ἀνθρώποισι πᾶσι μέτεστι γινώσκειν ἑωυτοὺς καὶ σωφρονεῖν.
The genetic variation within the Scythian nomad group is so broad that it must be explained with the group assimilating people it came in contact with. This is shown in a new study on Bronze and Iron Age genetics of the Pontic-Caspian Steppe, situated in the Black Sea region. The article is published in the scientific journal Science Advances. Continue reading “Broad genetic variation on the Pontic-Caspian Steppe”
A team of researchers from France, Sweden, and Denmark have identified a new strain of Yersinia pestis, the bacteria that causes plague, in DNA extracted from 5,000-year-old human remains. Their analyses, publishing December 6 in the journal Cell, suggest that this strain is the closest ever identified to the genetic origin of plague. Their work also suggests that plague may have been spread among Neolithic European settlements by traders, contributing to the settlements’ decline at the dawn of the Bronze Age. Continue reading “An ancient strain of plague may have led to the decline of Neolithic Europeans”
People with two Neanderthal genes have heads that are flatter on top and more elongated – like those of Neanderthals themselves. Continue reading “Some people have slightly squashed heads thanks to Neanderthal DNA”
Here we present the ‘Abstract‘ of the corresponding paper by Krzewińska M, Kılınç GM, Juras A, Koptekin D, Chyleński M, Nikitin AG, Shcherbakov N, Shuteleva I, Leonova T, Kraeva L, Sungatov FA, Sultanova AN, Potekhina I, Łukasik S, Krenz-Niedbała M, Dalén L, Sinika V, Jakobsson M, Storå J, Götherström A. Continue reading “Ancient genomes suggest the eastern Pontic-Caspian steppe as the source of western Iron Age nomads”
Here we present the ‘Abstract‘ of the corresponding paper by de Barros Damgaard P, Martiniano R, Kamm J, Moreno-Mayar JV, Kroonen G, Peyrot M, Barjamovic G, Rasmussen S, Zacho C, Baimukhanov N, Zaibert V, Merz V, Biddanda A, Merz I, Loman V, Evdokimov V, Usmanova E, Hemphill B, Seguin-Orlando A, Yediay FE, Ullah I, Sjögren KG, Iversen KH, Choin J, de la Fuente C, Ilardo M, Schroeder H, Moiseyev V, Gromov A, Polyakov A, Omura S, Senyurt SY, Ahmad H, McKenzie C, Margaryan A, Hameed A, Samad A, Gul N, Khokhar MH, Goriunova OI, Bazaliiskii VI, Novembre J, Weber AW, Orlando L, Allentoft ME, Nielsen R, Kristiansen K, Sikora M, Outram AK, Durbin R, Willerslev E. Continue reading “The first horse herders and the impact of early Bronze Age steppe expansions into Asia”
Here we present the ‘Abstract‘ of the corresponding paper by Juras A, Krzewińska M, Nikitin AG, Ehler E, Chyleński M, Łukasik S, Krenz-Niedbała M, Sinika V, Piontek J, Ivanova S, Dabert M, Götherström A. Continue reading “Diverse origin of mitochondrial lineages in Iron Age Black Sea Scythians”
Novo Scriptorium 