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Francesca Brisighelli

Bio: Francesca Brisighelli is an academic researcher from Catholic University of the Sacred Heart. The author has contributed to research in topics: Population & Haplogroup. The author has an hindex of 20, co-authored 52 publications receiving 2575 citations. Previous affiliations of Francesca Brisighelli include The Catholic University of America & University of Oxford.


Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
Iosif Lazaridis1, Iosif Lazaridis2, Nick Patterson2, Alissa Mittnik3, Gabriel Renaud4, Swapan Mallick2, Swapan Mallick1, Karola Kirsanow5, Peter H. Sudmant6, Joshua G. Schraiber7, Joshua G. Schraiber6, Sergi Castellano4, Mark Lipson8, Bonnie Berger2, Bonnie Berger8, Christos Economou9, Ruth Bollongino5, Qiaomei Fu4, Kirsten I. Bos3, Susanne Nordenfelt1, Susanne Nordenfelt2, Heng Li2, Heng Li1, Cesare de Filippo4, Kay Prüfer4, Susanna Sawyer4, Cosimo Posth3, Wolfgang Haak10, Fredrik Hallgren11, Elin Fornander11, Nadin Rohland2, Nadin Rohland1, Dominique Delsate12, Michael Francken3, Jean-Michel Guinet12, Joachim Wahl, George Ayodo, Hamza A. Babiker13, Hamza A. Babiker14, Graciela Bailliet, Elena Balanovska, Oleg Balanovsky, Ramiro Barrantes15, Gabriel Bedoya16, Haim Ben-Ami17, Judit Bene18, Fouad Berrada19, Claudio M. Bravi, Francesca Brisighelli20, George B.J. Busby21, Francesco Calì, Mikhail Churnosov22, David E. C. Cole23, Daniel Corach24, Larissa Damba, George van Driem25, Stanislav Dryomov26, Jean-Michel Dugoujon27, Sardana A. Fedorova28, Irene Gallego Romero29, Marina Gubina, Michael F. Hammer30, Brenna M. Henn31, Tor Hervig32, Ugur Hodoglugil33, Aashish R. Jha29, Sena Karachanak-Yankova34, Rita Khusainova35, Elza Khusnutdinova35, Rick A. Kittles30, Toomas Kivisild36, William Klitz7, Vaidutis Kučinskas37, Alena Kushniarevich38, Leila Laredj39, Sergey Litvinov38, Theologos Loukidis40, Theologos Loukidis41, Robert W. Mahley42, Béla Melegh18, Ene Metspalu43, Julio Molina, Joanna L. Mountain, Klemetti Näkkäläjärvi44, Desislava Nesheva34, Thomas B. Nyambo45, Ludmila P. Osipova, Jüri Parik43, Fedor Platonov28, Olga L. Posukh, Valentino Romano46, Francisco Rothhammer47, Francisco Rothhammer48, Igor Rudan13, Ruslan Ruizbakiev49, Hovhannes Sahakyan38, Hovhannes Sahakyan50, Antti Sajantila51, Antonio Salas52, Elena B. Starikovskaya26, Ayele Tarekegn, Draga Toncheva34, Shahlo Turdikulova49, Ingrida Uktveryte37, Olga Utevska53, René Vasquez54, Mercedes Villena54, Mikhail Voevoda55, Cheryl A. Winkler56, Levon Yepiskoposyan50, Pierre Zalloua57, Pierre Zalloua1, Tatijana Zemunik58, Alan Cooper10, Cristian Capelli21, Mark G. Thomas41, Andres Ruiz-Linares41, Sarah A. Tishkoff59, Lalji Singh60, Kumarasamy Thangaraj61, Richard Villems38, Richard Villems43, Richard Villems62, David Comas63, Rem I. Sukernik26, Mait Metspalu38, Matthias Meyer4, Evan E. Eichler6, Joachim Burger5, Montgomery Slatkin7, Svante Pääbo4, Janet Kelso4, David Reich2, David Reich64, David Reich1, Johannes Krause4, Johannes Krause3 
Harvard University1, Broad Institute2, University of Tübingen3, Max Planck Society4, University of Mainz5, University of Washington6, University of California, Berkeley7, Massachusetts Institute of Technology8, Stockholm University9, University of Adelaide10, The Heritage Foundation11, National Museum of Natural History12, University of Edinburgh13, Sultan Qaboos University14, University of Costa Rica15, University of Antioquia16, Rambam Health Care Campus17, University of Pécs18, Al Akhawayn University19, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart20, University of Oxford21, Belgorod State University22, University of Toronto23, University of Buenos Aires24, University of Bern25, Russian Academy of Sciences26, Paul Sabatier University27, North-Eastern Federal University28, University of Chicago29, University of Arizona30, Stony Brook University31, University of Bergen32, Illumina33, Sofia Medical University34, Bashkir State University35, University of Cambridge36, Vilnius University37, Estonian Biocentre38, University of Strasbourg39, Amgen40, University College London41, Gladstone Institutes42, University of Tartu43, University of Oulu44, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences45, University of Palermo46, University of Chile47, University of Tarapacá48, Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan49, Armenian National Academy of Sciences50, University of North Texas51, University of Santiago de Compostela52, University of Kharkiv53, Higher University of San Andrés54, Novosibirsk State University55, Leidos56, Lebanese American University57, University of Split58, University of Pennsylvania59, Banaras Hindu University60, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology61, Estonian Academy of Sciences62, Pompeu Fabra University63, Howard Hughes Medical Institute64
18 Sep 2014-Nature
TL;DR: It is shown that most present-day Europeans derive from at least three highly differentiated populations: west European hunter-gatherers, who contributed ancestry to all Europeans but not to Near Easterners; ancient north Eurasians related to Upper Palaeolithic Siberians; and early European farmers, who were mainly of Near Eastern origin but also harboured west Europeanhunter-gatherer related ancestry.
Abstract: We sequenced the genomes of a ∼7,000-year-old farmer from Germany and eight ∼8,000-year-old hunter-gatherers from Luxembourg and Sweden. We analysed these and other ancient genomes with 2,345 contemporary humans to show that most present-day Europeans derive from at least three highly differentiated populations: west European hunter-gatherers, who contributed ancestry to all Europeans but not to Near Easterners; ancient north Eurasians related to Upper Palaeolithic Siberians, who contributed to both Europeans and Near Easterners; and early European farmers, who were mainly of Near Eastern origin but also harboured west European hunter-gatherer related ancestry. We model these populations' deep relationships and show that early European farmers had ∼44% ancestry from a 'basal Eurasian' population that split before the diversification of other non-African lineages.

