Ancient nuclear genomes enable repatriation of Indigenous human remains

Joanne L. Wright; Sally Wasef; Tim H. Heupink; Michael C. Westaway; Simon Rasmussen; Colin Pardoe; Gudju Gudju Fourmile; Michael Young; Trish Johnson; Joan Slade; Roy Kennedy; Patsy Winch; Mary Pappin Sr; Tapij Wales; William Bates; Sharnie Hamilton; Neville Whyman; Sheila Van Holst Pellekaan; Peter J. McAllister; Paul S.C. Taçon; Darren Curnoe; Ruiqiang Li; Craig Millar; Sankar Subramanian; Eske Willerslev; Anna Sapfo Malaspinas; Martin Sikora; David M. Lambert

doi:10.1126/sciadv.aau5064

Ancient nuclear genomes enable repatriation of Indigenous human remains

Joanne L. Wright
, Sally Wasef
, Tim H. Heupink
, Michael C. Westaway
, Simon Rasmussen
, Colin Pardoe
, Gudju Gudju Fourmile
, Michael Young
, Trish Johnson
, Joan Slade
, Roy Kennedy
, Patsy Winch
, Mary Pappin Sr
, Tapij Wales
, William Bates
, Sharnie Hamilton
, Neville Whyman
, Sheila Van Holst Pellekaan
, Peter J. McAllister
, Paul S.C. Taçon

Darren Curnoe, Ruiqiang Li, Craig Millar, Sankar Subramanian, Eske Willerslev, Anna Sapfo Malaspinas, Martin Sikora, David M. Lambert

Griffith University Queensland
University of Antwerp
Technical University of Denmark
Australian National University
Gimuy Yidniji Elder
Barkandji/Paakantyi Elder
Barkandji/Paakantyi Elder
Ngiyampaa Elder
Mutthi Mutthi Elder
Thanynakwith Elder
Barapa Barapa Nation
University of New South Wales
University of Sydney
Springbrook
Novogene Co., Ltd.
The University of Auckland
University of the Sunshine Coast
University of Copenhagen
University of Cambridge
Wellcome Sanger Institute
University of Lausanne
Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

40 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

After European colonization, the ancestral remains of Indigenous people were often collected for scientific research or display in museum collections. For many decades, Indigenous people, including Native Americans and Aboriginal Australians, have fought for their return. However, many of these remains have no recorded provenance, making their repatriation very difficult or impossible. To determine whether DNA-based methods could resolve this important problem, we sequenced 10 nuclear genomes and 27 mitogenomes from ancient pre-European Aboriginal Australians (up to 1540 years before the present) of known provenance and compared them to 100 high-coverage contemporary Aboriginal Australian genomes, also of known provenance. We report substantial ancient population structure showing strong genetic affinities between ancient and contemporary Aboriginal Australian individuals from the same geographic location. Our findings demonstrate the feasibility of successfully identifying the origins of unprovenanced ancestral remains using genomic methods.

Original language	English
Article number	eaau5064
Journal	Science Advances
Volume	4
Issue number	12
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aau5064
Publication status	Published - 19 Dec 2018
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2018 The Authors, some rights reserved;

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10.1126/sciadv.aau5064

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Wright, J. L., Wasef, S., Heupink, T. H., Westaway, M. C., Rasmussen, S., Pardoe, C., Fourmile, G. G., Young, M., Johnson, T., Slade, J., Kennedy, R., Winch, P., Sr, M. P., Wales, T., Bates, W., Hamilton, S., Whyman, N., Van Holst Pellekaan, S., McAllister, P. J., ... Lambert, D. M. (2018). Ancient nuclear genomes enable repatriation of Indigenous human remains. Science Advances, 4(12), Article eaau5064. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aau5064

