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Population genomics of post-glacial western Eurasia

Allentoft, Morten E. ; Sikora, Martin ; Refoyo-Martínez, Alba ; Irving-Pease, Evan K. ; Fischer, Anders ; Barrie, William ; Ingason, Andrés ; Stenderup, Jesper ; Sjögren, Karl Göran and Pearson, Alice , et al. (2024) In Nature 625(7994). p.301-311
Abstract

Western Eurasia witnessed several large-scale human migrations during the Holocene1–5. Here, to investigate the cross-continental effects of these migrations, we shotgun-sequenced 317 genomes—mainly from the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods—from across northern and western Eurasia. These were imputed alongside published data to obtain diploid genotypes from more than 1,600 ancient humans. Our analyses revealed a ‘great divide’ genomic boundary extending from the Black Sea to the Baltic. Mesolithic hunter-gatherers were highly genetically differentiated east and west of this zone, and the effect of the neolithization was equally disparate. Large-scale ancestry shifts occurred in the west as farming was introduced, including... (More)

Western Eurasia witnessed several large-scale human migrations during the Holocene1–5. Here, to investigate the cross-continental effects of these migrations, we shotgun-sequenced 317 genomes—mainly from the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods—from across northern and western Eurasia. These were imputed alongside published data to obtain diploid genotypes from more than 1,600 ancient humans. Our analyses revealed a ‘great divide’ genomic boundary extending from the Black Sea to the Baltic. Mesolithic hunter-gatherers were highly genetically differentiated east and west of this zone, and the effect of the neolithization was equally disparate. Large-scale ancestry shifts occurred in the west as farming was introduced, including near-total replacement of hunter-gatherers in many areas, whereas no substantial ancestry shifts happened east of the zone during the same period. Similarly, relatedness decreased in the west from the Neolithic transition onwards, whereas, east of the Urals, relatedness remained high until around 4,000 bp, consistent with the persistence of localized groups of hunter-gatherers. The boundary dissolved when Yamnaya-related ancestry spread across western Eurasia around 5,000 bp, resulting in a second major turnover that reached most parts of Europe within a 1,000-year span. The genetic origin and fate of the Yamnaya have remained elusive, but we show that hunter-gatherers from the Middle Don region contributed ancestry to them. Yamnaya groups later admixed with individuals associated with the Globular Amphora culture before expanding into Europe. Similar turnovers occurred in western Siberia, where we report new genomic data from a ‘Neolithic steppe’ cline spanning the Siberian forest steppe to Lake Baikal. These prehistoric migrations had profound and lasting effects on the genetic diversity of Eurasian populations.

