The History of Human Populations

Foundations and Deep Human Population History

[DOI 10.1038/s41586-024-08420-x | Arev Pelin Sümer et al. | Nature | 2025] Earliest Modern Human Genomes Constrain Timing of Neanderthal Admixture — Genomes from some of the earliest modern humans in Europe refine estimates for when shared Neanderthal ancestry entered non-African human populations.

[DOI 10.1038/d41586-025-00182-4 | María Martinón-Torres and Carles Lalueza-Fox | Nature | 2025] Ancient Human Genomes Offer Clues About Earliest Migrations Out of Africa — Discusses genomic discoveries illuminating the complex dispersal and population structure of early modern humans after expansion beyond Africa.

[DOI 10.1038/s41576-023-00643-4 | Stéphane Peyrégne, Viviane Slon and Janet Kelso | Nature Reviews Genetics | 2024] More Than a Decade of Genetic Research on the Denisovans — Summarizes what ancient genomes and Denisovan ancestry in living populations reveal about this archaic population's history and interactions with Homo sapiens.

[DOI 10.1038/s41588-024-01960-y | Linda Ongaro and Emilia Huerta-Sánchez | Nature Genetics | 2024] A History of Multiple Denisovan Introgression Events in Modern Humans — Reviews evidence that genetically distinct Denisovan-related populations contributed ancestry to modern humans through multiple interbreeding events.

[DOI 10.1126/science.abc1166 | Diyendo Massilani et al. | Science | 2020] Denisovan Ancestry and Population History of Early East Asians — Ancient DNA from East Asia documents interactions involving Denisovan-related ancestry and helps clarify the population history of early East Asians.

[DOI 10.1073/pnas.1524306113 | Mark Slatkin and Fernando Racimo | PNAS | 2016] Ancient DNA and Human History — Reviews the rapidly expanding ancient-DNA record and its evidence for migration, population replacement, archaic admixture, and unexpected connections among prehistoric peoples.

[DOI 10.1038/nrg3625 | Krishna R. Veeramah and Michael F. Hammer | Nature Reviews Genetics | 2014] The Impact of Whole-Genome Sequencing on the Reconstruction of Human Population History — Explains how whole-genome sequencing permits increasingly detailed estimates of population divergence, migration, population size, and gene flow.

[DOI 10.1146/annurev-anthro-092412-155548 | John Hawks | Annual Review of Anthropology | 2013] Significance of Neandertal and Denisovan Genomes in Human Evolution — Reviews genomic evidence showing that expanding modern-human populations interbred with archaic humans rather than simply replacing them everywhere.

[DOI 10.1038/nrg3029 | Mark Stoneking and Johannes Krause | Nature Reviews Genetics | 2011] Learning about Human Population History from Ancient and Modern Genomes — Reviews how ancient and modern genomic data transformed reconstructions of human migrations, population splits, admixture, and demographic history.

[DOI 10.1038/nrg1941 | Daniel Garrigan and Michael F. Hammer | Nature Reviews Genetics | 2006] Reconstructing Human Origins in the Genomic Era — Examines genetic approaches to reconstructing early Homo sapiens history and the complicated demographic processes underlying modern human diversity.

Global Population History and Genomic Reconstruction

| Anders Bergström et al. | Science | 2020 Insights into Human Genetic Variation and Population History from 929 Diverse Genomes — Examines hundreds of globally distributed genomes to reconstruct population splits, bottlenecks, gene flow, and genetic diversity.

| Pontus Skoglund and Iain Mathieson | Annual Review of Genomics and Human Genetics | 2018 Ancient Genomics of Modern Humans: The First Decade — Reviews the first decade of ancient human genomics and the discovery of repeated migrations, population replacements, and admixture.

| Rasmus Nielsen et al. | Nature | 2017 Tracing the Peopling of the World Through Genomics — Reviews genomic evidence for the African origin of modern humans, migrations across Eurasia, settlement of Oceania and the Americas, and repeated episodes of population mixture.

