Erratum: Stable isotope analysis of Joseon people skeletons from the cemeteries of Old Seoul City, the capital of Joseon Dynasty.

[This corrects the article on p. 244 in vol. 47, PMID: 25548722.

Joseon funerary texts tested using ancient DNA analysis of a Korean mummy.

In Korea, ancient DNA (aDNA) analysis has been applied to investigations into the genetic affiliations of mummies found in Joseon Dynasty tombs (1392-1910 CE), becoming now indispensable tool for researches studying human remains from archaeological sites. In the course of our recent examinations on a Korean mummy of Joseon Dynasty, we discovered many teeth contained in a pouch. And in fact, the historical literature on the topic of Joseon funerals contain general accounts of pouches in which an individual's lost teeth were collected over the course of a lifetime and, after death, placed in the coffin with the body.

Stable isotope analysis of Joseon people skeletons from the cemeteries of Old Seoul City, the capital of Joseon Dynasty.

Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis reveals the diets of different human populations in history. In this study, we performed stable isotope analysis on human skeletons from Joseon-period cemeteries discovered around Old Seoul City (Hansung). Our data clearly showed that Joseon individuals consumed more C3-based than C4-based foods as the main staples, and that the proteins they ate were mainly of terrestrial, but not of marine origin.