Archaeogenetic insights into the demographic history of Late Neanderthals
Abstract
The demographic history of Neanderthals is only partially understood. In Europe, some degree of genetic continuity has been shown from 120 thousand years ago (ka) onward despite the occurrence of multiple subsequent diversification events. While it has been proposed that a population turnover preceded the emergence of Late Neanderthals in Europe, the extent, timing, and geographic location of this event are currently unknown. Here, we report ten mitochondrial DNA sequences (mtDNAs) of Neanderthal individuals from six archaeological sites in Belgium, France, Germany and Serbia, and analyze them alongside 49 published mtDNAs. The integration of phylogenetic and molecular dating analyses with an extensive archaeological dataset enabled us to reconstruct temporal and spatial patterns in Neanderthal distribution. Remarkably, nearly all Late Neanderthal individuals across Europe belong to a single mtDNA lineage that diversified recently, confirming a large-scale genetic replacement. Our analyses date this diversification event to approximately 65 ka and suggest that it likely originated from a population refugium in southwestern France from which Neanderthals appear to have undergone a major range dispersal across Europe. In addition, we detect a sharp decline in the Neanderthal mtDNA effective population size beginning ~45 ka and reaching a minimum ~42 ka, shortly before their extinction. This study demonstrates that integrating molecular and archaeological datasets provides a more detailed understanding of the Late Neanderthal population’s history, and highlights the critical role of climate-driven refugia and subsequent range expansions in shaping the genetic landscape of Neanderthals through time.
Article Details
Journal Info
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
National Academy of Sciences
Authors (22)
Charoula M. Fotiadou
Archaeo- and Palaeogenetics, Institute for Archaeological Sciences, Department of Geosciences, University of Tübingen
Jesper Borre Pedersen
Research Center “The Role of Culture in Early Expansions of Humans (ROCEEH)” of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, University of Tübingen
Hélène Rougier
Mirjana Roksandic
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Canada Research Chair in Human Evolution, Department of Anthropology, University of Winnipeg
Maria A. Spyrou
Archaeo- and Palaeogenetics, Institute for Archaeological Sciences, Department of Geosciences, University of Tübingen
Kathrin Nägele
Department of Archaeogenetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Ella Reiter
Hervé Bocherens
Andrew W. Kandel
Miriam N. Haidle
Research Center “The Role of Culture in Early Expansions of Humans (ROCEEH)” of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, University of Tübingen
Timo P. Streicher
Research Center “The Role of Culture in Early Expansions of Humans (ROCEEH)” of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, University of Tübingen
Nicholas J. Conard
Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment at the University of Tübingen
Flora Schilt
Department of Art and Culture, History and Antiquity, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Ricardo Miguel Godinho
Interdisciplinary Center for Archaeology and the Evolution of Human Behavior (ICArEHB), Faculdade das Ciências Humanas e Sociais, Universidade do Algarve (UAlg), Campus de Gambelas
Thorsten Uthmeier
Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona
Luc Doyon
Patrick Semal
Johannes Krause
Alvise Barbieri
Department of Art and Culture, History and Antiquity, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Dušan Mihailović
Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade
Isabelle Crevecoeur
Cosimo Posth