quote:Spanning modern Egypt and Sudan, the Nile River Valley is an ideal region to study past population history using paleogenetics. This region has a deep history of human occupation and interaction by various culture groups through time. Of particular interest to understand the demography of Africa are ancient Nubians, especially where historical and archaeological records may have interruptions. Nubians have a dynamic history with their neighbors to the north – trade, conquest, colonialism – all of which may have contributed to their genetic ancestry. Mitochondrial data provide valuable insight into the ancestry of Nubian individuals and serve as a primary resource for migration and population history reconstruction; for instance, how genetic diversity or continuity from the past has shaped modern inhabitants of the Nile Valley. This study piloted aDNA analysis on twenty skeletal samples (teeth and petrous portion of temporal bones) from the Medieval Christian site of El-Kurru (dated to 900-1450 CE) in Upper Nubia. Hybridization capture and NGS sequencing methods were employed to enrich for whole mitochondrial genomes of each individual resulting in generally low coverage. Focusing on the Hypervariable Region I, five individuals had sufficient coverage for preliminary haplogroup identification. This analysis classified these Nubians into HV, H, K, U, or R haplogroups utilizing up to three polymorphic sites. Previous work of our collaborators with ancient Egyptian individuals resembles the developing profiles of these Nubians. Furthermore, these results show that ancient Nubians may differ from modern North African individuals. These results require further investigation in order to build more understanding of the genetic variation or homogeneity within the ancient populations of the Nile Valley.
No mention of nuclear DNA data or Y-chromosome haplogroups so far, but apparently this sample of medieval-era Upper Nubians resembles the Abusir el-Meleq sample from late dynastic to Roman-era northern Egypt at the mtDNA level.
To be honest, the apparent lack of African mtDNA lineages (e.g. L or M1) from a sample this far south into Sudan surprises me. I mean, I get that there would have been some Arab and other Eurasian admixture entering Nubia during this period, but you'd think there would still be some native African lineages in the area. Especially since medieval Nubians are supposedly the progenitors of modern ones. Maybe a larger sample will reveal more?
quote:This analysis classified these Nubians into HV, H, K, U, or R haplogroups utilizing up to three polymorphic sites. Previous work of our collaborators with ancient Egyptian individuals resembles the developing profiles of these Nubians.
And yet they looked like this:
Sooooo....The Nile Valley was either always brimming with Blacks that were genetically closer to Near Easterners (and they are a group of people who physically and culturally resemble Africans) OR The Near Eastern geneflow that began in 2,000 BC extended into the whole of Egypt. This is a possibility because Kush and southern kingdoms had formed alliances with the Near East to prevent southern Egypt from attacking the northern realm. That being said, we need to know the history of the site these remains came from. Because if its anything like Abusir or Dakleh...Well...
Here's the thing though:
quote:The ancient Taforalt individuals carried the mtDNA Haplogroup N subclades like U6, H, JT and V, which points to population continuity in the region dating from the Iberomaurusian period.[9] In 2016 it has been identified mtDNA haplogroups H or U, T2b, JT or H14b1, J, J1c3f, H1, R0a1a, R0a2c, H2a1e1a, H2a2a1, H6a1a8, H14b1, U4a2b, U4c1, U6d3
quote:The male specimens with sufficient nuclear DNA preservation belonged to the paternal haplogroup E1b1b1a1 (M78), with one skeleton bearing the E1b1b1a1b1 parent lineage to E-V13, one male specimen belonged to E1b1b (M215*). These Y-DNA clades are closely related to the E1b1b1b (M123) subhaplogroup that has been observed in skeletal remains belonging to the Epipaleolithic Natufian and Pre-Pottery Neolithic cultures of the Levant. Maternally, the Taforalt remains bore the U6a and M1b mtDNA haplogroups, which are common among modern Afroasiatic-speaking populations in Africa. A two-way admixture scenario using Natufian and modern West African samples as reference populations inferred that the seven Taforalt individuals are best modeled genetically as 63.5% Natufian-related and 36.5% Hadza-like ancestries, with no apparent gene flow from the Epigravettian culture of Paleolithic southern Europe.
