The Genome of a Mongolian Individual Reveals the Genetic Imprints of Mongolians on Modern Human Populations

AbstractArchaeological and geological remains associated with the Youngest Toba Tuff (YTT) deposits in India are seen as significant proxies for reconstructing 1) Initial modern human colonization of India and 2) Possible climatic impacts of the Toba super-eruption of 74 ka on Indian climate and hominin behaviour. In order to gain further insights into the environmental impacts and behavioural adaptations of human populations in India before and after the Toba eruption, we investigated archaeological horizons associated with the Toba ash beds along the Gundlakamma basin in Prakasam District, Andhra Pradesh, India. Here, lithic artefacts were identified below and above the YTT deposits. The YTT deposits in the Gundlakamma river basin has a maximum thickness of 50 cm, comparatively thinner than those at the better investigated valleys of the adjacent Jurreru and Sagileru in Andhra Pradesh and the Son, Madhya Pradesh, India. Our surveys indicate that the Palaeolithic assemblages associated with YTT deposits from the Gundlakamma river basin can provide significant insights on the issues and debates surrounding the Toba archaeology.Supplementary material at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5729449

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Testing the utility of dental morphological trait combinations for inferring human neutral genetic variation

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.1914330117 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 117 (20) ◽

pp. 10769-10777 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Hannes Rathmann ◽

Hugo Reyes-Centeno

Keyword(s):

Modern Human ◽

Genomic Variation ◽

Future Research ◽

Human Populations ◽

Dental Morphology ◽

Genomic Signatures ◽

Neutral Genetic Variation ◽

Tooth Form ◽

Dental Traits ◽

Population Affinity

Researchers commonly rely on human dental morphological features in order to reconstruct genetic affinities among past individuals and populations, particularly since teeth are often the best preserved part of a human skeleton. Tooth form is considered to be highly heritable and selectively neutral and, therefore, to be an excellent proxy for DNA when none is available. However, until today, it remains poorly understood whether certain dental traits or trait combinations preserve neutral genomic signatures to a greater degree than others. Here, we address this long-standing research gap by systematically testing the utility of 27 common dental traits and >134 million possible trait combinations in reflecting neutral genomic variation in a worldwide sample of modern human populations. Our analyses reveal that not all traits are equally well-suited for reconstructing population affinities. Whereas some traits largely reflect neutral variation and therefore evolved primarily as a result of genetic drift, others can be linked to nonstochastic processes such as natural selection or hominin admixture. We also demonstrate that reconstructions of population affinity based on many traits are not necessarily more reliable than those based on only a few traits. Importantly, we find a set of highly diagnostic trait combinations that preserve neutral genetic signals best (up to x∼r = 0.580; 95% r range = 0.293 to 0.758; P = 0.001). We propose that these trait combinations should be prioritized in future research, as they allow for more accurate inferences about past human population dynamics when using dental morphology as a proxy for DNA.

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The early Aurignacian dispersal of modern humans into westernmost Eurasia

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.2016062117 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 117 (41) ◽

pp. 25414-25422

Author(s):

Jonathan A. Haws ◽

Michael M. Benedetti ◽

Sahra Talamo ◽

Nuno Bicho ◽

João Cascalheira ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Iberian Peninsula ◽

Modern Human ◽

Human Populations ◽

Southern Europe ◽

Modern Humans ◽

Present Evidence ◽

Western Margin ◽

Human Presence ◽

Human Dispersal ◽

Central Portugal

Documenting the first appearance of modern humans in a given region is key to understanding the dispersal process and the replacement or assimilation of indigenous human populations such as the Neanderthals. The Iberian Peninsula was the last refuge of Neanderthal populations as modern humans advanced across Eurasia. Here we present evidence of an early Aurignacian occupation at Lapa do Picareiro in central Portugal. Diagnostic artifacts were found in a sealed stratigraphic layer dated 41.1 to 38.1 ka cal BP, documenting a modern human presence on the western margin of Iberia ∼5,000 years earlier than previously known. The data indicate a rapid modern human dispersal across southern Europe, reaching the westernmost edge where Neanderthals were thought to persist. The results support the notion of a mosaic process of modern human dispersal and replacement of indigenous Neanderthal populations.

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Molar microwear pattern and palaeoecology of ungulates from La Berbie (Dordogne, France): environment of Neanderthals and modern human populations of the Middle/Upper Palaeolithic

Boreas ◽

10.1111/j.1502-3885.2006.tb01157.x ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 35 (2) ◽

pp. 272-278

Author(s):

GILDAS MERCERON ◽

STÉPHANE MADELAINE

Keyword(s):

Modern Human ◽

Human Populations ◽

Upper Palaeolithic

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Archaic mitochondrial DNA inserts in modern day nuclear genomes

BMC Genomics ◽

10.1186/s12864-019-6392-8 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Robert Bücking ◽

Murray P Cox ◽

Georgi Hudjashov ◽

Lauri Saag ◽

Herawati Sudoyo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mitochondrial Dna ◽

