The study of ancient-human populations has thrived over the past decade, but such progress comes at a price.

“Unless some ground rules are established, future scientists... could well look back on this era as a time of heedless destruction, fuelled by the relentless pressure to publish,” says anthropologists @KeoluFox and @johnhawks.

This article by @KeoluFox and @johnhawks is wonderful- we all need to pause and reflect

Really pleased that @NatureNews @Nature have published this piece by @KeoluFox and me, a critical and constructive look at how to make ancient DNA more sustainable for heritage: "Use Ancient Remains More Wisely" nature.com/articles/d4158… pic.twitter.com/Ul9Vvh1oiG

There's huge potential in #paleogenetics - but those ancient bones, teeth, and hair are a finite resource. In their @nature-comment @KeoluFox and @johnhawks urge to reconsider sampling strategies and to establish ground rules for #aDNA research

Many of the scientific tests we do destroys pieces of an artifact, sometimes the entire thing. As @keolufox & @johnhawks notes, we need to do this wisely. Archaeological remains are a finite resource Archaeology is controlled destruction

No one has a full list of all samples from ancient humans & closely related species examined so far; No one is tracking the success rate of data recovery across laboratories & samples; no one knows how many specimens are left - safeguard ancient remains

Excellent piece by @KeoluFox and @johnhawks

Great piece by @KeoluFox and @johnhawks on use of ancient remains for genomics. To avoid waste of precious limited resources, give diverse stakeholders a say and create accountability.

Use ancient remains more wisely nature.com/articles/d4158… Extracting DNA from ancient remains requires the partial destruction of those specimens. And once bones, teeth, hair and so on are ground into dust, future opportunities for using them to understand our past are lost