Investigating the genetic history of the Central and Southern Plains

The study of genomes from ancient individuals has transformed archaeological studies in the Americas. But current understanding of this early history is far from complete, owing to limited genomic data available from Indigenous populations throughout the regions that comprise the present-day United States. This research, jointly developed by representatives of a descendent tribe and investigators, advances knowledge through characterization of genomes and stable isotopes from ancient individuals.

Findings provide critically important insights into the initial peopling of the Americas, the population history of central US regions prior to and shortly after European contact, and the way burial treatment may have reflected biological kinship. The project contributes to the education of a graduate student and provides research experiences for numerous undergraduate students.

Results from this project will be integrated with tribal historic knowledge to produce educational materials for the participating tribe and the general public. Finally, the collaborative approach taken in this project between scientists and tribal representatives aids in the development of best practice recommendations for genetics research.

In recent years genomes sequenced from ancient individuals throughout the Americas have started to reveal the contours of an extremely complex population history. But sampling gaps, including a nearly complete lack of data from the central portions of the present-day United States, limit the understanding of this history. An intense research focus on questions regarding the initial peopling of the Americas through ancient DNA means that of the few ancient genomes that exist from the United States, most are from single individuals from the very oldest sites in the Americas.

Few complete genomes exist from more recent contexts that are informative about the profound demographic changes that nearly all Native American populations experienced. This lack of data means that existing models of population history—and particularly estimates of dates for population splits and effective population sizes—are likely inaccurate.

This project, a research collaboration between tribal representatives and investigators, collects the first genomic-scale data from ancient peoples of the Great Plains. Three major objectives are being addressed with these data: (1) Test models for the initial peopling of the Americas using genomes from pre-contact Indigenous individuals of the region, (2) Investigate population histories of the region, (3) Investigate the relationship between mortuary treatment, kinship, and mobility at multiple sites.

This project is jointly funded by the Biological Anthropology Program and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.