These type of DNA readings seem to be from tens of thousands of years ago. So chances are a lot of these readings are at least somewhat indicative of Natives to northern Africa. However because I imagine many of these haplogroups probably appear earliest out of Africa, it could indicate many in the Nile Valley were the result of backmigrants who expanded into northern Africa and repopulated the Nile. At least in part. It's a possibility I'm willing to accept at least.
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quote:Originally posted by Ase: These type of DNA readings seem to be from tens of thousands of years ago. So chances are a lot of these readings are at least somewhat indicative of Natives to northern Africa. However because I imagine many of these haplogroups probably appear earliest out of Africa, it could indicate many in the Nile Valley were the result of backmigrants who expanded into northern Africa and repopulated the Nile. At least in part. It's a possibility I'm willing to accept at least.
WTH are you talking about... You're using the fractured story of aDNA to assume all of this? The Pleistocene North Africans M1 and U6 have had a long history in Africa, we knew this for years. And the latter Haplogroup might've been in Africa for it's entirety. The other diverse set of maternal uniparentals in the Nile valley simply lack the age and depth to coincide with your explanation, stop with all the conformity. Wait till we get some actual telling sequences from ancient samples before making these sweeping claims with disregard to decades of Anthropological, linguistic and cultural research.
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So U6 doesn't come from haplogroup U? Is U found earliest in Africa? How does the ancestor not come from Africa, but the child's heritage is one that never left? I don't understand this.
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quote:Originally posted by Ase: So U6 doesn't come from haplogroup U? Is U found earliest in Africa? How does the ancestor not come from Africa, but the child's heritage is one that never left? I don't understand this.
I meant the former (M1) obviously. You've been around long enough to be able to deduce I was talking about M-N possibly emerging in Africa...
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I'm not sure if this study was posted, but here it is, and it's around that same time period.
quote:An infant skeleton was recovered from the 6G8 cemetery (Christian Period, 500-1400 C.E.) during excavation in what is present-day Wadi Halfa, located near the Second Cataract of the Nile in the Republic of the Sudan. An infant skeleton was recovered from the 6G8 cemetery (Christian Period, 500-1400 C.E.) during excavation in what is present-day Wadi Halfa, located near the Second Cataract of the Nile in the Republic of the Sudan. Skeletal material from Wadi Halfa represents one of the most analyzed archaeological populations in the world. Building upon the research of Dr. George Armelagos and others, this study presents preliminary results of the first ancient DNA (aDNA) analysis of an individual from this population. Analysis was carried out at the Molecular Population Genetics laboratory in the Smurfit Institute of Genetics at Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland. Using next-generation sequencing (NGS) techniques, DNA was extracted from a portion of cranial bone, indexed libraries were prepared, and the genome was sequenced on the Illumina platform using a MiSeq Personal Sequencer. Analysis of sequencing results indicated 0.59% endogenous DNA. Principle component analysis (PCA) was performed; despite a low number of SNPs, the individual was placed between African and European clusters. Using a method developed in Trinity’s Molecular Population Genetics laboratory, the individual was sexed as a male. Haplogroup was assessed by analyzing SNPs from the mitochondrial chromosome with HaploGrep. The individual was assigned to L5a1a, a branch of the ancient L5 haplogroup with origins in East Africa. The individual was assigned to L5a1a, a branch of the ancient L5 haplogroup with origins in East Africa. This study demonstrates the potential to gain unique insight into Nubian populations through aDNA analysis. Additional aDNA analysis of the Nubians will provide invaluable information regarding genetic influence and gene flow in individuals occupying ancient Nubia.
posted
As stated in the threads about Abusir, if you use the genetic results in a vacuum it is meaningless. You need all the data from populations contemporary to Abusir, prior to and after to begin to make claims about who was where doing what to whom. And of course, since so called "Nubians" are supposed to be representative of a "pure" African population, then you absolutely want to see those genes as well.
