nWP 1 Characterisation of the past genomic diversity of Italian horses
The supervisor guided the researcher to achieve the full organisation of the network of scientists to be involved in the project. The sampling was organized in the Italian collections, in line with Italian regulations for accessing cultural and archaeological material. All tests performed at a later stage of the project excluded the presence of contamination, thereby validating the quality of the sampling, and the proficiency of the training in molecular tools.
nWP2 Characterizing the present genomic diversity within Italian horses
The supervisor guided the researcher in establishing contact with a large network of collaborators that could help access DNA material from modern Italian breeds. Amongst over 12 different contacts established, two proved extremely useful and provided access to DNA material and hair/blood samples from a total of 9 iconic Italian breeds.
nWP 3 Reconstruction of the demographic history of ancient Italian horses and their relationships with other ancient and modern populations
The researcher has been extensively trained in the molecular methods needed to successfully extract DNA from ancient specimens, and obtain reliable genomic and genetic data from them. The poor conservation of the samples resulted in a low quantity of ancient DNA retrieved that precluded the genome-wide analyses foreseen, but extensive quality checks demonstrated the good value of the training and of the researcher’s work. In terms of computational analyses of high-throughput DNA sequencing data, the researcher has been trained in the use of the software developed in the lab in order to process genomic data as well as on a range of complementary, state-of-the-art pipelines/packages in statistical genomics.
nWP4 Establishment and analysis of a spatially-explicit database of radiocarbon dates and relative frequencies associated to horse presence in Eurasian archaeological sites.
The supervisor and the researcher organised a large network of experts in the field, allowing to get access to the latest, unpublished results in the field and to obtain the best possible data. After merging the information received by the collaborators and collecting further dates, the resulting database represents by far the largest effort so far aimed at characterising the variation through time of the palaeoecology of a megafauna species.
nWP5 Reconstruction of the Palaeoecology of the horse in Eurasia.
The collaborative network opened access to the most complete palaeoclimatic reconstructions hitherto produced. The analysis of the radiocarbon dataset in conjunction with such extensive estimates allowed the characterisation of the climatic niche of the horse and its variations through space and time. The researcher underwent a training period to learn the state-of-art ecological methods to reconstruct the potential distribution of biological species on the basis of climatic and environmental information and implemented them on the collected database. This comprehensive analysis merging archaeozoology, archaeology, palaeoclimatology and palaeoecology allowed to reconstruct the relationship between horse populations and the environment, and their variation through time to unprecedented detail.
