Ancient DNA

Ancient DNA (aDNA) reveals that animal domestication was a complex process in which there was frequent feralization and interbreeding between wild and domestic stocks. Professor Brunson is using aDNA extracted from bone specimens excavated at Bronze Age sites in north China to clarify the genetic origins of cattle, sheep, and goats. Currently, she is examining the relationships between domestic cattle and the extinct wild aurochs, and between domestic sheep and goats and the many wild bovids that were native to northwest China. Ancient DNA from East Asia also informs our understanding of the migration events and routes of exchange that promoted the spread of pastoralism across Eurasia. Professor Brunson collaborates with aDNA laboratories in China as well as the Center for Computational Molecular Biology at Brown University. She is interested in promoting collaboration between zooarchaeologists and ancient DNA researchers working in East Asia.