All articles tagged with #archaeogenetics
Researchers analyzing dust and fibers from the Shroud of Turin report plant DNA—carrot, bread wheat and other crops—signalling contamination over time rather than confirming the relic’s age; they caution metagenomics can’t reliably date the cloth, even as radiocarbon dating in 1988 placed it medieval (1260–1390 AD) and 2024 WAXS results broadly align with a two-millennium history.
New, higher-quality ancient-DNA analysis shows the Beachy Head Woman likely originated from southern England and shares ancestry with Romano-British locals, not Mediterranean or sub-Saharan populations; a revised facial reconstruction suggests light skin, blue eyes, and fair hair.
Scientists discovered the first evidence of a Bronze Age strain of plague infecting livestock, specifically a sheep from 4,000 years ago, shedding light on how the ancient disease spread across Eurasia and highlighting the complex interactions between humans, animals, and natural reservoirs.
Researchers have identified the bacterium Yersinia pestis in ancient remains from Jerash, Jordan, providing direct genetic evidence linking it to the Justinian Plague, the first recorded pandemic, and offering new insights into the history and evolution of plague and pandemics.
Scientists used ancient DNA from 37,000-year-old bones to create a timeline of human infections, revealing how diseases evolved with human culture, migration, and domestication, and highlighting the long history of zoonotic pathogens like plague and hepatitis B.
Scientists used ancient DNA analysis on fish bones from a Roman fish-salting site to identify European sardines as a key ingredient in the popular Roman fish sauce, garum, providing new insights into its composition and regional variations.
DNA analysis of ancient remains from Çatalhöyük suggests that women played a central role in household formation during the Neolithic period, indicating a society with significant female influence, though not necessarily a true matriarchate.
DNA analysis of 9,000-year-old skeletons from South Africa's Oakhurst rockshelter reveals long-term genetic stability and suggests cultural changes occurred without significant external migration, challenging previous theories of multiple migratory waves into the region.