Event: Occasional Lectures in Anthropology: The Powers and Pitfalls of Molecular Archaeology

Dr. Elizabeth (Lisa) Matisoo-Smith
Professor of Biological Anthropology and Chair
Department of Anatomy, University of Otago

The Powers and Pitfalls of Molecular Archaeology

In 1989 it was announced in Nature that DNA could successfully be extracted from
archaeological bone, and thus was born the field of molecular archaeology. The last
decade has seen the field flourish with the development of Next Generation Sequencing
(NGS) technology. While the results of many molecular studies have contributed
positively to our understanding of prehistory, others have not. It must be recognised that
molecular techniques are just tools, and like all tools, they are only useful if used
properly. What is most important is that the right questions are asked, the appropriate
samples to answer those questions are collected, and the results interpreted in the
context of the current knowledge. This paper discusses the past, present and future of
molecular archaeology, focusing on both the strengths and the weaknesses of the
application of molecular techniques and the interpretation of molecular data with
regards to reconstructing the prehistory of the Pacific.