Under favorable conditions DNA can survive for thousands of years in the remains of dead
organisms. The DNA extracted from such remains is invariably degraded to a small average …

In marine sediments, DNA occurs both inside and outside living organisms. DNA not
enclosed in living cells may account for the largest fraction of total DNA, and include …

We extend the scope of European palaeogenomics by sequencing the genomes of Late
Upper Palaeolithic (13,300 years old, 1.4-fold coverage) and Mesolithic (9,700 years old …

In recent years, massive parallel sequencing has revolutionised the study of degraded DNA,
thus enabling the field of ancient DNA to evolve into that of paleogenomics. Despite these …

The challenge of sequencing ancient DNA has led to the development of specialized
laboratory protocols that have focused on reducing contamination and maximizing the …

Neandertals, the closest evolutionary relatives of present-day humans, lived in large parts of
Europe and western Asia before disappearing 30,000 years ago. We present a draft …

Claims of extreme survival of DNA have emphasized the need for reliable models of DNA
degradation through time. By analysing mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from 158 radiocarbon …

Objectives The objective of this study has been to confirm the sex and the affinity of an
individual buried in a well‐furnished warrior grave (Bj 581) in the Viking Age town of Birka …

This protocol describes a method for converting short single-stranded and double-stranded
DNA into libraries compatible with high-throughput sequencing using Illumina technology …

One of the main impediments for obtaining DNA sequences from ancient human skeletons is
the presence of contaminating modern human DNA molecules in many fossil samples and …