Hannah Moots | From Wheat to Watermelon: Clues from Ancient DNA about Food and Diet

From Wheat to Watermelon: Clues from Ancient DNA about Food and Diet in the Ancient World OI Museum Collections Talk Series Hannah Moots, OI postdoctoral researcher Have you always wondered about what’s in collections storage at the OI Museum? Less than two percent of the over 350,000 ancient Middle Eastern artifacts in the OI Museum collections are on display. Join us for the March installation of our Collections Talk as Hannah Moots, OI postdoctoral researcher, takes us behind the scenes! What can we learn about plant and animal domestication from ancient DNA? What did early watermelons look and taste like? How have scientists been able to grow a species of extinct date palm after over 1000 years? What varieties of wine were the Romans drinking? What insights into the wild progenitors of corn and wheat have been gained using this new technology? Not only will we discuss how humans changed plants and animals, we’ll also discuss how our changing relationships with other species change