The social organization of the first fully sedentary societies that emerged during the Neolithic
period in Southwest Asia remains enigmatic, 1 mainly because material culture studies …

We investigate a 2,000-year genetic transect through Scandinavia spanning the Iron Age to
the present, based on 48 new and 249 published ancient genomes and genotypes from …

Upper Mesopotamia played a key role in the Neolithic Transition in Southwest Asia through
marked innovations in symbolism, technology, and diet. We present 13 ancient genomes (c. …

Sheep were among the first domesticated animals, but their demographic history is little
understood. Here we analyzed nuclear polymorphism and mitochondrial data (mtDNA) from …

Rapid and cost-effective retrieval of endogenous DNA from ancient specimens remains a
limiting factor in palaeogenomic research. Many methods have been developed to increase …

Background After over a decade of developments in field collection, laboratory methods and
advances in high-throughput sequencing, contamination remains a key issue in ancient …

Ancient DNA (aDNA) obtained from human remains is typically fragmented and present in
relatively low amounts. Here we investigate a set of optimal methods for producing aDNA data …

In 2016, archaeological excavations undertaken by the Ephorate of Antiquities of West Attica,
Piraeus and Islands 3.8 km south-west of Athens, Greece, revealed mass burials of 79 …

The climatic fluctuations of the Late Pleistocene likely had a large impact on the evolutionary
history of Arctic species. Palaeogenomics is a useful tool to shed light on how past …

The genetic diversity within species and the way it is geographically structured is strongly
affected by population size and movement across the landscape. In small and isolated …