Ancient DNA-based sex determination of bison hide moccasins provides evidence for selective hunting strategies by Promontory Cave occupants

The thirteenth-century human occupants of Promontory Cave, Utah, distinguished themselves from surrounding Fremont populations by being successful hunting specialists of bison in a region normally peripheral for that species. The hunters’ success is evident from the abundance of faunal remains excavated from the dry caves, which has facilitated zooarchaeological study of bison hunting strategies. The dry cave conditions also preserved hundreds of worn moccasins, which are of particular interest because of the Canadian-Subarctic style in which they are made and for their potential to reveal more about hunting strategies of their wearers. Here, we isolate ancient DNA from 38 Promontory Cave 1 (42BO1) moccasin and hide fragments and use these data to determine the species and sex of animals used to construct the moccasins. We found moccasins were mainly made from bison and most (87%) were females. The strong female bias in our data, which we demonstrate is a significant departure from sex ...