Ancient DNA preserved in the icy climate of Siberia has revealed new insights about how ancient humans migrated five to seven millennia ago.
The finding is important because it helps scientists fill in a big gap in their knowledge about ancient humans. We know, for example, that humans began to migrate out of Africa at least 50,000 years ago. But it took until roughly 10,000 years ago before they began to develop farming. The humans living in the intermittent period — as well as much more recently than 10 millennia ago in some places — had to forage for their sustenance. But they didn’t build many permanent structures, living a more nomadic lifestyle with smaller populations, so their remains are harder to find.
“That is a huge timespan when humans came out of Africa before farming development,” says Cosimo Posth, a professor at the University of Tübingen.
In a study ...
