Genetic Genealogy and Ancient DNA in the News

[rozenfeld]

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_relea...-aas112918.php

An ancient strain of plague may have led to the decline of Neolithic Europeans


https://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc...648?via%3Dihub

Available online 6 December 2018

In Press, Corrected Proof

Emergence and Spread of Basal Lineages of Yersinia pestis during the Neolithic Decline

Karl-GöranSjögren28, KristianKristiansen28, RasmusNielsen34, EskeWillerslev356, ChristelleDesnues1, SimonRasmussen7910

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2018.11.005

Highlights

• Discovery of the most ancient case of plague in humans, 4,900 years ago in Sweden
• Basal lineages of Y. pestis emerged and spread during the Neolithic decline
• Plague infections in distinct Eurasian populations during Neolithic and Bronze Age
• A plague pandemic likely emerged in large settlements and spread over trade routes

Summary

Between 5,000 and 6,000 years ago, many Neolithic societies declined throughout western Eurasia due to a combination of factors that are still largely debated. Here, we report the discovery and genome reconstruction of Yersiniapestis, the etiological agent of plague, in Neolithic farmers in Sweden, pre-dating and basal to all modern and ancient known strains of this pathogen. We investigated the history of this strain by combining phylogenetic and molecular clock analyses of the bacterial genome, detailed archaeological information, and genomic analyses from infected individuals and hundreds of ancient human samples across Eurasia. These analyses revealed that multiple and independent lineages of Y. pestis branched and expanded across Eurasia during the Neolithic decline, spreading most likely through early trade networks rather than massive human migrations. Our results are consistent with the existence of a prehistoric plague pandemic that likely contributed to the decay of Neolithic populations in Europe.

[rozenfeld]

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ar...l.pone.0207459

Open Access

Research Article

The multiple maternal legacy of the Late Iron Age group of Urville-Nacqueville (France, Normandy) documents a long-standing genetic contact zone in northwestern France

Claire-Elise Fischer , Anthony Lefort, Marie-Hélène Pemonge, Christine Couture-Veschambre, Stéphane Rottier, Marie-France Deguilloux

PLOS x
Published: December 6, 2018
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0207459

Abstract

The compilation of archaeological and genetic data for ancient European human groups has provided persuasive evidence for a complex series of migrations, population replacements and admixture until the Bronze Age. If the Bronze-to-Iron Age transition has been well documented archaeologically, ancient DNA (aDNA) remains rare for the latter period and does not precisely reflect the genetic diversity of European Celtic groups. In order to document the evolution of European communities, we analysed 45 individuals from the Late Iron Age (La Tène) Urville-Nacqueville necropolis in northwestern France, a region recognized as a major cultural contact zone between groups from both sides of the Channel. The characterization of 37 HVS-I mitochondrial sequences and 40 haplogroups provided the largest maternal gene pool yet recovered for the European Iron Age. First, descriptive analyses allowed us to demonstrate the presence of substantial amounts of steppe-related mitochondrial ancestry in the community, which is consistent with the expansion of Bell Beaker groups bearing an important steppe legacy in northwestern Europe at approximately 2500 BC. Second, maternal genetic affinities highlighted with Bronze Age groups from Great Britain and the Iberian Peninsula regions tends to support the idea that the continuous cultural exchanges documented archaeologically across the Channel and along the Atlantic coast (during and after the Bronze Age period) were accompanied by significant gene flow. Lastly, our results suggest a maternal genetic continuity between Bronze Age and Iron Age groups that would argue in favour of a cultural transition linked to progressive local economic changes rather than to a massive influx of allochthone groups. The palaeogenetic data gathered for the Urville-Nacqueville group constitute an important step in the biological characterization of European Iron age groups. Clearly, more numerous and diachronic aDNA data are needed to fully understand the complex relationship between the cultural and biological evolution of groups from the period.

2018 and we're still getting HVS ...

