Population genomics of Mesolithic Scandinavia: Investigating early postglacial migration routes and high-latitude adaptation

Torsten Günther; Helena Malmström; Emma M Svensson; Ayça Omrak; Federico Sánchez-Quinto; Gülşah M Kılınç; Maja Krzewińska; Gunilla Eriksson; Magdalena Fraser; Hanna Edlund; Arielle R Munters; Alexandra Coutinho; Luciana G Simões; Mário Vicente; Anders Sjölander; Berit Jansen Sellevold; Roger Jørgensen; Peter Claes; Mark D Shriver; Cristina Valdiosera; Mihai G Netea; Jan Apel; Kerstin Lidén; Birgitte Skar; Jan Storå; Anders Götherström; Mattias Jakobsson

doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.2003703

Population genomics of Mesolithic Scandinavia: Investigating early postglacial migration routes and high-latitude adaptation

PLoS Biol. 2018 Jan 9;16(1):e2003703. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.2003703. eCollection 2018 Jan.

Authors

Torsten Günther¹, Helena Malmström¹, Emma M Svensson¹, Ayça Omrak², Federico Sánchez-Quinto¹, Gülşah M Kılınç^{1

2

3}, Maja Krzewińska², Gunilla Eriksson², Magdalena Fraser^{1

4}, Hanna Edlund¹, Arielle R Munters¹, Alexandra Coutinho¹, Luciana G Simões¹, Mário Vicente¹, Anders Sjölander¹, Berit Jansen Sellevold⁵, Roger Jørgensen⁶, Peter Claes⁷, Mark D Shriver⁸, Cristina Valdiosera⁹, Mihai G Netea¹⁰, Jan Apel¹¹, Kerstin Lidén^{2

6}, Birgitte Skar¹², Jan Storå², Anders Götherström^{2

13}, Mattias Jakobsson^{1

13}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Organismal Biology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
² Department of Archaeology and Classical Studies, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
³ Middle East Technical University, Department of Biological Sciences, Ankara, Turkey.
⁴ Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Uppsala University-Campus Gotland, Visby, Sweden.
⁵ Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research, Oslo, Norway.
⁶ Tromsø University Museum, University of Tromsø-The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway.
⁷ Department of Electrical Engineering, Center for Processing Speech and Images, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
⁸ Department of Anthropology, Penn State University, State College, Pennsylvania, United States of America.
⁹ Department of Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.
¹⁰ Department of Internal Medicine and Radboud Center for Infectious Diseases, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
¹¹ Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
¹² Department of Archaeology and Cultural History, Norwegian University of Science and Technology University Museum, Trondheim, Norway.
¹³ SciLifeLab, Uppsala and Stockholm, Sweden.

Abstract

Scandinavia was one of the last geographic areas in Europe to become habitable for humans after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). However, the routes and genetic composition of these postglacial migrants remain unclear. We sequenced the genomes, up to 57× coverage, of seven hunter-gatherers excavated across Scandinavia and dated from 9,500-6,000 years before present (BP). Surprisingly, among the Scandinavian Mesolithic individuals, the genetic data display an east-west genetic gradient that opposes the pattern seen in other parts of Mesolithic Europe. Our results suggest two different early postglacial migrations into Scandinavia: initially from the south, and later, from the northeast. The latter followed the ice-free Norwegian north Atlantic coast, along which novel and advanced pressure-blade stone-tool techniques may have spread. These two groups met and mixed in Scandinavia, creating a genetically diverse population, which shows patterns of genetic adaptation to high latitude environments. These potential adaptations include high frequencies of low pigmentation variants and a gene region associated with physical performance, which shows strong continuity into modern-day northern Europeans.

Publication types

Historical Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adaptation, Physiological / physiology*
Europe
Female
Fossils
Genetic Variation
Genetics, Population / methods
History, Ancient
Human Migration / history*
Humans
Male
Membrane Proteins / genetics
Membrane Proteins / metabolism
Metagenomics / methods
Pigmentation / genetics
Scandinavian and Nordic Countries / ethnology
White People / genetics*

Substances

Membrane Proteins
TMEM131L protein, human

Grants and funding

Berit Wallenberg foundation (grant number BWS2011.0090) to MF. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. European Research Council starting grant to MJ. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Wenner-Gren Foundations postdoctoral fellowship to TG. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Knut and Alice Wallenberg foundation to MJ, JS, AG. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Riksbankens Jubileumsfond to MJ, JS, AG. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Swedish Research council (grant number 421-2013-730) to JA, JS. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Swedish Research council (grant number 2013-1905) to MJ, JS, AG. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Formas (grant number 2011-1138) to EMS. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.