Author
Manuel Ángel Rojo Guerra
Other affiliations: Facultad de Filosofía y Letras
Bio: Manuel Ángel Rojo Guerra is an academic researcher from University of Valladolid. The author has contributed to research in topics: Population & Beaker. The author has an hindex of 19, co-authored 63 publications receiving 3077 citations. Previous affiliations of Manuel Ángel Rojo Guerra include Facultad de Filosofía y Letras.
Topics: Population, Beaker, Chalcolithic, Bronze Age, Human migration
Papers published on a yearly basis
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University of Adelaide1, Harvard University2, Broad Institute3, Howard Hughes Medical Institute4, University of Mainz5, Max Planck Society6, University of Tübingen7, Hungarian Academy of Sciences8, Stockholm University9, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras10, The Heritage Foundation11, University of Basel12, Autonomous University of Barcelona13, University of Valladolid14, Hartwick College15
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
Harvard University1, Broad Institute2, Howard Hughes Medical Institute3, University College Dublin4, Emory University5, University of Copenhagen6, Trinity College, Dublin7, University of Adelaide8, Russian Academy of Sciences9, Complutense University of Madrid10, Rovira i Virgili University11, University of Valladolid12, University of Tübingen13, Max Planck Society14, University of Basel15, Danube Private University16, Hartwick College17, Pompeu Fabra University18
TL;DR: A genome-wide scan for selection using ancient DNA is reported, capitalizing on the largest ancient DNA data set yet assembled: 230 West Eurasians who lived between 6500 and 300 bc, including 163 with newly reported data.
Abstract: Ancient DNA makes it possible to observe natural selection directly by analysing samples from populations before, during and after adaptation events. Here we report a genome-wide scan for selection using ancient DNA, capitalizing on the largest ancient DNA data set yet assembled: 230 West Eurasians who lived between 6500 and 300 bc, including 163 with newly reported data. The new samples include, to our knowledge, the first genome-wide ancient DNA from Anatolian Neolithic farmers, whose genetic material we obtained by extracting from petrous bones, and who we show were members of the population that was the source of Europe's first farmers. We also report a transect of the steppe region in Samara between 5600 and 300 bc, which allows us to identify admixture into the steppe from at least two external sources. We detect selection at loci associated with diet, pigmentation and immunity, and two independent episodes of selection on height.
1,083 citations
TL;DR: Genome-wide data from 400 Neolithic, Copper Age and Bronze Age Europeans is presented, finding limited genetic affinity between Beaker-complex-associated individuals from Iberia and central Europe, and excludes migration as an important mechanism of spread between these two regions.
Abstract: From around 2750 to 2500 bc, Bell Beaker pottery became widespread across western and central Europe, before it disappeared between 2200 and 1800 bc. The forces that propelled its expansion are a matter of long-standing debate, and there is support for both cultural diffusion and migration having a role in this process. Here we present genome-wide data from 400 Neolithic, Copper Age and Bronze Age Europeans, including 226 individuals associated with Beaker-complex artefacts. We detected limited genetic affinity between Beaker-complex-associated individuals from Iberia and central Europe, and thus exclude migration as an important mechanism of spread between these two regions. However, migration had a key role in the further dissemination of the Beaker complex. We document this phenomenon most clearly in Britain, where the spread of the Beaker complex introduced high levels of steppe-related ancestry and was associated with the replacement of approximately 90% of Britain's gene pool within a few hundred years, continuing the east-to-west expansion that had brought steppe-related ancestry into central and northern Europe over the previous centuries.
479 citations
Harvard University1, Natural History Museum2, University of Copenhagen3, University of Bradford4, University of Gothenburg5, Hungarian Academy of Sciences6, University of Tübingen7, Leiden University Medical Center8, Broad Institute9, University College London10, University College Dublin11, Wessex Archaeology12, Danube Private University13, University of Murcia14, Autonomous University of Madrid15, University of Edinburgh16, University of Oxford17, University of Bristol18, University of York19, University of Strasbourg20, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic21, University of Cambridge22, Leiden University23, Newcastle University24, Jagiellonian University25, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich26, Paul Valéry University, Montpellier III27, Metz28, University of Bordeaux29, Autonomous University of Barcelona30, University of Florence31, Salisbury University32, Eötvös Loránd University33, University of Lisbon34, Polish Academy of Sciences35, University of Wisconsin-Madison36, University of Santiago de Compostela37, University of Savoy38, University of Valladolid39, Aix-Marseille University40, University of Coimbra41, Charles University in Prague42, National Museums Scotland43, Max Planck Society44, American Museum of Natural History45, Pompeu Fabra University46
TL;DR: It is shown that the spread of the Beaker Complex to Britain was mediated by migration from the continent that replaced >90% of Britain’s Neolithic gene pool within a few hundred years, continuing the process that brought Steppe ancestry into central and northern Europe 400 years earlier.