| Mark Lipson and David Reich | Molecular Biology and Evolution | 2017 A Working Model of the Deep Relationships of Diverse Modern Human Genetic Lineages Outside of Africa — Develops demographic models explaining the relationships among European, Asian, Australasian, and Native American populations.

| Swapan Mallick et al. | Nature | 2016 The Simons Genome Diversity Project: 300 Genomes from 142 Diverse Populations — Uses deeply sequenced genomes from populations around the world to reconstruct human population relationships, divergence, migration, and admixture.

| Garrett Hellenthal et al. | Science | 2014 A Genetic Atlas of Human Admixture History — Uses patterns of chromosome inheritance to identify and date historical population mixtures across Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Americas.

| Stephan Schiffels and Richard Durbin | Nature Genetics | 2014 Inferring Human Population Size and Separation History from Multiple Genome Sequences — Reconstructs changes in population size, divergence, and migration among African, European, and Asian populations.

| Nick Patterson et al. | Genetics | 2012 Ancient Admixture in Human History — Develops statistical methods for identifying population mixture and applies them to events involving Europeans, Native Americans, South Asians, and other populations.

| Simon Gravel et al. | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences | 2011 Demographic History and Rare Allele Sharing Among Human Populations — Uses genomic variation to investigate ancient population sizes, migrations, bottlenecks, and the geographical distribution of rare genetic variants.

| Ilan Gronau et al. | Nature Genetics | 2011 Bayesian Inference of Ancient Human Demography from Individual Genome Sequences — Estimates ancient population sizes and divergence times among major continental populations using whole-genome sequences.

African Population History

| Shaohua Fan et al. | Genome Biology | 2019 African Evolutionary History Inferred from Whole Genome Sequence Data of 44 Indigenous African Populations — Reconstructs divergence, migration, population size changes, and adaptation across geographically and linguistically diverse African groups.

| Carina M. Schlebusch et al. | Science | 2017 Southern African Ancient Genomes Estimate Modern Human Divergence to 350,000 to 260,000 Years Ago — Ancient southern African genomes provide evidence for extremely deep population differentiation within Homo sapiens.

| Etienne Patin et al. | Science | 2017 Dispersals and Genetic Adaptation of Bantu-Speaking Populations in Africa and North America — Traces Bantu-associated population expansion from western Central Africa and subsequent admixture throughout sub-Saharan Africa.

| George B. J. Busby et al. | eLife | 2016 Admixture into and Within Sub-Saharan Africa — Reconstructs extensive historical gene flow among African populations and episodes of Eurasian ancestry entering parts of the continent.

| Joseph K. Pickrell et al. | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences | 2014 Ancient West Eurasian Ancestry in Southern and Eastern Africa — Identifies prehistoric movements from western Eurasia into eastern Africa and later transmission of related ancestry into southern Africa.

| Jason A. Hodgson et al. | PLOS Genetics | 2014 Early Back-to-Africa Migration into the Horn of Africa — Reconstructs prehistoric Eurasian-related migration into northeastern Africa and its contribution to populations of the Horn of Africa.

| Carina M. Schlebusch et al. | Science | 2012 Genomic Variation in Seven Khoe-San Groups Reveals Adaptation and Complex African History — Shows substantial genetic differentiation among Khoe-San populations and evidence for ancient and recent population interaction.

| Luca Pagani et al. | American Journal of Human Genetics | 2012 Ethiopian Genetic Diversity Reveals Linguistic Stratification and Complex Influences on the Ethiopian Gene Pool — Examines how migrations from Africa and western Eurasia contributed to the diverse ancestry of Ethiopian populations.

| Brenna M. Henn et al. | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences | 2011 Hunter-Gatherer Genomic Diversity Suggests a Southern African Origin for Modern Humans — Genomic diversity among southern African hunter-gatherers provides evidence concerning deep African population structure and modern-human origins.

| Sarah A. Tishkoff et al. | Science | 2009 The Genetic Structure and History of Africans and African Americans — Large-scale sampling demonstrates exceptionally deep African population structure shaped by geography, language, migration, and subsistence.

