tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227780861638767023.post1528245132010220755..comments2024-01-27T00:27:45.851+00:00Comments on race/history/evolution notes: Open thread (8)n/ahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02378473351485233448noreply@blogger.comBlogger150125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227780861638767023.post-366873117006824782019-05-20T19:56:16.821+01:002019-05-20T19:56:16.821+01:00b1 visa consultants As we are the Top Visa servic...<br /><a href="https://www.anuvisas.in/usa-b1-b2-visa-consulants/" rel="nofollow">b1 visa consultants</a> As we are the Top Visa services consultants for United States of America, We know exactly what documents you need to carry for your Visa interview as per your case. Most of the Applicants Not required to carry most of the DocumentsDepends on Applicant to Applicant we will suggest the Documents to you to carry for your interview.<br />maharishiihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03316416390945810610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227780861638767023.post-77738162377397919642017-05-27T19:13:06.405+01:002017-05-27T19:13:06.405+01:00No. 1 is Mercury, 200% European.
No. 1 is Mercury, 200% European.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227780861638767023.post-92014014844771970262016-03-31T19:27:29.680+01:002016-03-31T19:27:29.680+01:00Have you seen the autosomal admixture among early ...Have you seen the autosomal admixture among early Indo-Iranians near Kazakhstan around 2000 BC like Sintashta/Andronovo?<br /><br />They show highest affinity to modern Scandinavians, let alone north-east Euro populations like Belarussians, Lithuanians or Russians. They weren't exactly like Scandinavians, but they're the closest to them among modern populations. So strange.Xenophobenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227780861638767023.post-74732039078545721602016-02-16T17:30:12.204+00:002016-02-16T17:30:12.204+00:00Thinkig Housewife on puritanism and American decad...Thinkig Housewife on puritanism and American decadence:<br /><br />http://www.thinkinghousewife.com/wp/2016/02/the-americanist-religion/<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227780861638767023.post-56057825974856369702015-12-10T15:53:30.284+00:002015-12-10T15:53:30.284+00:00Paglia Blasts Taylor Swift as 'Nazi Barbie'... Paglia Blasts Taylor Swift as 'Nazi Barbie'...<br /><br />'Scary Flashback to Fascist Blondes Who Ruled My Youth'... http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/camille-paglia-takes-taylor-swift-845827Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227780861638767023.post-76716562413319380792015-11-21T04:14:34.901+00:002015-11-21T04:14:34.901+00:00Nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequences from two
D...Nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequences from two<br />Denisovan individuals<br />http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2015/11/11/1519905112.full.pdf<br /><br /><br />Significance<br /><br />Denisovans are a sister group of Neandertals that were identified on the basis of a nuclear genome sequence from a bone from Denisova Cave (Siberia). The only other Denisovan specimen described to date is a molar from the same site. We present here nuclear DNA sequences from this molar and a morphological description, as well as mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences from another molar from Denisova Cave, thus extending the number of Denisovan individuals known to three. The nuclear DNA sequence diversity among the Denisovans is higher than among Neandertals, but lower than among present-day humans. The mtDNA of one molar has accumulated fewer substitutions than the mtDNAs of the other two specimens, suggesting Denisovans were present in the region over several millennia.<br />Abstract<br /><br />Denisovans, a sister group of Neandertals, have been described on the basis of a nuclear genome sequence from a finger phalanx (Denisova 3) found in Denisova Cave in the Altai Mountains. The only other Denisovan specimen described to date is a molar (Denisova 4) found at the same site. This tooth carries a mtDNA sequence similar to that of Denisova 3. Here we present nuclear DNA sequences from Denisova 4 and a morphological description, as well as mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequence data, from another molar (Denisova 8) found in Denisova Cave in 2010. This new molar is similar to Denisova 4 in being very large and lacking traits typical of Neandertals and modern humans. Nuclear DNA sequences from the two molars form a clade with Denisova 3. The mtDNA of Denisova 8 is more diverged and has accumulated fewer substitutions than the mtDNAs of the other two specimens, suggesting Denisovans were present in the region over an extended period. The nuclear DNA sequence diversity among the three Denisovans is comparable to that among six Neandertals, but lower than that among present-day humans.<br /><br />http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2015/11/11/1519905112.abstractAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227780861638767023.post-37413078472404884892015-11-21T04:12:44.209+00:002015-11-21T04:12:44.209+00:00The complete mitogenome of a 500-year-old Inca chi...The complete mitogenome of a 500-year-old Inca child mummy<br />http://www.nature.com/articles/srep16462<br /><br />Centuries-old Incan mummy's DNA reveals untold story of ancient lineage<br />http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/nov/15/sacrificed-incan-boy-genome-lineage-diversityAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227780861638767023.post-4503787506373980752015-11-21T04:11:19.543+00:002015-11-21T04:11:19.543+00:00Bhandari et al. (2015) Genetic evidence of a recen...Bhandari et al. (2015) Genetic evidence of a recent Tibetan ancestry to Sherpas in the Himalayan region.<br />doi:10.1038/srep16249<br />Open Access<br />Abstract<br />Sherpas living around the Himalayas are renowned as high-altitude mountain climbers but when and where the Sherpa people originated from remains contentious. In this study, we collected DNA samples from 582 Sherpas living in Nepal and Tibet Autonomous Region of China to study the genetic diversity of both their maternal (mitochondrial DNA) and paternal (Y chromosome) lineages. Analysis showed that Sherpas share most of their paternal and maternal lineages with indigenous Tibetans, representing a recently derived sub-lineage. The estimated ages of two Sherpa-specific mtDNA sub-haplogroups (C4a3b1 and A15c1) indicate a shallow genetic divergence between Sherpas and Tibetans less than 1,500 years ago. These findings reject the previous theory that Sherpa and Han Chinese served as dual ancestral populations of Tibetans, and conversely suggest that Tibetans are the ancestral populations of the Sherpas, whose adaptive traits for high altitude were recently inherited from their ancestors in Tibet. <br />http://www.nature.com/articles/srep16249Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227780861638767023.post-73208653233242717792015-11-11T20:36:31.161+00:002015-11-11T20:36:31.161+00:00Genetic structure of 1,272 Italians
