A Reconsideration of Purported Holocene Bison Bones from Northern Alaska

While bison were the most abundant large mammals in Eastern Beringia for most of the last 100 000 years, their range declined drastically at the end of the Pleistocene and through the Holocene. Research into the nature of Holocene human interactions with bison suffers from scarcity of faunal remains from most archaeological sites and poor chronological control of paleontological specimens over broad areas of Eastern Beringia. We examined the dating, context, and identification of purported bison bones spatially associated with two late prehistoric archaeological sites in northern Alaska to contribute to a better understanding of bison biogeography and the possible role of these large mammals in prehistoric economies. We confirmed the presence of two bison bones from the 17th century Kangiguksuk archaeological site (49-XBM-012) in northwestern Alaska, but radiocarbon dates older than 30 000 14C years BP for both bones demonstrate that those bison were not hunted by the site occupants. From the Lakeside site (49-KIR-275) in the central Brooks Range, a bone reported to be bison and dated to about 2400 14C years BP was shown through DNA sequencing to be moose (Alces alces). We point to a large set of dated bison specimens from Alaska’s Arctic Slope that suggests bison were locally extinct in north-central and northwestern Alaska by the beginning of the Holocene and were subsequently unavailable to human hunters in that region.Bien que le bison était le gros mammifère le plus abondant de la Béringie de l’Est pendant la plus grande partie des 100 000 dernières années, sa répartition a diminué considérablement à la fin du pléistocène et pendant l’holocène. Puisque la plupart des sites archéologiques présentent peu de restes d’animaux et que le contrôle chronologique des spécimens paléontologiques sur de grandes régions de la Béringie de l’Est laisse à désirer, cela rend difficiles les recherches portant sur la nature des interactions humaines avec le bison pendant la période de l’holocène. Nous avons examiné la datation, le contexte et l’identification des soidisant os de bison géographiquement rattachés à deux anciens sites archéologiques préhistoriques du nord de l’Alaska afin de pouvoir mieux comprendre la biogéographie du bison de même que le rôle possible de ce gros mammifère au sein des économies préhistoriques. Nous avons confirmé la présence de deux os de bison provenant du site archéologique Kangiguksuk du XVIIe siècle (49-XBM-012) dans le nord-ouest de l’Alaska, mais d’après les dates déterminées par la méthode du carbone 14 remontant à plus de 30 000 14C années BP pour les deux os, ces bisons n’ont pas été chassés par les occupants du site. Au site Lakeside (49-KIR-275) de la chaîne centrale Brooks, un os qui était censé appartenir à un bison dont la datation était d’environ 2 400 14C années BP était en fait celui d’un original, ce qui a été déterminé grâce au séquençage de l’ADN (Alces alces). Nous faisons mention d’un grand ensemble de spécimens de bisons datés et provenant du talus de l’Arctique de l’Alaska. Ces spécimens laissent supposer que les bisons avaient disparu du centre-nord et du nord-ouest de l’Alaska vers le début de l’holocène et par conséquent, ils n’étaient pas à la portée des chasseurs humains de cette région

Multi-Resolution Changes in the Spatial Extent of Perennial Arctic Alpine Snow and Ice Fields with Potential Archaeological Significance in the Central Brooks Range, Alaska

Perennial snow and ice fields could be important archaeological and paleoecological resources for Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve in the central Brooks Range of Alaska. These features may have cultural significance, as prehistoric artifacts may be frozen within the snow and ice. They also act as important hydrological indicators of climate change within the Park. Globally significant discoveries have been made recently as ancient artifacts and animal dung have been found in melting alpine snow and ice patches in the Southern Yukon (Hare et al. 2004) and Northwest Territories (Meulendyk et al. 2012) in Canada, as well as in the Wrangell mountains in Alaska. The loss of perennial snow and ice coverage in the Brooks Range may yield similar discoveries over time.National Park Service Climate Change Response Program’s Young Leaders in Climate Change (YLCC) 2015 Fellowship, University of Alaska Fairbanks EPSCoR Student Travel Gran

Early human dispersals within the Americas

Studies of the peopling of the Americas have focused on the timing and number of initial migrations. Less attention has been paid to the subsequent spread of people within the Americas. We sequenced 15 ancient human genomes spanning from Alaska to Patagonia; six are ≥10,000 years old (up to ~18× coverage). All are most closely related to Native Americans, including those from an Ancient Beringian individual and two morphologically distinct "Paleoamericans." We found evidence of rapid dispersal and early diversification that included previously unknown groups as people moved south. This resulted in multiple independent, geographically uneven migrations, including one that provides clues of a Late Pleistocene Australasian genetic signal, as well as a later Mesoamerican-related expansion. These led to complex and dynamic population histories from North to South America

