Effects of ancestry, agriculture, and lactase persistence on the stature of prehistoric Europeans

Highlights

•Polygenic scores predict about 9% of height variation in ancient Europeans

•Slightly shorter Neolithic statures can be explained by genetics

•Re-estimated ancient height SNP effects are consistent with present-day effects

•Lactase persistence affects ancient height even though there is no effect today

sciencedirect.com/science/articl… The Neolithic transition had limited effect on stature

This study analysed published Y-STR data for 186 populations and regions, including 14,504 individuals from 52 Middle Eastern and 134 African populations.

The most common haplogroups in the Middle Eastern populations were J1a (29.4%), while in the African populations, E1b1a (43.2%) was the most prevalent.

link.springer.com/article/10.100… Phylogenetic tree of genetic relationships among the 43 Middle Eastern and African populations. Five clusters (K = 5) were created. The red-coloured cluster is the largest (15 populations), followed by the cyan-coloured cluster (7 populations), and the purple-coloured cluster (6 populations). The remaining two clusters each have five populations. This phylogenetic tree was generated using POPTREE2 software

Ancient genomic evidence uncovers a 6th-century cross-border couple between South Asia and East Asia.

Highlights

•First genomic evidence of a 6th-century cross-border couple between South Asia and East Asia.

•Li Dan’s ancestry aligns with modern Brahmins, supporting his Brahmanic descent from epitaph records.

•Integration of genetics, archaeology, and history resolves complex ancestry in Silk Road era.

sciencedirect.com/science/articl… Fig. 1. The location and the archaeological information of Li Dan’s tomb. (A) The location of Li Dan’s tomb and the approximate geographical territories of Northern Zhou (572 CE) and Jibin. (B) Plan view of Li Dan’s tomb. (C) Epitaph of Li Dan. Please refer to the supplementary materials for detailed information and further explanation of the epitaph. (D) Incised drawings on the front end plate of the stone coffin. (E) Obverse and reverse of the gold coin from the reign of Emperor Justinian I of the Eastern Roman Empire.

Youth bullying in ancient Greece Athenian culture was similarly highly competitive, especially among higher-status individuals

Ancient genomes from eastern Kazakhstan reveal dynamic genetic legacy of Inner Eurasian hunter-gatherers

🧵

science.org/doi/10.1126/sc… Archaeological site of Koken.

(A) Koken is a multiperiod site occupied since the Epipaleolithic in Abai region of eastern Kazakhstan (inset, green). The basemaps used in (A) are in the public domain and accessible through the Natural Earth website (naturalearthdata.com/downloads/10m-…; last accessed 3 March 2022). (B) Koken is situated in a semiarid steppe zone along the northern foothills of the Kokentau Mountains, and it falls within a biodiverse ecosystem of steppe grasslands, seasonal streams, birch and juniper groves, marshland, and mineral outcrops. (C) Excavation photograph of Burial 13 (KKBR13), a representative MLBA Andronovo culture cist grave surrounded by a stone fence containing the remains of individual KKN090. (D) Calibrated radiocarbon dates for individuals at Koken, showing 95.4% probability. The burials date broadly within the EN (green) and MLBA (yellow) periods. Dates were calibrated with OxCal v4.4.4 (99) using atmospheric data from Reimer et al. (55) (Photo Credit: P.D.D., Nazarbayev University).

Mitochondrial (maternal) DNA diversity in northeast Iberians during the Iron Age

Highlights

•Ancient mtDNA reveals high maternal diversity in Iron Age Iberians.

•Haplogroups show continuity from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age in northeast Iberia.

•Subtle lineage differences found between Iberian groups, but no strong splits.

•Local ancestry dominated, with long-distance contacts shaping diversity.

sciencedirect.com/science/articl… ENA project for data

ebi.ac.uk/ena/browser/vi…

Most males in modern Poland carry Y-chromosomal lineages from clades that have recently expanded over Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe

link.springer.com/article/10.100… “The results of deep genotyping of 598 chromosome Y sequences from modern Poland and demonstrate that about 60% of Polish males can be assigned to subhaplogroups that are both relatively young and widely distributed among different Slavic populations, thus supporting the scenario in which Early Slavic mass migration and territorial expansion took place in the first millennium of the common era”

Warfare and killings in the Neolithic Warfare and ritual practices are thus closely intertwined as raids became a necessity for the cult

About half of Russian R1a carriers in the Volga-Oka region are descended from a pre-Slavic population, suggesting that the Slavs did not fully replace the autochthonous population but rather mostly culturally assimilated the Meshchyora documented in the Russian chronicles and other local tribes

"Pre-Slavic and Slavic Interaction at Eastern Periphery of Slavic Expansion in Northeastern Europe (Y-Gene Pools of Volga-Oka Region)"

mdpi.com/2073-4425/16/1… Table 1. Frequencies of Y-chromosome haplogroups (%) in the indigenous populations of the Volga-Oka region (Russians from the east of the Ryazan region and Mordovia’s Erzya, Shoksha and Moksha).

Note. Data meeting the 5% allele frequency criterion is highlighted in bright red. Haplogroups are arranged in the descending order of their frequencies in the gene pool of the Volga-Oka region. “Shoksha” is an arbitrary name for the Erzyan population from Tengushevsky district in the north-west of Mordovia.

