Prehistory
Span of time before recorded history
Follow Prehistory on Notably News to receive short updates to your email — rarely!
We include updates on Bermuda, Gondwana, Thule people, List of oldest extant buildings, Beringia, Youngest Toba eruption, Prehistoric Egypt, Interbreeding between archaic and modern humans, Three-age system, Dorset culture, Prehistoric Ireland, Prehistoric Britain, Genetics and archaeogenetics of South Asia, Timothy Darvill, Palaeeudyptes klekowskii, Rudolf Virchow ... and more.
| 2024 |
Genetic history of the Middle East
A genome-wide study was conducted on 39 individuals from Soqotra, analyzing genetic connections between the island and the Hadramawt region, revealing unique ancestral patterns and migration insights from 650–1750 CE.
|
| 2023 |
Interbreeding between archaic and modern humans
A genetic study discovered introgression from modern humans to Neanderthals, estimating that approximately 6% of the Altai Neanderthal genome was inherited from modern human populations around 250,000 years ago.
|
| 2021 |
Interbreeding between archaic and modern humans
A study discovered an independent Denisovan admixture event in Philippine Negritos, with the Ayta Magbukon group having the highest level of Denisovan ancestry in the world (30%–40% more than Australians and Papuans).
|
| 2020 |
Genetic history of the Middle East
A study in the American Journal of Human Genetics reveals 91-67% genetic continuity in Lebanon since the Bronze Age, with three significant admixture events during the Iron Age, Hellenistic, and Ottoman periods, each contributing 3-11% non-local ancestry.
|
| 2020 |
Genetic history of the Middle East
A study on Middle Bronze Age Canaanite human remains revealed that Levantine populations derive 81–87% of their ancestry from Bronze age Levantines
|
| 2020 |
Genetic history of the Middle East
A research study published in Cell examined human remains from Chalcolithic Amuq valley, Ebla, and Alalakh, discovering complex population mixtures during the Late Chalcolithic–Early Bronze Age transition, with evidence of genetic contributions from Neolithic Levantine, Anatolian, Zagros-related, Iranian, and Southern Levantine ancestries.
|
| 2020 |
Interbreeding between archaic and modern humans
Research paper published revealing that African populations maintain a larger proportion of ancestral human genetic variation, including Neanderthal and Denisovan variants absent from Eurasia.
|
| 2020 |
Interbreeding between archaic and modern humans
Lipson et al. study DNA from 6 additional Eastern and Southcentral African fossils from the last 18,000 years, further exploring genetic origins and archaic DNA patterns.
|
| 2020 |
Interbreeding between archaic and modern humans
Chen et al. published a study demonstrating that African populations also have Neanderthal genetic admixture, estimated at 0.3% of their genome, likely from a back-migration event around 20,000 years ago.
|
| 2020 |
Interbreeding between archaic and modern humans
A study published indicating that 2% to 19% of DNA in four West African populations may have originated from an unknown archaic hominin that split from human and Neanderthal ancestors between 360,000 to 1.02 million years ago.
|
| 2020 |
Interbreeding between archaic and modern humans
Chen et al. revised previous findings, determining that East Asians have 8% more Neanderthal ancestry compared to Europeans, and explaining that previous estimates were skewed due to masked Neanderthal ancestry shared with Africans.
|
| March 1 2020 |
Genetic history of the Middle East
Researchers published an analysis of mitochondrial and Y-chromosomal haplogroups of 18th Dynasty mummies, including Tutankhamun, in the journal Human Molecular Genetics. The study confirmed previous data about Tutankhamun's ancestry and supported the proposed sibling relationship between his parents Akhenaten and the 'younger lady' mummy.
|
| 2019 |
Genetic history of the Middle East
A Wellcome Sanger Institute study of Crusader remains in Lebanon concludes that Crusaders did not significantly impact Lebanese Christian genetics, with modern Lebanese Christians being more genetically similar to locals from the Roman period.
|
| 2019 |
Interbreeding between archaic and modern humans
Scientists used artificial intelligence and genetic studies to discover evidence of an unknown human ancestor species existing in the modern human genome, distinct from Neanderthals or Denisovans.
