Ancient DNA Discoveries
- NOTOC**
Ancient DNA Discoveries
Ancient DNA has become one of the most powerful tools for reconstructing the biological and demographic history of humans and other organisms. Genetic material recovered from bones, teeth, hair, dental calculus, archaeological sediments, artifacts, animal remains, and even cave walls can reveal information that is often invisible in traditional archaeological evidence.
The growing number of ancient genomes has substantially changed ideas about human origins. Rather than a history of isolated populations developing independently, ancient DNA repeatedly reveals migration, population replacement, interbreeding, founder effects, genetic continuity, and admixture. The record also shows that cultural change does not always correspond to population replacement: technologies, languages, religious traditions, and economic systems could spread through migration, local adoption, or combinations of both.
Ancient DNA research has also expanded far beyond human ancestry. Researchers now use genetic material from archaeological remains to study ancient pathogens, domesticated animals, extinct species, ecosystems, diet, microbiomes, kinship, social organization, and natural selection.
Neanderthals, Denisovans, and Archaic Humans
Some of the most influential ancient-DNA discoveries involve Neanderthals and Denisovans. The draft Neanderthal genome provided decisive evidence that Neanderthals interbred with ancestors of many living people outside Africa. Later high-coverage Neanderthal genomes revealed extremely small populations, regional differences, close relationships among some individuals, and multiple episodes of gene flow among archaic and modern humans.
Denisovans were initially identified largely through genetics. DNA recovered from a small finger bone in Denisova Cave demonstrated the existence of an archaic population distinct from both modern humans and Neanderthals. Subsequent Denisovan genomes showed that Denisovan-related populations contributed ancestry to several modern human populations and that this ancestry likely resulted from more than one episode of interbreeding with genetically distinct Denisovan groups.
Ancient DNA has also provided direct evidence of relationships between Neanderthals and Denisovans. The genome of Denisova 11 showed that the individual had a Neanderthal mother and a Denisovan father, providing extraordinary evidence that these populations sometimes interbred directly.
Recent discoveries have greatly expanded the geographical picture of Denisovans. Fossils and ancient proteins from China, including the Tibetan Plateau, Taiwan, and southwestern China, indicate that Denisovan-related populations occupied a much larger portion of Asia than was once documented by identifiable fossils alone. Archaeological evidence from some of these sites also provides information about their hunting, subsistence, and adaptation to different environments.
DNA from approximately 430,000-year-old hominins at Sima de los Huesos in Spain has pushed genetic investigation much deeper into the Middle Pleistocene. Nuclear DNA indicates that these people were more closely related to Neanderthals than Denisovans, while their mitochondrial DNA displayed an unexpectedly closer relationship to Denisovan mitochondrial DNA. Such discoveries demonstrate that human evolutionary history involved complex population relationships rather than a simple branching tree.
Early Homo sapiens and Interbreeding
Genomes from some of the earliest modern humans in Eurasia have helped reconstruct the period when Homo sapiens expanded beyond Africa and encountered archaic populations.
The approximately 45,000-year-old Ust'-Ishim individual from Siberia provided an early snapshot of modern humans in Eurasia and helped researchers estimate when Neanderthal-modern human interbreeding occurred. Early European individuals from sites such as Bacho Kiro in Bulgaria and Oase in Romania carried unusually recent Neanderthal ancestry. Some had Neanderthal ancestors only a few generations before they lived.
Ancient genomes from central and eastern Europe also reveal that some early modern-human populations disappeared while portions of their ancestry survived in later groups. Genetic evidence therefore indicates that the settlement of Eurasia was not a single migration followed by continuous population growth. Instead, early Homo sapiens populations repeatedly expanded, mixed, declined, and sometimes disappeared.
Migration and Population Transformation
One of the strongest recurring conclusions of ancient-DNA research is that human populations have moved and mixed repeatedly throughout history.
European population history provides particularly dense evidence. Ancient genomes reveal major contributions from hunter-gatherers, early farmers associated with populations originating in or near Anatolia, and later pastoralist populations connected with the Eurasian steppe. These movements profoundly altered European ancestry.
The spread of farming was often associated with substantial migration. In Britain, genetic evidence indicates that Neolithic farming arrived primarily through migration rather than simply through local hunter-gatherers adopting agriculture. Later, people associated with Bell Beaker culture were involved in another major population transformation. Bronze Age migrations subsequently introduced additional ancestry from continental Europe.
Large ancient-genome datasets from Denmark, Iberia, southeastern Europe, Sardinia, the Baltic region, and the Eurasian steppe document repeated phases of population turnover, continuity, migration, and admixture. The Viking world was also genetically diverse, showing that Viking identity did not correspond to a single homogeneous biological population.
Ancient genomes from early medieval England reveal substantial migration from continental northern Europe during the period traditionally associated with Anglo-Saxon settlement. Similarly, hundreds of genomes from Central and Eastern Europe connect the spread of Slavic cultural traditions with large-scale population movement.
Africa and the Deep History of Homo sapiens
Ancient DNA preservation is more difficult in warm environments, so Africa initially had fewer ancient genomes than Europe and northern Asia. Improvements in recovery techniques have gradually extended the African genetic record much further into the past.
Ancient genomes from southern Africa reveal extremely deep population structure and provide important evidence about early Homo sapiens diversity. Genomes from the Oakhurst rock shelter in South Africa extend the recoverable genetic record there to approximately 10,000 years ago, demonstrating that useful DNA can sometimes survive much longer in warm environments than previously expected.
Ancient hunter-gatherer genomes from sub-Saharan Africa reveal long-standing regional population structure combined with changing networks of interaction. Genetic studies also show that the spread of pastoralism into eastern and sub-Saharan Africa occurred through multiple migrations and episodes of admixture rather than through one population movement.
The expansion of Bantu-speaking peoples involved migration, founder effects, and repeated admixture with existing populations as communities moved across large areas of Africa.
On the medieval Swahili Coast, ancient DNA reveals substantial African and Asian ancestry, with genetic patterns consistent with complex interactions across the Indian Ocean world.
North Africa, Egypt, and the Green Sahara
Genetic evidence from North Africa is revealing populations whose history cannot be reduced to simple movements from either sub-Saharan Africa or Eurasia.
Ancient genomes from individuals who lived in the Green Sahara show ancestry from a deeply divergent North African lineage. These populations retained substantial local ancestry despite the introduction of livestock practices with origins outside the region.
Ancient Egyptian DNA also illustrates long-term connections between North Africa and Southwest Asia. Genome-wide evidence from ancient Egyptian individuals indicates both substantial North African ancestry and ancestry related to populations farther east, demonstrating biological movement alongside the cultural and economic connections visible archaeologically.
Asia and the Pacific
Ancient genomes have transformed understanding of population history throughout Asia.
In East Asia, ancient DNA reveals deeply structured prehistoric populations and multiple expansions associated with farming and later cultural developments. Ancient Japanese genomes support ancestry from Jomon hunter-gatherers as well as later populations connected with agricultural and state-forming periods.
DNA from the Tarim Basin mummies overturned earlier assumptions that these individuals represented recent migrants from western Eurasia. Instead, the genomes indicate substantial ancestry from an ancient North Eurasian-related population that had remained genetically isolated while adopting technologies and cultural practices from neighboring societies.
Across island Southeast Asia and the Pacific, ancient genomes document repeated dispersals involving Papuan-related and Austronesian-related populations. In some locations, genetically distinct communities lived near one another for long periods before extensive admixture occurred.
Early settlers associated with Lapita archaeological traditions carried predominantly East Asian-related ancestry, while later population movements introduced substantial Papuan-related ancestry. These genetic changes demonstrate that languages and cultural traditions can persist despite substantial demographic transformation.
The Peopling of the Americas
Ancient genomes have also clarified the population history of the Americas.
The genome of an approximately 11,500-year-old infant from Alaska identified an Ancient Beringian population near the base of Native American genetic diversification. The roughly 12,600-year-old Anzick individual associated with Clovis artifacts demonstrated close genetic relationships with Indigenous populations across the Americas.
An even older ancestry component was detected in the approximately 24,000-year-old Mal'ta individual from Siberia. This Ancient North Eurasian-related ancestry later contributed significantly to Native American populations.
Genomic evidence from South America and the Caribbean demonstrates additional migrations, population continuity, isolation, and replacement after the first settlement of the Americas. Ancient Rapa Nui genomes also provide evidence of Indigenous American ancestry predating sustained European contact while challenging claims of a catastrophic pre-European population collapse.
Ancient DNA and Social Organization
Ancient DNA can reconstruct relationships among people buried at the same archaeological sites, revealing forms of social organization that artifacts alone may not show.
At Fujia in Neolithic China, genetic relationships among dozens of individuals indicate a community organized around two maternal clans. At another site in the northern Yangtze region, ancient genomes reveal evidence of patrilineal organization.
Large genetic pedigrees reconstructed from Avar-period cemeteries extend across multiple generations and reveal marriage practices, residence patterns, female mobility, and family succession.
