Ancient DNA reveals surprises about how early Africans lived, traveled and interacted

Hora Rockshelter in Malawi, where recent excavations uncovered two of the individuals analyzed in a collaborative study of ancient DNA. Jacob Davis) - New research provides evidence of demographic shifts in sub-Saharan Africa A new analysis of human remains that were buried in African archaeological sites has produced the earliest DNA from the continent, telling a fascinating tale of how early humans lived, traveled and even found their significant others. An interdisciplinary team of 44 researchers with participation of Ron Pinhasi from the University of Vienna, reports its findings in "Ancient DNA reveals deep population in sub-Saharan African foragers." The paper was published today in Nature and reports findings from ancient DNA from six individuals buried in Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia who lived between 18,000 and 5,000 years ago. The newly discovered aDNA from the six individuals more than doubles the antiquity of reported ancient DNA data from sub-Saharan Africa. In addition to that the researchers also reanalyzed published data from 28 individuals buried at sites across the continent, generating new and improved data for 15 of them. The result was an unprecedented dataset of DNA from ancient African foragers - people who hunted, gathered or fished. Their genetic legacy is difficult to reconstruct from present-day people because of the many population movements and mixtures that have occurred in the last few thousand years.