Social stratification without genetic differentiation at the site of Kulubnarti in Christian Period Nubia

Kendra A. Sirak (), Daniel M. Fernandes, Mark Lipson, Swapan Mallick, Matthew Mah, Iñigo Olalde, Harald Ringbauer, Nadin Rohland, Carla S. Hadden, Éadaoin Harney, Nicole Adamski, Rebecca Bernardos, Nasreen Broomandkhoshbacht, Kimberly Callan, Matthew Ferry, Ann Marie Lawson, Megan Michel, Jonas Oppenheimer, Kristin Stewardson, Fatma Zalzala, Nick Patterson, Ron Pinhasi, Jessica C. Thompson, Dennis Gerven and David Reich
Additional contact information
Kendra A. Sirak: Harvard Medical School
Daniel M. Fernandes: University College Dublin
Mark Lipson: Harvard Medical School
Swapan Mallick: Harvard Medical School
Matthew Mah: Harvard Medical School
Iñigo Olalde: Harvard Medical School
Harald Ringbauer: Harvard Medical School
Nadin Rohland: Harvard Medical School
Carla S. Hadden: University of Georgia
Éadaoin Harney: Harvard Medical School
Nicole Adamski: Harvard Medical School
Rebecca Bernardos: Harvard Medical School
Nasreen Broomandkhoshbacht: Harvard Medical School
Kimberly Callan: Harvard Medical School
Matthew Ferry: Harvard Medical School
Ann Marie Lawson: Harvard Medical School
Megan Michel: Harvard Medical School
Jonas Oppenheimer: Harvard Medical School
Kristin Stewardson: Harvard Medical School
Fatma Zalzala: Harvard Medical School
Nick Patterson: Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT
Ron Pinhasi: University College Dublin
Jessica C. Thompson: Emory University
Dennis Gerven: University of Colorado at Boulder
David Reich: Harvard Medical School

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-14

Abstract: Abstract Relatively little is known about Nubia’s genetic landscape prior to the influence of the Islamic migrations that began in the late 1st millennium CE. Here, we increase the number of ancient individuals with genome-level data from the Nile Valley from three to 69, reporting data for 66 individuals from two cemeteries at the Christian Period (~650–1000 CE) site of Kulubnarti, where multiple lines of evidence suggest social stratification. The Kulubnarti Nubians had ~43% Nilotic-related ancestry (individual variation between ~36–54%) with the remaining ancestry consistent with being introduced through Egypt and ultimately deriving from an ancestry pool like that found in the Bronze and Iron Age Levant. The Kulubnarti gene pool – shaped over a millennium – harbors disproportionately female-associated West Eurasian-related ancestry. Genetic similarity among individuals from the two cemeteries supports a hypothesis of social division without genetic distinction. Seven pairs of inter-cemetery relatives suggest fluidity between cemetery groups. Present-day Nubians are not directly descended from the Kulubnarti Nubians, attesting to additional genetic input since the Christian Period.

Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-27356-8

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