Ancient DNA has also identified communities that maintained genetic differences despite sharing similar material culture. This demonstrates that archaeological similarity does not necessarily mean extensive intermarriage.
At Chichén Itzá, genetic analysis of children placed in a ritual context revealed that the sampled individuals were boys and included identical twins, providing new information about Maya ritual practices and kinship.
Ancient Pathogens and the History of Disease
Ancient pathogen DNA has created a direct genetic record of infectious diseases extending thousands of years into the past.
Yersinia pestis, the bacterium responsible for plague, has been recovered from prehistoric, ancient, and medieval remains. Genomes reveal that plague infected Eurasian populations thousands of years before the Black Death. Some early strains lacked genetic adaptations associated with efficient flea transmission, while later Bronze Age strains show changes associated with forms of bubonic plague.
Ancient plague genomes have documented prehistoric transmission across Eurasia, outbreaks among hunter-gatherers near Lake Baikal, infections in Bronze Age Britain, the Justinianic pandemic, and the fourteenth-century Black Death.
DNA recovered from medieval graves in Central Asia helped identify plague strains ancestral to those associated with the Black Death, strengthening evidence concerning the pandemic's evolutionary origins.
Ancient DNA has similarly illuminated malaria, tuberculosis, leprosy, hepatitis B, smallpox-related viruses, Salmonella, Treponema pallidum, Streptococcus pyogenes, and other pathogens.
Genetic evidence from ancient tuberculosis in the Americas revealed strains closely related to bacteria infecting seals, demonstrating that tuberculosis existed there before European colonization. Ancient malaria genomes show how parasites traveled with human populations across several continents.
Ancient pathogen research can also identify infections that leave little or no visible skeletal evidence, expanding the archaeological record of disease beyond conditions recognizable from bones.
Natural Selection and Human Adaptation
Large ancient-genome datasets make it possible to observe natural selection through time rather than inferring it solely from genetic patterns among living populations.
Studies involving thousands of ancient genomes identify changes in the frequencies of variants associated with immunity, pigmentation, metabolism, diet, and disease susceptibility.
Some variants that today influence disease risk may once have been advantageous under different environmental conditions. Research involving steppe pastoralist ancestry, for example, has investigated how prehistoric migration and selection contributed to the modern distribution of variants associated with multiple sclerosis.
Ancient DNA has also been used to examine whether major epidemics altered human genetic variation. Research surrounding the Black Death illustrates both the possibilities and difficulties of detecting strong historical selection, as larger datasets can challenge interpretations produced by earlier studies.
DNA Beyond Human Bones
Ancient genetic information is increasingly recovered from sources other than recognizable human skeletal remains.
Researchers have extracted Neanderthal and Denisovan DNA directly from cave sediments. This means archaeological sites can reveal which human populations were present even when no identifiable human bones remain.
Human DNA has also been recovered from cave walls and pigment-associated deposits, suggesting that prehistoric rock-art sites may preserve biological traces of the people who visited or worked within them.
A non-destructive method recovered human DNA from a roughly 20,000-year-old deer-tooth pendant, linking an artifact directly with a person who probably made or handled it.
DNA preserved in chewed birch pitch has yielded a human genome together with oral microbes and dietary evidence. Dental calculus similarly preserves extraordinary biological archives containing microbial DNA, pathogens, dietary material, and evidence concerning oral health.
These discoveries are expanding ancient DNA from the study of skeletons into the study of entire archaeological environments.
Animals, Domestication, and Ecosystems
Ancient DNA is equally important for understanding animals and past ecosystems.
Million-year-old mammoth DNA dramatically extended the known survival limit of genetic material and revealed previously unknown mammoth lineages and episodes of hybridization.
Ancient wolf and dog genomes show that dogs had already diversified into several major lineages thousands of years ago. Their histories sometimes parallel human migrations, although dog populations could also be replaced independently.
Ancient horse genomes have changed understanding of domestication. Horses associated with the Botai culture contributed relatively little ancestry to most later domestic horses, while another lineage originating on the western Eurasian steppe eventually became dominant.
Ancient cat DNA traces the dispersal of domestic and wildcat-derived populations along human settlement and trade networks.
Environmental DNA from Greenland dating to approximately two million years ago reconstructed an ecosystem containing mastodons, reindeer, trees, and other organisms. This demonstrates that ancient DNA can reconstruct ecological communities far beyond the age range represented by most archaeological human genomes.
The Changing Picture of Human History
Taken together, ancient-DNA discoveries challenge simple narratives of fixed peoples occupying permanent ancestral homelands. The genomic record instead documents repeated movement, mixture, isolation, population replacement, and reorganization.
Genetic ancestry and cultural identity are also not equivalent. Similar archaeological cultures can include genetically different populations, while major genetic changes can occur without corresponding replacement of languages or cultural traditions.
Ancient DNA therefore works best when combined with archaeology, anthropology, linguistics, historical evidence, isotopic analysis, skeletal biology, and other forms of evidence. Genetics can reveal biological relationships and population movement, but it does not by itself determine cultural or social identity.
Conclusion
Ancient DNA has transformed the study of human and biological history. From Neanderthal and Denisovan genomes to prehistoric migrations, ancient epidemics, domesticated animals, social organization, and vanished ecosystems, genetic evidence has opened historical records that were previously inaccessible.
The rapidly expanding ancient-genome database shows that human history has been characterized by continual interaction. Populations migrated, separated, reunited, interbred, and adapted to changing environments. Diseases moved with humans and animals. Cultural traditions sometimes traveled with migrating populations and sometimes spread between genetically distinct communities.
Technological advances are now extending ancient DNA research beyond bones and teeth to sediments, artifacts, cave walls, dental calculus, environmental samples, and archaeological animal remains. As these methods improve and geographically underrepresented populations are sampled more extensively, ancient DNA is likely to provide an increasingly detailed picture of human evolution and the interconnected biological history of the planet.
- TOC**
Archaic Humans, Early Homo sapiens & Human Origins
Ancient Proteins Identify Various Denisovan Remains from Southwest China
| Huiyun Rao et al. | Nature | 2026-09-09
Ancient protein analysis identifies multiple Denisovan fossils from southwestern China, substantially expanding the known geographical and anatomical record of this elusive archaic human population.
Denisovans from Southwestern China and Their Subsistence Strategies
| Various authors | Nature | 2026-09-09
Fossils, stone tools and animal remains from Bianfu Cave indicate that Denisovans occupied southwestern China for tens of thousands of years and hunted a diverse range of animals.
Who Were the Denisovans? Rich Trove of Fossils and Tools Paints New Picture
| Dyani Lewis | Nature | 2026-09-09
New discoveries at a cave in southwestern China reveal Denisovan fossils, bone tools and evidence of hunting, providing an unusually detailed glimpse of Denisovan behavior.
Tracing ‘Ghost’ Ancestry in Modern Humans
| Petra Gross | Nature Genetics | 2026-09-08
A new genomic method detects traces of archaic ancestry without requiring DNA from the extinct population itself, revealing possible contributions from previously unknown hominin groups.
First Ever Skull from ‘Denisovan’ Reveals What Ancient People Looked Like
| Dyani Lewis | Nature | 2025-06-18
Protein and molecular evidence links a large-brained archaic skull from China with Denisovans, helping researchers reconstruct their physical appearance.
Pleistocene Chronology and History of Hominins and Fauna at Denisova Cave
| Zenobia Jacobs et al. | Nature Communications | 2025-05-21
Sedimentary ancient DNA helps reconstruct alternating occupations of Denisova Cave by Denisovans and Neanderthals over hundreds of thousands of years.
Who Were the Ancient Denisovans? Fossils Reveal Secrets About the Mysterious Humans
| Michael Marshall | Nature | 2025-05-20
Growing fossil, protein and DNA evidence is transforming Denisovans from a population originally known almost entirely through genetics into a recognizable group of ancient humans.
Mysterious Human Fossil Found in Taiwan Was a Denisovan
| Dyani Lewis | Nature | 2025-04-10
Ancient proteins extracted from the Penghu 1 jawbone link the fossil to Denisovans, extending evidence for the archaic population into subtropical East Asia.
Ancient Human Genomes Offer Clues About the Earliest Migrations Out of Africa
| María Martinón-Torres and Carles Lalueza-Fox | Nature | 2025-01-28
Early European genomes reveal populations associated with the first successful expansion of modern humans beyond Africa and help date their interbreeding with Neanderthals.
Earliest Modern Human Genomes Constrain Timing of Neanderthal Admixture
| Arev Sümer et al. | Nature | 2024-12-12
Genomes from roughly 45,000-year-old humans in Germany and Czechia help narrow the period during which ancestors of non-African humans interbred with Neanderthals.
A History of Multiple Denisovan Introgression Events in Modern Humans
| Linda Ongaro and Emilia Huerta-Sanchez | Nature Genetics | 2024-11-05
Genetic evidence indicates that modern humans encountered and interbred with several genetically distinct Denisovan populations rather than a single homogeneous group.
