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Ancient Biomolecules Crossing Cave Deposits: deciphering ecosystem evolution across space and time 

We invite you to watch this short film, which offers a glimpse into our journey through science and time, as we explore the underground world of caves and use ancient biomolecules to uncover how ecosystems once lived, adapted, and changed.

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Discover ABC Deposits 

The "ABC Deposits" project investigates ecosystem responses in cave deposits of the Apuseni Mountains, Romania. Spanning the Middle to Late Pleistocene and the Holocene, the project integrates the concept of bioarchives into cave deposits, shedding light on ecosystem evolution. By analyzing ancient biomolecules from sediments and stalagmites spanning 130,000 years within a palaeoenvironmental context inferred from geological archives, the project aims to address gaps in sedimentary ancient DNA research. The resulting data will advance palaeoecology, provide insights into past ecosystems, and unlock the complexities of ancient communities. The project emphasizes transparency and data accessibility, making all raw and mapped data freely available. Through interdisciplinary approaches, the project will assess the impact of past climate change on community composition, contributing to our understanding of plant-fauna-human interactions and enabling a comprehensive exploration of community dynamics under changing climatic conditions through the integration of palaeogenomics and palaeoecology. The ABC Deposits project aligns with the objectives of the current call by striving to enhance the scientific research reputation in Romania through internationally recognized outcomes in the field of cave deposits and ancient biomolecules. The project aims to foster research teams and attract high-caliber national and international researchers to promote interdisciplinary research in Romania. 

ABC Deposits team

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Archaeologist

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Anthropologist

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Archaeologist

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Zooarchaeologist

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Principal investigator, ecologist

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Geologist, palaeoclimate

ABC Deposits collaborators

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Electron Microscopy

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Adrienn Botha-Lörincz

PhD student in Archaeology

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Zoltán József Botha

PhD student in Archaeology

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Metallurgy –

Materials Processing Engineering and Management

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Electron Microscopy

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Structural Geology

ABC Deposits volunteers

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Teodora Călin

MA student,

Archaeology and Classical Studies,

BabeÈ™-Bolyai University

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Octavian-Tudor Lucaciu

BA student,

Archaeology, 

BabeÈ™-Bolyai University

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Denis-Ionuț Mereuță

MA student,

Archaeology, 

BabeÈ™-Bolyai University

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Mihnea-Vlad Negoescu

MA student,

Archaeology and Classical Studies,

BabeÈ™-Bolyai University

Objectives and results

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Conducting fieldwork and systematic archaeological excavations in selected caves using advanced scientific methods.

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Recovering biological archives preserved in cave deposits through the analysis of ancient biomolecules.

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Investigating geoarchives preserved in deposits using a systematic multiproxy approach to assess chronology, palaeoclimate, and depositional context.

You can read the full Stage I summary here.

Results include the successful completion of excavation campaigns, finalization of the data management plan, collection of all necessary samples for planned analyses, securing of all required permits and approvals, and the presentation of preliminary findings at six scientific conferences, including one invited keynote at the international level.

Our partners

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Institutul de Arheologie și Istoria Artei
Filiala Cluj

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Technical and logistic support provided by

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Get in Touch

Emil G. Racoviță Institute

BabeÈ™-Bolyai University

Clinicilor 5-7, 400006,

Cluj-Napoca, Romania​

+4 0741 044 561

Thanks for submitting!

This work is supported by a grant of the Romanian Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitization, CNCS - UEFISCDI,

project number PN-IV-P1-PCE-2023-0717, within PNCDI IV.

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All photos © Irinel Cîrlănaru, ABCDeposits.

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