Slab Grave expansion disrupted long co-existence of distinct Bronze Age herders in central Mongolia

nature.com/articles/s4146… Fig. 1: Geographical distribution of LBA/EIA populations in Mongolia.

A Locations of LBA/EIA burial sites in Mongolia. The geographical locations of the LBA burial sites are presented with smaller circles with different colors for each cultural tradition: blue for DSKC and orange for figure-shaped burials. Larger symbols denote sites with genomic data, with empty symbols for previously published sites and filled symbols for the six sites newly analyzed in this study. B Zoomed-in map showing the six sites with newly generated genomic data. The zoom-in map of the region surrounded by a red box in (A) is shown along with the two valleys, Tamir and Orkhon. The colors and symbols for six sites match those in (A). C Chronology of LBA/EIA burial traditions in Mongolia. The time spans of three main burial traditions in Mongolia are illustrated using different colors: orange for LBA figure-shaped burials, blue for LBA DSKC burials, and red for EIA Slab Grave burials. Of the six newly analyzed sites, four LBA/EIA sites are shown, with symbols and colors matching those in (A) and (B). Horizontal bars next to each symbol indicate the time spans during which each site was used, with their colors corresponding to specific burial traditions. The MKT site, represented by a green square, contains both figure-shaped and DSKC burials, as reflected by the overlapping orange and blue colors.

C, Map showing when and along which routes domesticated barley spread from its centre of origin in the Fertile Crescent. The grey shading indicates barley archaeological sites dating back about 7,000 years; the red shading indicates barley archaeological sites dating back about 5,000 years. Extended Data Fig. 11: Schematic diagram of barley crop evolution.

This study on Slavs is now available.

Figure 1. Geographical Context Map. Geographic and chronological context of the study area. The map shows key regions involved in Slavic population movements and Croatian ethnogenesis (300–1,200 CE): Baltic Region (source of Baltic Bronze Age ancestry, 71% in modern Lithuanians), Early Western Slavic territories in Slovakia/Slovenia (57% Baltic ancestry, 6th-ninth century CE), Avar Khaganate in the Carpathian Basin (560–800 CE), Steppe Barbaricum between Danube and Tisza rivers (1st-fifth century CE), and Croatian lands in the Western Balkans (50%–60% Slavic ancestry). Three migration waves are indicated by arrows: Wave 1 (Early Slavic, 6th century), Wave 2 (Avar period, 6th-7th century), and Wave 3 (Late Slavic, 7th-8th century). The Byzantine sphere of influence (15%–20% genetic contribution to Avar-Slavic populations) is also shown Figure 2. Sample Locations Map. Distribution of 1,800 ancient DNA samples analyzed in this study. Samples span from the Baltic region to the Balkans and from Western Europe to the Pontic Steppe, covering the period 500 BCE-1200 CE. Larger circles indicate sites with multiple individuals. Red markers indicate Slavic and proto-Slavic populations, blue markers indicate reference populations, and gray markers indicate comparative populations. Sample density is highest in the Carpathian Basin and Western Balkans, reflecting the focus on Avar Khaganate and Croatian ethnogenesis.

Whole-Genome Sequencing Pilot Study of the Central Asian Genetic Diversity Project Reveals Distinct Genetic Histories, Adaptive Processes, and Introgression Events

medrxiv.org/content/10.110… Geography-related genetic differentiation among 47 Turkic groups across Eurasia

Ancient DNA connects large-scale migration with the spread of Slavs

nature.com/articles/s4158… Abstract

Great new update on this preprint:

74 newly sequenced present-day ethnic Albanians

Medieval East European-related groups, averaging 10-20% across Albanians.

Arrival of the first Indo-European speakers into Albania at approximately 2700 BCE

biorxiv.org/content/10.110… x.com/nrken19/status… Ancestry proportions of present-day Albanians, utilising two proxies for East European-related ancestry: CEE_Medieval (black) and Montenegro_Medieval (dashed grey)

Modeling the European Neolithic expansion suggests predominant within-group mating and limited cultural transmission

nature.com/articles/s4146… Abstract

The genetic history of Portugal over the past 5,000 years

link.springer.com/article/10.118… Abstract

Tracing the Genetic Heritage of the Kirgiz People: Dual-Wave Admixture and Ancestry-Biased Adaptation

academic.oup.com/mbe/advance-ar… Abstract

Genetic History of Ancient Xinjiang Revealed by Ancient DNA Study: A Hub of Eurasian Population Migration and Cultural Exchange.

This review synthesizes ancient genomic data from about 200 individuals (from the Bronze Age to the Historical Era)
sciepublish.com/article/pii/540 Abstract

The genetic history of the Southern Caucasus from the Bronze Age to the Early Middle Ages: 5,000 years of genetic continuity despite high mobility

cell.com/cell/fulltext/… Highlights

New genetics study indicates that Pre-Austronesians emerged in China over 10,000 years ago, living by marine foraging. Around 7–10Kya, they mixed with ancient northern Chinese (Shandong), adopting agriculture and evolving into Proto-Austronesians.

nature.com/articles/s1003… Would be great if someone have access