Middle and Late Pleistocene Denisovan Subsistence at Baishiya Karst Cave
| Xiaoshan Chen et al. | Nature | 2024
Molecular evidence and animal remains show Denisovans repeatedly occupied the high-altitude Tibetan Plateau and exploited a wide range of animal resources.
Homo sapiens Reached the Higher Latitudes of Europe by 45,000 Years Ago
| Jean-Jacques Hublin et al. | Nature | 2024
Ancient DNA and archaeological evidence from Ranis, Germany, demonstrate that modern humans occupied cold northern European environments while Neanderthals were still present elsewhere on the continent.
Ancient DNA Reveals Traces of Elusive First Humans in Europe
| Nature Research Highlight | Nature | 2023-10-23
Genomes from Crimea reveal that genetic ancestry from some of Europe's earliest Homo sapiens populations survived longer than previously recognized.
More Than a Decade of Genetic Research on the Denisovans
| Stéphane Peyrégne et al. | Nature Reviews Genetics | 2023-09-18
A review summarizes how tiny fragments of Denisovan fossils and their DNA have transformed understanding of archaic-human populations across eastern Eurasia.
Genome Sequences of 36,000- to 37,000-Year-Old Modern Humans at Buran-Kaya III in Crimea
| Eva-Maria Geigl and colleagues | Nature Ecology & Evolution | 2023
Two ancient genomes from Crimea reveal a population related to later Gravettian Europeans and preserve ancestry from earlier modern humans who entered Europe before 40,000 years ago.
Initial Upper Palaeolithic Humans in Europe Had Recent Neanderthal Ancestry
| Mateja Hajdinjak et al. | Nature | 2021-04-07
Ancient genomes from Bacho Kiro Cave show that some of Europe's earliest modern humans had Neanderthal ancestors only a few generations earlier.
Unearthing Neanderthal Population History Using Nuclear and Mitochondrial DNA from Cave Sediments
| Benjamin Vernot et al. | Science | 2021
Nuclear DNA extracted from cave sediments reconstructs turnovers among Neanderthal populations and demonstrates the power of dirt itself as a source of ancient hominin genomes.
A Genome Sequence from a Modern Human Skull Over 45,000 Years Old from Zlatý kůň
| Kay Prüfer et al. | Nature Ecology & Evolution | 2021
DNA from the Zlatý kůň skull represents one of the earliest modern-human genomes yet recovered from Europe and documents early migrations into Eurasia.
A High-Coverage Neandertal Genome from Chagyrskaya Cave
| Fabrizio Mafessoni et al. | PNAS | 2020
A Siberian Neanderthal genome reveals an extremely small ancestral population and closer genetic relationships with western Eurasian Neanderthals than nearby earlier Denisova Cave Neanderthals.
Age Estimates for Hominin Fossils and the Onset of the Upper Palaeolithic at Denisova Cave
| Katerina Douka et al. | Nature | 2019-01-30
Dating combined with genetic evidence reconstructs when Denisovans and Neanderthals occupied Denisova Cave and places Denisovans there nearly 200,000 years ago.
Denisovan Hybrid Cave Yields Four More Hominin Bones
| Matthew Warren | Nature | 2018-09-20
Protein-screening technology enabled researchers to identify additional human bone fragments among thousands of otherwise unidentifiable bones from Denisova Cave.
The Girl with Neanderthal and Denisovan Parents
| Dorothy Clyde | Nature Reviews Genetics | 2018-09-12
The Denisova 11 genome demonstrates that direct interbreeding occurred between Neanderthals and Denisovans when the populations encountered one another.
Ancient Child from Siberia Was Neanderthal and Denisovan Hybrid
| Josh Davis | Natural History Museum | 2018-08-23
The Natural History Museum explains how DNA from a small bone fragment established that a prehistoric girl had parents belonging to two archaic-human populations.
The Genome of the Offspring of a Neanderthal Mother and a Denisovan Father
| Viviane Slon et al. | Nature | 2018-08-22
DNA from Denisova 11 identifies a first-generation daughter of a Neanderthal mother and Denisovan father, providing direct evidence of archaic-human interbreeding.
Mum’s a Neanderthal, Dad’s a Denisovan: First Discovery of an Ancient-Human Hybrid
| Matthew Warren | Nature | 2018-08-22
Genetic analysis of a tiny Siberian bone fragment produced the first recognized first-generation hybrid between two distinct archaic-human populations.
Reconstructing the Genetic History of Late Neanderthals
| Mateja Hajdinjak et al. | Nature | 2018-03-21
Genomes from five late Neanderthals reveal geographical population structure and evidence for population replacement late in Neanderthal history.
A High-Coverage Neandertal Genome from Vindija Cave in Croatia
| Kay Prüfer et al. | Science | 2017
The Vindija Neanderthal genome is more closely related than the Altai individual to Neanderthals who contributed DNA to modern non-African populations.
Neandertal and Denisovan DNA from Pleistocene Sediments
| Viviane Slon et al. | Science | 2017
Researchers recovered archaic-human DNA directly from cave sediments, proving that human presence can be detected even when no recognizable skeletal remains survive.
Nuclear DNA Sequences from the Middle Pleistocene Sima de los Huesos Hominins
| Matthias Meyer et al. | Nature | 2016
Nuclear DNA recovered from approximately 430,000-year-old Spanish fossils demonstrates that the Sima de los Huesos people were evolutionarily closer to Neanderthals than Denisovans.
An Early Modern Human from Romania with a Recent Neanderthal Ancestor
| Qiaomei Fu et al. | Nature | 2015-06-22
DNA from the approximately 40,000-year-old Oase individual shows unusually high Neanderthal ancestry consistent with a Neanderthal ancestor only four to six generations earlier.
Genome Sequence of a 45,000-Year-Old Modern Human from Western Siberia
| Qiaomei Fu et al. | Nature | 2014
The Ust'-Ishim genome provided an exceptionally early snapshot of modern humans in Eurasia and helped date Neanderthal-modern-human interbreeding.
The Complete Genome Sequence of a Neanderthal from the Altai Mountains
| Kay Prüfer et al. | Nature | 2013-12-18
A high-coverage Siberian Neanderthal genome reveals extremely low genetic diversity, close parental relatedness and previously unknown episodes of gene flow among archaic humans.
DNA Analysis of an Early Modern Human from Tianyuan Cave, China
| Qiaomei Fu et al. | PNAS | 2013
DNA from an approximately 40,000-year-old person near Beijing reveals genetic relationships with the ancestors of many present-day East Asian and Native American populations.
A Mitochondrial Genome Sequence of a Hominin from Sima de los Huesos
| Matthias Meyer et al. | Nature | 2013
Exceptionally old mitochondrial DNA from a Middle Pleistocene Spanish hominin unexpectedly showed closer relationships to Denisovan mitochondrial DNA than to later Neanderthals.
A High-Coverage Genome Sequence from an Archaic Denisovan Individual
| Matthias Meyer et al. | Science | 2012
A high-quality genome reconstructed from a tiny Denisovan finger bone enabled detailed measurement of Denisovan ancestry, diversity and genetic relationships with modern humans.
A Draft Sequence of the Neandertal Genome
| Richard E. Green et al. | Science | 2010
The first draft Neanderthal nuclear genome provided decisive evidence that Neanderthals interbred with ancestors of present-day people outside Africa.
Genetic History of an Archaic Hominin Group from Denisova Cave in Siberia
| David Reich et al. | Nature | 2010
Nuclear DNA from Denisova Cave established that the mysterious fossil belonged to a previously unknown archaic human population distinct from Neanderthals.
The Complete Mitochondrial DNA Genome of an Unknown Hominin from Southern Siberia
| Johannes Krause et al. | Nature | 2010
Mitochondrial DNA from a tiny finger bone revealed a previously unknown human lineage, providing the first genetic evidence for the population later called Denisovans.
Ancient DNA and Neanderthals
| Smithsonian Human Origins Program | Smithsonian Institution | Undated
Genetic discoveries demonstrate repeated interbreeding between modern humans and Neanderthals and reveal migrations not apparent from skeletal evidence alone.
Ancient DNA Methods, Preservation & Resources
Ancient DNA Found on Cave Walls
| Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology | Max-Planck-Gesellschaft | 2026-06-24
Scientists report that ancient human DNA can survive on cave walls for thousands of years, opening a new source of genetic evidence where bones are absent.
Investigating Ancient Human DNA Preservation on Cave Walls and in Rock Art
| Various authors | Nature Communications | 2026-06-23
Researchers recovered ancient human DNA from cave-wall surfaces and pigment-associated deposits, suggesting rock-art sites can preserve biological traces of prehistoric visitors or artists.
How DNA in Dirt Is Shaking Up the Study of Human Origins
| Dyani Lewis | Nature | 2026-03-24
Ancient DNA recovered directly from archaeological sediments is allowing researchers to identify prehistoric human populations without requiring recognizable human bones or teeth.