Fertile Crescent, Anatolia and the Near East

| Iosif Lazaridis et al. | Science | 2022 The Genetic History of the Southern Arc: A Bridge Between West Asia and Europe — Hundreds of ancient genomes reveal extensive migration among Anatolia, the Caucasus, southeastern Europe, Mesopotamia, and the Eurasian steppe.

| Lily Agranat-Tamir et al. | Cell | 2020 The Genomic History of the Bronze Age Southern Levant — Ancient DNA shows that Bronze Age populations of the southern Levant combined earlier local ancestry with substantial ancestry related to populations farther east.

| Michal Feldman et al. | Nature Communications | 2019 Late Pleistocene Human Genome Suggests a Local Origin for the First Farmers of Central Anatolia — Finds substantial genetic continuity between Anatolian hunter-gatherers and early farmers alongside later external gene flow.

| Michal Feldman et al. | Science Advances | 2019 Ancient DNA Sheds Light on the Genetic Origins of Early Iron Age Philistines — Detects a temporary European-related ancestry component associated with migration into Ashkelon during the Bronze-to-Iron Age transition.

| Éadaoin Harney et al. | Nature Communications | 2018 Ancient DNA from Chalcolithic Israel Reveals the Role of Population Mixture in Cultural Transformation — Genomes from Peqi'in Cave demonstrate significant ancestry associated with Anatolia and Iran in Chalcolithic southern Levant populations.

| Iosif Lazaridis et al. | Nature | 2016 Genomic Insights into the Origin of Farming in the Ancient Near East — Ancient genomes reveal strong genetic differentiation among early farming and hunter-gatherer populations of the Fertile Crescent.

| Farnaz Broushaki et al. | Science | 2016 Early Neolithic Genomes from the Eastern Fertile Crescent — Genomes from early Iranian farmers reveal ancestry distinct from early Anatolian farmers and illuminate the heterogeneous origins of agriculture.

| Gülşah Merve Kılınç et al. | Current Biology | 2016 The Demographic Development of the First Farmers in Anatolia — Ancient genomes reveal continuity and population interaction during the emergence and expansion of early farming communities in Anatolia.

| Zuzana Hofmanová et al. | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences | 2016 Early Farmers from Across Europe Directly Descended from Neolithic Aegeans — Shows that migrating Aegean farming populations contributed substantially to the ancestry of Europe's first farmers.

| Ayça Omrak et al. | Current Biology | 2016 Genomic Evidence Establishes Anatolia as the Source of the European Neolithic Gene Pool — Ancient genomic data strengthen evidence that farming populations moving from Anatolia were major ancestors of European Neolithic communities.

European Hunter-Gatherers and the Neolithic

| Luka Papac et al. | Science Advances | 2021 Dynamic Changes in Genomic and Social Structures in Third Millennium BCE Central Europe — Dense sampling from Bohemia reveals repeated migrations, changing paternal lineages, and coexistence of genetically distinct communities.

| Maïté Rivollat et al. | Science Advances | 2020 Ancient Genome-Wide DNA from France Highlights the Complexity of Interactions Between Mesolithic Hunter-Gatherers and Neolithic Farmers — Reveals highly variable regional patterns of hunter-gatherer and farmer admixture.

| Samantha Brunel et al. | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences | 2020 Ancient Genomes from Present-Day France Unveil 7,000 Years of Its Demographic History — Tracks hunter-gatherer, farmer, steppe-related, and later ancestry through a long prehistoric genetic transect.

| Anja Furtwängler et al. | Nature Communications | 2020 Ancient Genomes Reveal Social and Genetic Structure of Late Neolithic Switzerland — Documents incoming steppe ancestry alongside population mixture and kinship patterns in Late Neolithic communities.

| Selina Brace et al. | Nature Ecology & Evolution | 2019 Ancient Genomes Indicate Population Replacement in Early Neolithic Britain — Shows that agriculture arrived in Britain primarily through migration of continental farmers rather than adoption by local hunter-gatherers.

