Analysis of Five Ancient Equine Skeletons by Mitochondrial DNA Sequencing

Abstract

Pompeii is a unique archaeological site because of the natural disaster occurred there makes it possible to perform many kinds of studies, including the biological and naturalistic. Morphological and morphometric analyses were conducted on five equine skeletons dated to 79 BC , found in a stable near the "Casti Amanti" house, to assess their taxonomic assignment. These studies classified four of the skeletons as donkeys and one as a mule. We report the molecular characterisation of the five equine skeletons based on their ancient DNA extraction and sequencing. Attention was focused on the D-loop region of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), compared to DNA from the living equine species Equus asinus and Equus caballus . The results of molecular analyses do not fit exactly with previous morphological and morphometric studies. Our data indicates that two of the skeletons could be horses or mules and three could be donkeys or hinnies. This result demonstrates the relevant contribution of modern molecular approaches t...