A Tour de Force of Ancient DNA Analysis
| Ian Barnes | Nature Reviews Genetics | 2025-04-11
This perspective reviews the technological breakthroughs that transformed ancient DNA from unreliable short mitochondrial fragments into high-resolution population genomics.
Ancient DNA Holds Insights into Past Organisms and Ecosystems
| Anders Bergström, James A. Fellows Yates and Christina Warinner | Nature | 2024-12-10
Researchers describe how rapidly growing ancient-DNA archives now preserve genetic information about humans, pathogens, animals and ecosystems extending far into the past.
The Allen Ancient DNA Resource: A Curated Compendium of Ancient Human Genomes
| Swapan Mallick et al. | Scientific Data | 2024-02-10
The Allen Ancient DNA Resource organizes genome-wide data from more than 10,000 ancient individuals into a standardized dataset for population-history research.
Ancient Woman’s DNA Recovered from a 20,000-Year-Old Pendant
| Nature Research Briefing | Nature | 2023-05-03
DNA recovered directly from a Paleolithic pendant provides a new way to connect prehistoric objects with the individuals who made or handled them.
Prehistoric Pendant’s DNA Reveals the Person Who Held It
| Elissa Welle | Nature | 2023-05-03
Researchers extracted human DNA from a deer-tooth ornament without damaging it, linking the artifact to an Ancient North Eurasian woman.
Ancient Human DNA Recovered from a Palaeolithic Pendant
| Elena Essel et al. | Nature | 2023
A non-destructive technique recovered DNA from a roughly 20,000-year-old deer-tooth pendant and identified the likely maker or wearer as a woman.
From Neanderthal Genome to Nobel Prize: Meet Geneticist Svante Pääbo
| Ewen Callaway | Nature | 2022-10-07
A retrospective discusses the breakthroughs that produced the first Neanderthal genome, identified Denisovans genetically and established paleogenomics as a major field.
Ancient DNA Analysis
| Ludovic Orlando et al. | Nature Reviews Methods Primers | 2021
A comprehensive overview explains how ancient DNA is extracted, authenticated, sequenced and analyzed to reconstruct human, animal, plant and microbial history.
Natural Selection, Adaptation & Evolution
Insights into Human Adaptation from Ancient DNA
| Dina MemarMoshrefi et al. | Nature Genetics | 2026-04-28
This review explains how increasingly large ancient-genome datasets allow scientists to observe genetic adaptation through time and connect ancient selection with modern health.
Ancient DNA Reveals Pervasive Directional Selection Across West Eurasia
| Ali Akbari et al. | Nature | 2026-04-15
Analysis of nearly 16,000 ancient genomes identifies widespread natural selection affecting hundreds of genetic variants during approximately the past 10,000 years.
Landmark Ancient-Genome Study Shows Surprise Acceleration of Human Evolution
| Ewen Callaway | Nature | 2026-04-15
A massive ancient-genome dataset suggests that natural selection influenced far more human genes during recent prehistory than earlier studies had detected.
Massive Ancient-DNA Study Reveals Natural Selection Has Accelerated in Recent Human Evolution
| Stephanie Dutchen | Harvard University | 2026-04-15
Harvard researchers describe evidence from thousands of ancient genomes showing extensive prehistoric selection involving immunity, pigmentation and other biological traits.
Homo sapiens-Specific Evolution Unveiled by Ancient Southern African Genomes
| Carina Schlebusch et al. | Nature | 2026
Genome sequences from ancient southern Africans provide evidence about population structure and genetic changes that occurred during the evolutionary history of Homo sapiens.
A Crossroads in the Timeline of Human Evolution
| Diyendo Massilani | Nature Reviews Genetics | 2025-05-22
A retrospective examines the importance of recovering genetic information from the approximately 430,000-year-old Sima de los Huesos hominins for reconstructing Neanderthal and Denisovan evolution.
Ancient Genomes and the Evolutionary Path of Modern Humans
| Various authors | Cell | 2024-02-29
A synthesis of archaic and early modern human genomes examines how competition, admixture and population structure influenced the eventual global expansion of Homo sapiens.
The Selection Landscape and Genetic Legacy of Ancient Eurasians
| Evan K. Irving-Pease et al. | Nature | 2024
Ancient genomes reveal how natural selection acted on European populations through migrations involving hunter-gatherers, farmers and steppe pastoralists.
Elevated Genetic Risk for Multiple Sclerosis Emerged in Steppe Pastoralist Populations
| William Barrie et al. | Nature | 2024
Ancient DNA suggests that genetic variants associated today with multiple sclerosis increased in Europe partly through the migration and selection history of Bronze Age steppe pastoralists.
Genome-Wide Patterns of Selection in 230 Ancient Eurasians
| Iain Mathieson et al. | Nature | 2015-11-23
Ancient genomes allow researchers to track natural selection directly through time, including changes associated with pigmentation, diet and disease resistance.
Ancient Pathogens, Disease & Microbiomes
A Prehistoric East-Asian Yersinia pestis Genome and a ~5.3 ka Trans-Eurasian Expansion of Plague
| Various authors | Nature Communications | 2026-07-24
Ancient plague genomes reveal a rapid expansion of Yersinia pestis across Eurasia approximately 5,300 years ago, connecting prehistoric infections from Europe to northern China.
Ancient Strep Throat
| Devin L. Ward | Nature Ecology & Evolution | 2026-05-28
Ancient DNA from a pre-Columbian Andean mummy provides the oldest known genomic evidence of human infection by Streptococcus pyogenes.
An Ancient Genome of Streptococcus pyogenes from a Pre-Columbian Bolivian Mummy
| Guido Valverde et al. | Nature Communications | 2026
Researchers reconstructed a near-complete Streptococcus pyogenes genome from a Bolivian mummy dating to approximately the thirteenth or fourteenth century.
An Ancient Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae Genome Recovered from 1400-Year-Old Human Remains
| Various authors | Scientific Reports | 2026
DNA from a child buried in the northern Caucasus produced a high-quality ancient genome of a pathogen associated today with animals and occasional human infection.
Lethal Plague Outbreaks in Lake Baikal Hunter-Gatherers 5,500 Years Ago
| Various authors | Nature | 2026
Ancient DNA from hunter-gatherer cemeteries near Lake Baikal reveals repeated outbreaks of very early Yersinia pestis thousands of years before historically documented plague pandemics.
Probing the Zooarchaeological Record Across Time and Space for Ancient Pathogen DNA
| Various authors | Nature Communications | 2026
Screening ancient animal remains for microbial DNA demonstrates that archaeological faunal collections can preserve a previously underused record of animal and zoonotic diseases.
Ancient DNA Insights into Diverse Pathogens and Their Hosts
| Kelly E. Blevins et al. | Nature Reviews Genetics | 2025-12-03
Ancient pathogen genomics reveals how diseases, hosts and immune responses evolved over centuries and millennia rather than being inferred exclusively from modern organisms.
Insights into Infectious Diseases Through Ancient Pathogen Genomics
| Arthur Kocher et al. | Nature Reviews Microbiology | 2025-11-17
Ancient microbial genomes are transforming knowledge of the emergence, spread and evolution of infectious diseases including plague, malaria, tuberculosis and viral infections.
Ancient Genomes Reveal a Deep History of Treponema pallidum in the Americas
| Rodrigo Barquera et al. | Nature | 2025
Ancient bacterial genomes from the Americas push the history of the pathogen family responsible for syphilis and related diseases deeper into the pre-Columbian past.
The Spatiotemporal Distribution of Human Pathogens in Ancient Eurasia
| Various authors | Nature | 2025
Large-scale screening of ancient human remains reconstructs when numerous infectious pathogens appeared and spread across Eurasia and identifies several cases of ancient coinfection.
Ancient Plasmodium Genomes Shed Light on the History of Human Malaria
| Various authors | Nature | 2024-06-12
Ancient genomes of several malaria parasites reveal how malaria moved with human populations and circulated across Africa, Europe, Asia and the Americas.
Ancient Malaria Genome from Roman Skeleton Hints at Disease’s History
| Tosin Thompson | Nature | 2024-03-13
Genetic material recovered from ancient human remains provides direct evidence about malaria infections in the Roman world and the parasite's historical distribution.
Did the Black Death Shape the Human Genome? Study Challenges Bold Claim
| Ewen Callaway | Nature | 2024-01-17
Ancient DNA from medieval Cambridge failed to reproduce strong evidence for plague-driven genetic selection reported in earlier work, illustrating how expanding datasets can revise interpretations.
Yersinia pestis Genomes Reveal Plague in Britain 4,000 Years Ago
| Pooja Swali et al. | Nature Communications | 2023
DNA from Bronze Age British skeletons provides the earliest known evidence of plague in Britain and links the infections with a prehistoric Eurasian plague lineage.
Rickettsia felis DNA Recovered from a Child Who Lived in Southern Africa 2,000 Years Ago
| Various authors | Communications Biology | 2023
Metagenomic sequencing of a Later Stone Age child from South Africa recovered an ancient genome of Rickettsia felis, providing rare direct evidence of prehistoric African infectious disease.
