4000-year-old sample from the Middle Nile a potential source of early eastern Africa pastoralists

4000-year-old hair from the Middle Nile highlights unusual ancient DNA degradation pattern and a potential source of early eastern Africa pastoralists
Max Planck

Petrous bones and teeth are the skeletal elements most often targeted by researchers for ancient DNA (aDNA) extraction, and the sources of the majority of previously published ancient African genomes. However, the high temperature environments that characterise much of Africa often lead to poor preservation of skeletal remains. Here, we successfully reconstruct and analyse genome-wide data from the naturally mummified hair of a 4000-year-old individual from Sudan in northeastern Africa, after failed attempts at DNA extraction from teeth, petrous, and cranium of this and other individuals from the site of Kadruka. We find that hair DNA extracted with an established single-stranded library protocol is unusually enriched in ultra-short DNA molecules and exhibits substantial interior molecular damage. The aDNA was nonetheless amenable to genetic analyses, which revealed that the genome is genetically indistinguishable from that of early Neolithic eastern African pastoralists located 2500 kilometres away. Our findings support established models for the southwards dispersal of Middle Nile Valley pastoral populations to the Rift Valley of eastern Africa, and provide the first direct evidence for a genetic source population for this dispersal. Our study highlights the value of mummified hair as an alternate source of aDNA from regions with poor bone preservation.

https://www.ebi.ac.uk/ena/browser/vi...198?show=read

This is from Kadruka/Kerma.
 

World

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I heard that those early Cushitic nomads were even more Eurasian shifted than modern Horn African populations.
They weren’t that far removed from the original Cushitics who obviously were more Euroasian. But those early Cushitic nomads were slightly more than Tigrays/clustered with them.
 
So 60/40 Eurasian/SSA mix?

I'm not sure but World said that they were more Eurasian than the Tigray that are around 55% Eurasian.

I wonder if the 'Eurasian' component is mostly ANA; I expect that with greater resolution, most of that 'Eurasian' turn out to be ANA instead of Levantine or Arabian.
 
I'm not sure but World said that they were more Eurasian than the Tigray that are around 55% Eurasian.

I wonder if the 'Eurasian' component is mostly ANA; I expect that with greater resolution, most of that 'Eurasian' turn out to be ANA instead of Levantine or Arabian.
ANA is Eurasian? Can you elaborate, please, as I’ve only ever seen one simulation, and, though very distinct, they seem to cluster more with African populations than they do Eurasian. If it’s “identical” or even analogue to what’s found in SPN samples, the Eurasian component is undoubtedly Levantine in origin.
 

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When you say ANA are you referring to the non-eurasian ancestry of taforalt?

Yes, I think that better resolution and more samples will reveal that a significant chunk of what we think is Eurasian is actually ANA.
ANA is Eurasian? Can you elaborate, please, as I’ve only ever seen one simulation, and, though very distinct, they seem to cluster more with African populations than they do Eurasian. If it’s “identical” or even analogue to what’s found in SPN samples, the Eurasian component is undoubtedly Levantine in origin.

No, mate, I'm saying that some of the 'Eurasian' component found in Horn African populations might actually be ANA.
 
No, mate, I'm saying that some of the 'Eurasian' component found in Horn African populations might actually be ANA.
So by ANA, you mean Taforalt - essentially Iberomaurusians, right? They’re really not a good fit at all for the “Ethio-Somali” component in Horners, which, although divergent, is closest to Natufians. It is the case, though, that when Natufians and the ANA you’re referring to are used as our Eurasian proxies, we carry ANA at anywhere between 5-10%. Definitely “some”, but not really significant.
 
So by ANA, you mean Taforalt - essentially Iberomaurusians, right? They’re really not a good fit at all for the “Ethio-Somali” component in Horners, which, although divergent, is closest to Natufians. It is the case, though, that when Natufians and the ANA you’re referring to are used as our Eurasian proxies, we carry ANA at anywhere between 5-10%. Definitely “some”, but not really significant.

I may be confusing it for 'Basal Eurasian', which is apparently African rather than Eurasian.
 

World

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I'm not sure but World said that they were more Eurasian than the Tigray that are around 55% Eurasian.

I wonder if the 'Eurasian' component is mostly ANA; I expect that with greater resolution, most of that 'Eurasian' turn out to be ANA instead of Levantine or Arabian.
I am talking about the most earliest ones though, the ENP group. They were probably around 55-60% Euroasian. Their “African” component was also half mixed with East African hunter gatherers, so they would have been even more Euroasian before that. The early Kenyan pastoralists were probably around as Euroasian as Somalis.
 
I am talking about the most earliest ones though, the ENP group. They were probably around 55-60% Euroasian. Their “African” component was also half mixed with East African hunter gatherers, so they would have been even more Euroasian before that. The early Kenyan pastoralists were probably around as Euroasian as Somalis.
The later pastoralists cluster with Somalis, while the earlier pastoralists, without the additional Mota-related HG admixture were noticeably more Eurasian-shifted. Look at this PCA; the sample I'm hovering over is an earlier pastoralist, weirdly with elevated Mota ancestry and less Nilotic ancestry:
1657116428779.png
 

World

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The later pastoralists cluster with Somalis, while the earlier pastoralists, without the additional Mota-related HG admixture were noticeably more Eurasian-shifted. Look at this PCA; the sample I'm hovering over is an earlier pastoralist, weirdly with elevated Mota ancestry and less Nilotic ancestry:
View attachment 228846
Yes I agree. I made a thread 3 years ago on this:
 

BetterDaysAhead

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Yes, I think that better resolution and more samples will reveal that a significant chunk of what we think is Eurasian is actually ANA.
ANA is an extremely basal group so we’d be much more distant from west eurasian groups if our non-SSA ancestry was all ANA. Levantine samples drastically improves the fit for Somalis and other cushitics compared to taforalt which is around 50% ANA.
 

Thegoodshepherd

Galkacyo iyo Calula dhexdood
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The later pastoralists cluster with Somalis, while the earlier pastoralists, without the additional Mota-related HG admixture were noticeably more Eurasian-shifted. Look at this PCA; the sample I'm hovering over is an earlier pastoralist, weirdly with elevated Mota ancestry and less Nilotic ancestry:
View attachment 228846

Where is this PCA calculator located? Can you run a 23&me file through it?
 

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