Metagenomics — the analysis of all the DNA in a sample, including from microorganisms — could reveal the specific microbial community of the peat and potentially the disease environment of the Windover people in ways impossible from bone and tissue alone.

Proteomics — the analysis of preserved ancient proteins — has proven applicable to materials older than DNA typically survives, and could potentially be applied to Windover samples that have degraded beyond DNA recovery.

Each of these analytical approaches represents a different kind of question about the Windover community.

The kinship structure of the cemetery — whether closely related individuals were buried near each other, whether the cemetery shows family groupings — is a question that ancient nuclear DNA could address.

The disease burden of the population, the presence of specific pathogens, the microbiome of the individuals — these are questions that metagenomics could partially answer.