From the paper... Genetic structure of 1,272 Italians<br />From the paper:<br /><br /> The distribution of the pairwise Fst distances between all population pairs is shown in Supplementary Table S3. The genetic distance between Southern and Northern Italians (Fst=0.0013) is comparable to that between individuals living in different political units (ie, Iberians-Romanians Fst=0.0011; British-French Fst=0.0007), and, interestingly, in >50% of all the possible pairwise comparisons within Europe (Supplementary Figure S7).<br /><br />European Journal of Human Genetics advance online publication 11 November 2015; doi: 10.1038/ejhg.2015.233<br /><br />The Italian genome reflects the history of Europe and the Mediterranean basin<br /><br />Giovanni Fiorito et al.<br /><br />Recent scientific literature has highlighted the relevance of population genetic studies both for disease association mapping in admixed populations and for understanding the history of human migrations. Deeper insight into the history of the Italian population is critical for understanding the peopling of Europe. Because of its crucial position at the centre of the Mediterranean basin, the Italian peninsula has experienced a complex history of colonization and migration whose genetic signatures are still present in contemporary Italians. In this study, we investigated genomic variation in the Italian population using 2.5 million single-nucleotide polymorphisms in a sample of more than 300 unrelated Italian subjects with well-defined geographical origins. We combined several analytical approaches to interpret genome-wide data on 1272 individuals from European, Middle Eastern, and North African populations. We detected three major ancestral components contributing different proportions across the Italian peninsula, and signatures of continuous gene flow within Italy, which have produced remarkable genetic variability among contemporary Italians. In addition, we have extracted novel details about the Italian population’s ancestry, identifying the genetic signatures of major historical events in Europe and the Mediterranean basin from the Neolithic (e.g., peopling of Sardinia) to recent times (e.g., ‘barbarian invasion’ of Northern and Central Italy). These results are valuable for further genetic, epidemiological and forensic studies in Italy and in Europe. <br /><br />http://www.nature.com/ejhg/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/ejhg2015233a.html<br /><br />http://dienekes.blogspot.com/2015/11/genetic-structure-of-1272-italians.htmlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227780861638767023.post-43991096150291506682015-11-03T05:12:30.176+00:002015-11-03T05:12:30.176+00:00Languages
The languages of the Neolithic died ...<br /><br /> Languages<br /> The languages of the Neolithic died with them. Non-Indo-European words for grain, etc taken over by IE languages. [This substrate is the most convincing evidence that the Indo-European linguistic layer overlaid the now lost Neolithic languages of Europe. See Kroonen 2012. And see Ancestral Journeys 2nd edn (2015), p. 39 for additional evidence.]<br /><br /> Bronze Age inter-connections<br /><br /> Shared cosmologies and burial rituals are in evidence in Bronze Age Europe: barrows over a (timber?) grave, ox sacrifice, ox hides etc.<br /> Expansion of chariots east and west of their origin point.<br /> Woollen garments: showed very similar images – one from Denmark and one from the Tarim Basin.<br /> Social transformations from large, centralised, agrarian communities towards decentralised, expansionist, pastoral communities.<br /><br /><br /><br /> Bell Beaker<br /><br /> BB migrations followed upon the collapse of mega-sites in Iberia. (He used an image of a model of Los Millares earlier on, comparing it to the proto-urban mega sites in SE Europe.) Could plague be responsible? BB people move out and use some Yamnaya social institutions.<br /> Price 2004 used isotopes to show the high mobility of BB people in Central Europe. Also cited Desideri's study of inherited characteristics in teeth as evidence of a west to east movement. Olivier Lemercier studies of BB in Southern France.<br /> Thinks the La Tène model of Celtic expansion is dead. <br /><br /><br /><br /> More Bronze Age inter-connections<br /><br /> Rock art of wagons/chariots in Sweden and Spain.<br /> Global economy. [Not quite global. Think he meant the world as known to Europeans then.] Mentioned the remarkable Cliff's End site published in Celtic from the West 2 as evidence for continuing inter-connections.<br /> By contrast Neolithic economies remained local once established. They were unstable after carrying capacities had been reached. Plague pathogens carried by Yamnaya people would be more damaging to these Neolithic people. The Bronze Age arrivals were typically organised into family households and were more adaptive and competitive than previous Neolithic collective communities.<br /> They had regular commodity trade.<br /> Modernity begins in the Bronze Age.<br /><br /><br /><br /> Question time<br /> Raimund Karl said that since no-one else dared to ask a question, it fell to him as leader of the archaeology session. Prof. Kristiansen's talk had the Indo-Europeans in the East, and Bell Beaker from the West. How would he link the two? Prof. Kristiansen said that would be another lecture. [General laughter in the hall.] He did go on to say that some people [Me, Jeunesse, Koch] had suggested that the link was anthropomorphic stelae, but these were just small things. One needs something bigger. [In fact I linked the stelae to the movement of metallurgy, but he probably hasn't read my stuff.] <br /><br />http://www.anthrogenica.com/showthread.php?3392-Celts-2015/page50Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227780861638767023.post-57327753694631976662015-11-03T05:12:13.304+00:002015-11-03T05:12:13.304+00:00Archaeology session
