Molecular anthropology: the judicial use of genetic data in archaeology

Anthropology has always been an unashamed scavenger discipline, acquiring and employing techniques developed in other physical, life and social sciences to apply to a holistic approach to studying humanity. In this regard, the adoption of genetic analyses into archaeological investigations has paralleled many previous adoptions including those of radiometric dating, stable isotope analysis and chemical analysis of material culture. Employing DNA data in reconstructions of prehistory, however, has been hampered particularly by the expense of generating the data - both financial and logistical - and, at least initially, by unwarranted resistance to take seriously molecular data. While the expense continues to rise as new techniques become available, there has been a reversal in the place of genetic data in that it is now privileged over other sources of data. This kind of molecular chauvinism leads to overreach in interpretation and is no less likely to hamper our progress. Moving forward we would do best be judicial in the use of genetic data alongside other independent archaeological evidence in reconstructing the past.