Alkylresorcinol detection and identification in archaeological pottery using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole/Orbitrap mass spectrometry.

Rationale: Alkylresorcinols (AR) are cereal-specific biomarkers and have recently been found in archaeological pots. However, their low concentrations and high susceptibility to degradation make them difficult to detect using conventional gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Here we describe the development of a more sensitive liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC/MS) method to detect these compounds.

Dating the Paleolithic: Trapped charge methods and amino acid geochronology.

Despite the vast array of different geochronological tools available, dating the Paleolithic remains one of the discipline's greatest challenges. This review focuses on two different dating approaches: trapped charge and amino acid geochronology. While differing in their fundamental principles, both exploit time-dependent changes in signals found within crystals to generate a chronology for the material dated and hence, the associated deposits.

Estimating the dwarfing rate of an extinct Sicilian elephant.

Evolution on islands, together with the often extreme phenotypic changes associated with it, has attracted much interest from evolutionary biologists. However, measuring the rate of change of phenotypic traits of extinct animals can be challenging, in part due to the incompleteness of the fossil record. Here, we use combined molecular and fossil evidence to define the minimum and maximum rate of dwarfing in an extinct Mediterranean dwarf elephant from Puntali Cave (Sicily).

Author Correction: The dental proteome of Homo antecessor.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

The dental proteome of Homo antecessor.

The phylogenetic relationships between hominins of the Early Pleistocene epoch in Eurasia, such as Homo antecessor, and hominins that appear later in the fossil record during the Middle Pleistocene epoch, such as Homo sapiens, are highly debated. For the oldest remains, the molecular study of these relationships is hindered by the degradation of ancient DNA. However, recent research has demonstrated that the analysis of ancient proteins can address this challenge.

Early Pleistocene enamel proteome from Dmanisi resolves Stephanorhinus phylogeny.

The sequencing of ancient DNA has enabled the reconstruction of speciation, migration and admixture events for extinct taxa. However, the irreversible post-mortem degradation of ancient DNA has so far limited its recovery-outside permafrost areas-to specimens that are not older than approximately 0.5 million years (Myr).