If these so-called "Nubians" are shown to have similar DNA as found in Abusir it means a few things. First and foremost it means that we cannot assume that the presence of certain DNA lineages implies 'non black' or 'non African' population mixture, or at the very least non black or non African phenotype. That would be absurd. Second, it means the age of these DNA lineages in the Nile Valley are likely far older than assumed. Again, most of this assignment of origins for particular lineages comes from the fact that older DNA has been extracted from Europe than Africa. If you get older DNA from Africa that would likely tell a different story.
Not really surprising at all.
At this point mostly people are just defending their presumed theories about ancient DNA lineages and how Africans stayed in an isolated DNA cluster with all other DNA lineages coming from outside Africa.
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quote:Originally posted by Fourty2Tribes: Does this tip that Abusir was mostly indigenous?
We also have to keep in mind of prior studies done around this time period. I remember viewing this abstract years ago, I believe it was posted on egyptsearch? According to this prior study done on Kulubnarti remains dated between 550-800 AD, there existed two distinct communities with several obvious differences:
quote: The Nubian site of Kulubnarti is home to two contemporaneous and geographically proximate cemeteries that appear to reflect the existence of two socioeconomically disparate communities living side-by-side during the Early Christian era (AD 550-800). While anthropological analyses suggest substantial inequality between the island and the mainland communities, biological relationships within and between these two groups have only been explored using morphology. Because of its location along the Nile migration corridor, Kulubnarti represents an ideal site to explore a connection between biological and social relationships. However, the genetic analysis of ancient sub-Saharan African populations presents exceptional challenges due to the thermal degradation of DNA. Here we demonstrate that ancient DNA analysis of African samples is now possible when optimized methodologies for DNA preparation and next-generation sequencing technologies are used. Thirty-two samples have been analyzed so far and have yielded endogenous human DNA contents ranging from 0.15-33.8%. Preliminary results, including mitochondrial haplogroup analysis, suggests there may be substantial differences in the genomic composition between the two Kulubnarti communities substantial differences in the genomic composition between the two Kulubnarti communities, with 70% of individuals from the island cemetery demonstrating African-based haplogroups(L2, L1, and L5) , compared to only 36.4% of mainlanders, who instead show an increased prevalence of European and Near Eastern haplogroups (including K1, H, I5, and U1) . Low-density principal component analysis suggests genetic affinities that include both African and Near Eastern input. Continuing work that includes deeper sequencing of Kulubnarti samples will provide even more informative genetic data from the Kulubnarti Nubians going forward.
If anyone has access to this study, please post it. Other studies done on these remains also concluded that some of the remains were distinct.
quote: Another possible interpretation of the wide range noticed in both δ13C and δ15N values, is the presence of non-local immigrants who may have had different diets to those of the indigenous population. Variations in δ18O of bone carbonate have been observed between different age groups in the Kulubnarti population which might suggest the presence of immigrants among the population, particularly of adults (Turner et al., 2 007). Immigration has already been proposed at Wadi Halfa as well (White et al., 2004).
So migrants distinct from Nubians and Egyptians has already been reported in Lower Nubia, and the Kulubnarti samples are few centuries older than what reported in this current study. There still overwhelming African-based haplogroups reported for Nubians.
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^I believe there was an abstract talking about how the Kulubnarti Paternal Haplogroups followed an opposite trend, where the mainlanders were primarily African and the Islanders where foreign iirc.. If anyone has it a link would be nice...
Posts: 1781 | From: New York | Registered: Jul 2016
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quote:Originally posted by Elmaestro: ^I believe there was an abstract talking about how the Kulubnarti Paternal Haplogroups followed an opposite trend, where the mainlanders were primarily African and the Islanders where foreign iirc.. If anyone has it a link would be nice...
I gave it a good search and I couldn't find anything. Hopefully someone else might have it saved.
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