Category: danielle kurin

A former assistant professor and tenured associate professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Danielle Kurin, PhD, possesses extensive experience in the study of the indigenous people of Latin America. Dr. Danielle Kurin is a member of the Society for American Archaeology (SAA), an organization that advances the field of archaeology.

The SAA supports research in Latin America through the H. and T. King Grant for Precolumbian Archaeology, which may help researchers unearth answers to questions in Latin American culture and history. The King Grant is for field research, laboratory work, collection study, and the compilation and analysis of data sets.

Those interested in applying for the grant must have a degree in archaeology or a related field. Further, senior scholars or early-career archaeologists/scholars who have earned a degree in the past five years may have an advantage in receiving the grant. Learn more about the King Grant and applications for the grant at http://www.saa.org.

Danielle Kurin holds a PhD in anthropology and served as an assistant professor and then tenured associate professor of bioarchaeology at the University of California, Santa Barbara Department of Anthropology. Aside from teaching anthropology, Dr. Danielle Kurin also engages in field and laboratory analysis of bones from ancient human remains using a variety of techniques.

Ancient DNA, also referred to as aDNA, helps researchers answer important questions regarding the origin, distribution, and evolutionary changes of pathogens and their diseases. Aside from identifying the presence of pathogens in remains, aDNA study of excavated bones and teeth can help determine the sex of an individual and identify close genetic relatives.

While this may be appealing for the purpose of historical studies, contamination of human and pathogen DNA in materials has hindered the widespread adoption of aDNA analysis. Contamination of material can occur in the field, museum, or laboratory, since modern DNA may be accidentally introduced during the process of handling or cleaning. Contamination reduces the amount of aDNA available for analysis in materials, minimizing usable information.

To reduce the chance of errors from contamination during analysis and also maximize usable aDNA, researchers have developed procedures to correct for sample contamination. One such standard practice is the extraction of aDNA under thorough clean-room conditions. This entails the use of filtered air systems, as well as UV and bleach treatment of surfaces. In addition, special adapters are employed to tag molecules present during the time of extraction to help identify and separate additional molecules that may be added accidentally during sequencing steps.

Danielle Kurin, PhD, is a bioarchaeology professor and forensic anthropologist formerly with the University of California, Santa Barbara. With extensive field experience in the Andes region, Danielle Kurin is author of the book The Bioarchaeology of Societal Collapse and Regeneration in Ancient Peru (Springer, 2016).

In the work, Dr. Kurin explores the sudden, catastrophic demise of the Wari Empire a millennia ago, after the Wari had controlled a region the size of contemporary Peru for 500 years. With reasons for this collapse still not fully understood, this decline paved the way for the Inca to come to power around 1400 AD and form a new empire encompassing the “spine of South America.”

Dr. Kurin’s research of hundreds of skeletons reveals links between the last remaining populations of imperial Wari and the Chanka society that emerged in its wake. Unlike the Wari, the Chanka did not create elaborate cities or develop major commercial networks and written systems. In addition, they left behind relatively few goods and tools as evidence of their society.

As Dr. Kurin describes it, “prehistoric state fragmentation” of the Wari led to unprecedented genocidal attacks, displacement, and mass migrations. With community health impacted, individual life spans were reduced and access to clean water and nutritious food became less equally distributed.

At the same time, the Chanka began to display remarkable societal resilience mechanisms. These included trepanation medical procedures, new clan-like social formations, and religious practices centered on the worship of mummified ancestor-chief bodies. The archeological record reveals this upheaval and regeneration process in a novel way.