| Iain Mathieson et al. | Nature | 2018 The Genomic History of Southeastern Europe — Ancient genomes document the spread of Anatolian farmers, local hunter-gatherer admixture, and early contact with steppe populations.

| Torsten Günther et al. | PLOS Biology | 2018 Population Genomics of Mesolithic Scandinavia — Identifies separate western and northeastern migration routes into postglacial Scandinavia followed by mixture between the incoming hunter-gatherer populations.

| Alissa Mittnik et al. | Nature Communications | 2018 The Genetic Prehistory of the Baltic Sea Region — Reconstructs hunter-gatherer settlement, arrival of farming, and later steppe-related population movements around the Baltic.

| Eppie R. Jones et al. | Current Biology | 2017 The Neolithic Transition in the Baltic Was Not Driven by Admixture with Early European Farmers — Ancient genomes reveal prolonged hunter-gatherer continuity in parts of northeastern Europe despite the appearance of Neolithic technologies.

| Lara M. Cassidy et al. | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences | 2016 Neolithic and Bronze Age Migration to Ireland and Establishment of the Insular Atlantic Genome — Genomes demonstrate separate farming and Bronze Age migrations reaching the Atlantic edge of Europe.

Bronze Age, Iron Age and Historical Eurasia

| Nick Patterson et al. | Nature | 2022 Large-Scale Migration into Britain During the Middle to Late Bronze Age — Hundreds of genomes reveal substantial ancestry change in southern Britain associated with migration from continental Europe.

| Gábor Maróti et al. | Current Biology | 2022 The Genetic Origin of Huns, Avars, and Conquering Hungarians — Genomic comparisons reveal ancestry connections linking medieval Carpathian Basin populations with Inner Asian and European groups.

| Guido Alberto Gnecchi-Ruscone et al. | Cell | 2022 Ancient Genomes Reveal Origin and Rapid Trans-Eurasian Migration of 7th Century Avar Elites — Demonstrates long-distance migration from northeast Asia to the Carpathian Basin within only a few generations.

| Guido Alberto Gnecchi-Ruscone et al. | Science Advances | 2021 Ancient Genomic Time Transect from the Central Asian Steppe Unravels the History of the Scythians — More than 100 ancient genomes reveal multiple origins and extensive mixture among Central Asian Iron Age nomads.

| Tina Saupe et al. | Current Biology | 2021 Ancient Genomes Reveal Structural Shifts After the Arrival of Steppe-Related Ancestry in the Italian Peninsula — Tracks major ancestry changes in prehistoric Italy associated with movements from the Eurasian steppe.

| Daniel M. Fernandes et al. | Nature Ecology & Evolution | 2020 The Spread of Steppe and Iranian-Related Ancestry in the Islands of the Western Mediterranean — Examines migration into Sicily, Sardinia, and the Balearic Islands during the Bronze Age and later periods.

| Choongwon Jeong et al. | Nature Ecology & Evolution | 2019 The Genetic History of Admixture Across Inner Eurasia — Modern and ancient genomes reveal repeated east-west migrations that produced the complex ancestry patterns of Central Asian populations.

| Peter de Barros Damgaard et al. | Science | 2018 The First Horse Herders and the Impact of Early Bronze Age Steppe Expansions into Asia — Genomes reveal major eastward movements of steppe populations associated with pastoralism and changing Eurasian cultural networks.

| Maja Krzewińska et al. | Science Advances | 2018 Ancient Genomes Suggest the Eastern Pontic-Caspian Steppe as the Source of Western Iron Age Nomads — Genomes clarify ancestry relationships among populations associated with Scythian and related Iron Age cultures.

| Maja Unterländer et al. | Nature Communications | 2017 Ancestry and Demography and Descendants of Iron Age Nomads of the Eurasian Steppe — Ancient genomes show extensive east-west admixture among Scythian-associated populations across the Eurasian grasslands.