Abstract: Bell Beaker pottery spread across western and central Europe beginning around 2750 BCE before disappearing between 2200-1800 BCE. The mechanism of its expansion is a topic of long-standing debate, with support for both cultural diffusion and human migration. We present new genome-wide ancient DNA data from 170 Neolithic, Copper Age and Bronze Age Europeans, including 100 Beaker-associated individuals. In contrast to the Corded Ware Complex, which has previously been identified as arriving in central Europe following migration from the east, we observe limited genetic affinity between Iberian and central European Beaker Complex-associated individuals, and thus exclude migration as a significant mechanism of spread between these two regions. However, human migration did have an important role in the further dissemination of the Beaker Complex, which we document most clearly in Britain using data from 80 newly reported individuals dating to 3900-1200 BCE. British Neolithic farmers were genetically similar to contemporary populations in continental Europe and in particular to Neolithic Iberians, suggesting that a portion of the farmer ancestry in Britain came from the Mediterranean rather than the Danubian route of farming expansion. Beginning with the Beaker period, and continuing through the Bronze Age, all British individuals harboured high proportions of Steppe ancestry and were genetically closely related to Beaker-associated individuals from the Lower Rhine area. We use these observations to show that the spread of the Beaker Complex to Britain was mediated by migration from the continent that replaced >90% of Britain9s Neolithic gene pool within a few hundred years, continuing the process that brought Steppe ancestry into central and northern Europe 400 years earlier.
127 citations
01 Jan 2008
56 citations
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01 Jan 2010
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors show that hundreds of genetic variants, in at least 180 loci, influence adult height, a highly heritable and classic polygenic trait, revealing patterns with important implications for genetic studies of common human diseases and traits.
Abstract: Most common human traits and diseases have a polygenic pattern of inheritance: DNA sequence variants at many genetic loci influence the phenotype. Genome-wide association (GWA) studies have identified more than 600 variants associated with human traits, but these typically explain small fractions of phenotypic variation, raising questions about the use of further studies. Here, using 183,727 individuals, we show that hundreds of genetic variants, in at least 180 loci, influence adult height, a highly heritable and classic polygenic trait. The large number of loci reveals patterns with important implications for genetic studies of common human diseases and traits. First, the 180 loci are not random, but instead are enriched for genes that are connected in biological pathways (P = 0.016) and that underlie skeletal growth defects (P < 0.001). Second, the likely causal gene is often located near the most strongly associated variant: in 13 of 21 loci containing a known skeletal growth gene, that gene was closest to the associated variant. Third, at least 19 loci have multiple independently associated variants, suggesting that allelic heterogeneity is a frequent feature of polygenic traits, that comprehensive explorations of already-discovered loci should discover additional variants and that an appreciable fraction of associated loci may have been identified. Fourth, associated variants are enriched for likely functional effects on genes, being over-represented among variants that alter amino-acid structure of proteins and expression levels of nearby genes. Our data explain approximately 10% of the phenotypic variation in height, and we estimate that unidentified common variants of similar effect sizes would increase this figure to approximately 16% of phenotypic variation (approximately 20% of heritable variation). Although additional approaches are needed to dissect the genetic architecture of polygenic human traits fully, our findings indicate that GWA studies can identify large numbers of loci that implicate biologically relevant genes and pathways.
1,751 citations
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
University of Adelaide1, Harvard University2, Broad Institute3, Howard Hughes Medical Institute4, University of Mainz5, Max Planck Society6, University of Tübingen7, Hungarian Academy of Sciences8, Stockholm University9, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras10, The Heritage Foundation11, University of Basel12, Autonomous University of Barcelona13, University of Valladolid14, Hartwick College15
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
University of Copenhagen1, University of Gothenburg2, Technical University of Denmark3, Leiden University4, Lund University5, University of Oxford6, University of Wrocław7, University of Zurich8, Wrocław Medical University9, University of Toronto10, Gorno-Altaisk State University11, South Ural State University12, Polish Academy of Sciences13, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich14, Eötvös Loránd University15, Hungarian Natural History Museum16, Hungarian Academy of Sciences17, Masaryk University18, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic19, University of Tartu20, Yerevan State University21, University of Szeged22, Hungarian National Museum23, University of Wisconsin-Madison24, Russian Academy of Sciences25, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University in Prague26, Armenian National Academy of Sciences27, Moscow State University28, University of California, Berkeley29
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
Harvard University1, Broad Institute2, Howard Hughes Medical Institute3, University College Dublin4, Emory University5, Trinity College, Dublin6, University of Copenhagen7, University of Adelaide8, Russian Academy of Sciences9, Complutense University of Madrid10, Rovira i Virgili University11, University of Valladolid12, University of Tübingen13, Max Planck Society14, Danube Private University15, University of Basel16, Hartwick College17, Pompeu Fabra University18
TL;DR: A genome-wide scan for selection using ancient DNA is reported, capitalizing on the largest ancient DNA data set yet assembled: 230 West Eurasians who lived between 6500 and 300 bc, including 163 with newly reported data.
Abstract: Ancient DNA makes it possible to observe natural selection directly by analysing samples from populations before, during and after adaptation events. Here we report a genome-wide scan for selection using ancient DNA, capitalizing on the largest ancient DNA data set yet assembled: 230 West Eurasians who lived between 6500 and 300 bc, including 163 with newly reported data. The new samples include, to our knowledge, the first genome-wide ancient DNA from Anatolian Neolithic farmers, whose genetic material we obtained by extracting from petrous bones, and who we show were members of the population that was the source of Europe's first farmers. We also report a transect of the steppe region in Samara between 5600 and 300 bc, which allows us to identify admixture into the steppe from at least two external sources. We detect selection at loci associated with diet, pigmentation and immunity, and two independent episodes of selection on height.
1,083 citations