Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/X010929/1
Investigating the early human settlement of Iceland with ancient soil DNA
Grant Award
- Principal Investigator:
- Dr NA Cutler, Newcastle University, Sch of Geog, Politics and Sociology
- Co-Investigator:
- Dr R Streeter, University of St Andrews, Geography and Sustainable Development
- Co-Investigator:
- Professor AJ Dugmore, University of Edinburgh, Sch of Geosciences
- Grant held at:
- Newcastle University, Sch of Geog, Politics and Sociology
- Science Area:
- Terrestrial
- Overall Classification:
- Unknown
- ENRIs:
- Global Change
- Natural Resource Management
- Science Topics:
- Landscape & Environ. Archaeol.
- Molecular ecology
- Evolution & populations
- Quaternary Science
- Environmental Genomics
- Soil science
- Abstract:
- This project aims to establish if early human settlement of Iceland can be detected and described through the analysis of ancient (centuries-old) DNA (aDNA) in soil. Iceland is an important model system for human-environment interactions, but the timing and ecological impacts of human settlement are contested: aDNA in soil offers a novel approach to these problems. To generalise the Icelandic experience, we need to understand when humans first settled Iceland and if this event was earlier than the currently accepted date of 874 CE (Landnam in Icelandic). We also need to understand the ecological impact of expanding human populations in the early phases of settlement to a high degree of spatial and temporal resolution. Finally, to reconstruct ecological change from soil aDNA, we need to understand the mobility and longevity of DNA in the soil. To establish if early human settlement of Iceland can be detected and described through the analysis of aDNA in soil, we will 1) analyse soil aDNA from three archaeological sites in Iceland and 2) track the fate of experimentally applied exotic DNA. To address when humans first settled Iceland, we will analyse aDNA from pre-Landnam soils, targeting taxa that can only have arrived in Iceland with humans. To assess the ecological impact of expanding human populations in the early phases of settlement, we will analyse aDNA from soils immediately post-Landnam, comparing our inferences with those derived from well-established proxies. To investigate the mobility and longevity of DNA in the soil, we will apply modern, exotic DNA to test plots and, over a period of six months, repeatedly test for its presence and abundance at different soil depths. Overall, the project will address long-standing questions about the early human colonisation of Iceland and the test an innovative technique with huge potential for Holocene palaeoenvironmental reconstruction.
- NERC Reference:
- NE/X010929/1
- Grant Stage:
- Completed
- Scheme:
- Standard Grant FEC
- Grant Status:
- Closed
- Programme:
- Exploring the frontiers
This grant award has a total value of £63,254
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| DI - Other Costs | Indirect - Indirect Costs | DA - Investigators | DA - Estate Costs | DA - Other Directly Allocated | DI - T&S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £29,597 | £7,059 | £10,795 | £1,272 | £43 | £14,488 |
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