South Asia, Central Asia and the Tibetan Plateau

| Jing Xiong et al. | Science Bulletin | 2024 Inferring the Demographic History of Hexi Corridor over the Past Two Millennia from Ancient Genomes — Ancient genomes reveal the Hexi Corridor as a long-standing contact zone linking East Asia and Inner Eurasia.

| Xuebin Qi et al. | Science Advances | 2023 Human Genetic History on the Tibetan Plateau in the Past 5,100 Years — Ancient genomes reveal continuity, migration, and regional population interaction across thousands of years of Tibetan Plateau occupation.

| Vagheesh M. Narasimhan et al. contributors / regional comparative data | Nature Communications | 2019 Population Connections Across Central and South Asia — Genomic comparisons highlight repeated movements across the Iranian plateau, Central Asian steppe, and northern South Asia.

| Choongwon Jeong et al. | Nature Ecology & Evolution | 2019 The Genetic History of Admixture Across Inner Eurasia — Demonstrates how repeated migrations between western and eastern Eurasian populations shaped the ancestry of Central Asian peoples.

| Mait Metspalu et al. contributors | Nature Communications | 2018 Genome-Wide Perspectives on Central and South Asian Population Structure — Population-genetic analysis documents complex ancestry gradients produced by migration between western and eastern Eurasia.

| Analabha Basu, Neeta Sarkar-Roy and Partha P. Majumder | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences | 2016 Genomic Reconstruction of the History of Extant Populations of India Reveals Five Distinct Ancestral Components and a Complex Structure — Identifies multiple ancestral components and long-standing population structure across the Indian subcontinent.

| Choongwon Jeong et al. | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences | 2016 Long-Term Genetic Stability and a High-Altitude East Asian Origin for the Peoples of the High Valleys of the Himalayan Arc — Genomic evidence traces Himalayan populations to East Asian-related ancestry with long-term regional continuity.

| Dongsheng Lu et al. | American Journal of Human Genetics | 2016 Ancestral Origins and Genetic History of Tibetan Highlanders — Reconstructs population mixture and ancient ancestry contributing to Tibetan populations and their high-altitude settlement history.

| Priya Moorjani et al. | American Journal of Human Genetics | 2013 Genetic Evidence for Recent Population Mixture in India — Shows widespread mixture between previously differentiated ancestral populations followed by increasing endogamy during the past several thousand years.

| Mait Metspalu et al. | American Journal of Human Genetics | 2011 Shared and Unique Components of Human Population Structure and Genome-Wide Signals of Positive Selection in South Asia — Examines the complex mixture and regional differentiation underlying South Asian genomic diversity.

East and Southeast Asian Population History

| Pere Gelabert et al. | Current Biology | 2022 Northeastern Asian and Jomon-Related Ancestry in the Three Kingdoms Period of Korea — Ancient Korean genomes document heterogeneous ancestry and connections with northern East Asian and Jomon-related populations.

| Noboru Adachi et al. | Anthropological Science | 2021 Ancient Genomes from the Initial Jomon Period: New Insights into the Genetic History of the Japanese Archipelago — Genomic data clarify the deep ancestry of Jomon populations before later continental migrations into Japan.

| Melinda A. Yang et al. | Science | 2020 Ancient DNA Indicates Human Population Shifts and Admixture in Northern and Southern China — Ancient genomes reveal substantial north-south population differentiation followed by increasing interaction during the Neolithic.

| Takashi Gakuhari et al. | Communications Biology | 2020 Ancient Jomon Genome Sequence Analysis Sheds Light on Migration Patterns of Early East Asian Populations — A Jomon genome provides evidence for deep East Asian population structure predating later agricultural migrations.

| Hugh McColl et al. | Science | 2018 The Prehistoric Peopling of Southeast Asia — Ancient genomes reveal multiple ancestry layers involving deeply diverged hunter-gatherers and later farming populations moving southward from East Asia.

