The study of ancient DNA has metamorphosed in the past few decades. As it becomes an increasingly routine practice, several factors must be kept into consideration. One is the identification of the best skeletal elements preserving the ancient genetic material. The other is the minimisation of the destructiveness of the sampling process in sight of the long term preservation of anthropological collections. I will explore the multiple ways in which the sampling of skeletons for ancient DNA has been optimized in the past few years, looking at the different elements (and other materials) available to us and new methods to utilise them.

Olivia Cheronet, Universität Wien, Department für Evolutionäre Anthropologie