Ancient Ethiopian genome reveals extensive Eurasian admixture in Eastern Africa

2015/10/09 by M. Gallego-Llorente, Eppie R. Jones, Anders Eriksson +16 · 10 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Social Sciences · #Forensic and Genetic Research #African history and culture analysis #Eurasian Exchange Networks #Geography #Out of africa #Genome #Evolutionary biology #Biology #Ancient history #Genetics #History #Gene

paper · doi:10.1126/science.aad2879

openalex publication_date 2015/10/09 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01

Abstract

Characterizing genetic diversity in Africa is a crucial step for most analyses reconstructing the evolutionary history of anatomically modern humans. However, historic migrations from Eurasia into Africa have affected many contemporary populations, confounding inferences. Here, we present a 12.5× coverage ancient genome of an Ethiopian male ("Mota") who lived approximately 4500 years ago. We use this genome to demonstrate that the Eurasian backflow into Africa came from a population closely related to Early Neolithic farmers, who had colonized Europe 4000 years earlier. The extent of this backflow was much greater than previously reported, reaching all the way to Central, West, and Southern Africa, affecting even populations such as Yoruba and Mbuti, previously thought to be relatively unadmixed, who harbor 6 to 7% Eurasian ancestry.

Citations

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• Ancient genomes reveal complex patterns of population movement, interaction, and replacement in sub-Saharan Africa
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• Placing ancient DNA sequences into reference phylogenies
• Human population dynamics and Yersinia pestis in ancient northeast Asia
• Unveiling the Genetic History of the Maniq, a Primary Hunter-Gatherer Society
• Evidence of the interplay of genetics and culture in Ethiopia
• Structure and ancestry patterns of Ethiopians in genome-wide autosomal DNA
• Haplogroup L3 [wikipedia]

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