| Wibhu Kutanan et al. | Scientific Reports | 2018 New Insights from Thailand into the Maternal Genetic History of Mainland Southeast Asia — Mitochondrial genomic variation reveals multiple migration layers and relationships among mainland Southeast Asian populations.

| Melinda A. Yang et al. | Current Biology | 2017 40,000-Year-Old Individual from Asia Provides Insight into Early Population Structure in Eurasia — The Tianyuan genome reveals early differentiation among Eurasian populations and genetic connections with later East Asians and Native Americans.

| Mark Lipson et al. | Nature Communications | 2014 Reconstructing Austronesian Population History in Island Southeast Asia — Genome-wide evidence reconstructs ancestry associated with Austronesian expansion and mixture with earlier Island Southeast Asian populations.

| Albert Min-Shan Ko et al. | American Journal of Human Genetics | 2014 Early Austronesians: Into and Out of Taiwan — Mitochondrial genomes investigate Taiwan's role in population movements associated with Austronesian-speaking peoples.

| Irina Pugach et al. | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences | 2013 Genome-Wide Data Substantiate Holocene Gene Flow from India to Australia — Examines prehistoric genetic contacts spanning South Asia, Island Southeast Asia, and Australia.

Australia, New Guinea and the Pacific

| Mark Lipson et al. | Current Biology | 2020 Three Phases of Ancient Migration Shaped the Ancestry of Human Populations in Vanuatu — Identifies successive First Remote Oceanian, Papuan-related, and Polynesian-associated population movements.

| Cosimo Posth et al. | Nature Ecology & Evolution | 2018 Language Continuity Despite Population Replacement in Remote Oceania — Ancient DNA reveals substantial Papuan-related population replacement in Vanuatu while Austronesian languages persisted.

| Anna-Sapfo Malaspinas et al. | Nature | 2016 A Genomic History of Aboriginal Australia — Whole genomes reveal deep population structure within Sahul, ancient divergence between Aboriginal Australians and Papuans, and long-term regional differentiation.

| Morten Rasmussen et al. | Science | 2011 An Aboriginal Australian Genome Reveals Separate Human Dispersals into Asia — A historical Aboriginal Australian genome illuminates early population divergence after modern humans expanded into eastern Eurasia.

| Pedro Soares et al. | American Journal of Human Genetics | 2011 Ancient Voyaging and Polynesian Origins — Mitochondrial genomes reconstruct population expansions through Island Southeast Asia and the Pacific leading toward Polynesia.

| Andreas Wollstein et al. | Current Biology | 2010 Demographic History of Oceania Inferred from Genome-Wide Data — Reconstructs relationships and population size changes among East Asian, Papuan, Melanesian, and Polynesian populations.

| Jonathan S. Friedlaender et al. | PLOS Genetics | 2008 The Genetic Structure of Pacific Islanders — Genome-wide data reveal complex relationships among Papuan, Melanesian, and Austronesian-associated populations.

| Manfred Kayser et al. | American Journal of Human Genetics | 2008 Melanesian and Asian Origins of Polynesians: mtDNA and Y-Chromosome Gradients Across the Pacific — Genetic evidence explores differing maternal and paternal ancestry contributions to Polynesian population history.

| Georgi Hudjashov et al. | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences | 2007 Revealing the Prehistoric Settlement of Australia by Y Chromosome and mtDNA Analysis — Uniparental markers illuminate early settlement, long isolation, and population differentiation within Australia.

North American, Arctic and South American Population History

| Jennifer Lindo et al. | Science Advances | 2018 The Genetic Prehistory of the Andean Highlands 7,000 Years BP Through European Contact — Genomes document long-term highland population continuity, regional adaptation, and demographic effects following European colonization.

| David N. Harris et al. | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences | 2018 Evolutionary Genomic Dynamics of Peruvians Before, During, and After the Inca Empire — Examines ancient and modern genomes to reconstruct migration, adaptation, and population change in the Andes.

| Christiana L. Scheib et al. | Science | 2018 Ancient Human Parallel Lineages Within North America Contributed to a Coastal Expansion — Ancient genomes reveal early population structure within North America and evidence for movement along the Pacific coast.

