Initial Upper Palaeolithic humans in Europe had recent Neanderthal ancestry
Hajdinjak M, Mafessoni F, Skov L et al.
Publication Details
Comprehensive information about this research publication
Abstract
Summary of the research findings
Modern humans appeared in Europe by at least 45,000 years ago1-5, but the extent of their interactions with Neanderthals, who disappeared by about 40,000 years ago6, and their relationship to the broader expansion of modern humans outside Africa are poorly understood. Here we present genome-wide data from three individuals dated to between 45,930 and 42,580 years ago from Bacho Kiro Cave, Bulgaria1,2. They are the earliest Late Pleistocene modern humans known to have been recovered in Europe so far, and were found in association with an Initial Upper Palaeolithic artefact assemblage. Unlike two previously studied individuals of similar ages from Romania7 and Siberia8 who did not contribute detectably to later populations, these individuals are more closely related to present-day and ancient populations in East Asia and the Americas than to later west Eurasian populations. This indicates that they belonged to a modern human migration into Europe that was not previously known from the genetic record, and provides evidence that there was at least some continuity between the earliest modern humans in Europe and later people in Eurasia. Moreover, we find that all three individuals had Neanderthal ancestors a few generations back in their family history, confirming that the first European modern humans mixed with Neanderthals and suggesting that such mixing could have been common.
Ancient DNA Samples
6 ancient DNA samples referenced in this publication
| Sample ID | Date/Era | Country | Locality | Sex | mtDNA | Y-DNA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F6-620 | 41976 BCE | Bulgaria | Balkan Mountains. Bacho Kiro Cave | M | |
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| AA7-738 | 41976 BCE | Bulgaria | Balkan Mountains. Bacho Kiro Cave | M | |
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| BB7-240 | 44169 BCE | Bulgaria | Balkan Mountains. Bacho Kiro Cave | M | |
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| CC7-2289 | 42446 BCE | Bulgaria | Balkan Mountains. Bacho Kiro Cave | F | |
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| CC7-335 | 43975 BCE | Bulgaria | Balkan Mountains. Bacho Kiro Cave | M | |
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| BK-1653 | 33333 BCE | Bulgaria | Balkan Mountains. Bacho Kiro Cave | F | |
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Analysis
Comprehensive review of ancestry and genetic findings
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