Black Death and the Evolution of Immunity
| Safia Danovi | Nature Genetics | 2022-12-05
Ancient DNA from people who lived before, during and after the Black Death identifies immune-related variants that changed substantially in frequency.
Ancient DNA Traces Origin of Black Death
| Nature News | Nature | 2022-06-15
DNA from medieval graves in Kyrgyzstan identifies plague strains ancestral to those responsible for the fourteenth-century Black Death.
The Source of the Black Death in Fourteenth-Century Central Eurasia
| Maria A. Spyrou et al. | Nature | 2022
Ancient Yersinia pestis genomes from Kyrgyzstan locate an ancestral strain near the beginning of the explosive diversification associated with the Black Death.
Genomic Signatures of Pre-Resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis
| Antonio Torres Ortiz et al. | Nature Communications | 2021
Ancient tuberculosis genomes reveal naturally occurring genetic variants related to antimicrobial resistance long before modern antibiotics were invented.
Ancient Viral Genomes Reveal Introduction of Human Pathogenic Viruses into Mexico During the Transatlantic Slave Trade
| Ana A. Guzmán-Solís et al. | eLife | 2021
Viral DNA recovered from colonial-period human remains reveals hepatitis B and parvovirus infections associated with people forcibly transported from Africa to Mexico.
Diverse Variola Virus Strains Were Widespread in Northern Europe in the Viking Age
| Barbara Mühlemann et al. | Science | 2020
Ancient DNA reveals that smallpox-related variola viruses circulated widely in Viking Age northern Europe and included an extinct lineage distinct from later historic smallpox.
A 5700 Year-Old Human Genome and Oral Microbiome from Chewed Birch Pitch
| Theis Z. T. Jensen et al. | Nature Communications | 2019-12-17
A piece of prehistoric birch pitch preserved the genome, oral microbiome and dietary DNA of a Stone Age woman who chewed it.
Ancient Yersinia pestis Genomes Reveal Early Diversification During the First Pandemic
| Marcel Keller et al. | PNAS | 2019
Eight plague genomes from early medieval Europe reveal considerable bacterial diversity during the Justinianic pandemic and confirm its spread as far as Britain.
Ancient Hepatitis B Viruses from the Bronze Age to the Medieval Period
| Barbara Mühlemann et al. | Nature | 2018-05-09
Ancient viral genomes reveal that hepatitis B infected humans thousands of years ago and that several prehistoric viral lineages later disappeared.
Ancient DNA Study Reveals HLA Susceptibility Locus for Leprosy in Medieval Europeans
| Ben Krause-Kyora et al. | Nature Communications | 2018-05-01
DNA from medieval skeletons confirms leprosy infections and identifies human immune variants associated with susceptibility to the disease.
Analysis of 3,800-Year-Old Yersinia pestis Genomes Suggests Bronze Age Origin for Bubonic Plague
| Maria A. Spyrou et al. | Nature Communications | 2018
Bronze Age plague genomes reveal genetic changes associated with flea transmission and indicate that forms capable of bubonic plague evolved thousands of years ago.
Salmonella enterica Genomes from Victims of a Major Sixteenth-Century Epidemic in Mexico
| Åshild J. Vågene et al. | Nature Ecology & Evolution | 2018
Ancient bacterial DNA identifies Salmonella Paratyphi C in victims of the devastating sixteenth-century cocoliztli epidemic in colonial Mexico.
Neanderthal Behaviour, Diet, and Disease Inferred from Ancient DNA in Dental Calculus
| Laura S. Weyrich et al. | Nature | 2017-03-08
DNA preserved in Neanderthal dental calculus reveals diet, oral microbes, disease and possible medicinal plant use tens of thousands of years ago.
Early Divergent Strains of Yersinia pestis in Eurasia 5,000 Years Ago
| Simon Rasmussen et al. | Cell | 2015
Ancient bacterial genomes show that plague infected people across Eurasia thousands of years before the Black Death and before the bacterium evolved efficient flea transmission.
Pre-Columbian Mycobacterial Genomes Reveal Seals as a Source of New World Human Tuberculosis
| Kirsten I. Bos et al. | Nature | 2014-08-20
Ancient tuberculosis genomes from Peru reveal a lineage closely related to bacteria infecting seals, demonstrating tuberculosis existed in the Americas before European contact.
Pathogens and Host Immunity in the Ancient Human Oral Cavity
| Christina Warinner et al. | Nature Genetics | 2014
Medieval dental calculus preserves microbial DNA, human immune proteins, pathogens and dietary evidence, establishing calcified plaque as an extraordinary archive of ancient biology.
Sequencing Ancient Calcified Dental Plaque Shows Changes in Oral Microbiota
| Christina J. Adler et al. | Nature Genetics | 2013-02-17
Ancient dental calculus reveals major changes in human oral microbial communities associated with the transition to agriculture and, later, industrialized diets.
Genome-Wide Comparison of Medieval and Modern Mycobacterium leprae
| Verena J. Schuenemann et al. | Science | 2013
Medieval leprosy genomes reveal remarkable genetic stability in Mycobacterium leprae and help trace historical transmission of the disease between continents.
A Draft Genome of Yersinia pestis from Victims of the Black Death
| Kirsten I. Bos et al. | Nature | 2011
DNA recovered from fourteenth-century London plague victims produced the first genome of the Black Death bacterium and established ancient pathogen genomics as a powerful historical tool.
Animals, Domestication & Environmental DNA
Ancient DNA from the Upper Paleolithic Mammoth Ivory of Hohle Fels, Germany
| Kelsey N. Moreland et al. | Scientific Reports | 2026-05-14
DNA recovered from Upper Paleolithic mammoth ivory demonstrates how worked archaeological materials can preserve genetic information about the animals used by prehistoric people.
Ancient DNA Reveals Genetic Admixture in China During Tiger Evolution
| Various authors | Nature Ecology & Evolution | 2023
Ancient and historical tiger genomes reveal extinct lineages, gene flow among regional tiger populations and previously unknown aspects of the evolutionary history of Asian tigers.
DNA Reveals That Mastodons Roamed a Forested Greenland Two Million Years Ago
| Nature Research Briefing | Nature | 2022-12-07
Exceptionally old environmental DNA demonstrates that northern Greenland once supported a biologically rich boreal ecosystem with no exact modern equivalent.
Grey Wolf Genomic History Reveals a Dual Ancestry of Dogs
| Anders Bergström et al. | Nature | 2022-06-29
Seventy-two ancient wolf genomes spanning about 100,000 years suggest dogs obtained ancestry from at least two ancient wolf populations.
Ice Age Wolf Genomes Home In on Dog Origins
| Nature Research Briefing | Nature | 2022-06-29
Ancient wolf genomes reveal extraordinary genetic connectivity during the Ice Age and provide new evidence concerning the still-unresolved origins of domestic dogs.
A 2-Million-Year-Old Ecosystem in Greenland Uncovered by Environmental DNA
| Kurt H. Kjær et al. | Nature | 2022
Environmental DNA approximately two million years old reconstructs a vanished Greenland ecosystem containing mastodons, reindeer, trees and numerous other organisms.
Ancient DNA Points to Origins of Modern Domestic Horses
| Tosin Thompson | Nature | 2021-10-22
Genetic evidence traces modern domestic horses to animals living near the Volga and Don rivers before their dramatic expansion across Eurasia.
The Origins and Spread of Domestic Horses from the Western Eurasian Steppes
| Pablo Librado et al. | Nature | 2021-10-20
Ancient horse genomes identify the western Eurasian steppe as the homeland of the lineage that rapidly became dominant among modern domestic horses.
Million-Year-Old DNA Sheds Light on the Genomic History of Mammoths
| Tom van der Valk et al. | Nature | 2021-02-17
DNA from million-year-old Siberian mammoth teeth shattered previous age records and revealed an unexpected mammoth lineage involved in later hybridization.
Million-Year-Old Mammoth Genomes Shatter Record for Oldest Ancient DNA
| Ewen Callaway | Nature | 2021-02-17
Sequencing DNA preserved in ancient Siberian mammoth teeth pushed genomic reconstruction beyond the million-year barrier.
Million-Year-Old DNA Provides a Glimpse of Mammoth Evolution
| Alfred L. Roca | Nature | 2021-02-17
Mammoth genomes more than one million years old reveal evolutionary relationships and ancient hybridization impossible to reconstruct from fossils alone.
Origins and Genetic Legacy of Prehistoric Dogs
| Anders Bergström et al. | Science | 2020
Twenty-seven ancient dog genomes show that at least five major dog lineages already existed by 11,000 years ago and reveal striking parallels between dog and human migrations.
Ancient Genomes Revisit the Ancestry of Domestic and Przewalski's Horses
| Charleen Gaunitz et al. | Science | 2018
Ancient horse genomes show that Przewalski's horses descend from animals managed by the Botai and that the lineage leading to modern domestic horses came from another population.
