Hart to hart: ancient Red Deer mtDNA extractions from the Western Isles of Scotland; the promise and the problems (Aidan Farnan)

Hart to hart: ancient Red Deer mtDNA extractions from the Western Isles of Scotland; the promise and the problems (Aidan Farnan)

Britain has the largest Red Deer (Cervus Elaphus) population in Western Europe, largely concentrated in Scotland, and so it is unsurprising that the genetic make up of this population has been extensively studied both for archaeological and stock management applications, such as Hwme et al., 2006. However most such studies of Red Deer genetics have been carried out with modern populations, and although use of the predictable rate of mtDNA mutation on modern samples to calculate the point at which the ancestral populations diverged to produce distinct modern populations is widely accepted, the absence of ancient DNA extractions on archaeological Red Deer samples from known ancient populations make a full understanding of the management of ancient stocks difficult. To determine if a comparison of mtDNA between ancient populations of Scottish Islands was possible twenty samples held in Cardiff University’s store or archaeologically recovered remains from the SEARCH project excavations on South Uist sampled to determine if Red Deer mtDNA was present and could be extracted, and if it was, to determine if it could be compared to ancient mtDNA extracted from sites on the mainland or other Scottish Islands. Extractions were carried out using a modified form of the 2007 Loreille et al. forensic bone demineralisation protocol and samples then sent for sequencing. Although Agarose Electrophoreses showed DNA strands matching the length expected from the mtDNA region targeted were present in the extracts, sequencing failed to produce any conclusive results making comparison with other sites moot. This project did however identify several promising areas for future mtDNA work on Uist and highlighted several problems with methods used and the complications of interdisciplinary work.

Hwme, S.S., et al., 2006. Genetic variability and differentiation in red deer (Cervus elaphus) from Scotland and England. Journal of Zoology. 270 p.479–487

Loreille, O.M., et al., 2007. High efficiency DNA extraction from bone by total demineralization. Forensic Science International: Genetics, 1, pp.191-195.

Aidan Farnan, Cardiff University

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