Palaeogenomics has revolutionised our understanding of human population history by analysing thousands of human genomes from skeletal remains. Unfortunately, this requires destructive sampling of such remains and can conflict with descendant communities' values and heritage conservation policies. To circumvent these limitations, we are using a novel DNA source: ancient quids. We are analysing quid DNA from the Americas, where evolutionary history is understudied, skeletal remains are rare and destructive sampling is limited. Using quid DNA, we aim at reconstructing the genomic history of Indigenous Americans, their past lifeways, and their health. Throughout this project we will focus on the latter by reconstructing and characterising the chewers' oral microbiome, and exploring how this complex microbial community changed in connection with the initial peopling of the continent by Ice Age hunter-gatherers, the rise of complex agricultural societies and their demise during European colonisation.
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