Mystery Woman’s DNA Reveals Intriguing Relationship Between Neanderthals And Modern Humans In Europe

Jan Bartek - AncientPages.com - After modern humans migrated from Africa, they encountered and interbred with Neanderthals, leading to the presence of approximately 2–3% Neanderthal DNA in the genomes of all individuals outside Africa today. Despite this significant genetic legacy, much remains unknown about the genetics of these early European pioneers and the precise timing of their admixture with Neanderthals.

Left: Illustration of Zlatý kůň, who belonged to the same population as the Ranis individuals and was closely related to two of them. Credit: Tom Björklund for Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. Right: Neanderthal man. Credit: Adobe Stock - iridescentstreet. Center: DNA - Credit:  Adobe Stock - 2rogan. Image compilation: AncientPages.com

A crucial site for understanding this history is Zlatý kun in Czechia, where a complete skull from an individual who lived around 45,000 years ago was discovered and analyzed genetically. Stone tools and mammal fossils discovered in proximity indicated that the bones were ancient, while the shape of the skull suggested to archaeologists that it likely belonged to a woman. Determining her exact age proved challenging due to interference from organic glue used by conservators, which affected radiocarbon dating methods.

Recently, researchers have identified her relatives by conducting DNA analysis on bones from six individuals found in a cave in Germany known as Ranis, located 230 kilometers away. This site is renowned for its association with the Lincombian-Ranisian-Jerzmanowician (LRJ) archaeological culture, which dates back approximately 45,000 years.

There has been ongoing debate about whether Neanderthals or early modern humans created the LRJ culture.

Although only small bone fragments have been preserved at Ranis, a previous study successfully analyzed mitochondrial DNA from thirteen remains and determined that they belonged to modern humans rather than Neanderthals.

Nevertheless, since mitochondrial DNA represents only a tiny fraction of genetic information, connections between these individuals and other modern human populations remain unclear.

A study published in Nature examined the nuclear genomes of thirteen specimens from Ranis, revealing that they represented at least six distinct individuals. The bone sizes suggested that two of these individuals were infants, while genetic analysis identified three males and three females.

Notably, the group included a mother and daughter pair, along with other more distantly related biological relatives. Additionally, the research team successfully sequenced more DNA from a female skull found at Zlatý kun, resulting in a high-quality genome for this individual.

"To our surprise, we discovered a fifth- or sixth-degree genetic relationship between Zlatý kůň and two individuals from Ranis," says Arev Sümer, lead author of the study. "This means that Zlatý kůň was genetically part of the extended family of Ranis and likely also made LRJ-type tools."

Among the six individuals from Ranis, one bone stood out due to its exceptional preservation. This bone is considered the best-preserved modern human bone from the Pleistocene era for DNA retrieval, enabling researchers to extract a high-quality genome from this male individual, known as Ranis13. The genomes of both Ranis13 and Zlatý kůň are recognized as the oldest high-quality modern human genomes sequenced so far.

Genetic analysis revealed that both individuals carried variants linked to dark skin and hair color, as well as brown eyes, indicating their recent African ancestry within early European populations. By examining shared ancestral segments in their genomes, researchers estimated that this population comprised at most a few hundred individuals dispersed over a larger area. Importantly, there was no evidence suggesting that this small group contributed genetically to later European or other global populations.

The Zlatý kůň/Ranis population coexisted with Neanderthals in Europe, suggesting potential interbreeding after migrating there. While previous studies on humans from over 40,000 years ago indicated such admixture events between modern humans and Neanderthals occurred recently, no evidence of recent Neanderthal admixture was found in the Zlatý kůň/Ranis genomes.

Illustration of the Zlatý kůň/Ranis group. Around 45,000 years ago, individuals from Ranis in Germany and Zlatý kůň in Czechia likely traveled together across the open steppe landscapes of Europe. Credit: Tom Björklund for Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

"The fact that modern human groups, which may have arrived in Europe later, carry such Neanderthal ancestry while Ranis and Zlatý kůň do not could mean that the older Zlatý kůň/Ranis lineage may have entered Europe by a different route or did not overlap as extensively with the regions where Neanderthals lived," speculates Kay Prüfer, who co-supervised the study.

The Zlatý kun/Ranis population marks the earliest known divergence from the group of modern humans that migrated out of Africa and later spread across Eurasia. Despite this early split, their Neanderthal ancestry stems from the same ancient admixture event found in all non-African populations today.

By examining the length of Neanderthal-contributed segments in the high-coverage Ranis13 genome and applying direct radiocarbon dating to this individual, researchers have dated this shared Neanderthal admixture to between 45,000 and 49,000 years ago.

This indicates that around that time frame, a unified ancestral non-African population must have existed, as evidenced by the shared Neanderthal heritage among all present-day non-African groups.

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"These results provide us with a deeper understanding of the earliest pioneers that settled in Europe," says Johannes Krause, senior author of the study.

"They also indicate that any modern human remains found outside Africa that are older than 50,000 years could not have been part of the common non-African population that interbred with Neanderthals and is now found across much of the world."

The study was published in Nature

Written by Jan Bartek - AncientPages.com Staff Writer