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Demography and social structure of Polynesian outliers: genomic investigations of over 100 individuals buried in Namu, Taumako island

Projektbeschreibung

Ein genauerer Blick auf die Interaktionen zwischen Menschen in Ozeanien

Als Nachkommen zweier Hauptmigrationswellen, aus Afrika vor über 50 000 Jahren und aus Taiwan, die vor etwa 5 000 Jahren begannen, haben die Menschen in Ozeanien eine komplexe Bevölkerungsgeschichte und repräsentieren eine komplexe genetische Landschaft. Wechselwirkungen zwischen Menschen in Ozeanien sind jedoch nach wie vor kaum verstanden. Das EU-finanzierte Projekt NAMU wird die genetischen Daten von 114 alten Individuen aus der antiken polynesischen Outlier-Stätte Namu, einer Begräbnisstätte auf der Insel Taumako, Salomonen, untersuchen. Mit dem Hauptziel, die Struktur der ozeanischen Gesellschaften und ihre Beziehung zu ihrer Migrationsgeschichte zu verstehen, wird NAMU paläogenomische Methoden anwenden, um die Siedlungsprozesse und demografische Geschichte von Taumako sowie die soziale Organisation und sozioökonomische Schichtung von Namu zu untersuchen.

Ziel

Oceanians are descendants of two main migration waves: the early migration of modern humans out-of-Africa more than 50,000 years ago (ya), which ended in the Solomon Islands (Near Oceania); and the Austronesian expansion, that started around 5,000 ya in Taiwan and peopled the remaining unexplored territories of Oceania (Remote Oceania) up to Polynesia from 3,000 ya. Subsequent migrations within the region created a complex genetic landscape. Near Oceanian populations moved into Remote Oceania at least 2,500 ya. Afterwards, Polynesian-speaking groups expanded westward, outside the Polynesian triangle, to other Oceanian islands, giving rise to the so-called Polynesian Outlier communities. This complex population history created a highly differentiated sociocultural background among Oceanians, whose interactions remain poorly understood. We will leverage genetic data for 114 ancient individuals from the ancient Polynesian Outlier site of Namu, a burial in the Taumako island, occupied from the 13th to the 18th centuries AD, which represents, to our knowledge, the largest ancient DNA dataset ever studied from a single site. We will use cutting-edge paleogenomic methods to study: the settlement processes and the demographic history of Taumako, and the social organization and socioeconomic stratification of the Namu site, according to genetic ancestry, sex, kin relations and age. The ultimate objective is to understand the structure of Oceanian societies and its relation with their migratory history. To achieve the project’s goals, I will integrate in the Archaeo- and Palaeogenetics group at the University of Tübingen, under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Cosimo Posth, who is a worldwide known expert in paleogenomics. This innovative and multidisciplinary project is a unique opportunity for me to learn the full range of paleogenomic techniques from a leading group in the field and to establish myself as an interdisciplinary leader in this expanding research area.

Koordinator

EBERHARD KARLS UNIVERSITAET TUEBINGEN
Netto-EU-Beitrag
€ 189 687,36
Adresse
GESCHWISTER-SCHOLL-PLATZ
72074 Tuebingen
Deutschland

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Region
Baden-Württemberg Tübingen Tübingen, Landkreis
Aktivitätstyp
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Gesamtkosten
Keine Daten