Yerevan state university project ''Establishment of Center of Excellence in Applied Biosciences'', financed by the ''Education Quality and Relevance'' project under the Ministry of Education and Sciences of RA.

Investigation of ancient organic remains excavated from Areni Cave-1

1. Research on grape remains

The main purpose of the present proposal is to study the genetic diversity, origin, and domestication history of the grapevine. Grape remains found in Areni-1 cave archaeological complex represents a rich, natural genebank, which will help us transport genetic information from the past to the present, and compare that data with current wild and cultivated varieties of grapes in Armenia and around the world. We will be working in collaboration with the University of Tubingen to throughout the phases of this project.

Proposed research tasks

  1. Comparative molecular phylogenetic analyses of ancient grape DNA with modern grape varieties and wild grape in Armenia, particularly the Areni variety, and others growing in Vayots Dzor and neighboring areas.
  2. Ancient grape genome assembly (if possible; depends on availability of the DNA sequencing data)
2. Research on wheat and barley seeds

Armenia is considered to be part of the agricultural center from which cereals originated. Its flora includes a wide variety of wild wheat species and cultivated wheat varieties- three out of four wild Triticum species occur in Armenia, these are: T. boeoticum Boiss., T. urartu Thum. ex Gandil. and T. araraticum Jakubz. Nine Aegilops species with wide interspecific diversity have also been found in Armenia, particularly important is A. tauschii Cosson (A. squarrosa L.), an annual diploid self-pollinated species, and the donor of the D genome of modern hexaploid wheat. As for other cereals, two species of wild rye, the annual Secale vavilovii Grosch. and the perennial S. montanum Guss. (36 varieties of which have been identified), and eight species of wild barley have been discovered. The existing diversity as well as the archaeobotanical research proves that the multidisciplinary investigation has fundamentally contributed to the understanding of the complex and intricate domestication process of wheat and other cereals.

Through joint collaboration, based on our preliminary investigations, we are proposing the following activities:

  1. Experimental regeneration of excavated wheat and barley seeds, using an in vitro method, where callus tissue is grown and plants are regenerated rom this tissue; any case of regeneration should also include AMS C14 data.
  2. Comparative genomic studies of ancient seeds, regenerated callus tissues, modern varieties of wild wheat and barley genetic data using nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequencing and bioinformatics approaches.
3. Multicomponent investigations of human skeletons

The human bones are excavated from the following strata: Early phase of the Late Chalcolithic (4300 – 4000 Cal BC), Middle phase of the Late Chalcolithic (4000 – 3800 Cal BC), Early Medieval (7th to 9th centuries). Based on the existing information, we are proposing to perform the following investigations to help resolve local issues such as excavation site characterization, which will also contribute to a heightened understanding local and global patterns of human population history, including a more detailed glimpse into pathogens and the diseases of the past.

The main objectives of the present proposal are:

  • The study of ancient diets
  • Population history investigations, ancient pathogens and diseases
  • Kinship, gender identification for Late Chalcolithic (4300 – 4000 Cal BC), Middle phase of the Late Chalcolithic (4000 – 3800 Cal BC) population to help solve local questions of human activities in Areni Cave1
  • Histological investigations to support our research and understanding of ancient diets and diseases