Ancient Whole Genomes, Migration and Insights into European Origins

Petrous bones often yield endogenous DNA contents of 50% or more in ancient DNA analysis, most other skeletal elements give values of 1% or less. Targeting these bones makes the whole genome sequencing of ancient humans and other large mammals a feasible approach, even an imperative for rare and valuable samples.  This presentation will discuss how recent analysis of ancient genomes from the Caucasus at the eastern edge of Europe has uncovered one of the major ancestral strands that coalesce in modern human populations of that continent. Also, ancient data from its western edge illustrate the far-reaching influence of prehistoric migrations carrying this genomic heritage from the east.