Extraction Protocol for Parallel Analysis of Proteins and DNA from Ancient Teeth and Dental Calculus

Dental calculus is becoming a crucial material in the
study of
past populations with increasing interest in its proteomic and genomic
content. Here, we suggest further development of a protocol for analysis
of ancient proteins and a combined approach for subsequent ancient
DNA extraction. We tested the protocol on recent teeth, and the optimized
protocol was applied to ancient tooth to limit the destruction of
calculus as it is a precious and irreplaceable source of dietary,
microbiological, and ecological information in the archeological context.
Finally, the applicability of the protocol was demonstrated on samples
of the ancient calculus.