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Scandinavians are descended from Stone Age immigrants
September 25, 2009Today's Scandinavians are not descended from the people who came to Scandinavia at the conclusion of the last ice age but, apparently, from a population that arrived later, concurrently with the introduction of agriculture. This is one conclusion of a new study straddling the borderline between genetics and archaeology, which involved Swedish researchers and which has now been published in the journal Current Biology.
"The hunter-gatherers who inhabited Scandinavia more than 4,000 years ago had a different gene pool than ours," explains Anders Götherström of the Department of Evolutionary Biology at Uppsala University, who headed the project together with Eske Willerslev of the Centre for GeoGenetics at the University of Copenhagen.
The study, a collaboration among research groups in Sweden, Denmark and the UK, involved using DNA from Stone Age remains to investigate whether the practices of cultivating crops and keeping livestock were spread by immigrants or represented innovations on the part of hunter-gatherers.
"Obtaining reliable results from DNA from such ancient human remains involves very complicated work," says Helena Malmström of the Department of Evolutionary Biology at Uppsala University.
She carried out the initial DNA sequencings of Stone Age material three years ago. Significant time was then required for researchers to confirm that the material really was thousands of years old.
"This is a classic issue within archaeology," says Petra Molnar at the Osteoarchaeological Research Laboratory at Stockholm University. "Our findings show that today's Scandinavians are not the direct descendants of the hunter-gatherers who lived in the region during the Stone Age. This entails the conclusion that some form of migration to Scandinavia took place, probably at the onset of the agricultural Stone Age. The extent of this migration is as of yet impossible to determine."
Uppsala University
"Obtaining reliable results from DNA from such ancient human remains involves very complicated work," says Helena Malmström of the Department of Evolutionary Biology at Uppsala University.
She carried out the initial DNA sequencings of Stone Age material three years ago. Significant time was then required for researchers to confirm that the material really was thousands of years old.
"This is a classic issue within archaeology," says Petra Molnar at the Osteoarchaeological Research Laboratory at Stockholm University. "Our findings show that today's Scandinavians are not the direct descendants of the hunter-gatherers who lived in the region during the Stone Age. This entails the conclusion that some form of migration to Scandinavia took place, probably at the onset of the agricultural Stone Age. The extent of this migration is as of yet impossible to determine."
Uppsala University
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IU discovers stone tools, rare animal bones -- clues to Caribbean's earliest inhabitants
A prehistoric water-filled cave in the Dominican Republic has become a "treasure trove" with the announcement by Indiana University archaeologists of the discovery of stone tools, a small primate skull in remarkable condition, and the claws, jawbone and other bones of several species of sloths.
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Researchers find earliest evidence for modern human behavior in South Africa
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Research team says extraterrestrial impact to blame for Ice Age extinctions
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Settlers of the Stone Age by Mayfair Games Come join in the adventure that is the dawn of Humankind! Will your tribe journey far and fast ? Will they surmount the pain dangers of this world ? Will they bring you victory and survival ? Are you ready to play in this newest creation of Master game designer Klaus Teuber Based on the award-winning Settlers of Catan game system, but presenting players with all-new challenges unique to the dangers and opportunities of the Stone Age. The first branches of this family began a journey that spanned thousands of years, eventually leading them to Australia and America. In this exciting game, you will guide the journey of one of these branches. You must struggle to spread your people over the whole world. In order to expand your branch humanity you must develop certain talents: advances in the... |
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Agricola ZMG 7026 by Z-Man Agricola |
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