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type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Ancient DNA, Neolithic
in
Nature
volume
625
issue
7994
pages
11 pages
publisher
Nature Publishing Group
external identifiers
  • pmid:38200295
  • scopus:85181851896
ISSN
0028-0836
DOI
10.1038/s41586-023-06865-0
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
2e5d9b3e-0bf1-453d-ae55-5e5004adcd2b
date added to LUP
2024-01-23 18:20:41
date last changed
2024-04-23 17:21:48
@article{2e5d9b3e-0bf1-453d-ae55-5e5004adcd2b,
  abstract     = {{<p>Western Eurasia witnessed several large-scale human migrations during the Holocene<sup>1–5</sup>. Here, to investigate the cross-continental effects of these migrations, we shotgun-sequenced 317 genomes—mainly from the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods—from across northern and western Eurasia. These were imputed alongside published data to obtain diploid genotypes from more than 1,600 ancient humans. Our analyses revealed a ‘great divide’ genomic boundary extending from the Black Sea to the Baltic. Mesolithic hunter-gatherers were highly genetically differentiated east and west of this zone, and the effect of the neolithization was equally disparate. Large-scale ancestry shifts occurred in the west as farming was introduced, including near-total replacement of hunter-gatherers in many areas, whereas no substantial ancestry shifts happened east of the zone during the same period. Similarly, relatedness decreased in the west from the Neolithic transition onwards, whereas, east of the Urals, relatedness remained high until around 4,000 bp, consistent with the persistence of localized groups of hunter-gatherers. The boundary dissolved when Yamnaya-related ancestry spread across western Eurasia around 5,000 bp, resulting in a second major turnover that reached most parts of Europe within a 1,000-year span. The genetic origin and fate of the Yamnaya have remained elusive, but we show that hunter-gatherers from the Middle Don region contributed ancestry to them. Yamnaya groups later admixed with individuals associated with the Globular Amphora culture before expanding into Europe. Similar turnovers occurred in western Siberia, where we report new genomic data from a ‘Neolithic steppe’ cline spanning the Siberian forest steppe to Lake Baikal. These prehistoric migrations had profound and lasting effects on the genetic diversity of Eurasian populations.</p>}},
  author       = {{Allentoft, Morten E. and Sikora, Martin and Refoyo-Martínez, Alba and Irving-Pease, Evan K. and Fischer, Anders and Barrie, William and Ingason, Andrés and Stenderup, Jesper and Sjögren, Karl Göran and Pearson, Alice and Sousa da Mota, Bárbara and Schulz Paulsson, Bettina and Halgren, Alma and Macleod, Ruairidh and Jørkov, Marie Louise Schjellerup and Demeter, Fabrice and Sørensen, Lasse and Nielsen, Poul Otto and Henriksen, Rasmus A. and Vimala, Tharsika and McColl, Hugh and Margaryan, Ashot and Ilardo, Melissa and Vaughn, Andrew and Fischer Mortensen, Morten and Nielsen, Anne Birgitte and Ulfeldt Hede, Mikkel and Johannsen, Niels Nørkjær and Rasmussen, Peter and Vinner, Lasse and Renaud, Gabriel and Stern, Aaron and Jensen, Theis Zetner Trolle and Scorrano, Gabriele and Schroeder, Hannes and Lysdahl, Per and Ramsøe, Abigail Daisy and Skorobogatov, Andrei and Schork, Andrew Joseph and Rosengren, Anders and Ruter, Anthony and Outram, Alan and Timoshenko, Aleksey A. and Buzhilova, Alexandra and Coppa, Alfredo and Zubova, Alisa and Silva, Ana Maria and Hansen, Anders J. and Gromov, Andrey and Logvin, Andrey and Gotfredsen, Anne Birgitte and Henning Nielsen, Bjarne and González-Rabanal, Borja and Lalueza-Fox, Carles and McKenzie, Catriona J. and Gaunitz, Charleen and Blasco, Concepción and Liesau, Corina and Martinez-Labarga, Cristina and Pozdnyakov, Dmitri V. and Cuenca-Solana, David and Lordkipanidze, David O. and En’shin, Dmitri and Salazar-García, Domingo C. and Price, T. Douglas and Borić, Dušan and Kostyleva, Elena and Veselovskaya, Elizaveta V. and Usmanova, Emma R. and Cappellini, Enrico and Brinch Petersen, Erik and Kannegaard, Esben and Radina, Francesca and Eylem Yediay, Fulya and Duday, Henri and Gutiérrez-Zugasti, Igor and Merts, Ilya and Potekhina, Inna and Shevnina, Irina and Altinkaya, Isin and Guilaine, Jean and Hansen, Jesper and Aura Tortosa, Joan Emili and Zilhão, João and Vega, Jorge and Buck Pedersen, Kristoffer and Tunia, Krzysztof and Zhao, Lei and Mylnikova, Liudmila N. and Larsson, Lars and Metz, Laure and Yepiskoposyan, Levon and Pedersen, Lisbeth and Sarti, Lucia and Orlando, Ludovic and Slimak, Ludovic and Klassen, Lutz and Blank, Malou and González-Morales, Manuel and Silvestrini, Mara and Vretemark, Maria and Nesterova, Marina S. and Rykun, Marina and Rolfo, Mario Federico and Szmyt, Marzena and Przybyła, Marcin and Calattini, Mauro and Sablin, Mikhail and Dobisíková, Miluše and Meldgaard, Morten and Johansen, Morten and Berezina, Natalia and Card, Nick and Saveliev, Nikolai A. and Poshekhonova, Olga and Rickards, Olga and Lozovskaya, Olga V. and Gábor, Olivér and Uldum, Otto Christian and Aurino, Paola and Kosintsev, Pavel and Courtaud, Patrice and Ríos, Patricia and Mortensen, Peder and Lotz, Per and Persson, Per and Bangsgaard, Pernille and de Barros Damgaard, Peter and Vang Petersen, Peter and Martinez, Pilar Prieto and Włodarczak, Piotr and Smolyaninov, Roman V. and Maring, Rikke and Menduiña, Roberto and Badalyan, Ruben and Iversen, Rune and Turin, Ruslan and Vasilyev, Sergey and Wåhlin, Sidsel and Borutskaya, Svetlana and Skochina, Svetlana and Sørensen, Søren Anker and Andersen, Søren H. and Jørgensen, Thomas and Serikov, Yuri B. and Molodin, Vyacheslav I. and Smrcka, Vaclav and Merts, Victor and Appadurai, Vivek and Moiseyev, Vyacheslav and Magnusson, Yvonne and Kjær, Kurt H. and Lynnerup, Niels and Lawson, Daniel J. and Sudmant, Peter H. and Rasmussen, Simon and Korneliussen, Thorfinn Sand and Durbin, Richard and Nielsen, Rasmus and Delaneau, Olivier and Werge, Thomas and Racimo, Fernando and Kristiansen, Kristian and Willerslev, Eske}},
  issn         = {{0028-0836}},
  keywords     = {{Ancient DNA; Neolithic}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{01}},
  number       = {{7994}},
  pages        = {{301--311}},
  publisher    = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{Nature}},
  title        = {{Population genomics of post-glacial western Eurasia}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06865-0}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/s41586-023-06865-0}},
  volume       = {{625}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}