1,077 citations

Iosif Lazaridis1, Iosif Lazaridis2, Nick Patterson1, Alissa Mittnik3, Gabriel Renaud4, Swapan Mallick1, Swapan Mallick2, Karola Kirsanow5, Peter H. Sudmant6, Joshua G. Schraiber7, Joshua G. Schraiber6, Sergi Castellano4, Mark Lipson8, Bonnie Berger8, Bonnie Berger1, Christos Economou9, Ruth Bollongino5, Qiaomei Fu4, Kirsten I. Bos3, Susanne Nordenfelt1, Susanne Nordenfelt2, Heng Li2, Heng Li1, Cesare de Filippo4, Kay Prüfer4, Susanna Sawyer4, Cosimo Posth3, Wolfgang Haak10, Fredrik Hallgren11, Elin Fornander11, Nadin Rohland2, Nadin Rohland1, Dominique Delsate12, Michael Francken3, Jean-Michel Guinet12, Joachim Wahl, George Ayodo, Hamza A. Babiker13, Hamza A. Babiker14, Graciela Bailliet, Elena Balanovska, Oleg Balanovsky, Ramiro Barrantes15, Gabriel Bedoya16, Haim Ben-Ami17, Judit Bene18, Fouad Berrada19, Claudio M. Bravi, Francesca Brisighelli20, George B.J. Busby21, Francesco Calì, Mikhail Churnosov22, David E. C. Cole23, Daniel Corach24, Larissa Damba, George van Driem25, Stanislav Dryomov26, Jean-Michel Dugoujon27, Sardana A. Fedorova28, Irene Gallego Romero29, Marina Gubina, Michael F. Hammer30, Brenna M. Henn31, Tor Hervig32, Ugur Hodoglugil33, Aashish R. Jha29, Sena Karachanak-Yankova34, Rita Khusainova35, Elza Khusnutdinova35, Rick A. Kittles30, Toomas Kivisild36, William Klitz7, Vaidutis Kučinskas37, Alena Kushniarevich38, Leila Laredj39, Sergey Litvinov38, Theologos Loukidis40, Theologos Loukidis41, Robert W. Mahley42, Béla Melegh18, Ene Metspalu43, Julio Molina, Joanna L. Mountain, Klemetti Näkkäläjärvi44, Desislava Nesheva34, Thomas B. Nyambo45, Ludmila P. Osipova, Jüri Parik43, Fedor Platonov28, Olga L. Posukh, Valentino Romano46, Francisco Rothhammer47, Francisco Rothhammer48, Igor Rudan13, Ruslan Ruizbakiev49, Hovhannes Sahakyan38, Hovhannes Sahakyan50, Antti Sajantila51, Antonio Salas52, Elena B. Starikovskaya26, Ayele Tarekegn, Draga Toncheva34, Shahlo Turdikulova49, Ingrida Uktveryte37, Olga Utevska53, René Vasquez54, Mercedes Villena54, Mikhail Voevoda55, Cheryl A. Winkler56, Levon Yepiskoposyan50, Pierre Zalloua2, Pierre Zalloua57, Tatijana Zemunik58, Alan Cooper10, Cristian Capelli21, Mark G. Thomas40, Andres Ruiz-Linares40, Sarah A. Tishkoff59, Lalji Singh60, Kumarasamy Thangaraj61, Richard Villems38, Richard Villems62, Richard Villems43, David Comas63, Rem I. Sukernik26, Mait Metspalu38, Matthias Meyer4, Evan E. Eichler6, Joachim Burger5, Montgomery Slatkin7, Svante Pääbo4, Janet Kelso4, David Reich2, David Reich1, David Reich64, Johannes Krause4, Johannes Krause3 
Broad Institute1, Harvard University2, University of Tübingen3, Max Planck Society4, University of Mainz5, University of Washington6, University of California, Berkeley7, Massachusetts Institute of Technology8, Stockholm University9, University of Adelaide10, The Heritage Foundation11, National Museum of Natural History12, University of Edinburgh13, Sultan Qaboos University14, University of Costa Rica15, University of Antioquia16, Rambam Health Care Campus17, University of Pécs18, Al Akhawayn University19, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart20, University of Oxford21, Belgorod State University22, University of Toronto23, University of Buenos Aires24, University of Bern25, Russian Academy of Sciences26, Paul Sabatier University27, North-Eastern Federal University28, University of Chicago29, University of Arizona30, Stony Brook University31, University of Bergen32, Illumina33, Sofia Medical University34, Bashkir State University35, University of Cambridge36, Vilnius University37, Estonian Biocentre38, University of Strasbourg39, University College London40, Amgen41, Gladstone Institutes42, University of Tartu43, University of Oulu44, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences45, University of Palermo46, University of Chile47, University of Tarapacá48, Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan49, Armenian National Academy of Sciences50, University of North Texas51, University of Santiago de Compostela52, University of Kharkiv53, Higher University of San Andrés54, Novosibirsk State University55, Leidos56, Lebanese American University57, University of Split58, University of Pennsylvania59, Banaras Hindu University60, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology61, Estonian Academy of Sciences62, Pompeu Fabra University63, Howard Hughes Medical Institute64
01 Sep 2014
TL;DR: The authors showed that most present-day Europeans derive from at least three highly differentiated populations: west European hunter-gatherers, ancient north Eurasians related to Upper Palaeolithic Siberians, who contributed to both Europeans and Near Easterners; and early European farmers, who were mainly of Near Eastern origin but also harboured west European hunters-gatherer related ancestry.
Abstract: We sequenced the genomes of a ∼7,000-year-old farmer from Germany and eight ∼8,000-year-old hunter-gatherers from Luxembourg and Sweden. We analysed these and other ancient genomes with 2,345 contemporary humans to show that most present-day Europeans derive from at least three highly differentiated populations: west European hunter-gatherers, who contributed ancestry to all Europeans but not to Near Easterners; ancient north Eurasians related to Upper Palaeolithic Siberians, who contributed to both Europeans and Near Easterners; and early European farmers, who were mainly of Near Eastern origin but also harboured west European hunter-gatherer related ancestry. We model these populations' deep relationships and show that early European farmers had ∼44% ancestry from a 'basal Eurasian' population that split before the diversification of other non-African lineages.