The First Horse Herders and the Impact of Early Bronze Age Steppe Expansions into Asia
| Peter de Barros Damgaard et al. | Science | 2018
Human and horse-related archaeological genetics show that the Botai horse-herding population was genetically distinct from the Yamnaya and reveal complex population movements across Inner Asia.
The Palaeogenetics of Cat Dispersal in the Ancient World
| Claudio Ottoni et al. | Nature Ecology & Evolution | 2017
Ancient cat DNA reveals separate contributions from Near Eastern and Egyptian wildcat populations and traces the spread of domestic cats along prehistoric and historic human trade routes.
Kinship, Society & Cultural Transmission
Ancient DNA from Shimao City Records Kinship Practices in Neolithic China
| Chen et al. | Nature | 2025-11-26
Ancient genomes from the fortified settlement of Shimao reveal population origins, family relationships and social practices within one of Late Neolithic China's largest urban centers.
Ancient DNA Offers Clues About Mysterious Prehistoric Settlement in China
| Yu Dong and Ripan S. Malhi | Nature | 2025-11-26
Genomic evidence from Shimao helps reconstruct the origins, kinship networks and population structure of people living at the massive walled settlement roughly 4,000 years ago.
Ancient DNA Reveals Population Interactions and a Neolithic Patrilineal Community in the Northern Yangtze Region
| Tingyu Yang et al. | Nature Communications | 2025-09-30
Genomes from the Baligang archaeological site reveal successive waves of population mixture and evidence of a patrilineally organized community about five thousand years ago.
Ancient DNA Reveals a Two-Clanned Matrilineal Community in Neolithic China
| Wang et al. | Nature | 2025-06-04
Ancient DNA from 60 people buried at Fujia in eastern China reveals an unusual Neolithic society organized around two maternal clans, providing rare genetic evidence for matrilineal social organization.
Ancient DNA Reveals Reproductive Barrier Despite Shared Avar-Period Culture
| Ke Wang et al. | Nature | 2025-01-15
Hundreds of genomes from neighboring Avar-period cemeteries show that communities sharing similar material culture maintained remarkably different ancestry for generations.
Ancient Genomes Reveal Insights into Ritual Life at Chichén Itzá
| Rodrigo Barquera et al. | Nature | 2024-06-12
DNA from 64 children buried at Chichén Itzá shows that all were boys and includes two pairs of identical twins, providing new evidence about Maya ritual practices and kinship.
Network of Large Pedigrees Reveals Social Practices of Avar Communities
| Guido Gnecchi-Ruscone et al. | Nature | 2024-04-24
Genome-wide data from hundreds of Avar-period people allow researchers to reconstruct pedigrees extending for as many as nine generations and identify patrilineal and marriage practices.
Ancient DNA Reveals Neolithic Social Inequality in Biological Outcomes
| Samantha Cox et al. | Nature Human Behaviour | 2024
Combining ancient genomes, skeletal measurements and isotopes suggests that culturally mediated differences in childhood conditions contributed to sex differences in adult stature in parts of Neolithic Europe.
Ancient DNA Reveals Admixture History and Endogamy in the Prehistoric Aegean
| Eirini Skourtanioti et al. | Nature Ecology & Evolution | 2023-01-16
Genomes from more than 100 people in Greece and Crete reveal changing ancestry and unusually close-kin marriages in parts of the Bronze Age Aegean.
Africa & the Middle East
A Genome from Ancient Egypt
| Nature Research Briefing | Nature | 2025-07-02
A genome obtained from a man who lived about 4,500–4,800 years ago provides direct evidence that human movement accompanied cultural and economic connections between Egypt and Southwest Asia.
Ancient DNA Reveals Phoenicians’ Surprising Genetic Ancestry
| Ewen Callaway | Nature | 2025-04-23
A large ancient-DNA survey finds that Punic communities across North Africa, Iberia and Mediterranean islands were far more genetically diverse than expected.
Punic People Were Genetically Diverse with Almost No Levantine Ancestors
| Harald Ringbauer et al. | Nature | 2025-04-23
DNA from hundreds of individuals associated with Phoenician and Punic settlements shows that Phoenician culture spread around the Mediterranean largely without mass migration from the Levant.
Ancient DNA Reveals Human Lineage of Green Sahara Dwellers
| Archaeology Magazine | Archaeology | 2025-04-07
DNA from women buried at Takarkori in Libya reveals that people inhabiting the Green Sahara belonged largely to a long-isolated North African lineage.
Ancient DNA from the Green Sahara Reveals Ancestral North African Lineage
| Nada Salem et al. | Nature | 2025-04-02
Genomes from two approximately 7,000-year-old women from Libya reveal a deeply divergent North African lineage that survived during the Green Sahara period with relatively limited sub-Saharan admixture.
Whole-Genome Ancestry of an Old Kingdom Egyptian
| Adeline Morez Jacobs et al. | Nature | 2025
The first high-quality whole genome from an ancient Egyptian individual reveals predominantly North African ancestry together with approximately one-fifth ancestry related to populations of the eastern Fertile Crescent.
First Ancient Genomes from the Green Sahara Deciphered
| Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology | Max-Planck-Gesellschaft | 2025
Researchers describe the first genome-wide DNA recovered from ancient inhabitants of the central Sahara, opening a genetic window onto pastoral populations who lived there when the desert was green.
Oldest DNA from South Africa Decoded to Date
| Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology | Max-Planck-Gesellschaft | 2024-09-19
Genomes from Oakhurst rock shelter include a roughly 10,000-year-old individual, dramatically extending the time depth of ancient human genomic data from southern Africa.
The Genetic Legacy of the Expansion of Bantu-Speaking Peoples in Africa
| Various authors | Nature | 2023-11-29
Ancient and modern genomes document the migration routes, founder effects and local admixture accompanying the vast expansion of Bantu-speaking populations across sub-Saharan Africa.
Ancient DNA Reveals How Farming Spread into Northwest Africa
| Louise Humphrey and Abdeljalil Bouzouggar | Nature | 2023-06-07
Genomes from Morocco show that the transition to farming in northwest Africa involved both incoming European-related farmers and local North African hunter-gatherer ancestry.
Entwined African and Asian Genetic Roots of Medieval Peoples of the Swahili Coast
| Esther Brielle et al. | Nature | 2023-03-29
Ancient DNA from medieval Swahili towns reveals extensive mixture between predominantly African women and men with ancestry connected to Persia and other parts of Asia.
Ancient DNA and Deep Population Structure in Sub-Saharan African Foragers
| Mark Lipson et al. | Nature | 2022-02-23
Genome-wide DNA from ancient African hunter-gatherers reveals long-lasting regional population structure and changing patterns of interaction across the continent.
Ancient DNA Illuminates How Humans Travelled and Interacted in Stone Age Africa
| Nature Research Briefing | Nature | 2022-02-23
Some of the oldest ancient genomes recovered from sub-Saharan Africa reveal complex connections among populations during and after the Late Pleistocene.
A Rare Look at Ancient African Societies
| Elsabe Brits | Nature Africa | 2022-05-04
Ancient DNA reaching roughly 18,000 years into sub-Saharan Africa provides an unusually deep genetic view of Stone Age populations and their changing networks of interaction.
The Genetic History of the Southern Arc: A Bridge Between West Asia and Europe
| Iosif Lazaridis et al. | Science | 2022
More than 700 ancient genomes reveal extensive population movements between Anatolia, the Caucasus, southeastern Europe and the Eurasian steppe over approximately ten thousand years.
The Genomic History of the Bronze Age Southern Levant
| Lily Agranat-Tamir et al. | Cell | 2020-05-28
Ancient DNA from Bronze and Iron Age people reveals that Canaanite-associated populations shared ancestry produced by repeated mixture between local and eastern populations.
Ancient West African Foragers in the Context of African Population History
| Mark Lipson et al. | Nature | 2020-01-22
Ancient DNA from children buried at Shum Laka in Cameroon reveals unexpected population relationships and extremely deep genetic structure in Africa.
Genomic History of Neolithic to Bronze Age Anatolia, Northern Levant, and Southern Caucasus
| Eirini Skourtanioti et al. | Cell | 2020
Genome-wide data from 110 ancient individuals reveal large-scale mixing among populations of Anatolia, the Caucasus and northern Levant from the Neolithic through Bronze Age.
Origin and Health Status of First-Generation Africans from Early Colonial Mexico
| Rodrigo Barquera et al. | Current Biology | 2020
Genomic, isotopic and pathogen evidence identifies first-generation Africans brought to colonial Mexico and reveals aspects of their origins, disease exposure and forced migration.
Ancient DNA Sheds Light on the Origins of the Biblical Philistines
| Max Planck Institute | Max-Planck-Gesellschaft | 2019-07-04
Ancient genomes indicate that people with southern European-related ancestry reached Ashkelon around the beginning of the Iron Age and soon mixed with local populations.
Ancient DNA Sheds Light on the Genetic Origins of Early Iron Age Philistines
| Michal Feldman et al. | Science Advances | 2019-07-03
Genomes from Ashkelon reveal a temporary influx of European-related ancestry around the archaeological transition associated with the arrival of the Philistines.