Kristian Kristiansen (Goth...Archaeology session<br /> Kristian Kristiansen (Gothenburg): Genetics, migrations and language spread<br /><br /> He noted that his usage in the talk was Bronze Age = after 3000 BC [reflecting the Scandinavia chronology leaping straight from Neolithic to Bronze Age without a Copper Age in between.]<br /><br /> He feels that we are in the midst of the 3rd scientific revolution (ancient DNA, strontium etc isotopes) that lifts the interpretive burden from archaeologists when it comes to mobility. We need to re-calibrate our interpretations in the light of the emerging results: how does the material record behave in migrations?<br /><br /> Neolithic collapse<br /> The decline of the Neolithic is visible in the collapse of the proto-urban mega sites in SE Europe. Radiocarbon dates collected into huge databases show the Neolithic collapse in Northern and Western Europe which we have hitherto been unable to account for [See Ancestral Journeys, pp. 18 and 104]. In a meeting earlier this year the idea was thrown up that plague might be a cause. This turned out to be right. Existing ancient human DNA samples were tested for Yersinia pestis, which was found from the Altai to Central Europe. [Rassmussen et al., Early Divergent Strains of Yersinia pestis in Eurasia 5,000 Years Ago, Cell, Volume 163, Issue 3, pp. 571–582 (22 October 2015).] This is a game-changer. Now we have an explanation.<br /><br /> Yamnaya<br /><br /> He sees their origins in the late 4th millennium in the North Caucasus, and their assets as domesticated horses, wagons and metal-working. [Contrast with Anthony 2007, who simply sees Maikop influences on a steppe culture with origins in Samara.] Maikop was the first complex society in the North Caucasus. Maikop royal kurgans had objects from Mesopotamia. More and more evidence is appearing of mining in the Maikop culture. There are borrowings from Mesopotamia.<br /> He presented a slide of the Yamnaya package from Harrison and Heyd 2007.<br /> The Yamnaya were tall, indicating that they were healthy. Their diet included meat and milk products. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> Yamnaya cultural/genetic descendants<br /><br /> He cited the Allentoft 2015 paper to show the Yamnaya colonisation represented by Afanasievo. The people of the latter were genetically identical to Yamnaya. Pointed out the fit to the IE Tocharian language attested later in Central Asia.<br /> The Single Grave culture had a massive impact on Jutland. Its people burned off the forest to create grassland for pasture. Subsequently the heath was burned off regularly to maintain grassland. The forest disappeared in two or three generations.<br /> Corded Ware people were invaders who married locals. He cited Eulau as an example. The women there were from a distance, as shown by strontium isotopes [Haak et al. 2008]. In Corded Ware cemeteries tested for isotopes, non-locals are predominantly women with a different diet in childhood (possibly sub-Neolithic). The Corded Ware diet was heavy on meat and milk. Grain was probably used mainly for beer. Most males were local after the first generation.<br /> In the Bronze Age (see definition above) there was a population increase, resulting in continuous territorial coverage. High survival rates of children. Yamnaya element is half of the genetic ancestry of northern Europeans today.<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227780861638767023.post-48002410141664456932015-11-02T01:03:22.247+00:002015-11-02T01:03:22.247+00:002nd speaker: Martin Richards
Archaeogenetics ...2nd speaker: Martin Richards<br /><br /> Archaeogenetics needs to look at the speakers of Celtic languages, then it can potentially investigate their dispersal history. Can that be traced to CW or Cardial cultures?<br /> For the last 15 years, geneticists have had the idea of a Mesolithic Atlantic façade appearing in modern DNA. That turned out to be completely wrong, or at least highly questionable.<br /> Mentions Novembre et al 2008: Genes mirror geography (genetic separation of British Isles from Iberia).<br /> PoBI study using FINE STRUCTURE found genetic clusters in modern populations. Most of England homogeneous. Seen as Anglo-Saxon by authors, but this may be misleading. The study suggested Mesolithic origins, based on old ideas which go back to Cavalli-Sforza. The ancestry of such clusters is not well understood. Potential source populations in Europe were tested, but this does not provide dating for migrations.<br /> Turned to ancient DNA. Covered some of same papers as W. H. above. Three components to European population. Cluster 3 = Yamnaya, but there are huge differences between CW and BB in uni-parental markers:<br /> CW: Y-DNA R1a + lower mtDNA H.<br /> BB: Y-DNA R1b + higher mtDNA H.<br /> Ancient DNA is needed to obtain the true time depth of a genetic signature and direction of flow. Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age, European mtDNA frequencies were similar to modern.<br /> Y-DNA R1b is not Mesolithic. Linked to Bronze Age component. The major star-burst showing massive expansion can be dated to 4,000-5,000 years ago.<br /> Post-Neolithic dip in effective male population size. Patriarchy took over.<br /> Phylogeography: limit to what one can do with modern DNA. It is only useful at the inter-continental scale. With ancient DNA one can look at the fine scale. Perhaps one can extend the technique from uni-parental markers to autosomal blocks.<br /> Genetic dating is possible with the molecular clock – cites Soares 2009, 2010. But aDNA is obviously better. If one can see new haplogroups appearing, it is obviously significant.<br /> Founder analysis. 40% of Ashkenazi Jews belong to three mtDNA haplogroup K clusters, which can be dated to 2000 years ago. [Behar 2006, gives K1a1b1a, K1a9, and K2a2a, though I don't know what the present equivalents might be.] Deep ancestry of K1alb1 confirmed with aDNA in Wolfgang Haak's paper – found in Spain. [Haak 2015, Neolithic site La Mina, Mina 3: K1a1b1].<br /> H in the most common and enigmatic mtDNA lineage in Europe. Found also in the Near East. Argues [contra Manco 2013, AJ 2015] that H1 and H3 are Atlantic Late Glacial and Post-Glacial. H in the Near East is clustered within European lineages, so could have evolved in Europe. Late Neolithic flow from South-West?<br /> BB affinities with Iberia. Those from Central Europe have possible affinities with modern Iberian populations. H1 and H3 are virtually absent from modern Near Easterners, and H is very rare in Anatolian Neolithic samples (2 out of 26 samples). [Mathieson October 2015 has 26 Anatolian Neolithic samples, of which one is H5 and another H or H5-C16192T. But two samples of Özbal 2010 were H3. Richards is on a sticky wicket with this line of argument. The frequency of a haplogroup in limited samples from a couple of sites does not matter. What matters is whether it is there at all. H is present in the Anatolian Neolithic. The rise in its frequency in Bronze Age Europe might well be the result of natural selection for better survival after infection.] H1 and H3 are frequent in Sardinia and the Basque Country.<br /> Early Neolithic lineages rare in present-day populations e.g. H26 found in Trans-Danubian [Hungary LBKT BAB 4; once again a tricky argument].<br /> H has barely been sampled in Mesolithic Europe. So was Iberia the source of H1 and H3? H3 is found in German BB samples. H6a1a in CW clusters with modern samples for Russia etc. [This indicates where CW origin people went, not where they came from.] U5a could have an Eastern European origin.<br /><br />http://www.anthrogenica.com/showthread.php?3392-Celts-2015/page49Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227780861638767023.post-39227000032937652692015-11-02T01:03:07.780+00:002015-11-02T01:03:07.780+00:00Jean M:
