Ancient DNA and Human Evolution
Ancient DNA data have provided unprecedented insights into the recent history of our species. In particular, methodological improvements and innovations over the last ten years have advanced our ability to recover small fragments, target specific sequences, identify damage patterns, and obtain genome scale data. As a result, we have evidence for admixture among modern and archaic humans as well as greater appreciation for the complexity of population histories for modern humans around the world.
This symposium brings together researchers at the forefront of ancient DNA research and population genetics to discuss current developments and share insights about human migration and adaptation.
(from carta.anthropogeny.org)
Ancient European Population History. Johannes Krause (Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History) and his research team analyzed more than 200 ancient human genomes spanning the last 10,000 years of Western Eurasian prehistory. They found direct evidence for two major genetic turnover events at the beginning and at the end of the Neolithic time period in Europe, which they attribute to two major migrations. This explains why all modern European populations are a genetic mixture of steppe pastoralist,
early farmers and indigenous European hunter-gatherers in varying proportion. This genetic mixture together with local biological adaptation has led to major changes in human phenotypes such as eye color, skin color, and the ability to digest milk sugar over the past 10,000 years.
| 8. Ancient European Population History |
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