[Waldemar]

MATERNAL GENETIC COMPOSITION OF EARLY MEDIEVAL (6TH-10TH CENTURY AD) POPULATIONS LIVED IN THE CIS- AND TRANS-URAL AND VOLGA-KAMA REGIONS

https://www.academia.edu/37947590/Ma...0%B7%D0%B0.pdf

Abstract
Many scientific theories exist about the origin of Hungarians and their migration from Northern Central Asia to Europe in the 8th–9th centuries AD. Ethnic heterogeneity of the Hungarian Conquerors is attested by a number of historical and archaeological evidence due to their associated migration with other populations from the Ural region through the Middle-Volga region (and the Khazar Khaganate) until their arrival in the Carpathian Basin in 895 AD. The source region, direction, and chronology of the migration is still unclear and intensively studied by historians, archaeologists and linguists. In our studies, we approach these issues using archaeogenetic methodology. We investigate early medieval (6th–10th AD) populations from the regions of the Ural Mountains, the presumed migration route and the Carpathian Basin. The sites can be associated with each other and the Hungarian Conquerors as well. Remains of the first cultures (Kushnarenkovo and Karayakupovo) associated with Hungarian prehistory are from the Middle and Southern Urals. Investigating whole mitochondrial genomes, our first series came from the eastern (Uyelgi) and western (Bayanovo, Sukhoy Log, Bartim) side of the Middle-Southern Urals. As a continuation we included samples from the Volga-Kama region, with special attention to Bolshie Tigani site. We might get a better picture of the migration route and can map its stages and stopovers in a genetic context by extending our database with mitochondrial data from the presented series.

[Ruderico]

SPA_medieval

Wait, what? I want to see that one

[Ethereal]

Big day today, results should be out for this:

https://www.orea.oeaw.ac.at/fileadmi..._Abstracts.pdf

[Ethereal]

Is there any way to view the conference online?

[Generalissimo]

Is there any way to view the conference online?

Nope. Unless some people tweet from there, or someone that we know is there, then we'll have to wait for the preprints/papers.

[Ethereal]

Nope. Unless some people tweet from there, or someone that we know is there, then we'll have to wait for the preprints/papers.

Damn - how long does it usually to take to come out?

[jdean]

Damn - how long does it usually to take to come out?

#gia18

The talks of the conference #GIA18 will be available online on our YouTube channel (OREA News) at a later point in time

: ))))))))))

[rozenfeld]

It seems that chewing gum is now popular among ancient DNA researchers:

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/12/13/493882

Stone Age "chewing gum" yields 5,700 year-old human genome and oral microbiome

Theis ZT Jensen, Jonas Niemann, Katrine Hoejholt Iversen, Anna K Fotakis, Shyam Gopalakrishnan, Mikkel HS Sinding, Martin R Ellegaard, Morten E Allentoft, Liam T Lanigan, Alberto J Taurozzi, Sofie Holtsmark Nielsen, Michael W Dee, Martin N Mortensen, Mads C Christensen, Soeren A Soerensen, Matthew J Collins, Tom Gilbert, Martin Sikora, Simon Rasmussen, View ORCID ProfileHannes Schroeder

doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/493882

Abstract

We present a complete ancient human genome and oral microbiome sequenced from a piece of resinous "chewing gum" recovered from a Stone Age site on the island of Lolland, Denmark, and directly dated to 5,858-5,661 cal. BP (GrM-13305; 5,007+/-11). We sequenced the genome to an average depth-of-coverage of 2.3x and find that the individual who chewed the resin was female and genetically more closely related to western hunter-gatherers from mainland Europe, than hunter-gatherers from central Scandinavia. We use imputed genotypes to predict physical characteristics and find that she had dark skin and hair, and blue eyes. Lastly, we also recovered microbial DNA that is characteristic of an oral microbiome and faunal reads that likely associate with diet. The results highlight the potential for this type of sample material as a new source of ancient human and microbial DNA.

The mtDNA haplogroup was determined to be K1e