442 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
Josephine Purps1, Sabine Siegert2, Sascha Willuweit1, Marion Nagy1  +160 moreInstitutions (61)
TL;DR: A strong correlation was observed between the number of Y-STRs included in a marker set and some of the forensic parameters under study, and a weak but consistent trend toward smaller genetic distances resulting from larger numbers of markers became apparent.
Abstract: In a worldwide collaborative effort, 19,630 Y-chromosomes were sampled from 129 different populations in 51 countries. These chromosomes were typed for 23 short-tandem repeat (STR) loci (DYS19, DYS389I, DYS389II, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392, DYS393, DYS385ab, DYS437, DYS438, DYS439, DYS448, DYS456, DYS458, DYS635, GATAH4, DYS481, DYS533, DYS549, DYS570, DYS576, and DYS643) and using the PowerPlex Y23 System (PPY23, Promega Corporation, Madison, WI). Locus-specific allelic spectra of these markers were determined and a consistently high level of allelic diversity was observed. A considerable number of null, duplicate and off-ladder alleles were revealed. Standard single-locus and haplotype-based parameters were calculated and compared between subsets of Y-STR markers established for forensic casework. The PPY23 marker set provides substantially stronger discriminatory power than other available kits but at the same time reveals the same general patterns of population structure as other marker sets. A strong correlation was observed between the number of Y-STRs included in a marker set and some of the forensic parameters under study. Interestingly a weak but consistent trend toward smaller genetic distances resulting from larger numbers of markers became apparent.

