Development of molecular sex determination methods and their application to archaeological material sourced from the Raymond Dart collection of human skeletons

• Main Author: Gibbon, Victoria Elaine
• Format: Others
• Language: en
• Published: 2009
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10539/6899

Within biological anthropology there is a movement toward the use of mo- lecular methods and their application to anthropological questions. In South Africa there is great potential for research in anthropological genetics as this country is a vast repository of skeletal remains. This study aims to develop novel methods of molecular sex determination for skeletal material and apply these to an archaeological collection of historical importance. The bone extraction method developed here is minimally destructive to skeletal material and does not interfere with any anthropometric landmarks. The ex- tracted bone powder is subjected to DNA extraction procedures adapted for bone. In addition, two novel systems of molecular sex determination ideal for skeletal material are developed on the amelogenin gene, beginning in intron 2-3, spanning exon 3 and ending in intron 3-4. This area is optimal for sex- ing, as it includes 14 sex specific polymorphic regions in addition to an indel (insertion or deletion of nucleotides). Once these procedures of molecular sex determination are optimised and working with 100% efficiency on the controls, they will be applied to a collection of miscellaneous archaeological skeletons (ex-situ) sourced from the Raymond Dart Collection of Human Skeletons (Dart Collection). This collection is used to optimise these techniques for specimens derived from an archaeological context. These methods yielded 46.66% sex res- ults for the ex-situ sample, which is within the normal range for ancient DNA studies. These novel methods are then applied to an archaeological sample with good provenance, this being 36 skeletons of Chinese indentured miners sourced from the Dart Collection. While a previous morphometric study showed that this collection was represented by equal male to female ratios, the historical records suggest however that very few women accompanied these Chinese la- bourers. In using these procedures, 41.93% of this sample produced results all of which were male, correlating well with the historical records. The value of molecular approaches to investigate sex determination is that they do not rely on intact specimens as morphmetric methods do. Therefore in cases where the use of morphometrics is complicated, molecular approaches offer an accurate solution for diagnosing sex. The techniques of bone and DNA extraction are applicable for both human and animal skeletal tissue, and the methods of molecular sex determination are optimal for archaeological or forensic derived human skeletal material.