HEAS Workshop
Dezember 3 - Dezember 4
Tropical Troubles: Advancing Biomolecular Studies of the HumanPast in Challenging Environments
We propose a meeting of global experts in biomolecular archaeology with experience and interest in reconstructing human histories in the tropics.
The ability to retrieve and study DNA and proteins from ancient sources is contingent on the preservation conditions in the immediate burial environment.
Factors such as temperature, humidity, pH, and microbial action act to degrade biomolecules post-mortem, often scaling with age and proximity to the tropics (hot and humid).
Poor preservation has left significant gaps in our understanding of the past across the tropical belt in Africa, Asia, and the Americas – regions that include the birthplace of modern humans, interactive zones with diverse hominin groups, and routes that early humans took when expanding out of Africa some 100,000 years ago.
While optimized analytical methods have opened new investigative opporturtunities, more sustained efforts are required to ensure we have balance.