 5 ; Kuehn, Steven R 5 ; Swanson, Kelly S 6 ; Cross, Tzu-Wen L 7 ; Hedman, Kristin M 5 ; Ambrose, Stanley H 8 ; Malhi Ripan S 8 

 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Program in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology, Urbana-Champaign, USA (GRID:grid.35403.31) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 9991); Brown University, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Center for Computational and Molecular Biology, Providence, USA (GRID:grid.40263.33) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 9094) 
 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Department of Anthropology, Urbana-Champaign, USA (GRID:grid.35403.31) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 9991) 
 University of Nevada Reno, Biology Department, Reno, USA (GRID:grid.266818.3) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 914X) 
 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Department of Anthropology, Urbana-Champaign, USA (GRID:grid.35403.31) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 9991); Sealaska Heritage Institute, Juneau, USA (GRID:grid.438004.b) (ISNI:0000 0000 9554 8757) 
 Illinois State Archaeological Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, USA (GRID:grid.35403.31) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 9991) 
 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Department of Animal Sciences, Urbana, USA (GRID:grid.35403.31) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 9991); University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Division of Nutritional Sciences, Urbana, USA (GRID:grid.35403.31) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 9991); University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Department of Veterinary Clinical Medicine, Urbana, USA (GRID:grid.35403.31) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 9991) 
 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Division of Nutritional Sciences, Urbana, USA (GRID:grid.35403.31) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 9991) 
 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Program in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology, Urbana-Champaign, USA (GRID:grid.35403.31) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 9991); University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Department of Anthropology, Urbana-Champaign, USA (GRID:grid.35403.31) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 9991); University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, Urbana, USA (GRID:grid.35403.31) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 9991) 
Publication year
2021
Publication date
2021
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2532434636
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2021. corrected publication 2021. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.