One of the most interesting papers of the last year was this gem from Owen Alexander Higgins et al, in Nature, entitled "Life history and ancestry of the late Upper Palaeolithic infant from Grotta delle Mura, Italy."
It details exactly what the title indicates, for an infant that died young, in Puglia, Italy (oddly called "Apulia" in the paper!) This infant lived and died 17,000 years ago, in what laymen would call "15,000 BC."
The baby was male and bore haplogroup I2a1a1, M26 but also L160. His autosomal DNA was heavily Western Hunter Gatherer or WHG, similar to the Villabruna cluster. He likely had very dark skin and hair and blue eyes.
He belonged to the Epigravettian people, who replaced the Magdalenian people (aka Cro Magnons).
Most significantly, it's yet another proof that the haplogroup that people often think came "out of Sardinia" was present on the Italian mainland ~9000 years before Sardinia was populated. Its presence in Sardinia is almost certainly due to Founder Effect.
As we have stated many times here, there is a need for much more additional research on I2a1a (M26 and its downstream clades), which can help paint the picture of population movements in Italy, France, and Spain, from the Paleolithic to Roman times!
No comments:
Post a Comment