My brain is still reeling from the confer...Jean M:<br /><br />My brain is still reeling from the conference Beaker People, Archaeogenetics and Celtic Origins.<br /><br />The speakers included some giants in their fields. However I have to break the bad news immediately. No new ancient DNA results were announced. I suppose it was over-optimistic to hope for any.<br /><br />However it was confirmed that samples from Britain are waiting in the lab of Prof. Richards. And Wolfgang Haak promised papers next year with the results of Bell Beaker samples from Iberia. He was tight-lipped on results, providing no clue whatever what they will be. Consequently John Koch forbore to press the Celtic-from-the-West argument as conclusive, but ran through its main points much as he has done in other recent lectures. (The slides for one are online and I think were the same as used today.)<br /><br />Kristian Kristiansen is a superb archaeologist theorist. It was a privilege to hear him speak in person.<br /><br />A couple of other people from this community were there. They may chime in. <br /><br /><br />First speaker: Wolfgang Haak<br /><br /> Did his PhD on the routes of the Neolithic. Outlines the long-standing debate over the European Neolithic. Was it spread by ideas or people? He started about 10 years ago to study mtDNA in the Mittelelbe-Saale region of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. This region has fertile loess soil and so was well settled, and there is well-preserved skeletal material.<br /> He ran through the results as presented in the Brandt et al. 2013 paper. Note the Late Neolithic partial upsurge of mtDNA U in Funnel Beaker. CW brings a new set of lineages. Modern Europeans are similar to those of this region in the Bronze Age in terms of percentages of various haplogroups.<br /> Y-DNA R1b is post-Mesolithic. Apart from small amount in Neolithic, most spread in Copper/Bronze Age.<br /> Showed that results from uniparental markers from aDNA go hand in hand with those from autosomal aDNA, by covering the Lazarides 2014 paper, to which he contributed. Pointed out that there is no WHG in present-day Near/Middle Easterners. Promised a new paper coming out very shortly re hybridisation.<br /> Covered the use of ADMIXTURE and STRUCTURE methods on genome-wide data. Found that K16 split world-wide generated least errors. Noted that hunter-gatherers (whether WHG, SHG or EHG) were all blue in this system, despite separation on the PCA plot. The Palaeolithic samples fall outside the European spread towards Asia, being closer to the Out-of-Africa event and so more similar to all modern people outside Africa. The EEF samples are all similar regardless of geography. Late Neolithic admixture with late hunter-gatherers caused a bounce-back of the latter's DNA signature.<br /> Yamnaya genetic signature = EHG + North Caucasus.<br /> Corded Ware close to Yamnaya. Bell Beaker in Central Europe also have the Yamnaya component, but also EEF.<br /> The CW/BB upheaval was strong enough to carry a new language.<br /> Western BB is being worked on. There should be a couple of papers out next year.<br /> The ancient DNA reveals large-scale migration in both the Neolithic and Copper Age. Both are possibilities for language change. He covered the Allentoft 2015, and Mathieson 2015 papers. Lactose Persistence strongly selected for, but not in the Neolithic, as previously thought. The first instance of it found so far was in a BB sample.<br /> In questions, poor Stephen Oppenheimer [who has been proved completely and utterly wrong by aDNA] enquired desperately about the possibility of ascertainment bias. Are we short of hunter-gatherer samples, they being thinner on the ground? Got told that regardless of the issue of whether we have a fully representative sample of hunter-gatherer uniparental markers, the genome-wide signature from them is clearly different from that of the early farmers.<br /><br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227780861638767023.post-14222770454837996462015-11-02T00:34:34.396+00:002015-11-02T00:34:34.396+00:00Antiquity and diversity of aboriginal Australian Y...Antiquity and diversity of aboriginal Australian Y-chromosomes<br />Nagle et al. Article first published online: 30 OCT 2015<br />American Journal of Physical Anthropology<br /><br />ABSTRACT<br />Objective: Understanding the origins of Aboriginal Australians is crucial in reconstructing the evolution and spread of Homo sapiens as evidence suggests they represent the descendants of the earliest group to leave Africa. This study analyzed a large sample of Y-chromosomes to answer questions relating to the migration routes of their ancestors, the age of Y-haplogroups, date of colonization, as well as the extent of male-specific variation.<br />Methods: Knowledge of Y-chromosome variation among Aboriginal Australians is extremely limited. This study examined Y-SNP and Y-STR variation among 657 self-declared Aboriginal males from locations across the continent. 17 Y-STR loci and 47 Y-SNPs spanning the Y-chromosome phylogeny were typed in total.<br />Results: The proportion of non-indigenous Y-chromosomes of assumed Eurasian origin was high, at 56%. Y lineages of indigenous Sahul origin belonged to haplogroups C-M130*(xM8,M38,M217,M347) (1%), C-M347 (19%), K-M526*(xM147,P308,P79,P261,P256,M231,M175,M45,P202) (12%), S-P308 (12%), and M-M186 (0.9%). Haplogroups C-M347, K-M526*, and S-P308 are Aboriginal Australian-specific. Dating of C-M347, K-M526*, and S-P308 indicates that all are at least 40,000 years old, confirming their long-term presence in Australia. Haplogroup C-M347 comprised at least three sub-haplogroups: C-DYS390.1del, C-M210, and the unresolved paragroup C-M347*(xDYS390.1del,M210).