Upper Palaeolithic genomes reveal deep roots of modern Eurasians

Eppie R. Jones, Gloria Gonzalez-Fortes, Sarah Connell, Veronika Siska, Anders Eriksson, Rui Martiniano, Russell L. McLaughlin, Marcos Gallego Llorente, Lara M. Cassidy, Cristina Gamba, Tengiz Meshveliani, Ofer Bar-Yosef, Werner Müller, Anna Belfer-Cohen, Zinovi Matskevich, Nino Jakeli, Thomas F. G. Higham, Mathias Currat, David Lordkipanidze, Michael Hofreiter, Andrea Manica (), Ron Pinhasi () and Daniel G. Bradley ()
Additional contact information
Eppie R. Jones: Smurfit Institute of Genetics, Trinity College Dublin
Gloria Gonzalez-Fortes: Institute of Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam
Sarah Connell: School of Archaeology and Earth Institute, University College Dublin
Veronika Siska: University of Cambridge
Anders Eriksson: University of Cambridge
Rui Martiniano: Smurfit Institute of Genetics, Trinity College Dublin
Russell L. McLaughlin: Smurfit Institute of Genetics, Trinity College Dublin
Marcos Gallego Llorente: University of Cambridge
Lara M. Cassidy: Smurfit Institute of Genetics, Trinity College Dublin
Cristina Gamba: Smurfit Institute of Genetics, Trinity College Dublin
Tengiz Meshveliani: Georgian National Museum
Ofer Bar-Yosef: Peabody Museum, Harvard University
Werner Müller: Laboratoire d'archéozoologie, Université de Neuchâtel
Anna Belfer-Cohen: Institute of Archaeology, Hebrew University
Zinovi Matskevich: Israel Antiquities Authority
Nino Jakeli: Georgian National Museum
Thomas F. G. Higham: Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, Research Laboratory for Archaeology & the History of Art, University of Oxford
Mathias Currat: Laboratory of Anthropology, Genetics and Peopling History (AGP), University of Geneva
David Lordkipanidze: Georgian National Museum
Michael Hofreiter: Institute of Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam
Andrea Manica: University of Cambridge
Ron Pinhasi: Smurfit Institute of Genetics, Trinity College Dublin
Daniel G. Bradley: Smurfit Institute of Genetics, Trinity College Dublin

Nature Communications, 2015, vol. 6, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract We extend the scope of European palaeogenomics by sequencing the genomes of Late Upper Palaeolithic (13,300 years old, 1.4-fold coverage) and Mesolithic (9,700 years old, 15.4-fold) males from western Georgia in the Caucasus and a Late Upper Palaeolithic (13,700 years old, 9.5-fold) male from Switzerland. While we detect Late Palaeolithic–Mesolithic genomic continuity in both regions, we find that Caucasus hunter-gatherers (CHG) belong to a distinct ancient clade that split from western hunter-gatherers ∼45 kya, shortly after the expansion of anatomically modern humans into Europe and from the ancestors of Neolithic farmers ∼25 kya, around the Last Glacial Maximum. CHG genomes significantly contributed to the Yamnaya steppe herders who migrated into Europe ∼3,000 BC, supporting a formative Caucasus influence on this important Early Bronze age culture. CHG left their imprint on modern populations from the Caucasus and also central and south Asia possibly marking the arrival of Indo-Aryan languages.

Date: 2015
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms9912

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