A Transient Pulse of Genetic Admixture from the Crusaders in the Near East
| Marc Haber et al. | American Journal of Human Genetics | 2019
Ancient genomes from medieval Lebanon identify European Crusaders, local people and individuals of mixed ancestry within a mass burial at Sidon.
Ancient DNA Reveals a Multistep Spread of the First Herders into Sub-Saharan Africa
| Mary E. Prendergast et al. | Science | 2019
Ancient genomes from eastern Africa show that pastoralism spread through several waves of population movement and admixture rather than through a single migration.
Ancient Egyptian Mummy Genomes Suggest an Increase of Sub-Saharan African Ancestry in Post-Roman Periods
| Verena J. Schuenemann et al. | Nature Communications | 2017-05-30
Genome-wide DNA recovered from ancient Egyptian mummies demonstrates the feasibility of Egyptian paleogenomics and reveals changing population relationships through time.
Southern African Ancient Genomes Estimate Modern Human Divergence
| Carina M. Schlebusch et al. | Science | 2017
Ancient southern African genomes reveal extremely deep population divergences and provide evidence about population structure near the origins of Homo sapiens.
Genetic Origins of the Minoans and Mycenaeans
| Iosif Lazaridis et al. | Nature | 2017
Ancient DNA shows that Minoans and Mycenaeans shared much of their ancestry while Mycenaeans received additional ancestry linked to northern Eurasian populations.
Genomic Insights into the Origin of Farming in the Ancient Near East
| Iosif Lazaridis et al. | Nature | 2016
Ancient DNA from Natufians, early Iranian farmers and other Near Eastern populations shows that agriculture emerged among genetically distinct regional groups that later mixed extensively.
Ancient Ethiopian Genome Reveals Extensive Eurasian Admixture
| Marcos Gallego Llorente et al. | Science | 2015
The approximately 4,500-year-old Mota genome became the first ancient African whole genome and provided a baseline for investigating later West Eurasian gene flow into eastern Africa.
East Asia, South Asia & the Pacific
Ancient DNA Reveals the Prehistory of the Uralic and Yeniseian Peoples
| Various authors | Nature | 2025-07-02
Genomes from 180 ancient people reconstruct thousands of years of population movement across northern Eurasia and clarify genetic histories associated with Uralic and Yeniseian language speakers.
Papua New Guinea's Genetic Past Through Ancient DNA Analysis
| Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology | Max-Planck-Gesellschaft | 2025-06-04
The first substantial collection of ancient genomes from coastal Papua New Guinea documents migration, delayed admixture and changing regional interaction networks across 2,500 years.
The Impact of Human Dispersals and Local Interactions on the Genetic Diversity of Coastal Papua New Guinea
| Various authors | Nature Ecology & Evolution | 2025
Ancient genomes spanning approximately 2,500 years reveal multiple migration episodes and surprisingly long periods during which genetically distinct communities in Papua New Guinea lived near one another without extensive mixing.
Ancient Genome Analyses Shed Light on Humans of a Cliff Tomb from Southwestern China
| Fan Zhang et al. | Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports | 2024
Ancient genomes indicate that people buried in a southwestern Chinese cliff tomb had ancestry associated with populations from China's Central Plains.
Ancient Genomes from the Last Three Millennia Support Multiple Human Dispersals into Wallacea
| Sandra Oliveira et al. | Nature Ecology & Evolution | 2022
Ancient genomes from islands between Asia and Australia reveal multiple episodes of migration involving Papuan-related, Austronesian-related and other populations.
The Genomic Origins of the Bronze Age Tarim Basin Mummies
| Fan Zhang et al. | Nature | 2021-10-27
DNA shows that the famous Tarim Basin mummies belonged largely to a genetically isolated ancient North Eurasian-derived population rather than recent western migrants.
DNA Reveals Surprise Ancestry of Mysterious Chinese Mummies
| Smriti Mallapaty | Nature | 2021-10-27
Ancient DNA overturns longstanding assumptions that the Tarim Basin mummies were recent migrants from western Eurasia.
The Unexpected Ancestry of Inner Asian Mummies
| Paula N. Doumani Dupuy | Nature | 2021-10-27
Genomic evidence reveals a striking contrast between the genetic isolation of the Tarim people and their adoption of technologies and practices from neighboring cultures.
Genomic Insights into the Formation of Human Populations in East Asia
| Chuan-Chao Wang et al. | Nature | 2021-02-22
Genome-wide data from 166 ancient East Asians reveal deeply diverged coastal and inland populations and multiple expansions associated with farming and language dispersals.
Ancient Genomics Reveals Tripartite Origins of Japanese Populations
| Niall P. Cooke et al. | Science Advances | 2021
Ancient Japanese genomes reveal contributions from Jomon hunter-gatherers, northeast Asian ancestry associated with Yayoi farming and later East Asian ancestry connected with state formation.
Ancient Genomes from Northern China Suggest Links Between Subsistence Changes and Human Migration
| Chao Ning et al. | Nature Communications | 2020-06-01
Fifty-five ancient genomes reveal population movements associated with changing millet farming, pastoralism and subsistence systems in prehistoric northern China.
A Dynamic 6,000-Year Genetic History of Eurasia’s Eastern Steppe
| Choongwon Jeong et al. | Cell | 2020
More than 200 ancient genomes reveal repeated population mixing across Mongolia and illuminate the genetic formation of Xiongnu and later Mongol populations.
An Ancient Genome from the Indus Valley Civilization
| Vasant Shinde et al. | Cell | 2019
The first genome-wide data from an individual associated with the Indus Valley Civilization provides evidence concerning South Asian population history, farming and later migrations.
137 Ancient Human Genomes from Across the Eurasian Steppes
| Peter de Barros Damgaard et al. | Nature | 2018-05-09
Ancient genomes reveal repeated migrations across the Eurasian steppe involving Scythians, Huns and other populations over approximately four thousand years.
Ancient Genomes Document Multiple Waves of Migration in Southeast Asian Prehistory
| Mark Lipson et al. | Science | 2018
Ancient genomes show Southeast Asia was shaped by several population movements involving indigenous hunter-gatherers and later farming populations from East Asia.
Ancient DNA Reveals Genetic Replacement Despite Language Continuity in the South Pacific
| Cosimo Posth et al. | Nature Ecology & Evolution | 2018
Ancient genomes reveal substantial Papuan-related population movement into Vanuatu after the initial Austronesian settlement without replacement of the Austronesian languages.
Genomic Insights into the Peopling of the Southwest Pacific
| Pontus Skoglund et al. | Nature | 2016
Ancient DNA from early Pacific Islanders shows that the first Lapita-associated settlers had predominantly East Asian ancestry before later mixing extensively with Papuan-related populations.
Population Genomics of Bronze Age Eurasia
| Morten E. Allentoft et al. | Nature | 2015-06-10
Genomes from 101 ancient Eurasians reveal the Bronze Age as a period of enormous population movement and replacement connecting Europe and Central Asia.
Europe, Eurasia & General Population History
Lasting Lower Rhine–Meuse Forager Ancestry Shaped Bell Beaker Expansion
| Various authors | Nature | 2026-02-11
Ancient genomes from the Netherlands, Belgium and western Germany reveal an unusually persistent population with substantial hunter-gatherer ancestry that later contributed to Bell Beaker populations.
Claims of Pure Bloodlines, Ancestral Homelands? DNA Science Says No
| Alvin Powell | Harvard Gazette | 2025-09-18
Ancient DNA research shows that repeated migration and population mixture, rather than long-term genetic isolation, characterize much of human history.
Ancient DNA Connects Large-Scale Migration with the Spread of Slavs
| Joscha Gretzinger et al. | Nature | 2025-09-03
More than 500 ancient genomes show that the appearance of Slavic culture in parts of Central and Eastern Europe coincided with substantial population movement from Eastern Europe.
Sedimentary Ancient DNA Perspective on Human and Carnivore Persistence in El Mirón Cave
| Various authors | Nature Communications | 2025
DNA extracted directly from cave sediments reveals humans, wolves, hyenas and numerous other animals that occupied northern Spain during the Late Pleistocene.
Biomolecular Analysis of the Epigravettian Human Remains from Riparo Tagliente
| Various authors | Communications Biology | 2024
DNA and isotopic evidence from approximately 17,000-year-old remains in northern Italy help document the arrival of ancestry that became widespread among later European hunter-gatherers.
Ancient Migration and the Modern Genome
| Michael Attwaters | Nature Reviews Genetics | 2024-02-05
Ancient DNA traces three major population movements that helped shape the ancestry and genetic diversity of present-day European populations.
100 Ancient Genomes Show Repeated Population Turnovers in Neolithic Denmark
| Morten E. Allentoft et al. | Nature | 2024-01-10
A dense ancient-DNA record reveals repeated replacement and mixing of hunter-gatherer, farmer and steppe-derived populations in prehistoric Denmark.