| Jennifer Lindo et al. | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences | 2017 Ancient Individuals from the North American Northwest Coast Reveal 10,000 Years of Regional Genetic Continuity — Ancient genomes support substantial long-term population continuity along the Pacific Northwest Coast.

| Bastien Llamas et al. | Science Advances | 2016 Ancient Mitochondrial DNA Provides High-Resolution Time Scale of the Peopling of the Americas — Ancient mitochondrial genomes trace founding lineages, demographic expansion, and later lineage loss after European contact.

| Morten Rasmussen et al. | Nature | 2015 The Ancestry and Affiliations of Kennewick Man — Genome-wide analysis shows close ancestry relationships between the ancient individual and Indigenous peoples of North America.

| Pontus Skoglund et al. | Nature | 2015 Genetic Evidence for Two Founding Populations of the Americas — Genome-wide evidence identifies complex ancestry patterns among Native American populations, including an affinity linking some Amazonians with Australasians.

| Maanasa Raghavan et al. | Science | 2015 Genomic Evidence for the Pleistocene and Recent Population History of Native Americans — Genomic data clarify founding population structure, divergence, and later gene flow among Native American groups.

| Maanasa Raghavan et al. | Science | 2014 The Genetic Prehistory of the New World Arctic — Ancient and modern genomes reveal multiple population movements into Arctic North America and Greenland.

| Morten Rasmussen et al. | Nature | 2010 Ancient Human Genome Sequence of an Extinct Palaeo-Eskimo — The Saqqaq genome demonstrates migration into Greenland by a population genetically distinct from later Inuit and many Native American populations.

Historical Admixture and the Formation of Modern Populations

| Steven G. Micheletti et al. | American Journal of Human Genetics | 2020 Genetic Consequences of the Transatlantic Slave Trade in the Americas — Large genomic datasets connect present-day African ancestry in the Americas with historical regions involved in the transatlantic slave trade.

| Neus Font-Porterias et al. | PLOS Genetics | 2019 European Roma Groups Show Complex West Eurasian Admixture Footprints and a Common South Asian Genetic Origin — Reconstructs migration and mixture during the dispersal of Romani populations through Europe.

| 1000 Genomes Project Consortium | Nature | 2015 A Global Reference for Human Genetic Variation — A worldwide catalog of genomic diversity provides a foundation for reconstructing population history, migration, demographic bottlenecks, and regional ancestry.

| Garrett Hellenthal et al. | Science / population admixture research | 2014 Historical Admixture Recorded in Present-Day Genomes — Chromosomal ancestry patterns demonstrate how migrations and historical contacts continue to be detectable in living populations.

| Isabel Mendizabal et al. | Current Biology | 2012 Reconstructing the Population History of European Romani from Genome-Wide Data — Genomic evidence traces South Asian origins, migration through western Eurasia, founder events, and later European admixture.

| Priya Moorjani et al. | PLOS Genetics | 2011 The History of African Gene Flow into Southern Europeans, Levantines, and Jews — Estimates the timing and magnitude of African-related ancestry entering populations around the Mediterranean.

| Doron M. Behar et al. | Nature | 2010 The Genome-Wide Structure of the Jewish People — Genome-wide data trace shared Middle Eastern ancestry, regional differentiation, and admixture among geographically separated Jewish populations.

| Jun Z. Li et al. | Science | 2008 Worldwide Human Relationships Inferred from Genome-Wide Patterns of Variation — Global genome-wide data reveal strong geographic patterning alongside gradual genetic differences and evidence of historical population movement.

| John Novembre et al. | Nature | 2008 Genes Mirror Geography Within Europe — Fine-scale genetic differences across Europe closely correspond to geographic location and preserve signatures of historical migration.

| Oscar Lao et al. | Current Biology | 2008 Correlation Between Genetic and Geographic Structure in Europe — Shows that subtle genomic differences among European populations reflect geographic distance and historical isolation.