Hannah Devlin interviews Durham University archaeologist Ben Roberts on the findings of the largest ancient genome project of ancient Europe, "The Beaker Phenomenon and the Genomic Transformation of Northwest Europe"
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| Frame from "Tatort Eulau - Das Rätsel der 13 Skelette" (Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen - ZDF TV) |
Trying to get back in the saddle this week but currently hamstrung with other commitments. Hopefully a few more posts before week's end.
Sounds like their archaeologist wants to push back against migration. Who said that there are no revolutions in science - the old guard just retires or dies off?
ReplyDeleteMaybe some, but overall seems to be broad acceptance. However, British archaeologists, as Roberts mentions, are a bit skeptical of the ~90% replacement model of the Olalde paper. Regardless of what it is exactly, it will be very substantial regardless.
DeleteAs far as cremation remains, I'm fairly sure most cremation remains can be DNA tested successfully, hopefully British archaeologist know this. Like I mentioned regarding the Christiansen paper, the question will hopefully motivate DNA-study skeptical archaeologists toward more DNA, in this case to collect enough British Bronze Age cremations to prove or disprove their skepticism.
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DeleteI looked up Tatort Eulau on Youtube and it seems interesting. Is it subtitled in English anywhere?
ReplyDeleteYouTube has a translator if you click on "cc" it'll have the option to caption in English. The series is only in German though. Links are on the Beaker TV page as well
DeleteThey collected plenty enough of Bronze age British and Irish genomes to confirm near complete replacement occurred.
ReplyDeleteOf course there could have been pockets in Britain and Ireland where Neolithic ancestry remained strong. But eventually those pockets disappeared.
The few genomes we have from early historical Britain(about 0 AD) don't have excess Neolithic ancestry. In addition there's no excess Neolithic ancestry anywhere in the Isles today.
Just about all of the Y DNA samples from Neolithic Britain belonged to I2a1b1 and I2a2a1. Those clades are considered British and Irish-specific today. Around 5%, maybe 10% in some parts, of men in the Isles belong to those two clades. That shows that Beaker folk did admix at least a little with native Neolithic groups.
Paternally, certainly a near Wipeout. But I'd like to see better resolution on the Neolithic. If the Peterborough folk had a Motala shift in their Neolithic ancestry, then that could complicate the ~93% replacement number.
DeleteSplitting hairs but it would be large nonetheless
Any word on why Olalde et al did not include the genome of the Amesbury Archer in the report? Poor coverage? Or are they planning a separate paper? Notice that "The Companion" (Sample I2565), who is thought to be the Archer's son or at least a relative, is R1b-L21. That makes it very likely the Archer was R1b-L21, too (certain, if The Companion is his son).
ReplyDeleteThis is my guess. Based on inherited features I think it was accepted that the two men are closely related. It may have been a case of where to spend the money. But I also remember believing a sample had been taken from the elder Archer. His remains were in good condition so I doubt it failed. Likely a financial decision, but that's a guess. I'll try and find out
DeleteThanks! I'm hoping they are planning a separate paper on him since he is so famous, kind of like what was done with Ötzi.
DeleteI wrote Dr. Reich's assistant at Harvard on this subject, and she forwarded my email to Dr. Olalde, who very courteously responded himself. He said the Amesbury Archer failed their aDNA analysis but that they may try again soon. I hope they do and succeed this time.
DeleteThanks for the update. It'll be nice to see the genetic relationship between the two better established. R/
DeleteYes. If they were actually father and son, then high quality data could also allow phasing for true haplotypes, which would be great for comparisons to both other ancient genomes and modern people.
ReplyDelete