Genome-wide data from two early Neolithic East Asian individuals dating to 7700 years ago.
Ancient genomes have revolutionized our understanding of Holocene prehistory and, particularly, the Neolithic transition in western Eurasia. In contrast, East Asia has so far received little attention, despite representing a core region at which the Neolithic transition took place independently ~3 millennia after its onset in the Near East. We report genome-wide data from two hunter-gatherers from Devil's Gate, an early Neolithic cave site (dated to ~7.7 thousand years ago) located in East Asia, on the border between Russia and Korea. Both of these individuals are genetically most similar to geographically close modern populations from the Amur Basin, all speaking Tungusic languages, and, in particular, to the Ulchi. The similarity to nearby modern populations and the low levels of additional genetic material in the Ulchi imply a high level of genetic continuity in this region during the Holocene, a pattern that markedly contrasts with that reported for Europe.
Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB23EJ, U.K.
Veronika
V
Siska
Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB23EJ, U.K.; Smurfit Institute of Genetics, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
Eppie Ruth
ER
Jones
The Genomics Institute, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan 44919, Republic of Korea.
Sungwon
S
Jeon
The Genomics Institute, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan 44919, Republic of Korea.
Youngjune
0000-0002-9273-6984
Y
Bhak
The Genomics Institute, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan 44919, Republic of Korea.
Hak-Min
HM
Kim
The Genomics Institute, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan 44919, Republic of Korea.
Yun Sung
YS
Cho
Geromics, Ulsan 44919, Republic of Korea.
Hyunho
H
Kim
Clinomics Inc., Ulsan 4919, Republic of Korea.
Kyusang
K
Lee
Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia.
Elizaveta
E
Veselovskaya
Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia.
Tatiana
T
Balueva
Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB23EJ, U.K.
Marcos
0000-0003-3498-6018
M
Gallego-Llorente
Institute for Biochemistry and Biology, Faculty for Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Potsdam, Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 24-25, 14476 Potsdam-Golm, Germany.
Michael
0000-0003-0441-4705
M
Hofreiter
Smurfit Institute of Genetics, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
Daniel G
0000-0001-7335-7092
DG
Bradley
Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB23EJ, U.K.
Anders
0000-0003-3436-3726
A
Eriksson
School of Archaeology and Earth Institute, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
Ron
0000-0003-1629-8131
R
Pinhasi
The Genomics Institute, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan 44919, Republic of Korea.; Geromics, Ulsan 44919, Republic of Korea.
Jong
0000-0002-4228-1299
J
Bhak
Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB23EJ, U.K.
Andrea
0000-0003-1895-450X
A
Manica
D001106:Archaeology; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D005202:Asia, Eastern; D015894:Genome, Human; D005838:Genotype; D020662:Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factors / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D010641:Phenotype; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D053338:Receptors, Ectodysplasin / Q000235:genetics; D044767:Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases
D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D020662:Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factors; D053338:Receptors, Ectodysplasin; C118566:HERC2 protein, human; D044767:Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases
East Asia; Russian Far East; ancient genetics; human population genetics; neolithic