245 citations

Posted ContentDOI
Iosif Lazaridis1, Nick Patterson2, Alissa Mittnik3, Gabriel Renaud4, Swapan Mallick1, Karola Kirsanow5, Peter H. Sudmant6, Joshua G. Schraiber7, Sergi Castellano4, Mark Lipson8, Bonnie Berger8, Christos Economou9, Ruth Bollongino5, Qiaomei Fu4, Kirsten I. Bos3, Susanne Nordenfelt1, Heng Li2, Cesare de Filippo4, Kay Prüfer4, Susanna Sawyer4, Cosimo Posth3, Wolfgang Haak10, Fredrik Hallgren11, Elin Fornander11, Nadin Rohland1, Dominique Delsate12, Michael Francken3, Jean-Michel Guinet13, Joachim Wahl, George Ayodo, Hamza A. Babiker14, Graciela Bailliet15, Elena Balanovska, Oleg Balanovsky, Ramiro Barrantes16, Gabriel Bedoya17, Haim Ben-Ami18, Judit Bene19, Fouad Berrada20, Claudio M. Bravi15, Francesca Brisighelli21, George B.J. Busby22, Francesco Calì, Mikhail Churnosov23, David E. C. Cole24, Daniel Corach25, Larissa Damba26, George van Driem27, Stanislav Dryomov26, Jean-Michel Dugoujon28, Sardana A. Fedorova29, Irene Gallego Romero30, Marina Gubina31, Michael F. Hammer32, Brenna M. Henn33, Tor Hervig34, Ugur Hodoglugil35, Aashish R. Jha30, Sena Karachanak-Yankova36, Rita Khusainova31, Elza Khusnutdinova31, Rick A. Kittles37, Toomas Kivisild38, William Klitz7, Vaidutis Kučinskas39, Alena Kushniarevich40, Leila Laredj41, Sergey Litvinov31, Theologos Loukidis42, Robert W. Mahley43, Béla Melegh19, Ene Metspalu44, Julio Molina, Joanna L. Mountain, Klemetti Näkkäläjärvi45, Desislava Nesheva36, Thomas B. Nyambo46, Ludmila P. Osipova31, Jüri Parik44, Fedor Platonov29, Olga L. Posukh31, Valentino Romano47, Francisco Rothhammer48, Igor Rudan14, Ruslan Ruizbakiev49, Hovhannes Sahakyan40, Antti Sajantila50, Antonio Salas51, Elena B. Starikovskaya31, Ayele Tarekegn, Draga Toncheva36, Shahlo Turdikulova49, Ingrida Uktveryte39, Olga Utevska52, René Vasquez53, Mercedes Villena53, Mikhail Voevoda31, Cheryl A. Winkler54, Levon Yepiskoposyan55, Pierre Zalloua56, Tatijana Zemunik57, Alan Cooper10, Cristian Capelli22, Mark G. Thomas58, Andres Ruiz-Linares58, Sarah A. Tishkoff59, Lalji Singh60, Kumarasamy Thangaraj60, Richard Villems40, David Comas61, Rem I. Sukernik31, Mait Metspalu40, Matthias Meyer4, Evan E. Eichler6, Joachim Burger5, Montgomery Slatkin7, Svante Pääbo4, Janet Kelso4, David Reich1, Johannes Krause3 
Harvard University1, Broad Institute2, University of Tübingen3, Max Planck Society4, University of Mainz5, University of Washington6, University of California, Berkeley7, Massachusetts Institute of Technology8, Stockholm University9, University of Adelaide10, The Heritage Foundation11, National Museum of Natural History12, American Museum of Natural History13, University of Edinburgh14, National Scientific and Technical Research Council15, University of Costa Rica16, University of Antioquia17, Rambam Health Care Campus18, University of Pécs19, Al Akhawayn University20, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart21, University of Oxford22, Belgorod State University23, University of Toronto24, University of Buenos Aires25, Russian Academy26, University of Bern27, Paul Sabatier University28, North-Eastern Federal University29, University of Chicago30, Russian Academy of Sciences31, University of Arizona32, Stony Brook University33, University of Bergen34, Illumina35, Sofia Medical University36, University of Illinois at Chicago37, University of Cambridge38, Vilnius University39, Estonian Biocentre40, University of Strasbourg41, Amgen42, Gladstone