University of Cambridge
Prof Chris Howe, Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge
Dr Ellen Nisbet, Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge
We invite applications for a fully funded PhD studentship in
archaeogenetics. The project detailed below is a candidate for a
studentship, and applicants will be in open competition with others
applying both for this project and other candidate projects within
the Graduate School of Biological Sciences. In the event of a
successful application, the project will be supervised jointly by
Prof. Christopher Howe, Department of Biochemistry and Dr Mim Bower,
McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research.
A good first degree in Biology, Genetics, Zoology or Archaeology (1st
class or 2:1 or equivalent) is essential and a Masters degree in a
relevant scientific or archaeological discipline will be an
advantage. Experience in the standard range of molecular biology
techniques is essential; experience with low-copy number methods
(ancient DNA) is desirable, but not essential.
Applicants should send a CV and a covering letter detailing their
suitability for the project and evidencing relevant experience, along
with two academic references, to Dr Mim Bower, McDonald Institute for
Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, Downing Street,
Cambridge, CB2 3ER or by email to: mab1004@cam.ac.uk.
Applicants must be UK or EU citizens.
Informal enquiries can be made to Dr Mim Bower at mab1004@cam.ac.uk
The closing date for applications is: Wednesday 7th March 2007
Shortlisted candidates will be invited for interview on Wednesday
21st March 2007.
The location and timing of the domestication of the horse is still a
contentious question in archaeology. The direct evidence for the use
of horses before the development of the chariot in the 2nd millennium
BC, i.e., for riding, is scarce and few archaeologists agree on its
interpretation, yet it is clear from the recurrent use of the horse
in imagery and ritual that the horse has been of great importance to
humans for a long time. But if archaeological evidence cannot be used
to understand the human-horse relationship through time, how are we
to investigate this question?
Archaegenetics, the use of modern population genetics coupled with
the analysis of ancient DNA from the archaeological specimens
themselves has proved a highly useful tool for understanding the
domestication of many of our other economically important plant and
animal species (pigs, cattle, goats, chickens, maize, wheat, barely
etc..). In the case of horses, a large amount of mitochondrial data
from living horse populations is now available, but it is proving to
be difficult to resolve a clear phylogeny with biogeographic
structure using this data. A more robust phylogeny will be possible
if a number of informative nuclear loci are used. This project
proposes to screen an extensive sample set of living horse
populations from central and east Asia for nuclear markers
(microsatellites and SNiPs) and develop methods for the analysis of
these same nuclear markers from archaeological horse skeletons from
across central and east Asia in order to resolve the biogeography of
horse domestication.
The successful applicant would be part of a growing team working on
the archaeogenetics of horse husbandry and adjunct to a new project
on the spread of the chariot across central Asia. There will be
opportunities for fieldwork, attending conferences and training both
here at Cambridge, and also in collaborating labs. The studentship is
BBSRC funded, covering both fees and subsistence, and for up to four
years.
rern2@mole.bio.cam.ac.uk
