Andrew S. Wilson^{1, 2}, Michael, P. Richards¹, M. Thomas P. Gilbert³

¹Department of Archaeological Sciences, University of Bradford, Bradford, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom. ²Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Bradford, Bradford, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom. ³Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA

Six samples of hair attributed to Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) were obtained for hair analysis from five different sources in both public & private collections. None of these samples had a fully documented curation history. A primary research concern was to determine whether the samples were authentic through biomolecular (genetic and isotopic) analysis. Serial sub-sections of the hairs were submitted for carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis. A single fibre from each sample was subdivided and submitted for mitochondrial (mt)DNA analysis and independent replication. Since it was assumed that all hairs would have been handled extensively in the past they underwent rigorous decontamination prior to extraction. Each hair showed discrete variation in stable isotope values in the sub-sections, which reflected normal seasonal availability of foodstuffs. However, there was a 6‰ range in d15N and a 2‰ range in d13C values between individual hairs which indicates significantly different dietary inputs for at least four of the six hairs. MtDNA was amplified from four of the six samples and each contained a different DNA sequence. It is unlikely that the differences in mtDNA sequences were due to contamination. It would be extremely unlikely that only a single contaminant sequence would survive per hair based on the results of independent replication. The mtDNA results support the evidence from stable isotope analysis and indicate that these six samples represent a minimum of four separate individuals. Importantly, whilst Sir Isaac Newton’s position as a major figure in history meant that multiple samples attributed to this individual were available from different sources for analysis, the authenticity of all such material can be brought into question. Hair samples attributed to high profile individuals with a long undocumented curation history must be viewed with caution.