@article{5e051f4767994b2daafbc5f02c7952d6,

title = "Ancient nuclear genomes enable repatriation of Indigenous human remains",

abstract = "After European colonization, the ancestral remains of Indigenous people were often collected for scientific research or display in museum collections. For many decades, Indigenous people, including Native Americans and Aboriginal Australians, have fought for their return. However, many of these remains have no recorded provenance, making their repatriation very difficult or impossible. To determine whether DNA-based methods could resolve this important problem, we sequenced 10 nuclear genomes and 27 mitogenomes from ancient pre-European Aboriginal Australians (up to 1540 years before the present) of known provenance and compared them to 100 high-coverage contemporary Aboriginal Australian genomes, also of known provenance. We report substantial ancient population structure showing strong genetic affinities between ancient and contemporary Aboriginal Australian individuals from the same geographic location. Our findings demonstrate the feasibility of successfully identifying the origins of unprovenanced ancestral remains using genomic methods.",

author = "Wright, \{Joanne L.\} and Sally Wasef and Heupink, \{Tim H.\} and Westaway, \{Michael C.\} and Simon Rasmussen and Colin Pardoe and Fourmile, \{Gudju Gudju\} and Michael Young and Trish Johnson and Joan Slade and Roy Kennedy and Patsy Winch and Sr, \{Mary Pappin\} and Tapij Wales and William Bates and Sharnie Hamilton and Neville Whyman and \{Van Holst Pellekaan\}, Sheila and McAllister, \{Peter J.\} and Ta{\c c}on, \{Paul S.C.\} and Darren Curnoe and Ruiqiang Li and Craig Millar and Sankar Subramanian and Eske Willerslev and Malaspinas, \{Anna Sapfo\} and Martin Sikora and Lambert, \{David M.\}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: Copyright {\textcopyright} 2018 The Authors, some rights reserved;",

year = "2018",

month = dec,

day = "19",

doi = "10.1126/sciadv.aau5064",

language = "English",

volume = "4",

journal = "Science Advances",

issn = "2375-2548",

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}

Wright, JL, Wasef, S, Heupink, TH, Westaway, MC, Rasmussen, S, Pardoe, C, Fourmile, GG, Young, M, Johnson, T, Slade, J, Kennedy, R, Winch, P, Sr, MP, Wales, T, Bates, W, Hamilton, S, Whyman, N, Van Holst Pellekaan, S, McAllister, PJ, Taçon, PSC, Curnoe, D, Li, R, Millar, C, Subramanian, S, Willerslev, E, Malaspinas, AS, Sikora, M & Lambert, DM 2018, 'Ancient nuclear genomes enable repatriation of Indigenous human remains', Science Advances, vol. 4, no. 12, eaau5064. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aau5064

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AU - Wright, Joanne L.

AU - Wasef, Sally

AU - Heupink, Tim H.

AU - Westaway, Michael C.

AU - Rasmussen, Simon

AU - Pardoe, Colin

AU - Fourmile, Gudju Gudju

AU - Young, Michael

AU - Johnson, Trish

AU - Slade, Joan

AU - Kennedy, Roy

AU - Winch, Patsy

AU - Sr, Mary Pappin

AU - Wales, Tapij

AU - Bates, William

AU - Hamilton, Sharnie

AU - Whyman, Neville

AU - Van Holst Pellekaan, Sheila

AU - McAllister, Peter J.

AU - Taçon, Paul S.C.

AU - Curnoe, Darren

AU - Li, Ruiqiang

AU - Millar, Craig

AU - Subramanian, Sankar

AU - Willerslev, Eske

AU - Malaspinas, Anna Sapfo

AU - Sikora, Martin

AU - Lambert, David M.

PY - 2018/12/19

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AB - After European colonization, the ancestral remains of Indigenous people were often collected for scientific research or display in museum collections. For many decades, Indigenous people, including Native Americans and Aboriginal Australians, have fought for their return. However, many of these remains have no recorded provenance, making their repatriation very difficult or impossible. To determine whether DNA-based methods could resolve this important problem, we sequenced 10 nuclear genomes and 27 mitogenomes from ancient pre-European Aboriginal Australians (up to 1540 years before the present) of known provenance and compared them to 100 high-coverage contemporary Aboriginal Australian genomes, also of known provenance. We report substantial ancient population structure showing strong genetic affinities between ancient and contemporary Aboriginal Australian individuals from the same geographic location. Our findings demonstrate the feasibility of successfully identifying the origins of unprovenanced ancestral remains using genomic methods.

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SN - 2375-2548

VL - 4

JO - Science Advances

JF - Science Advances

IS - 12

M1 - eaau5064

ER -

Ancient nuclear genomes enable repatriation of Indigenous human remains

Abstract

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