<br />Conclusions: There was some geographic structure to the Y-haplogroup variation, but most haplogroups were present throughout Australia. The age of the Australian-specific Y-haplogroups suggests New Guineans and Aboriginal Australians have been isolated for over 30,000 years, supporting findings based on mitochondrial DNA data. Our data support the hypothesis of more than one route (via New Guinea) for males entering Sahul some 50,000 years ago and give no support for colonization events during the Holocene, from either India or elsewhere.<br />http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajpa.22886/abstractAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227780861638767023.post-57432724791441553442015-11-02T00:34:05.814+00:002015-11-02T00:34:05.814+00:00Hernández CL, Soares P, Dugoujon JM, Novelletto A,...Hernández CL, Soares P, Dugoujon JM, Novelletto A, Rodríguez JN, Rito T, et al. (2015) Early Holocenic and Historic mtDNA African Signatures in the Iberian Peninsula: The Andalusian Region as a Paradigm. PLoS ONE 10(10): e0139784. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0139784<br /><br />Determining the timing, identity and direction of migrations in the Mediterranean Basin, the role of “migratory routes” in and among regions of Africa, Europe and Asia, and the effects of sex-specific behaviors of population movements have important implications for our understanding of the present human genetic diversity. A crucial component of the Mediterranean world is its westernmost region. Clear features of transcontinental ancient contacts between North African and Iberian populations surrounding the maritime region of Gibraltar Strait have been identified from archeological data. The attempt to discern origin and dates of migration between close geographically related regions has been a challenge in the field of uniparental-based population genetics. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) studies have been focused on surveying the H1, H3 and V lineages when trying to ascertain north-south migrations, and U6 and L in the opposite direction, assuming that those lineages are good proxies for the ancestry of each side of the Mediterranean. To this end, in the present work we have screened entire mtDNA sequences belonging to U6, M1 and L haplogroups in Andalusians—from Huelva and Granada provinces—and Moroccan Berbers. We present here pioneer data and interpretations on the role of NW Africa and the Iberian Peninsula regarding the time of origin, number of founders and expansion directions of these specific markers. The estimated entrance of the North African U6 lineages into Iberia at 10 ky correlates well with other L African clades, indicating that U6 and some L lineages moved together from Africa to Iberia in the Early Holocene. Still, founder analysis highlights that the high sharing of lineages between North Africa and Iberia results from a complex process continued through time, impairing simplistic interpretations. In particular, our work supports the existence of an ancient, frequently denied, bridge connecting the Maghreb and Andalusia.<br />http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0139784<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227780861638767023.post-41114193466137275992015-10-28T09:28:34.325+00:002015-10-28T09:28:34.325+00:00Deep History of East Asian Populations Revealed Th...Deep History of East Asian Populations Revealed Through Genetic Analysis of the Ainu<br /><br /> Choongwon Jeong1, Shigeki Nakagome2,** and Anna Di Rienzo1,* <br /><br />Abstract<br /><br />Despite recent advances in population genomics, much remains to be elucidated with regard to East Asian population history. The Ainu, a hunter-gatherer population of northern Japan and Sakhalin island of Russia, are thought to be key to elucidating the prehistory of Japan and the peopling of East Asia. Here, we study the genetic relationship of the Ainu with other East Asian and Siberian populations outside the Japanese archipelago using genome-wide genotyping data. We find that the Ainu represent a deep branch of East Asian diversity more basal than all present-day East Asian farmers. However, we did not find a genetic connection between the Ainu and populations of the Tibetan plateau, rejecting their long-held hypothetical connection based on Y chromosome data. Unlike all other East Asian populations investigated, the Ainu have a closer genetic relationship with northeast Siberians than with central Siberians, suggesting ancient connections among populations around the sea of Okhotsk. We also detect a recent genetic contribution of the Ainu to nearby populations, but no evidence for reciprocal recent gene flow is observed. Whole genome sequencing of contemporary and ancient Ainu individuals will be helpful to understand the details of the deep history of East Asians.<br /><br />http://www.genetics.org/content/early/2015/10/20/genetics.115.178673.shortAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227780861638767023.post-86903286850853903982015-10-28T09:27:51.290+00:002015-10-28T09:27:51.290+00:00Original Article
Journal of Human Genetics (2015)...Original Article<br /><br />Journal of Human Genetics (2015) 60, 565–571; doi:10.1038/jhg.2015.79; published online 16 July 2015<br />Unique characteristics of the Ainu population in Northern Japan<br /><br />Timothy A Jinam1,2,3, Hideaki Kanzawa-Kiriyama2,4, Ituro Inoue2,3, Katsushi Tokunaga5, Keiichi Omoto6 and Naruya Saitou1,2,7<br /><br />Abstract<br /><br />Various genetic data (classic markers, mitochondrial DNAs, Y chromosomes and genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)) have confirmed the coexistence of three major human populations on the Japanese Archipelago: Ainu in Hokkaido, Ryukyuans in the Southern Islands and Mainland Japanese. We compared genome-wide SNP data of the Ainu, Ryukyuans and Mainland Japanese, and found the following results: (1) the Ainu are genetically different from Mainland Japanese living in Tohoku, the northern part of Honshu Island; (2) using Ainu as descendants of the Jomon people and continental Asians (Han Chinese, Koreans) as descendants of Yayoi people, the proportion of Jomon genetic component in Mainland Japanese was ~18% and ~28% in Ryukyuans; (3) the time since admixture for Mainland Japanese ranged from 55 to 58 generations ago, and 43 to 44 generations ago for the Ryukyuans, depending on the number of Ainu individuals with varying rates of recent admixture with Mainland Japanese; (4) estimated haplotypes of some Ainu individuals suggested relatively long-term admixture with Mainland Japanese; and (5) highly differentiated genomic regions between Ainu and Mainland Japanese included EDAR and COL7A1 gene regions, which were shown to influence macroscopic phenotypes. These results clearly demonstrate the unique status of the Ainu and Ryukyuan people within East Asia.