Cited by 1,515Forensic and Genetic ResearchGenetic diversity and population structurePleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology

Genome-wide patterns of selection in 230 ancient Eurasians

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Mathieson, Iain, Lazaridis, Iosif, Rohland, Nadin, Mallick, Swapan, Patterson, Nick, Roodenberg, Songül Alpaslan, Harney, Eadaoin, Stewardson, Kristin +30 more·2015·Nature

Published version of a preprint

Abstract

Ancient DNA makes it possible to observe natural selection directly by analysing samples from populations before, during and after adaptation events. Here we report a genome-wide scan for selection using ancient DNA, capitalizing on the largest ancient DNA data set yet assembled: 230 West Eurasians who lived between 6500 and 300 bc, including 163 with newly reported data. The new samples include, to our knowledge, the first genome-wide ancient DNA from Anatolian Neolithic farmers, whose genetic material we obtained by extracting from petrous bones, and who we show were members of the population that was the source of Europe's first farmers. We also report a transect of the steppe region in Samara between 5600 and 300 bc, which allows us to identify admixture into the steppe from at least two external sources. We detect selection at loci associated with diet, pigmentation and immunity, and two independent episodes of selection on height.

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Crossref · 10.1038/nature16152

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  • PCA on present-day West Eurasian populations replicates previous findings of a Europe-Near East contrast along the horizontal Principal Component 1 (PC1) and parallel clines (PC2) in both Europe and the Near East.

    “PCA on present-day West Eurasian populations (Methods) (Extended Data Fig. 1) on which we projected the ancient individuals (Fig. 1b) replicates previous findings of a Europe-Near East contrast along the horizontal Principal Component 1 (PC1) and parallel clines (PC2) in both Europe and the Near East (Extended Data Fig. 1)7,8,13.”

    From Genomic insights into the origin of farming in the ancient Near East (2016) · cites this paper as [8]

    The Methods (‘Population history analysis’; page not provided) confirm that the paper performed PCA on 777 West Eurasian individuals and projected ancient individuals onto it. The passages in our copy do not describe a Europe–Near East contrast on PC1 or parallel European and Near Eastern clines on PC2, so they do not support those specific findings. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • The dataset combines the newly reported ancient individuals with previously published ancient data to form a dataset of 281 ancient individuals.

    “We combined our data with previously published ancient data7,8,9,10,8,10-15 to form a dataset of 281 ancient individuals.”

    From Genomic insights into the origin of farming in the ancient Near East (2016) · cites this paper as [8]

    The ‘Genome-wide ancient DNA from West Eurasia’ section says the authors combined 67 previously published samples with newly reported data. But it gives the resulting dataset as 230 ancient individuals, not 281; the cited paper therefore supports the combination but not the claimed total. No page number is available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • The early farmers of mainland Europe were descended from a population related to Neolithic northwestern Anatolians.

    “To the west, the early farmers of mainland Europe were descended from a population related to Neolithic northwestern Anatolians8.”
  • The spread of Near Eastern ancestry into the Eurasian steppe was previously inferred without access to ancient samples, by hypothesizing a population related to present-day Armenians as a source.

    “The spread of Near Eastern ancestry into the Eurasian steppe was previously inferred7 without access to ancient samples, by hypothesizing a population related to present-day Armenians as a source7,8.”
  • Sample JK2911 had a derived allele at the SLC24A5 locus, which contributes to lighter skin pigmentation and was shown to be at high frequency in Neolithic Anatolia, consistent with the ancestral affinity shown above.

    “This individual had a derived allele at the SLC24A5 locus, which contributes to lighter skin pigmentation and was shown to be at high frequency in Neolithic Anatolia41, consistent with the ancestral affinity shown above.”

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Authors
Mathieson, I., Lazaridis, I., Rohland, N., Mallick, S., Patterson, N., Roodenberg, S. A., Harney, E., Stewardson, K., Fernandes, D., Novak, M., Sirak, K., Gamba, C., Jones, E. R., Llamas, B., Dryomov, S., Pickrell, J., Arsuaga, J. L., de Castro, J. M. B., Carbonell, E., Gerritsen, F., Khokhlov, A., Kuznetsov, P., Lozano, M., Meller, H., Mochalov, O., Moiseyev, V., Guerra, M. A. R., Roodenberg, J., Vergès, J. M., Krause, J., Cooper, A., Alt, K. W., Brown, D., Anthony, D., Lalueza-Fox, C., Haak, W., Pinhasi, R., & Reich, D.
Affiliations
  • Harvard University (US)
  • Broad Institute (US)
  • Howard Hughes Medical Institute (US)
  • University College Dublin (IE)
  • Trinity College Dublin (IE)
  • The University of Adelaide (AU)
  • Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (RU)
  • Universidad Complutense de Madrid (ES)
  • Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (ES)
  • Netherlands Institute in Turkey (TR)
  • Peter the Great's Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (RU)
  • Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology (DE)
  • Danube Private University (AT)
  • Hartwick College (US)
Corresponding author
  • Mathieson, Iain
  • Haak, Wolfgang
  • Pinhasi, Ron
  • Reich, David
Venue
Nature
Published
2015-11-23
Volume
528
Issue
7583
Pages
499-503
ISSN
  • 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-4687
OpenAlex
W2177180777
Cited by
1,515
References
92
Citations by year
2026: 92 · 2025: 169 · 2024: 139 · 2023: 155 · 2022: 153 · 2021: 164 · 2020: 130 · 2019: 131 · 2018: 137 · 2017: 146 · 2016: 87 · 2015: 10 · 2012: 1
FWCI
87.07
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nature (publishedVersion)
  • bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (acceptedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • VU Research Portal (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard (DASH) (Harvard University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • DIGITAL.CSIC (Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)) (submittedVersion)
  • Adelaide Research & Scholarship (AR&S) (University of Adelaide) (submittedVersion)
  • ANU Open Research (Australian National University) (submittedVersion)
  • MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion)
  • Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Funders
  • National Science Foundation (1032255)
  • Howard Hughes Medical Institute
  • Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences
  • Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (KR 4015/1-1)
  • Irish Research Council
  • Russian Foundation for Basic Research
  • National Institutes of Health (GM100233)
  • Australian Research Council (DP130102158)
  • National Institute of General Medical Sciences (GM100233, R01GM100233)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Forensic and Genetic Research
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic diversity and population structure
  • Social Sciences › Anthropology › Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology
Keywords
natural selection, ancient DNA, Neolithic farmers, Neolithic Europe, lactase persistence, diet, pigmentation, immunity, height, human evolution
MeSH terms
Agriculture, Asia, Body Height, Bone and Bones, Diet, DNA, Europe, Genetics, Population, Haplotypes, Humans, Immunity, Male, Pigmentation, Selection, Genetic, Genome, Human, Sequence Analysis, DNA, Multifactorial Inheritance, History, Ancient

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