Prehistoric DNA Reveals Two Groups Migrated to the U.K. After the Last Ice Age

[Judi Lynn]

The bones of two individuals found in caves helped scientists determine their ancestry

Will Sullivan
November 2, 2022

New research indicates that two genetically separate populations of people migrated to the United Kingdom after the last ice age.

Scientists analyzed the remains of two humans who lived about 15,000 and 13,500 years ago, found in caves in England and Wales, respectively, writes Gizmodo’s Isaac Schultz. The results suggest the two individuals, who had different diets and cultures, also had distinct ancestries, reports Science’s Andrew Curry.

The findings, published last week in Nature Ecology & Evolution, come from the oldest human DNA found in the U.K., researchers say. It indicates that a migration, not simply a shift in customs, likely led to the change in culture after the last ice age.

“It’s clearly not the same group of modern humans everywhere,” Luc Amkreutz, an archaeologist at the National Museum of Antiquities in the Netherlands who did not contribute to the research, tells Science. “I think we’ve underestimated the diversity in this period.”

More:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/prehistoric-dna-reveals-two-groups-migrated-to-the-uk-after-the-last-ice-age-180981020/

[FailureToCommunicate]

1. Any Englander might've guessed this: those who...

put milk in BEFORE the tea, and those that add it after are clearly from different cultures.

[stopdiggin]

2. another 'interesting' piece

I've always been struck by what the anthropologists call 'total replacement' events. (and perhaps that's a matter of just not understanding what is being stated) But - we are to understand that large swaths of the world's population (outside Africa) retain a certain amount of Neanderthal and Denisovan genetics - but seeming none at all of certain 'modern human' populations? Seems hard to account ...