10,000 years in DNA: genetic study of Eurasians reveals their ancient history

Genetic research allows us to learn more about ancient people. For example, to show the details of the settlement of Eurasians and the connections between them at the dawn of civilization. An analysis of the genomes of 777 people who lived between the Neolithic (about 10,000 years ago) and the Ottoman Empire (about 1700 AD) does just that. The results of the study of their DNA were published in three articles in the journal Science, writes Gizmodo.

Scientists took genetic material from various sources. It belonged to people from different times and social strata. For example, one of the samples was taken from the grave of a young, apparently wealthy man in Pylos, Greece. Another was obtained from a wealthy man buried near Stonehenge about 4,300 years ago. Many samples were taken from burials of farmers in Western Eurasia.

A team of more than 200 researchers studied the material to find out the migration routes of ancient human communities and their interaction on the territory of Eurasia.

“We think this data will be useful in itself, as it describes thoroughly the Big Picture of the Eastern Mediterranean across time. Other researchers can use our data to infer the ancestry of migrants elsewhere,” said Iosif Lazaridis, a geneticist at Harvard University and lead author of the research, in an email to Gizmodo. “The map of migrations of the past, both large and of isolated individuals, is becoming clearer!”

The first Article explores western Asia and southeastern Europe. It can be concluded that the ancient speakers of Indo-European languages ​​are related to the yamna culture. This culture belonged to pastoralists who lived north of the Black and Caspian seas, including in steppe Ukraine.

The second article studies the connections between the communities of ancient Mesopotamia and their development. The third shows ancestral connections of people from Southern Europe and Western Asia. Scientists hope that over time, studying DNA will help them learn more about the displacement of people and the mixing of their communities throughout history.