Pleistocene North African genomes link Near Eastern and sub-Saharan African human populations

2018/03/15 by Marieke S. van de Loosdrecht, Abdeljalil Bouzouggar, Louise Humphrey +15 · 6 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Arts and Humanities · #Forensic and Genetic Research #Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies #Yersinia bacterium, plague, ectoparasites research #Pleistocene #Out of africa #Holocene #Geography #Domestication #Upper Paleolithic #Gene flow #Evolutionary biology #Ethnology #Archaeology #Genetic variation #Biology #History #Ecology #Gene #Genetics

paper · pdf · doi:10.1126/science.aar8380

openalex publication_date 2018/03/15 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01

Abstract

North Africa is a key region for understanding human history, but the genetic history of its people is largely unknown. We present genomic data from seven 15,000-year-old modern humans, attributed to the Iberomaurusian culture, from Morocco. We find a genetic affinity with early Holocene Near Easterners, best represented by Levantine Natufians, suggesting a pre-agricultural connection between Africa and the Near East. We do not find evidence for gene flow from Paleolithic Europeans to Late Pleistocene North Africans. The Taforalt individuals derive one-third of their ancestry from sub-Saharan Africans, best approximated by a mixture of genetic components preserved in present-day West and East Africans. Thus, we provide direct evidence for genetic interactions between modern humans across Africa and Eurasia in the Pleistocene.

Citations

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• Haplogroup E-M215 [wikipedia]