Researchers conducted a novel study aiming to trace the historical imprints of human civilization in India, the most populous country globally, employing genetic analysis.
This recent investigation sought to illuminate the landscape approximately 50,000 years ago through the examination of numerous genomes. University of California, Berkeley population geneticist Elise Kerdoncuff and collaborators sequenced the DNA samples of 2,762 individuals hailing from diverse geographic regions, caste and tribe groups, and linguistic backgrounds across India.
In their preprint, Kerdoncuff and colleagues articulated, “These analyses provide a detailed view of the population history of India and underscore the value of expanding genomic surveys to diverse groups outside Europe.”
Prior research had hinted at Indian ancestry stemming from ancient Iranian farmers, Eurasian steppe herders, and indigenous South Asian hunter-gatherers. However, Kerdoncuff and team discovered significant variability in the ancestral contributions from these groups among contemporary Indian individuals.
The study also revealed that the ancient Iranian farmers likely belonged to the wave of farmers originating from Sarazm, an ancient agricultural center situated in what is now Tajikistan. “Societies were far more connected in deep time than most have given them credit for,” remarked Michael Frachetti, an archaeologist from Washington University in St. Louis, in conversation with Science.
Furthermore, Kerdoncuff and collaborators made the surprising revelation that modern Indians possess one to two percent ancestry inherited from archaic hominins, including Neanderthals and Denisovans.
The researchers also stumbled upon a remarkable diversity of Neanderthal and Denisovan genetic contributions within the analyzed genomes, contrasting with other sampled populations.
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