AncientMetagenome: an accurate ancient metagenomics analysis workflow with low false-positive microbial detection rate

This is the data project connected to AncientMetagenome, a workflow for rigorous metagenomics analysis and validation of aDNA samples. Abstract: Analysis of microbial data from archaeological samples is a rapidly growing field with a great potential for understanding ancient environments, life styles and disease spread in the past. However, a high level of false-positive findings has been a long-standing challenge in ancient metagenomics analysis. This is also complicated by a limited choice of ancient microbiome specific computational frameworks that meet the growing demands of the field. Here, we propose the AncientMetagenome, a conservative ancient metagenomics analysis workflow that is predominantly designed to minimize the amount of false-positive discoveries. We perform an accurate benchmark comparison of the AncientMetagenome against other workflows established in the field and demonstrate its higher sensitivity vs. specificity balance compared to other tools. Databases created while developing this workflow are of great interest to the ancient metagenomics community, so they will be stored here to be easily and reliably shared