2021/12/14 by Kendra Sirak, Daniel Fernandes, Mark Lipson +22 · 98 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Arts and Humanities · #Forensic and Genetic Research #Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies #Race, Genetics, and Society #Period (music) #Genetic genealogy #Social stratification #Demography #Geography #Biology #Genealogy #Archaeology #History #Sociology #Population
paper · pdf · doi:10.1038/s41467-021-27356-8
published in Nature Communications 12(1), 7283 (Nature Portfolio)
openalex publication_date 2021/12/14 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06
Relatively little is known about Nubia's genetic landscape prior to the influence of the Islamic migrations that began in the late 1st millennium CE. Here, we increase the number of ancient individuals with genome-level data from the Nile Valley from three to 69, reporting data for 66 individuals from two cemeteries at the Christian Period (~650-1000 CE) site of Kulubnarti, where multiple lines of evidence suggest social stratification. The Kulubnarti Nubians had ~43% Nilotic-related ancestry (individual variation between ~36-54%) with the remaining ancestry consistent with being introduced through Egypt and ultimately deriving from an ancestry pool like that found in the Bronze and Iron Age Levant. The Kulubnarti gene pool - shaped over a millennium - harbors disproportionately female-associated West Eurasian-related ancestry. Genetic similarity among individuals from the two cemeteries supports a hypothesis of social division without genetic distinction. Seven pairs of inter-cemetery relatives suggest fluidity between cemetery groups. Present-day Nubians are not directly descended from the Kulubnarti Nubians, attesting to additional genetic input since the Christian Period.