Search Here

New research has identified a hitherto unknown ancient group which contributed DNA to modern-day Europeans.

The accepted theory until now recognized two groups exclusively, indigenous hunters and Middle Eastern farmers, as primary contributors to modern European DNA. Researchers from Germany and US have now established that a third group of migrants from Northern Eurasia too had significantly contributed to European DNA. Researchers arrived at this conclusion by looking at DNA of nine ancient skeletons and modern people, The Guardian reported.

"Prior to this paper, the models we had for European ancestry were two-way mixtures. We show that there are three groups. This also explains the recently discovered genetic connection between Europeans and Native Americans," David Reich, professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School, told Daily Mail.

Reich and his team found that the Eurasian group also ventured across the Bering Strait into Americas, contributing to the gene pool of Native American populations.

The ancient skeletons that provided insights into European ancestry were that of eight hunter-gatherers who lived about 8,000 years ago and a farmer who lived in Germany 7,000 years ago.

Researchers said the third Eurasian group migrated to Europe after introduction of agriculture, nearly 7,000 to 5,000 years ago, as the hunter-gatherers and farmers did not have any traces of the third groups' DNA.

Giving genetic breakups of modern-day European sub-populations, Guardian further reported that while modern English are 50% early European farmers, 36% hunters and 14% Eurasian, Sardinians are mostly European farmer and have less than 1% Eurasian ancestry.

The findings also throw some light on the origins of appearances of ancient populations and the modern-day Europeans influenced by them.

It is said that the present-day southern European populations are more like their ancient Middle Eastern ancestors while northern Europeans are more like hunter-gatherers. The hunter-gatherers themselves may have had dark skin and blue eyes, Washington Post mentions.