Late Quaternary dynamics of Arctic biota from ancient environmental genomics

During the last glacial–interglacial cycle, Arctic biotas experienced substantial climatic changes, yet the nature, extent and rate of their responses are not fully understood1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8. Here we report a large-scale environmental DNA metagenomic study of ancient plant and mammal communities, analysing 535 permafrost and lake sediment samples from across the Arctic spanning the past 50,000 years. Furthermore, we present 1,541 contemporary plant genome assemblies that were generated as reference sequences. Our study provides several insights into the long-term dynamics of the Arctic biota at the circumpolar and regional scales. Our key findings include: (1) a relatively homogeneous steppe–tundra flora dominated the Arctic during the Last Glacial Maximum, followed by regional divergence of vegetation during the Holocene epoch; (2) certain grazing animals consistently co-occurred in space and time; (3) humans appear to have been a minor factor in driving animal distributions; (4) higher effective precipitation, as well as an increase in the proportion of wetland plants, show negative effects on animal diversity; (5) the persistence of the steppe–tundra vegetation in northern Siberia enabled the late survival of several now-extinct megafauna species, including the woolly mammoth until 3.9 ± 0.2 thousand years ago (ka) and the woolly rhinoceros until 9.8 ± 0.2 ka; and (6) phylogenetic analysis of mammoth environmental DNA reveals a previously unsampled mitochondrial lineage. Our findings highlight the power of ancient environmental metagenomics analyses to advance understanding of population histories and long-term ecological dynamics

Late Quaternary dynamics of Arctic biota from ancient environmental genomics.

Acknowledgements: Acknowledgements: We thank D. H. Mann for his detailed and constructive comments; and T. Ager, J. Austin, T. B. Brand, A. Cooper, S. Funder, M. T. P. Gilbert, T. Jørgensen, N. J. Korsgaard, S. Liu, M. Meldgaard, P. V. S. Olsen, M. L. Siggaard-Andersen, J. Stenderup, S. A. Woodroffe and staff at the GeoGenetics Sequencing Core and National Park Service-Western Arctic National Parklands for help and support. E.W. and D.J.M. thank the staff at St. John’s College, Cambridge, for providing a stimulating environment for scientific discussion of the project. E.W. thanks Illumina for collaboration. The Lundbeck Foundation GeoGenetics Centre is supported by the Carlsberg Foundation (CF18-0024), the Lundbeck Foundation (R302-2018-2155), the Novo Nordisk Foundation (NNF18SA0035006), the Wellcome Trust (UNS69906) and GRF EXC CRS Chair (44113220)—Cluster of Excellence. The PhyloNorway plant genome database is part of the Norwegian Barcode of Life Network (https://www.norbol.org) funded by the Research Council of Norway (226134/F50), the Norwegian Biodiversity Information Centre (14-14, 70184209) and The Arctic University Museum of Norway. Metabarcoding sequencing was funded by the Central Public-Interest Scientific Institution Basal Research Fund, CAFS (2017B001 and 2020A001). B.D.S. is supported by the Wellcome Trust programme in Mathematical Genomics and Medicine (WT220023); F.R. by a Villum Fonden Young Investigator award (no. 00025300); D.J.M. by the Quest Archaeological Research Fund; P.M. by the Swedish Research Council (VR); R.D. by the Wellcome Trust (WT207492); and A.R. by a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Individual Fellowship (MSCA-IF, 703542) and the Research Council of Norway (KLIMAFORSK, 294929). L.O. has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (no. 681605); I.G.A. and Y.L. from the ERC under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (no. 819192). J.I.S. and J.M. are supported by the Research Council of Norway. P.B.H. and N.R.E. acknowledge NERC funding (grant NE/P015093/1). D.W.B. was supported by a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Incoming International Fellowship (MCIIF-40974). T.S.K. is funded by a Carlsberg Foundation Young Researcher Fellowship (CF19-0712).During the last glacial-interglacial cycle, Arctic biotas experienced substantial climatic changes, yet the nature, extent and rate of their responses are not fully understood1-8. Here we report a large-scale environmental DNA metagenomic study of ancient plant and mammal communities, analysing 535 permafrost and lake sediment samples from across the Arctic spanning the past 50,000 years. Furthermore, we present 1,541 contemporary plant genome assemblies that were generated as reference sequences. Our study provides several insights into the long-term dynamics of the Arctic biota at the circumpolar and regional scales. Our key findings include: (1) a relatively homogeneous steppe-tundra flora dominated the Arctic during the Last Glacial Maximum, followed by regional divergence of vegetation during the Holocene epoch; (2) certain grazing animals consistently co-occurred in space and time; (3) humans appear to have been a minor factor in driving animal distributions; (4) higher effective precipitation, as well as an increase in the proportion of wetland plants, show negative effects on animal diversity; (5) the persistence of the steppe-tundra vegetation in northern Siberia enabled the late survival of several now-extinct megafauna species, including the woolly mammoth until 3.9 ± 0.2 thousand years ago (ka) and the woolly rhinoceros until 9.8 ± 0.2 ka; and (6) phylogenetic analysis of mammoth environmental DNA reveals a previously unsampled mitochondrial lineage. Our findings highlight the power of ancient environmental metagenomics analyses to advance understanding of population histories and long-term ecological dynamics

Supporting data for: Late Quaternary dynamics of Arctic biota revealed by ancient environmental metagenomics

[Dataset abstract] This dataset contains the assembled genome contigs (whole genome level) of the PhyloNorway plant database used in Wang et al. 2021 Late Quaternary Dynamics of Arctic Biota Revealed by Ancient Environmental Metagenomics. Methods for generating this database can be found in the paper. The 7 fasta files are the database. The PhyloNorway_com_acc2TaxaID.txt supplies a NCBI format acc2TaxaID file matching accession ID to NCBI TaxaID. Additional information about the database can be found in Alsos et al. 2020.</span