Nuclear Dna ◽

Modern Human ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Next Generation Sequencing Data ◽

Human Populations ◽

Sequencing Data ◽

Modern Humans ◽

High Coverage ◽

Nuclear Genomes

Abstract Background Traces of interbreeding of Neanderthals and Denisovans with modern humans in the form of archaic DNA have been detected in the genomes of present-day human populations outside sub-Saharan Africa. Up to now, only nuclear archaic DNA has been detected in modern humans; we therefore attempted to identify archaic mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) residing in modern human nuclear genomes as nuclear inserts of mitochondrial DNA (NUMTs). Results We analysed 221 high-coverage genomes from Oceania and Indonesia using an approach which identifies reads that map both to the nuclear and mitochondrial DNA. We then classified reads according to the source of the mtDNA, and found one NUMT of Denisovan mtDNA origin, present in 15 analysed genomes; analysis of the flanking region suggests that this insertion is more likely to have happened in a Denisovan individual and introgressed into modern humans with the Denisovan nuclear DNA, rather than in a descendant of a Denisovan female and a modern human male. Conclusions Here we present our pipeline for detecting introgressed NUMTs in next generation sequencing data that can be used on genomes sequenced in the future. Further discovery of such archaic NUMTs in modern humans can be used to detect interbreeding between archaic and modern humans and can reveal new insights into the nature of such interbreeding events.

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Trends in the Hunter-Gatherer Rock Art of Western Europe and Australia.

Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society ◽

10.1017/s0079497x00004953 ◽

1991 ◽

Vol 57 (01) ◽

pp. 163-174 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Robert Layton

Keyword(s):

Western Europe ◽

Rock Art ◽

Modern Human ◽

Ratio Method ◽

Human Populations ◽

Northern Australia ◽

Human Community ◽

Cation Ratio ◽

Palaeolithic Art ◽

Personal Adornment

Rock art associated with modern human populations has a comparable antiquity in Western Europe and Australia (table 1). In Western Europe personal adornment, human and animal statuettes and some carved stone blocks date from the early Aurignacian. In Australia a date of 30,000 BP has been claimed for the origin of the geometric art tradition of the Olary Province of Southern Australia, a date which would make it contemporary with the modern human community at Lake Mungo 150 miles to the east, who were practising deliberate burial (Bowler and Thome 1976, 129,138). This date, however, depends on the cation ratio method, whose calibration is still open to question (Nobbs and Dorn 1988; Clarke 1989; Watchman 1989).Secure dates based on C14 measurements show that both geometric motifs and engraved animal silhouettes in northern Australia are contemporary with the flowering of European Palaeolithic art during the Magdalenian (for Dampier, see Lorblanchet 1988, 286; for Laura, see Rosenfeld 1981, 12, 53).

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Enamel pearls: Their occurrence in recent human populations and earliest manifestation in the modern human lineage

Archives of Oral Biology ◽

10.1016/j.archoralbio.2019.03.004 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 101 ◽

pp. 147-155 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Frederick E. Grine ◽

Sharon Holt ◽

James S. Brink ◽

Anton du Plessis

Keyword(s):

Modern Human ◽

Human Populations ◽

Human Lineage

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Ochre Resources, Behavioural Complexity and Regional Patterns in the Howiesons Poort

Journal of African Archaeology ◽

10.1163/21915784-12340002 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

pp. 20-41 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Laure Dayet Bouillot ◽

Sarah Wurz ◽

Floréal Daniel

Keyword(s):

Social Interactions ◽

Raw Materials ◽

Calcium Phosphates ◽

Modern Human ◽

Human Populations ◽

Regional Variability ◽

Regional Patterns ◽

Main Site ◽

Oxygen Isotope Stage ◽

Non Destructive

Abstract The widespread use of ochre during Oxygen Isotope Stage 5 and 4 in South Africa has often been interpreted as reflecting complex behaviours amongst modern human populations. The Howiesons Poort is one of the most documented techno-complexes identified within this timeframe. It is associated with an intensification of a combination of innovative technical and symbolic behaviours. Despite the notable focus on ochre use, detailed analyses of Howiesons Poort assemblages in this respect are rare. New data on ochre exploitation from the Howiesons Poort of Klasies River main site are presented in this paper. We used non-destructive microscopic, colorimetric and chemical analyses (sem-eds, xrd) in order to describe the raw materials and the transformation of a selected sample from the Singer and Wymer ochre collection. This sample is composed of red and yellow ferruginous rocks (shale, ferricrete, siltstone and sandstone), along with whitish lumps (calcium phosphates). These lumps may have an anthropogenic origin and may be considered as pigments. Some of the red ochre pieces were probably deliberately heated. Our results enhance the impression of complexity emerging from the technical processes mastered by Howiesons Poort populations. Comparison with other Howiesons Poort ochre assemblages allows a discussion of regional variability and ‘connections’ between the sites. The scale and organization of social interactions in the Howiesons Poort are questioned.

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