Population genomics of Bronze Age Eurasia

Morten E Allentoft; Martin Sikora; Karl-Göran Sjögren; Simon Rasmussen; Morten Rasmussen; Jesper Stenderup; Peter B Damgaard; Hannes Schroeder; Torbjörn Ahlström; Lasse Vinner; Anna-Sapfo Malaspinas; Ashot Margaryan; Tom Higham; David Chivall; Niels Lynnerup; Lise Harvig; Justyna Baron; Philippe Della Casa; Paweł Dąbrowski; Paul R Duffy; Alexander V Ebel; Andrey Epimakhov; Karin Frei; Mirosław Furmanek; Tomasz Gralak; Andrey Gromov; Stanisław Gronkiewicz; Gisela Grupe; Tamás Hajdu; Radosław Jarysz; Valeri Khartanovich; Alexandr Khokhlov; Viktória Kiss; Jan Kolář; Aivar Kriiska; Irena Lasak; Cristina Longhi; George McGlynn; Algimantas Merkevicius; Inga Merkyte; Mait Metspalu; Ruzan Mkrtchyan; Vyacheslav Moiseyev; László Paja; György Pálfi; Dalia Pokutta; Łukasz Pospieszny; T Douglas Price; Lehti Saag; Mikhail Sablin; Natalia Shishlina; Václav Smrčka; Vasilii I Soenov; Vajk Szeverényi; Gusztáv Tóth; Synaru V Trifanova; Liivi Varul; Magdolna Vicze; Levon Yepiskoposyan; Vladislav Zhitenev; Ludovic Orlando; Thomas Sicheritz-Pontén; Søren Brunak; Rasmus Nielsen; Kristian Kristiansen; Eske Willerslev

doi:10.1038/nature14507

Population genomics of Bronze Age Eurasia

Morten E Allentoft, Martin Sikora, Karl-Göran Sjögren, Simon Rasmussen, Morten Rasmussen, Jesper Stenderup, Peter B Damgaard, Hannes Schroeder, Torbjörn Ahlström, Lasse Vinner, Anna-Sapfo Malaspinas, Ashot Margaryan, Tom Higham, David Chivall, Niels Lynnerup, Lise Harvig, Justyna Baron, Philippe Della Casa, Paweł Dąbrowski, Paul R DuffyAlexander V Ebel, Andrey Epimakhov, Karin Frei, Mirosław Furmanek, Tomasz Gralak, Andrey Gromov, Stanisław Gronkiewicz, Gisela Grupe, Tamás Hajdu, Radosław Jarysz, Valeri Khartanovich, Alexandr Khokhlov, Viktória Kiss, Jan Kolář, Aivar Kriiska, Irena Lasak, Cristina Longhi, George McGlynn, Algimantas Merkevicius, Inga Merkyte, Mait Metspalu, Ruzan Mkrtchyan, Vyacheslav Moiseyev, László Paja, György Pálfi, Dalia Pokutta, Łukasz Pospieszny, T Douglas Price, Lehti Saag, Mikhail Sablin, Natalia Shishlina, Václav Smrčka, Vasilii I Soenov, Vajk Szeverényi, Gusztáv Tóth, Synaru V Trifanova, Liivi Varul, Magdolna Vicze, Levon Yepiskoposyan, Vladislav Zhitenev, Ludovic Orlando, Thomas Sicheritz-Pontén, Søren Brunak, Rasmus Nielsen, Kristian Kristiansen, Eske Willerslev

Historical Osteology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	167-172
Journal	Nature
Volume	522
Issue number	7555
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14507
Publication status	Published - 2015

Subject classification (UKÄ)

Archaeology

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10.1038/nature14507

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Allentoft, M. E., Sikora, M., Sjögren, K.-G., Rasmussen, S., Rasmussen, M., Stenderup, J., Damgaard, P. B., Schroeder, H., Ahlström, T., Vinner, L., Malaspinas, A.-S., Margaryan, A., Higham, T., Chivall, D., Lynnerup, N., Harvig, L., Baron, J., Della Casa, P., Dąbrowski, P., ... Willerslev, E. (2015). Population genomics of Bronze Age Eurasia. Nature, 522(7555), 167-172. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14507

@article{bca7f169437f4f7d93c65ead94a69139,

title = "Population genomics of Bronze Age Eurasia",

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.",

author = "Allentoft, {Morten E} and Martin Sikora and Karl-G{\"o}ran Sj{\"o}gren and Simon Rasmussen and Morten Rasmussen and Jesper Stenderup and Damgaard, {Peter B} and Hannes Schroeder and Torbj{\"o}rn Ahlstr{\"o}m and Lasse Vinner and Anna-Sapfo Malaspinas and Ashot Margaryan and Tom Higham and David Chivall and Niels Lynnerup and Lise Harvig and Justyna Baron and {Della Casa}, Philippe and Pawe{\l} D{\c a}browski and Duffy, {Paul R} and Ebel, {Alexander V} and Andrey Epimakhov and Karin Frei and Miros{\l}aw Furmanek and Tomasz Gralak and Andrey Gromov and Stanis{\l}aw Gronkiewicz and Gisela Grupe and Tam{\'a}s Hajdu and Rados{\l}aw Jarysz and Valeri Khartanovich and Alexandr Khokhlov and Vikt{\'o}ria Kiss and Jan Kol{\'a}{\v r} and Aivar Kriiska and Irena Lasak and Cristina Longhi and George McGlynn and Algimantas Merkevicius and Inga Merkyte and Mait Metspalu and Ruzan Mkrtchyan and Vyacheslav Moiseyev and L{\'a}szl{\'o} Paja and Gy{\"o}rgy P{\'a}lfi and Dalia Pokutta and {\L}ukasz Pospieszny and Price, {T Douglas} and Lehti Saag and Mikhail Sablin and Natalia Shishlina and V{\'a}clav Smr{\v c}ka and Soenov, {Vasilii I} and Vajk Szever{\'e}nyi and Guszt{\'a}v T{\'o}th and Trifanova, {Synaru V} and Liivi Varul and Magdolna Vicze and Levon Yepiskoposyan and Vladislav Zhitenev and Ludovic Orlando and Thomas Sicheritz-Pont{\'e}n and S{\o}ren Brunak and Rasmus Nielsen and Kristian Kristiansen and Eske Willerslev",