Institutes43, University of Tartu44, University of Oulu45, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences46, University of Palermo47, University of Tarapacá48, Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan49, University of Helsinki50, University of Santiago de Compostela51, University of Kharkiv52, Higher University of San Andrés53, Leidos54, Armenian National Academy of Sciences55, Lebanese American University56, University of Split57, University College London58, University of Pennsylvania59, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology60, Pompeu Fabra University61
02 Apr 2014-bioRxiv
TL;DR: It is shown that the great majority of present-day Europeans derive from at least three highly differentiated populations: West European Hunter-Gatherers (WHG), who contributed ancestry to all Europeans but not to Near Easterners; Ancient North Eurasians (ANE); and Early European Farmers (EEF), who were mainly of Near Eastern origin but also harbored WHG-related ancestry.
Abstract: We sequenced genomes from a ~7,000 year old early farmer from Stuttgart in Germany, an ~8,000 year old hunter-gatherer from Luxembourg, and seven ~8,000 year old hunter-gatherers from southern Sweden. We analyzed these data together with other ancient genomes and 2,345 contemporary humans to show that the great majority of present-day Europeans derive from at least three highly differentiated populations: West European Hunter-Gatherers (WHG), who contributed ancestry to all Europeans but not to Near Easterners; Ancient North Eurasians (ANE), who were most closely related to Upper Paleolithic Siberians and contributed to both Europeans and Near Easterners; and Early European Farmers (EEF), who were mainly of Near Eastern origin but also harbored WHG-related ancestry. We model these populations' deep relationships and show that EEF had ~44% ancestry from a "Basal Eurasian" lineage that split prior to the diversification of all other non-African lineages.

134 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Analysis of frequency patterns and diversity in the largest collection of R-M269-related chromosomes yet assembled reveals no geographical trends in diversity, in contradiction to expectation under the Neolithic hypothesis, and suggests an alternative explanation for the apparent cline in diversity recently described.
Abstract: Recently, the debate on the origins of the major European Y chromosome haplogroup R1b1b2-M269 has reignited, and opinion has moved away from Palaeolithic origins to the notion of a younger Neolithic spread of these chromosomes from the Near East. Here, we address this debate by investigating frequency patterns and diversity in the largest collection of R1b1b2-M269 chromosomes yet assembled. Our analysis reveals no geographical trends in diversity, in contradiction to expectation under the Neolithic hypothesis, and suggests an alternative explanation for the apparent cline in diversity recently described. We further investigate the young, STR-based time to the most recent common ancestor estimates proposed so far for R-M269-related lineages and find evidence for an appreciable effect of microsatellite choice on age estimates. As a consequence, the existing data and tools are insufficient to make credible estimates for the age of this haplogroup, and conclusions about the timing of its origin and dispersal should be viewed with a large degree of caution.