<br /><br />http://www.nature.com/jhg/journal/v60/n10/full/jhg201579a.htmlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227780861638767023.post-77070716810971544162015-10-22T23:15:49.932+01:002015-10-22T23:15:49.932+01:00Marc Haber et al., 2015, European Journal of Human...Marc Haber et al., 2015, European Journal of Human Genetics: Genetic evidence for an origin of the Armenians from Bronze Age mixing of multiple populations<br />The Armenians are a culturally isolated population who historically inhabited a region in the Near East bounded by the Mediterranean and Black seas and the Caucasus, but remain under-represented in genetic studies and have a complex history including a major geographic displacement during World War I. Here, we analyse genome-wide variation in 173 Armenians and compare them with 78 other worldwide populations. We find that Armenians form a distinctive cluster linking the Near East, Europe, and the Caucasus. We show that Armenian diversity can be explained by several mixtures of Eurasian populations that occurred between ~3000 and ~2000 bce, a period characterized by major population migrations after the domestication of the horse, appearance of chariots, and the rise of advanced civilizations in the Near East. However, genetic signals of population mixture cease after ~1200 bce when Bronze Age civilizations in the Eastern Mediterranean world suddenly and violently collapsed. Armenians have since remained isolated and genetic structure within the population developed ~500 years ago when Armenia was divided between the Ottomans and the Safavid Empire in Iran. Finally, we show that Armenians have higher genetic affinity to Neolithic Europeans than other present-day Near Easterners, and that 29% of Armenian ancestry may originate from an ancestral population that is best represented by Neolithic Europeans.<br />http://www.nature.com/ejhg/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/ejhg2015206a.htmlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227780861638767023.post-57758502486785468682015-10-22T23:14:31.419+01:002015-10-22T23:14:31.419+01:00Rewriting the Central European Early Bronze Age Ch...Rewriting the Central European Early Bronze Age Chronology: Evidence from Large-Scale Radiocarbon Dating<br />Philipp W. Stockhammer, Ken Massy, Corina Knipper, Ronny Friedrich, Bernd Kromer, Susanne Lindauer, Jelena Radosavljević, Fabian Wittenborn, Johannes Krause. Published: October 21, 2015<br />DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.013970 [Link]<br /><br />Abstract<br />The transition from the Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age in Central Europe has often been considered as a supra-regional uniform process, which led to the growing mastery of the new bronze technology. Since the 1920s, archaeologists have divided the Early Bronze Age into two chronological phases (Bronze A1 and A2), which were also seen as stages of technical progress. On the basis of the early radiocarbon dates from the cemetery of Singen, southern Germany, the beginning of the Early Bronze Age in Central Europe was originally dated around 2300/2200 BC and the transition to more complex casting techniques (i.e., Bronze A2) around 2000 BC. On the basis of 140 newly radiocarbon dated human remains from Final Neolithic, Early and Middle Bronze Age cemeteries south of Augsburg (Bavaria) and a re-dating of ten graves from the cemetery of Singen, we propose a significantly different dating range, which forces us to re-think the traditional relative and absolute chronologies as well as the narrative of technical development. We are now able to date the beginning of the Early Bronze Age to around 2150 BC and its end to around 1700 BC. Moreover, there is no transition between Bronze (Bz) A1 and Bronze (Bz) A2, but a complete overlap between the type objects of the two phases from 1900–1700 BC. We thus present a revised chronology of the assumed diagnostic type objects of the Early Bronze Age and recommend a radiocarbon-based view on the development of the material culture. Finally, we propose that the traditional phases Bz A1 and Bz A2 do not represent a chronological sequence, but regionally different social phenomena connected to the willingness of local actors to appropriate the new bronze technology.<br />http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0139705Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227780861638767023.post-22343816107043579842015-10-22T23:04:33.829+01:002015-10-22T23:04:33.829+01:00RESULTS ARE IN! ~ NANCY HANKS LINCOLN mtDNA STUD...RESULTS ARE IN! ~ NANCY HANKS LINCOLN mtDNA STUDY<br /><br /><br />October 21, 2015: New study of the matrilineal kin of Abraham Lincoln's mother Nancy Hanks has demonstrated that Lincoln's mitochondrial DNA belonged to a very rare haplogroup X1c, and has provided evidence of the maternal ancestry of Nancy Hanks Lincoln.<br /><br /><br />Commemorating the 150th anniversary (1865 - 2015) of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln , the Hanks DNA Project is pleased to announce the Nancy Hanks Lincoln mtDNA Study. <br /><br /><br /> Nancy Hanks Lincoln mtDNA Study ~ Unlocking the Secrets of Abraham Lincoln's Maternal Ancestry<br /> © 2015 Suzanne W. Hallstrom, Nancy C. Royce, Stephan A. Whitlock, Richard G. Hileman, M.A., J.D., Gerald M. Haslam, PhD, AG, FUGA <br /><br />Abraham Lincoln is a monumental figure in our nation's history, yet the identity of his mother's maternal ancestry has been debated for over a hundred years. Most historians agree that Nancy Hanks was the illegitimate daughter of Lucy Hanks who had a second illegitimate daughter, Sarah "Sally" Hanks, before marrying Henry Sparrow and giving birth to eight more children. However, while many believe Lucy Hanks was the daughter of Joseph Hanks and Ann "Nancy" Lee of Richmond Co., VA and Nelson Co., KY, others claim she was Lucy Shipley who married James Hanks, a son of Joseph Hanks and Ann "Nancy" Lee. This study addresses this long standing controversy and seeks to provide an authoritative reference sample of Abraham Lincoln's mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA).<br /><br />Nancy Hanks Lincoln has no living descendants so mtDNA samples were obtained from matrilineal descendants of two known daughters of Joseph Hanks and Ann "Nancy" Lee (Nancy Hanks Hall and Mary Hanks Friend), matrilineal descendants of two daughters of Sarah "Sally" Hanks (Sophia Hanks Lynch Legrand and Margaret Hanks Legrand), and matrilineal descendants of two daughters of Lucy Hanks from her marriage to Henry Sparrow (Margaret Sparrow Ingram and Lucinda Sparrow Richardson*). This group shall be identified as Group-A. Full mitochondrial sequencing reveal Group-A belongs to a rare haplogroup X1c. In addition to the mutations used to define haplogroup X1c, they share a core set of {three} more specific mutations. These results indicate Group-A participants descend from the same maternal line. The rarity of the X1c haplogroup makes these matching samples more definitive. <br /><br />MtDNA samples were also collected from matrilineal descendants of two Shipley sisters -- Naomi Shipley who married Robert Mitchell and Rachel Shipley who married Richard Berry, Sr. This group shall be identified as Group-B. Matching HVR1 and HVR2 results for these two samples are Haplogroup H, indicating Group-B descendants do not descend from the same maternal line as Group-A.<br /><br />In summary, these results can be used with confidence as a reference for DNA testing of Abraham Lincoln artifacts and for distinguishing between the two accounts of the parentage of Nancy Hanks. By including participants from multiple lines of descent from Ann Lee Hanks, the results conclude that Lucy Hanks Sparrow was not a sister of Rachel Shipley and Naomi Shipley and the results provide evidence supporting the conclusion that Lucy Hanks was a daughter of Ann Lee Hanks. All matrilineal lineages were researched by the study authors.<br /><br />https://www.familytreedna.com/public/HanksDNAProject/default.aspx?section=news<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227780861638767023.post-48251108183852496312015-10-20T01:53:34.687+01:002015-10-20T01:53:34.687+01:00Genetic structure in village dogs reveals a Centra...Genetic structure in village dogs reveals a Central Asian domestication origin<br /><br /> Laura M. Shannona, Ryan H. Boykob, Marta Castelhanoc, Elizabeth Coreyc, Jessica J. Haywarda, Corin McLeand, Michelle E. Whitea, Mounir Abi Saide, Baddley A. Anitaf, Nono Ikombe Bondjengog, Jorge Caleroh, Ana Galovi, Marius Hedimbij, Bulu Imamk, Rajashree Khalapl, Douglas Lallym, Andrew Mastan, Kyle C. Oliveiraa, Lucía Pérezo, Julia Randallp, Nguyen Minh Tamq, Francisco J. Trujillo-Cornejoo, Carlos Valerianoh, Nathan B. Sutterr, Rory J. Todhunterc, Carlos D. Bustamantes, and Adam R. Boykoa,1 <br /><br /><br /> Edited by David M. Hillis, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, and approved September 11, 2015 (received for review August 19, 2015)<br /><br />Significance<br /><br />Dogs were the first domesticated species, but the precise timing and location of domestication are hotly debated. Using genomic data from 5,392 dogs, including a global set of 549 village dogs, we find strong evidence that dogs were domesticated in Central Asia, perhaps near present-day Nepal and Mongolia. Dogs in nearby regions (e.g., East Asia, India, and Southwest Asia) contain high levels of genetic diversity due to their proximity to Central Asia and large population sizes. Indigenous dog populations in the Neotropics and South Pacific have been largely replaced by European dogs, whereas those in Africa show varying degrees of European vs. indigenous African ancestry.<br />Abstract<br /><br />Dogs were the first domesticated species, originating at least 15,000 y ago from Eurasian gray wolves. Dogs today consist primarily of two specialized groups—a diverse set of nearly 400 pure breeds and a far more populous group of free-ranging animals adapted to a human commensal lifestyle (village dogs). Village dogs are more genetically diverse and geographically widespread than purebred dogs making them vital for unraveling dog population history. Using a semicustom 185,805-marker genotyping array, we conducted a large-scale survey of autosomal, mitochondrial, and Y chromosome diversity in 4,676 purebred dogs from 161 breeds and 549 village dogs from 38 countries. Geographic structure shows both isolation and gene flow have shaped genetic diversity in village dog populations. Some populations (notably those in the Neotropics and the South Pacific) are almost completely derived from European stock, whereas others are clearly admixed between indigenous and European dogs. Importantly, many populations—including those of Vietnam, India, and Egypt—show minimal evidence of European admixture. These populations exhibit a clear gradient of short-range linkage disequilibrium consistent with a Central Asian domestication origin.<br /><br /> admixture domestication linkage disequilibrium introgression haplotype diversity <br />http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2015/10/14/1516215112Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227780861638767023.post-26650204213454392222015-10-20T01:16:48.519+01:002015-10-20T01:16:48.519+01:00 Access Content
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Gerling, Cla... Access Content<br /><br /> Print Flyer <br /><br />Gerling, Claudia<br />Prehistoric Mobility and Diet in the West Eurasian Steppes 3500 to 300 BC<br />An Isotopic Approach<br /><br />Series:Topoi – Berlin Studies of the Ancient World/Topoi – Berliner Studien der Alten Welt 25<br /><br />Open Access<br /><br />Aims and Scope<br /><br />Questions concerning mobility and migration as well as subsistence strategies of past societies have always been of major importance in archaeological research. The West Eurasian steppes in the Eneolithic, the Early Bronze and the Iron Age were largely inhabited by cultural communities believed to show an elevated level of spatial mobility, often linked to their subsistence economy. In this volume, questions concerning the mobility and potential migration as well as the diet and economy of the West Eurasian steppes communities during the 4th, the 3rd and the 1st Millennia BC are approached by applying isotope analysis, specifically 87Sr/86Sr, δ18O, δ15N and δ13C analyses. Adapting a combination of different isotopic systems to a study area of vast spatial and chronological dimension allowed a wide variety of questions to be answered and establishes the beginning of a database of biogeochemical data for the West Eurasian steppes. Besides the characterisation of mobility and subsistence patterns of the archaeological communities under discussion, attempts to identify possible Early Bronze Age migrations from the steppes to the steppe-like plains in parts of Eastern Europe were made, alongside an evaluation of the applicability of isotope analysis to this context. <br />http://www.degruyter.com/view/product/204495Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227780861638767023.post-68706807165867441632015-10-20T01:15:37.535+01:002015-10-20T01:15:37.535+01:00Reconstructing Genetic History of Siberian and Nor...Reconstructing