Despite bearing remarkably far-flung genetic origins, a girl and young man were buried just like their peers

Archaeogenetic study reveals this region’s population history in unprecedented detail, generating a DNA transect spanning nearly 5,000 years

Archaeogenetic study reveals this region’s population history in unprecedented detail, generating a DNA transect spanning nearly 5,000 years

Ancient DNA from the Southern Caucasus reveals remarkable genetic continuity, with some mixing from Anatolia/Iran and the Eurasian Steppe, and shows that even periods of urbanization and increased mob...

The timing of the initial peopling of the Polynesian islands remains highly debated. Suggested dates are primarily based on archaeological evidence and differ by several hundred years. [Ioannidis et al. [2021]][1] used genome-wide data from 430 modern individuals from 21 Pacific islands to obtain genetic estimates. Their results supported late settlement dates, e.g. approximately 1200 CE for Rapa Nui. However, when investigating the underlying model we found that the genetic estimator used by [Ioannidis et al. [2021]][1] is biased to be about 300 years too old. Correcting for this bias gives genetic settlement dates that are more recent than any dates consistent with archaeological records, as radiocarbon dating of human-modified artifacts shows settlement definitively earlier than the bias-corrected genetic estimates. These too-recent estimates can only be explained by substantial gene flow between islands after their initial settlements. Therefore, contacts attested by archaeological and linguistic evidence [Kirch, 2021] must have been accompanied also by demographically significant movement of people. This gene flow well after the initial settlements was not modelled by [Ioannidis et al. [2021]][1] and challenges their interpretation that carving anthropomorphic stone statues was spread during initial settlements of islands. Instead, the distribution of this cultural practice likely reflects later inter-island exchanges, as suggested earlier [[Kirch, 2017][2]]. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. [1]: #ref-5 [2]: #ref-7

At long last, scientists have a nearly complete cranium from hominins known as Denisovans

View details and apply for this Senior Research Associate in Population Genomics (RA2327) vacancy in University of East Anglia. Faculty of Science School of Biological Sciences Senior Research A...

The North Sea's historical migrations have impacted the genetic structure of its neighbouring populations. We analysed haplotype sharing among 858,635 modern individuals from Denmark and Britain to in...

With the launch of the competitions for grants under ERC Work Programme 2026 in July of this year, several changes to the submission of applications and the evaluation of proposals will apply. The mai...

New study of a pathogen’s Bronze Age spread challenges longstanding links between disease and early agriculture

Nature - Phoenician civilization thrived across the Mediterranean for more than 1,000 years.