Genetic sex determination as an instrument for the study of non adults in bioarchaeology.

Recent works have focused on multidisciplinary approaches combining bioarchaeology and genetics to investigate the human past. For example, some studies have linked the migration patterns of non-local females with those of local individuals, as established through stable isotope analysis, and have shown that their estimated ancestral components differ in some cases respectively. These works infer a male sex bias, or social practices of exogamy and patrilocality, in some prehistoric European societies. Often, however, the origins and ancestry of non-adult individuals are overlooked. Here, we explore the need for multidisciplinary studies to better understand past societies and explain why the rapidly expanding field of ancient human genetics must incorporate non-adults to a greater degree. We collected bioarchaeological (osteological sex and age-at-death) and genetic data of ~50 possible individuals from three archaeological sites in the Italian Peninsula dating to the Chalcolithic-Bronze Age transition. We extracted DNA from human skeletal elements (mostly petrous bones and teeth) and built double-index libraries at the dedicated ancient DNA laboratory at the Institute of Genomics, Tartu (Estonia). After raw data processing of the sequenced libraries, we determined the genetic sex using published available tools and compared the results to the bioarchaeological records. In many cases, the bioarchaeological data were insufficient to estimate sex, as the human remains at two sites were often found to be disarticulated. In combination, the genetic and bioarchaeological data, alongside archaeological context and social interpretations of these periods, allow us to refine our interpretations of the construction of past societies. This is especially the case for assessing the representation of male and female individuals and the social value of children in the past.