Genetic History of Siberian and Northeastern European Populations<br />Anton Valouev, Emily HM Wong, Andrey Khrunin, Larissa Nichols, Dmitry Pushkarev, Denis Khokhrin, Dmitry Verbenko, Oleg Evgrafov, James Knowles, John Novembre, Svetlana Limborska<br />doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/029421<br /><br /> AbstractInfo/HistoryMetricsData Supplements<br /> Preview PDF<br /><br />Abstract<br /><br />Siberia and Western Russia are home to over 40 culturally and linguistically diverse indigenous ethnic groups. Yet, genetic variation of peoples from this region is largely uncharacterized. We present whole-genome sequencing data from 28 individuals belonging to 14 distinct indigenous populations from that region. We combine these datasets with additional 32 modern-day and 15 ancient human genomes to build and compare autosomal, Y-DNA and mtDNA trees. Our results provide new links between modern and ancient inhabitants of Eurasia. Siberians share 38% of ancestry with descendants of the 45,000-year-old Ust-Ishim people, who were previously believed to have no modern-day descendants. Western Siberians trace 57% of their ancestry to the Ancient North Eurasians, represented by the 24,000-year-old Siberian Malta boy. In addition, Siberians admixtures are present in lineages represented by Eastern European hunter-gatherers from Samara, Karelia, Hungary and Sweden (from 8,000-6,600 years ago), as well as Yamnaya culture people (5,300-4,700 years ago) and modern-day northeastern Europeans. These results provide new evidence of ancient gene flow from Siberia into Europe.<br /><br />http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2015/10/18/029421Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227780861638767023.post-48502367019832870922015-10-20T01:13:52.949+01:002015-10-20T01:13:52.949+01:0015,000 Years Ago, Probably in Asia, the Dog Was Bo...15,000 Years Ago, Probably in Asia, the Dog Was Born<br /><br />Where do dogs come from?<br /><br />Gray wolves are their ancestors. Scientists are pretty consistent about that. And researchers have suggested that dogs’ origins can be traced to Europe, the Near East, Siberia and South China.<br /><br />Central Asia is the newest and best candidate, according to a large study of dogs from around the world.<br /><br />Laura M. Shannon and Adam R. Boyko at Cornell University, and an international group of other scientists, studied not only purebred dogs, but also street or village dogs — the free-ranging scavengers that make up about 75 percent of the planet’s one billion dogs.<br /><br />Dr. Shannon analyzed three different kinds of DNA, Dr. Boyko said, the first time this has been done for such a large and diverse group of dogs, more than 4,500 dogs of 161 breeds and 549 village dogs from 38 countries. That allowed the researchers to determine which geographic groups of modern dogs were closest to ancestral populations genetically. And that led them to Central Asia as the place of origin for dogs in much the same way that genetic studies have located the origin of modern humans in East Africa.<br /><br />The analysis, Dr. Boyko said, pointed to Central Asia, including Mongolia and Nepal, as the place where “all the dogs alive today” come from. The data did not allow precise dating of the origin, he said, but showed it occurred at least 15,000 years ago. They reported their findings Monday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.<br /><br />Greger Larson of Oxford University, who is leading an international effort to analyze ancient DNA from fossilized bones, said he was impressed by the scope of the study. “It’s really great to see not just the sheer number of street dogs, but also the geographic breadth and the number of remote locations where the dogs were sampled,” he said. He also praised the sampling of different kinds of DNA and the analytic methods.<br /><br />But in the world of dog studies, very little is definitive. The most recent common ancestor of today’s dogs lived in Central Asia, Dr. Boyko said, although he cannot rule out the possibility that some dogs could have been domesticated elsewhere and died out. Or dogs domesticated elsewhere could have gone to Central Asia from somewhere else and then diversified into all the canines alive today, he said.<br /><br />Dr. Larson, who was not involved with the study, said he thought the Central Asia finding required further testing. He said he suspected that the origins of modern dogs were “extremely messy” and that no amount of sampling of living populations would be definitive. He said a combination of studies of modern and ancient DNA was necessary.<br /><br />Dr. Boyko said the research for the first time studied three sources of DNA from purebred and village dogs worldwide. The team analyzed DNA from all the chromosomes in the cell nucleus, from the Y chromosome specifically, found only in males, and from mitochondria, cellular energy machines outside the nucleus that are inherited from the mother.<br /><br />Dr. Boyko traveled to a number of the locations where blood was drawn from village dogs. He said: “The great thing about working with dogs is that if you show up with food you don’t usually have trouble recruiting subjects. Usually.”<br /><br />He added: “We showed up in Puerto Rico at a fishing village and the dogs turned up their noses at roast beef sandwiches. They were used to eating fish entrails.”<br />http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/20/science/central-asia-could-be-birthplace-of-the-modern-dog.html?_r=0Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227780861638767023.post-19056336039959528722015-08-21T20:10:58.656+01:002015-08-21T20:10:58.656+01:00"Andy Nowicki, a writer at the blog Alternati...<i>"Andy Nowicki, a writer at the blog Alternative-Right, is a seriously disturbed individual, who is NOT on our side:"<br /><br />I have not read anything he's written in years, but yes, I always thought it was hilarious that someone who attempts to exorcise his neuroses about high school by writing novels about school shooters would presume to lecture others on normality, morality, or how to be a winner.</i><br /><br />n/a,<br /><br />Nowicki is also very anti-German as well(he'll claim of course he's just being 'anti-Knatsee', but after reading this very disrespectful article directed at the victims of Dresden - and by extension all other cities and towns full of German innocents that the genocidal 'allies' murdered) it's hard to say he's anything but motivated by envious malice toward the German people. <br /><br />http://alternative-right.blogspot.com/2015/02/dresden-was-not-da-bomb.htmlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com