Study reveals the mysterious ancestors of modern EuropeansPosted in Articles, Europe, Health/Medicine/Genetics, Media Archive on 2014-09-18 20:24Z by Steven |
Study reveals the mysterious ancestors of modern Europeans
The Washington Post
2014-09-18
Gail Sullivan, Reporter
Some had dark skin and blue eyes.
Some had light skin and brown eyes.
And no one is sure what some others looked like.
But, according to a new study of ancient human genomes, three very different populations got together seven millennia ago and made modern Europeans.
“The surprising finding was that present-day Europeans trace their ancestry back to three and not just two ancestral groups as previously thought,” said study co-author Alan Cooper, the director of the Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, in a press release.
Until now, scientists couldn’t fully explain the gene pool of modern Europe. Clues from archaeological research and previous genetic comparisons suggested most Europeans descended from Middle Eastern farmers who migrated to Europe about 7,500 years ago and interbred with local hunter-gatherers.
“Ancient human genomes suggest three ancestral populations for present-day Europeans,” said the article, published Thursday in the journal Nature…
Read the entire article here.