Population genomics of Bronze Age Eurasia

Bibliographic Data

ID23324641
AuthorsMorten E Allentoft (0000-0003-4424-3568, University of Copenhagen), Mateusz Sikora (0000-0003-2818-8319, University of Copenhagen), Martin Sikora, Karl-Göran Sjögren (0000-0003-1791-3175, University of Gothenburg), Simon Rasmussen (0000-0001-6323-9041, Technical University of Denmark), Morten Rasmussen (0000-0002-6276-7341, University of Copenhagen), Jesper Stenderup (0000-0002-6916-106X, University of Copenhagen), Peter B Damgaard (University of Copenhagen), H Schroeder (0000-0002-6743-0270, University of Copenhagen), Torbjörn Ahlström (0000-0001-7468-5979, Lund University), Lasse Vinner (0000-0002-3081-3702, University of Copenhagen), Anna‐Sapfo Malaspinas (0000-0003-1001-7511, University of Copenhagen), Anna-Sapfo Malaspinas, Ashot Margaryan (0000-0002-2576-2429, University of Copenhagen), T F G Higham (0000-0002-5949-598X), Tom Higham (University of Oxford), David Chivall (0000-0003-4961-3847, University of Oxford), Niels Lynnerup (0000-0002-7771-5376, University of Copenhagen), Lise Harvig (University of Copenhagen), Justyna Baron (0000-0001-6429-2872, University of Wrocław), Philippe Della Casa (0000-0002-9787-0082, University of Zurich), Paweł Dąbrowski (0000-0001-6016-9201, Medical University of Silesia), Paul R Duffy (0000-0002-4026-2078, University of Toronto), Alexander V Ebel (Gorno-Altaisk State University), A V Epimakhov (0000-0002-0141-1026, South Ural State University), Andrey Epimakhov, Karin Margarita Frei (0000-0001-5198-073X, National Museum of Denmark), Karin Frei, Mirosław Furmanek (0000-0002-3558-3440, University of Wrocław), Tomasz Gralak (0000-0002-8140-7245, University of Wrocław), A V Gromov (0000-0002-3263-3801, Peter the Great's Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography), Andrey Gromov, Stanisław Gronkiewicz (Polish Academy of Learning), Gisela Grupe (0000-0002-2731-2296, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München), Tamás Hajdu (0000-0002-3604-1125, Eötvös Loránd University), Radosław Jarysz (State Archaeological Museum), Valeri Khartanovich (0000-0002-5533-0686, Peter the Great's Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography), Alexandr Khokhlov, Aleksandr Khokhlov (0000-0003-0442-9616, Samara State University of Social Sciences and Education), Viktória Ki (0000-0002-6577-9081, ELTE Research Centre for the Humanities), Viktória Kiss, Jan Kolář (0000-0001-8013-6992, Masaryk University), Aivar Kriiska (0000-0002-0900-7626, University of Tartu), Irena Lasak (University of Wrocław), Cristina Longhi (National Archaeological Museum), George Mcglynn (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München), Algimantas Merkevičius (Vilnius University), Inga Merkytė (University of Copenhagen), Mait Metspalu (0000-0003-3099-9161, Estonian Biocentre), Ruzan Mkrtchyan (Yerevan State University), Vyacheslav Moiseyev (0000-0003-1748-2686, Peter the Great's Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography), László Paja (University of Szeged), György Pálfi (0000-0003-0989-4090, University of Szeged), Dalia A Pokutta (0000-0003-2049-6886, University of Gothenburg), Dalia Pokutta, Łukasz Pospieszny (0000-0003-4676-5802, Institute of Archaeology), T D Price (0000-0001-5951-5621, University of Wisconsin–Madison), Lehti Saag (0000-0002-2274-8138, Estonian Biocentre), Mikhail Sablin (0000-0002-2773-7454, Zoological Institute), Natalia Shishlina (0000-0001-9638-0156, National Historical Museums), Václav Smrcka (0000-0001-8286-511X, Charles University), I Soenov (0000-0003-4224-0427, Gorno-Altaisk State University), Vasilii I Soenov, Vajk Szeverényi (0000-0002-0830-8566, ELTE Research Centre for the Humanities), Gusztáv Tóth (Eötvös Loránd University), Synaru V Trifanova (0000-0002-2153-2589, Gorno-Altaisk State University), Liivi Varul (0000-0002-8498-3352, University of Tartu), Magdolna Vicze (0000-0002-0893-9632, Museum of Fine Arts), Levon Yepiskoposyan (0000-0001-6113-2072, Institute of Molecular Biology), Vladislav Zhitenev (0000-0003-1105-9318), В С Житенев (Lomonosov Moscow State University), Ludovic Orlando (0000-0003-3936-1850, University of Copenhagen), Thomas Sicheritz‐Pontén (0000-0001-6615-1141, Technical University of Denmark), Thomas Sicheritz-Pontén, Soren Brunak (0000-0003-0316-5866, University of Copenhagen), Rasmus Nielsen (0000-0003-0513-6591, Evolutionary Genomics (United States)), Kristian Kristiansen (0000-0003-2423-308X, University of Gothenburg), E Willerslev (0000-0002-7081-6748, University of Copenhagen, corresponding author)
Year2015
Volume522
Issue7555
Pages167-172
Publication date2015-06-11
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueNature (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0028-0836 • E-ISSN: 1476-4687
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1038/nature14507
PMID26062507
OpenAlexW1760976735
LanguageEN
Citations received371
References cited54

The Bronze Age of Eurasia (around 3000–1000 BC) was a period of major cultural changes. However, there is debate about whether these changes resulted from the circulation of ideas or from human migrations, potentially also facilitating the spread of languages and certain phenotypic traits. We investigated this by using new, improved methods to sequence low-coverage genomes from 101 ancient humans from across Eurasia. We show that the Bronze Age was a highly dynamic period involving large-scale population migrations and replacements, responsible for shaping major parts of present-day demographic structure in both Europe and Asia. Our findings are consistent with the hypothesized spread of Indo-European languages during the Early Bronze Age. We also demonstrate that light skin pigmentation in Europeans was already present at high frequency in the Bronze Age, but not lactose tolerance, indicating a more recent onset of positive selection on lactose tolerance than previously thought. An analysis of 101 ancient human genomes from the Bronze Age (3000–1000 bc) reveals large-scale population migrations in Eurasia consistent with the spread of Indo-European languages; individuals frequently had light skin pigmentation but were not lactose tolerant. Was the Bronze Age of a period of major cultural changes because of circulation of ideas or because of large-scale migrations? The authors sequence and analyse low-coverage genomes from 101 ancient humans from across Eurasia to reveal large-scale population migrations and replacements during this time. Analyses indicate that light skin pigmentation was already frequent among Europeans in the Bronze Age but not lactose tolerance, indicating a more recent onset of positive selection on the latter trait than previously believed. The reported findings are also consistent with the spread of Indo-European languages during the Early Bronze Age reported on page 207 of this issue.

Archaeology · Biology · Bronze · Bronze Age · Evolutionary biology · Geography · Period (music) · Population · Demography · Forensic and Genetic Research · Genetic diversity and population structure · Race, Genetics, and Society