Developing rapid and low-cost mass spectrometry-based identification of biological sex in fossils

The analysis of proteins preserved in archaeological and paleontological contexts (termed
palaeoproteomics) is an exciting new area in archaeological science, generating ground-breaking new
insights into the phylogenies of extinct species, human and animal diets, as well as patterns of health
and disease. In particular, a game-changer has been the discovery of protein evidence for biological sex
beyond the survival of ancient DNA. Preserving in enamel, the protein amelogenin in humans occurs as
an x- or y-isoform (from genes located on the x and y chromosome), enabling the identification of
biological sex in fossil teeth, and therefore has vast potential for examining sex-based population
patterns.
This PhD will advance this exciting avenue of archaeological science by democratizing this technique.
The project will exploring a low-cost, high-throughput mass spectrometry-based approach for the
protein-based identification of biological sex and expand this approach to include non-human taxa. This
rapid and low-cost approach will have substantial implications for future understandings of past animal
management and domestication and sex-based patterns in the archaeological record.