Population Genomics of Post-Glacial Western Eurasia
| Morten E. Allentoft et al. | Nature | 2024-01-10
Hundreds of ancient genomes reconstruct population movements across western Eurasia from the end of the Ice Age through the spread of agriculture.
Ancient DNA Uncovers Past Migrations in California
| Alan Izarraras-Gomez and Diego Ortega-Del Vecchyo | Nature | 2023-11-22
Genomes from ancient people in California and Mexico reveal migrations that may help explain the prehistoric spread of several Indigenous language groups.
Genomic Transformations of Eurasian Hunter-Gatherer Populations During the Last Ice Age
| Linda Koch | Nature Reviews Genetics | 2023-03-13
Hundreds of ancient genomes reveal repeated population replacements, refugia and expansions among hunter-gatherers before and after the Last Glacial Maximum.
Palaeogenomics of Upper Palaeolithic to Neolithic European Hunter-Gatherers
| Cosimo Posth et al. | Nature | 2023-03-01
Analysis of 356 ancient hunter-gatherer genomes reconstructs population replacements and refuges in Europe across the Last Glacial Maximum and subsequent climatic transitions.
Ancient DNA from Medieval Germany Tells the Origin Story of Ashkenazi Jews
| Max Planck Institute | Max-Planck-Gesellschaft | 2022-11-30
Genome-wide data from 33 medieval Jewish individuals reveal greater genetic diversity in fourteenth-century Erfurt than is found among most present-day Ashkenazi Jewish populations.
The Anglo-Saxon Migration and the Formation of the Early English Gene Pool
| Joscha Gretzinger et al. | Nature | 2022-09-21
Hundreds of ancient genomes demonstrate substantial migration from continental northern Europe into England during the early medieval period.
Ancient DNA Reveals Details About Early Medieval Migration into England
| Nature Research Briefing | Nature | 2022-09-21
Ancient genomes reveal the scale and social complexity of migration into post-Roman Britain and its contribution to later English ancestry.
Genome-Wide Data from Medieval German Jews Reveal Ashkenazi Population History
| Shamam Waldman et al. | Cell | 2022
DNA from medieval Jews buried in Erfurt shows that substantial Ashkenazi population structure existed before the fourteenth century and reveals ancestry components that later mixed.
Large-Scale Migration into Britain During the Middle to Late Bronze Age
| Nick Patterson et al. | Nature | 2021-12-22
Nearly 800 ancient genomes reveal substantial migration from continental Europe into southern Britain during the later Bronze Age.
Population Genomics of the Viking World
| Ashot Margaryan et al. | Nature | 2020-09-16
More than 400 Viking-age genomes reveal substantial regional genetic differences within Scandinavia and trace Viking migrations across Europe and the North Atlantic.
Genetic History from the Middle Neolithic to Present on Sardinia
| Joseph H. Marcus et al. | Nature Communications | 2020-02-24
Seventy ancient Sardinian genomes reveal long periods of genetic continuity followed by substantial Mediterranean gene flow beginning in the first millennium BCE.
Ancient Rome: A Genetic Crossroads of Europe and the Mediterranean
| Margaret L. Antonio et al. | Science | 2019-11-08
Genomes spanning 12,000 years reveal that Rome experienced repeated population transformations and became exceptionally genetically diverse during the Imperial period.
Ancient Genomes Indicate Population Replacement in Early Neolithic Britain
| Selina Brace et al. | Nature Ecology & Evolution | 2019-04-15
Ancient genomes show that farming reached Britain primarily through migration of continental European farmers rather than adoption of agriculture by local hunter-gatherers.
The Genomic History of the Iberian Peninsula over the Past 8,000 Years
| Iñigo Olalde et al. | Science | 2019
Ancient genomes reveal repeated migrations into Iberia, including major Bronze Age influxes associated with steppe ancestry and later historical-era population movements.
The Beaker People: A New Population for Ancient Britain
| James McNish | Natural History Museum | 2018-02-22
DNA from prehistoric skeletons shows that people associated with Beaker culture largely replaced Britain's earlier Neolithic population.
The Beaker Phenomenon and the Genomic Transformation of Northwest Europe
| Iñigo Olalde et al. | Nature | 2018-02-21
Ancient genomes show that Bell Beaker culture spread through different mechanisms and was associated in Britain with dramatic population replacement.
The Genetic Prehistory of the Baltic Sea Region
| Alissa Mittnik et al. | Nature Communications | 2018-01-30
Ancient DNA shows that Scandinavian hunter-gatherers arrived through more than one migration route and documents later farmer and steppe ancestry entering northern Europe.
The Genomic History of Southeastern Europe
| Iosif Lazaridis, David Reich and collaborators | Nature | 2018
Ancient genomes reconstruct the spread of farming through southeastern Europe and reveal repeated genetic interaction between farmers, hunter-gatherers and steppe populations.
The Genetic History of Ice Age Europe
| Qiaomei Fu et al. | Nature | 2016-05-02
Fifty-one ancient genomes trace repeated population turnover, refuges and expansions among European hunter-gatherers between approximately 45,000 and 7,000 years ago.
Upper Palaeolithic Genomes Reveal Deep Roots of Modern Eurasians
| Eppie R. Jones et al. | Nature Communications | 2015-11-16
Ancient genomes from Georgia and Switzerland identify a distinct Caucasus hunter-gatherer lineage that later contributed substantially to Bronze Age steppe populations.
Massive Migration from the Steppe Was a Source for Indo-European Languages in Europe
| Wolfgang Haak et al. | Nature | 2015-03-02
Ancient genomes reveal a massive Bronze Age movement of steppe pastoralist ancestry into central Europe roughly 4,500 years ago.
Ancient Human Genomes Suggest Three Ancestral Populations for Present-Day Europeans
| Iosif Lazaridis et al. | Nature | 2014-09-17
Ancient genomes show that present-day Europeans derive much of their ancestry from hunter-gatherers, early Near Eastern farmers and Ancient North Eurasians.
Genomic Structure in Europeans Dating Back at Least 36,200 Years
| Andaine Seguin-Orlando et al. | Science | 2014
The Kostenki genome from Russia reveals that major components of European ancestry were already present tens of thousands of years before agriculture.
Americas & Caribbean
Eight Millennia of Continuity of a Previously Unknown Lineage in Argentina
| Various authors | Nature | 2025
Genome-wide data from 238 ancient South Americans reveal a previously unidentified lineage that persisted in central Argentina for thousands of years with surprisingly limited outside gene flow.
Ancient Rapanui Genomes Reveal Resilience and Pre-European Contact with the Americas
| J. Víctor Moreno-Mayar et al. | Nature | 2024
Ancient genomes from Rapa Nui show no evidence for a catastrophic pre-European population collapse and provide evidence of Indigenous American ancestry predating European contact.
Genomic History of Coastal Societies from Eastern South America
| Various authors | Nature Ecology & Evolution | 2023
Ancient genomes spanning roughly 10,000 years illuminate migrations, population structure and long-term relationships among Indigenous groups living along Brazil's Atlantic coast.
Peopling of the Americas as Inferred from Ancient Genomics
| Eske Willerslev and David J. Meltzer | Nature | 2021-06-16
A synthesis of ancient genomes reconstructs the rapid initial expansion, population branching, isolation and later migrations that shaped Indigenous ancestry throughout the Americas.
A Genetic History of the Pre-Contact Caribbean
| Daniel M. Fernandes et al. | Nature | 2020-12-23
Genomes from hundreds of pre-contact Caribbean individuals reveal major migrations from South America and large-scale population replacement during Caribbean prehistory.
Terminal Pleistocene Alaskan Genome Reveals First Founding Population of Native Americans
| J. Víctor Moreno-Mayar et al. | Nature | 2018-01-03
DNA from an approximately 11,500-year-old infant identifies an Ancient Beringian population branching near the foundation of Native American genetic history.
The Ancestry and Affiliations of Kennewick Man
| Morten Rasmussen et al. | Nature | 2015
Genome sequencing demonstrates that the approximately 8,500-year-old Ancient One, or Kennewick Man, was genetically closer to Native Americans than to other world populations.
The Genome of a Late Pleistocene Human from a Clovis Burial Site in Western Montana
| Morten Rasmussen et al. | Nature | 2014
The Anzick-1 genome establishes a close relationship between a child buried with Clovis artifacts and Indigenous peoples throughout the Americas.
Upper Palaeolithic Siberian Genome Reveals Dual Ancestry of Native Americans
| Maanasa Raghavan et al. | Nature | 2014
DNA from the roughly 24,000-year-old Mal'ta individual reveals Ancient North Eurasian ancestry that later contributed substantially to Native American populations.
Ancient Human Genome Sequence of an Extinct Palaeo-Eskimo
| Morten Rasmussen et al. | Nature | 2010-02-11
A nearly complete genome recovered from approximately 4,000-year-old hair belonging to a Saqqaq man became the first near-complete nuclear genome sequenced from an ancient human.
