UPPSALA, SWEDEN—According to a statement released by Uppsala University, a team of researchers led by Mattias Jakobsson has sequenced the genome of a woman whose 35,000-year-old skull was discovered in southern Romania’s Peștera Muierri cave system in the 1950s. The study suggests that this woman, who was an ancestor of the hunter-gatherers who lived in Europe until the end of the most recent Ice Age some 10,000 years ago, inherited a high level of genetic diversity. It had been previously thought that such diversity was lost some 80,000 years ago as populations moved out of Africa and into Asia and Europe. Previous studies of the woman’s remains also found similarities with both modern humans and Neanderthals, but the new analysis shows low levels of Neanderthal DNA in her genome. To read about a bone structure erected by hunter-gatherers in Russia some 25,000 years ago, go to "Ice Age Ice Box."
European Woman’s 35,000-Year-Old Genome Sequenced
News May 23, 2021
Recommended Articles
Top 10 Discoveries of the Decade January/February 2021
Neanderthal Genome
Vindija Cave, Croatia, 2010
Top 10 Discoveries of 2020 January/February 2021
Largest Viking DNA Study
Northern Europe and Greenland
Features November/December 2024
Let the Games Begin
How gladiators in ancient Anatolia lived to entertain the masses
Features November/December 2024
The Many Faces of the Kingdom of Shu
Thousands of fantastical bronzes are beginning to reveal the secrets of a legendary Chinese dynasty
-
Features March/April 2021
The Visigoths' Imperial Ambitions
How an unlikely Visigothic city rose in Spain amid the chaotic aftermath of Rome’s final collapse
Yil Dori -
Letter from Chihuahua March/April 2021
Cliff Dwellers of the Sierra Madre
A recurring design motif found in northern Mexico’s ancient mountain villages reflects complex cultural ties between distant peoples
(Photo by Stephen H. Lekson) -
Artifacts March/April 2021
Subeixi Game Balls
(Courtesy Patrick Wertmann) -
Digs & Discoveries March/April 2021
An Enduring Design
Courtesy Durham University