Archaeogenomic evidence reveals prehistoric matrilineal dynasty - PubMed (original) (raw)

doi: 10.1038/ncomms14115.

Stephen Plog 2, Richard J George 1, Brendan J Culleton 1, Adam S Watson 3, Pontus Skoglund 4, Nadin Rohland 4, Swapan Mallick 4 5 6, Kristin Stewardson 4 6, Logan Kistler 1, Steven A LeBlanc 7, Peter M Whiteley 3, David Reich 4 5 6, George H Perry 1 8

Affiliations

Archaeogenomic evidence reveals prehistoric matrilineal dynasty

Douglas J Kennett et al. Nat Commun. 2017.

Abstract

For societies with writing systems, hereditary leadership is documented as one of the hallmarks of early political complexity and governance. In contrast, it is unknown whether hereditary succession played a role in the early formation of prehistoric complex societies that lacked writing. Here we use an archaeogenomic approach to identify an elite matriline that persisted between 800 and 1130 CE in Chaco Canyon, the centre of an expansive prehistoric complex society in the Southwestern United States. We show that nine individuals buried in an elite crypt at Pueblo Bonito, the largest structure in the canyon, have identical mitochondrial genomes. Analyses of nuclear genome data from six samples with the highest DNA preservation demonstrate mother-daughter and grandmother-grandson relationships, evidence for a multigenerational matrilineal descent group. Together, these results demonstrate the persistence of an elite matriline in Chaco for ∼330 years.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Figures

Figure 1

Figure 1. Photographs and maps of Pueblo Bonito and surrounding Chacoan sites.

(a) Photograph and plan view map of Pueblo Bonito with the location of room 33 noted (photo: G. Perry). (b) Locations of the primary great houses in Chaco Canyon. (c) Locations of settlements of Chaco Canyon with great house-style architecture with inset showing North America. Maps and graphical layout: T. Harper. Each major element (other than the photograph, labels and legends) was produced in ArcGIS 10.4. All subsequent layout and design were performed in Photoshop CC 14.2.

Figure 2

Figure 2. Radiocarbon and archaeogenomic results for individuals buried in room 33.

(a) Bayesian chronological model of calibrated AMS 14C dates for burials 13 and 14 and the estimated age of the wood plank floor, and calibrated AMS 14C dates for nine other crania above the floor in room 33. Calibrated 67.2 and 95.4% AMS date ranges and calibrated posterior probability distributions are illustrated for each cranium. (b) Archaeogenomic relatedness results for mtDNA (nucleotide sequence similarity to burial 14) and the nuclear genome. For the nuclear genome analysis, the estimated relatedness coefficient r (with the 95% confidence interval) is shown for each of the two pairs of individuals with significant genetic relationships. (c) The ratio Ry of the number of non-redundant sequence reads for each individual that mapped to human chromosome Y to the number of total reads that mapped to chromosomes X and Y, with the total number of X+Y reads and the 95% confidence interval indicated. Shaded areas indicate the Ry boundaries corresponding to confident male and female designations, determined with individuals of known sex. The genetic sex estimates are compared with those from a previous osteological analysis. Graphical layout: T. Harper. The radiocarbon plot on the left was produced in OxCal 4.2 and graphs b and c were produced in Grapher 10.5. All subsequent layout and design were performed in Illustrator CC 17.1.

Figure 3

Figure 3. Heatmap distance matrix of pairwise mitogenome comparisons.

The number of nucleotide sequence differences between all pairs of 39 Native American complete mtDNA genomes, representing the 9 prehistoric Pueblo Bonito room 33 mtDNA genomes and those previously published for 10 individuals each from North, Central and South America. Positions with missing data or deletions in any individuals were removed from all pairwise comparisons (bp analysed=14,247). The non-Pueblo Bonito samples from each region were selected at random from an overall database of 171 complete mtDNA genomes (see Supplementary Fig. 5 for a pairwise distance matrix including all samples). (Graphical layout: T. Harper. All cartographic elements were produced in ArcGIS 10.4, with layout and design performed in Photoshop CC 14.2.)

Figure 4

Figure 4. Diagram of a hypothetical Chacoan matriline.

The diagram illustrates the inferred relationships for at least two pairs of individuals interred in room 33. Matriline members and descent are highlighted in red. Lineal relationships (mother–daughter and mother–son) and sibling relationships are first degree. The blue * shows the grandmother–grandson relationship suggested for crania 8 and 10 and the blue ** indicates the mother–daughter relationship suggested between crania 1 and 7. Ethnographically, matrilineal systems are present in all the Western Pueblos (Hopi, Zuni, Acoma, Laguna), and also among Rio Grande Keresans (see Supplementary Fig. 7). Graphical layout: T. Harper.

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