year = "2015",

doi = "10.1038/nature14507",

language = "English",

volume = "522",

pages = "167--172",

journal = "Nature",

issn = "0028-0836",

publisher = "Nature Publishing Group",

number = "7555",

}

Allentoft, ME, Sikora, M, Sjögren, K-G, Rasmussen, S, Rasmussen, M, Stenderup, J, Damgaard, PB, Schroeder, H, Ahlström, T, Vinner, L, Malaspinas, A-S, Margaryan, A, Higham, T, Chivall, D, Lynnerup, N, Harvig, L, Baron, J, Della Casa, P, Dąbrowski, P, Duffy, PR, Ebel, AV, Epimakhov, A, Frei, K, Furmanek, M, Gralak, T, Gromov, A, Gronkiewicz, S, Grupe, G, Hajdu, T, Jarysz, R, Khartanovich, V, Khokhlov, A, Kiss, V, Kolář, J, Kriiska, A, Lasak, I, Longhi, C, McGlynn, G, Merkevicius, A, Merkyte, I, Metspalu, M, Mkrtchyan, R, Moiseyev, V, Paja, L, Pálfi, G, Pokutta, D, Pospieszny, Ł, Price, TD, Saag, L, Sablin, M, Shishlina, N, Smrčka, V, Soenov, VI, Szeverényi, V, Tóth, G, Trifanova, SV, Varul, L, Vicze, M, Yepiskoposyan, L, Zhitenev, V, Orlando, L, Sicheritz-Pontén, T, Brunak, S, Nielsen, R, Kristiansen, K & Willerslev, E 2015, 'Population genomics of Bronze Age Eurasia', Nature, vol. 522, no. 7555, pp. 167-172. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14507

TY - JOUR

T1 - Population genomics of Bronze Age Eurasia

AU - Allentoft, Morten E

AU - Sikora, Martin

AU - Sjögren, Karl-Göran

AU - Rasmussen, Simon

AU - Rasmussen, Morten

AU - Stenderup, Jesper

AU - Damgaard, Peter B

AU - Schroeder, Hannes

AU - Ahlström, Torbjörn

AU - Vinner, Lasse

AU - Malaspinas, Anna-Sapfo

AU - Margaryan, Ashot

AU - Higham, Tom

AU - Chivall, David

AU - Lynnerup, Niels

AU - Harvig, Lise

AU - Baron, Justyna

AU - Della Casa, Philippe

AU - Dąbrowski, Paweł

AU - Duffy, Paul R

AU - Ebel, Alexander V

AU - Epimakhov, Andrey

AU - Frei, Karin

AU - Furmanek, Mirosław

AU - Gralak, Tomasz

AU - Gromov, Andrey

AU - Gronkiewicz, Stanisław

AU - Grupe, Gisela

AU - Hajdu, Tamás

AU - Jarysz, Radosław

AU - Khartanovich, Valeri

AU - Khokhlov, Alexandr

AU - Kiss, Viktória

AU - Kolář, Jan

AU - Kriiska, Aivar

AU - Lasak, Irena

AU - Longhi, Cristina

AU - McGlynn, George

AU - Merkevicius, Algimantas

AU - Merkyte, Inga

AU - Metspalu, Mait

AU - Mkrtchyan, Ruzan

AU - Moiseyev, Vyacheslav

AU - Paja, László

AU - Pálfi, György

AU - Pokutta, Dalia

AU - Pospieszny, Łukasz

AU - Price, T Douglas

AU - Saag, Lehti

AU - Sablin, Mikhail

AU - Shishlina, Natalia

AU - Smrčka, Václav

AU - Soenov, Vasilii I

AU - Szeverényi, Vajk

AU - Tóth, Gusztáv

AU - Trifanova, Synaru V

AU - Varul, Liivi

AU - Vicze, Magdolna

AU - Yepiskoposyan, Levon

AU - Zhitenev, Vladislav

AU - Orlando, Ludovic

AU - Sicheritz-Pontén, Thomas

AU - Brunak, Søren

AU - Nielsen, Rasmus

AU - Kristiansen, Kristian

AU - Willerslev, Eske

PY - 2015

Y1 - 2015

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

U2 - 10.1038/nature14507

DO - 10.1038/nature14507

M3 - Article

C2 - 26062507

SN - 0028-0836

VL - 522

SP - 167

EP - 172

JO - Nature

JF - Nature

IS - 7555

ER -

Population genomics of Bronze Age Eurasia

Abstract

Subject classification (UKÄ)

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Cite this