|
| May 31 2019 |
Genetic history of the Middle East
National Geographic discontinues selling Geno kits and stops processing genetic results for The Genographic Project.
|
| 2018 |
Genetic history of the Middle East
A genetic study analyzed 22 individuals from the Peki'in cave during the Chalcolithic Period, revealing a unique genetic makeup with local Levantine, Anatolian, and Zagros-related ancestries, and notably identifying individuals with blue eyes - a phenotypical characteristic not seen in earlier Levantine populations.
|
| 2018 |
Interbreeding between archaic and modern humans
Browning et al. discovered evidence of at least two separate episodes of Denisovan admixture, with different Denisovan populations contributing to East Asian, South Asian, and Oceanian genetic pools.
|
| 2017 |
Genetic history of the Middle East
A study published in the American Journal of Human Genetics confirms that 93% of Lebanese genetic ancestry derives from Canaanites, with 7% from a Eurasian steppe population, based on DNA comparison between ancient and modern populations.
|
| 2017 |
Genetic history of the Middle East
A Nature study analyzed three ancient Egyptian mummies spanning 1,300 years of Egyptian history. Two mummies were assigned to haplogroup J and one to haplogroup E1b1b1, with findings suggesting higher genetic affinities with near eastern populations compared to modern Egyptians.
|
| 2016 |
Interbreeding between archaic and modern humans
Publication of research in Evolutionary Biology arguing that DNA introgression from other lineages was essential in the emergence of modern humans.
|
| 2015 |
Genetic history of the Middle East
Verónica Fernandes and colleagues concluded that Palestinians have a primarily indigenous origin based on genetic studies
|
| 2013 |
Genetic history of the Middle East
Pierre Zalloua highlights that genetic variation in Lebanon predates religious divisions, describing religions as 'layers of paint' on pre-existing genetic communities.
|
| 2013 |
Genetic history of the Middle East
First genetic study using next-generation sequencing on Ancient Egyptian individuals was published, analyzing DNA from five mummies dated between 806 BC and 124 AD. One mummified individual was found to likely belong to mtDNA haplogroup I2, believed to have originated in Western Asia.
|
| 2013 |
Interbreeding between archaic and modern humans
Cooper and Stringer suggested that early modern humans and Denisovans interbred east of the Wallace Line in Southeast Asia.
|
| 2012 |
Genetic history of the Middle East
Genetic analysis of 20th dynasty mummies of Ramesses III and 'Unknown Man E' revealed identical Y chromosomal haplogroup E1b1a (E-M2), suggesting a potential familial relationship.
|
| 2012 |
Interbreeding between archaic and modern humans
Quinto et al. published research postulating that the Neanderthal genetic signal in North African populations originates from indigenous pre-Neolithic North African ancestry, not recent gene flow from Near Eastern or European populations.
|
| 2012 |
Interbreeding between archaic and modern humans
Neves and Serva published an interbreeding model suggesting very low rates of interbreeding between modern humans and Neanderthals, estimating one pair of individuals exchanged between populations every 77 generations.
|
| 2011 |
Genetic history of the Middle East
A genetic study analyzing male-line Y-chromosome genetics reveals no significant genetic differentiation between major religious groups in Lebanon, with differences only found in less frequent haplogroups.
|
| 2011 |
Interbreeding between archaic and modern humans
Reich et al. produced evidence of highest Denisovan admixture in Oceanian populations, with no presence in East Asian populations.
|
| 2011 |
Interbreeding between archaic and modern humans
Reich et al. published research showing the highest presence of Denisovan admixture in Oceanian populations, followed by Southeast Asian populations.
|
| 2010 |
Genetic history of the Middle East
Geneticist Doron Behar and colleagues published a study suggesting Jewish people descend from ancient Israelites, supporting the historical formulation of Jewish genetic origins
|
| May 7 2010 |
Interbreeding between archaic and modern humans
A draft sequence of the Neanderthal genome was published after sequencing three Vindija Neanderthals, revealing genetic sharing patterns between Neanderthals and different human populations.
|
This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia articles Genetic history of the Middle East & Interbreeding between archaic and modern humans, which are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.