Ancient DNA research has revealed that northern Europeans have a higher risk of multiple sclerosis due to genetic legacies from horseback-riding cattle herders who migrated to the region around 5,000 years ago. Additionally, contemporary people's Neanderthal DNA is traced back to a single, prolonged period of mixing approximately 47,000 years ago, according to an analysis of ancient and modern genomes. This new evidence suggests a need to rethink current models of human evolution.
🗄️ From the archive: New evidence suggests we need to rethink our current models of how humans evolved. https://t.co/y2CJpMz8RF
Our understanding of the earliest humans is shaped by contemporary beliefs about race, violence and sex. 📖 Book of the Day: Ann Manov on The Invention of Prehistory https://t.co/xRWmQ0rw1V
Contemporary people’s Neanderthal DNA came from a single, prolonged period of mixing some 47,000 years ago, an analysis of ancient and modern genomes suggests. https://t.co/RWIiamZeXH
"It’s exceedingly unlikely that modern humans met the Neanderthals and decided to just live and let live...Even after primitive Homo sapiens broke out of Africa 200,000 years ago, it took over 150,000 years to conquer Neanderthal lands." https://t.co/QJKtmIv6sw
"By 600,000 years ago or so, hominin populations started relying on unusually complex technologies, and we only see rapid increases in complexity after that time as well." ⛏️🪨 https://t.co/5Mf8gTUw3c
Ancient DNA helps explain why northern Europeans have a higher risk of multiple sclerosis than other ancestries: It’s a genetic legacy of horseback-riding cattle herders who swept into the region about 5,000 years ago. https://t.co/LppgXbNwM7