Poseidon – A framework for archaeogenetic human genotype data management

Abstract

The study of ancient human genomes, archaeo- or palaeogenetics, has accelerated in the last ten years, with now thousands of new ancient genomes being released each year. Operating at the interface of genetics, anthro-pology and archaeology, this data includes features from all three fields, including rich meta- and context-data, for example regarding spatiotemporal provenience. While archives and standards for genetic sequencing data al-ready exist, no such infrastructure exists for combined genetic and meta-data that could ensure FAIR principles across the field. Here, we present Poseidon, a framework for open and FAIR data handling in archaeogenetics, including a specified package format, software tools, and public, community-maintained online archives. Poseidon emphasises human- and machine-readable data storage, the development of convenient and interoperable command line software, and a high degree of source granularity to elevate the original data publication to the main unit of long-term curation.