103 citations


Cited by
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Journal Article
Fumio Tajima1
30 Oct 1989-Genomics
TL;DR: It is suggested that the natural selection against large insertion/deletion is so weak that a large amount of variation is maintained in a population.

11,521 citations

01 Jan 2011
TL;DR: The sheer volume and scope of data posed by this flood of data pose a significant challenge to the development of efficient and intuitive visualization tools able to scale to very large data sets and to flexibly integrate multiple data types, including clinical data.
Abstract: Rapid improvements in sequencing and array-based platforms are resulting in a flood of diverse genome-wide data, including data from exome and whole-genome sequencing, epigenetic surveys, expression profiling of coding and noncoding RNAs, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and copy number profiling, and functional assays. Analysis of these large, diverse data sets holds the promise of a more comprehensive understanding of the genome and its relation to human disease. Experienced and knowledgeable human review is an essential component of this process, complementing computational approaches. This calls for efficient and intuitive visualization tools able to scale to very large data sets and to flexibly integrate multiple data types, including clinical data. However, the sheer volume and scope of data pose a significant challenge to the development of such tools.

2,187 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Some of the key events in the peopling of the world in the light of the findings of work on ancient DNA are reviewed.
Abstract: Ancient DNA research is revealing a human history far more complex than that inferred from parsimonious models based on modern DNA. Here, we review some of the key events in the peopling of the world in the light of the findings of work on ancient DNA.

1,365 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
11 Jun 2015-Nature
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors generated genome-wide data from 69 Europeans who lived between 8,000-3,000 years ago by enriching ancient DNA libraries for a target set of almost 400,000 polymorphisms.
Abstract: We generated genome-wide data from 69 Europeans who lived between 8,000-3,000 years ago by enriching ancient DNA libraries for a target set of almost 400,000 polymorphisms. Enrichment of these positions decreases the sequencing required for genome-wide ancient DNA analysis by a median of around 250-fold, allowing us to study an order of magnitude more individuals than previous studies and to obtain new insights about the past. We show that the populations of Western and Far Eastern Europe followed opposite trajectories between 8,000-5,000 years ago. At the beginning of the Neolithic period in Europe, ∼8,000-7,000 years ago, closely related groups of early farmers appeared in Germany, Hungary and Spain, different from indigenous hunter-gatherers, whereas Russia was inhabited by a distinctive population of hunter-gatherers with high affinity to a ∼24,000-year-old Siberian. By ∼6,000-5,000 years ago, farmers throughout much of Europe had more hunter-gatherer ancestry than their predecessors, but in Russia, the Yamnaya steppe herders of this time were descended not only from the preceding eastern European hunter-gatherers, but also from a population of Near Eastern ancestry. Western and Eastern Europe came into contact ∼4,500 years ago, as the Late Neolithic Corded Ware people from Germany traced ∼75% of their ancestry to the Yamnaya, documenting a massive migration into the heartland of Europe from its eastern periphery. This steppe ancestry persisted in all sampled central Europeans until at least ∼3,000 years ago, and is ubiquitous in present-day Europeans. These results provide support for a steppe origin of at least some of the Indo-European languages of Europe.

1,332 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
11 Jun 2015-Nature
TL;DR: It is shown that the Bronze Age was a highly dynamic period involving large-scale population migrations and replacements, responsible for shaping major parts of present-day demographic structure in both Europe and Asia.
Abstract: The Bronze Age of Eurasia (around 3000-1000 BC) was a period of major cultural changes. However, there is debate about whether these changes resulted from the circulation of ideas or from human migrations, potentially also facilitating the spread of languages and certain phenotypic traits. We investigated this by using new, improved methods to sequence low-coverage genomes from 101 ancient humans from across Eurasia. We show that the Bronze Age was a highly dynamic period involving large-scale population migrations and replacements, responsible for shaping major parts of present-day demographic structure in both Europe and Asia. Our findings are consistent with the hypothesized spread of Indo-European languages during the Early Bronze Age. We also demonstrate that light skin pigmentation in Europeans was already present at high frequency in the Bronze Age, but not lactose tolerance, indicating a more recent onset of positive selection on lactose tolerance than previously thought.

1,088 citations