26 March 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Earliest Modern Human Genome Identified

The fossilized skull of a woman in the Czech Republic provided the oldest modern human genome to date, which has been reconstructed to represent a population that arose before the ancestors of today’s Europeans and Asians split.

Ancient DNA from Neanderthals and early modern humans has recently shown that these groups likely interbred crossed somewhere in the Middle East after modern humans left Africa some 50,000 years ago. As a result, everyone outside of Africa carries 2% to 3% of Neanderthal DNA. In the modern human genome, these Neandertal DNA fragments become shorter and shorter with the passage of time, and their length can be used to estimate a person’s survival time. The archaeological data released last year further showed that modern humans already existed in Southeast Europe 47-43,000 years ago, but due to the lack of fairly complete human fossils and the lack of genomic DNA, people do not know who these early human colonists were. -Or their relationship with ancient and contemporary human groups.

In a new study published in “Nature Ecology and Evolution”, an international research team reported the oldest possibility to date to reconstruct the modern human genome. Researchers call it Zlatýkůň (the golden horse of the Czech Republic). It was the first female discovered in the Czech Republic. Its Neanderthal DNA fragments are longer than the 45,000-year-old Ust’-Ishim in Siberia, the oldest modern human genome to date. Analysis shows that she is part of a part of the population, and these populations were formed before the split between Europeans and Asians today.

A recent anthropological study based on the shape of the Zlatýkůň skull shows that the species is similar to people who lived in Europe before the last glacier peak at least 30,000 years ago, but radiocarbon dating has produced sporadic results, irregular of which 15,000 years ago. It wasn’t until Jaroslav Brůžek from the Faculty of Science, Prague and Petr Velemínský of Prague’s National Museum collaborated with the genetics laboratories of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History that a clearer picture came into view.

“We found evidence of cow DNA contamination in the analyzed bone, which suggests that a bovine-based glue used in the past to consolidate the skull was returning radiocarbon dates younger than the fossil’s true age,” says Cosimo Posth, co-lead author of the study. Post was formerly a research group leader at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History and is currently a Professor of Archaeo- and Palaeogenetics at the University of Tübingen.

Initial attempts to date Zlatý kůň based on the shape of her skull suggested she was at least 30,000 years old. Researchers now believe she lived more than 45,000 years ago.
Initial attempts to date Zlatý kůň based on the shape of her skull suggested she was at least 30,000 years old. Researchers now believe she lived more than 45,000 years ago. Photo: Martin Frouz

However, it was Neandertal DNA that led the team to reach the main conclusions about the age of the fossil. Zlatýkůň carries the same amount of Neandertal DNA in her genome as Ust Ishim or other modern humans outside of Africa, but the fragments of Neandertal descent are longer on average.

“The results of our DNA analysis show that Zlatý kůň lived closer in time to the admixture event with Neanderthals,” says Kay Prüfer, co-lead author of the study.

The scientists were able to estimate that Zlatý kůň lived approximately 2,000 years after the last admixture. Based on these findings, the team argues that Zlatý kůň represents the oldest human genome to date, roughly the same age as – if not a few hundred years older than – Ust’-Ishim.

“It is quite intriguing that the earliest modern humans in Europe ultimately didn’t succeed! Just as with Ust’-Ishim and the so far oldest European skull from Oase 1, Zlatý kůň shows no genetic continuity with modern humans that lived in Europe after 40,000 years ago,” says Johannes Krause, senior author of the study and director at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.

One possible explanation for the discontinuity is the Campanian Ignimbrite volcanic eruption roughly 39,000 years ago, which severely affected climate in the northern hemisphere and may have reduced the survival chances of Neanderthals and early modern humans in large parts of Ice Age Europe.

As advances in ancient DNA reveal more about the story of our species, future genetic studies of other early European individuals will help to reconstruct the history and decline of the first modern humans to expand out of Africa and into Eurasia before the formation of modern-day non-African populations.

Source: MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE FOR THE SCIENCE OF HUMAN HISTORY

Related Articles

Scientists Use Artificial İntelligence to Study Ancient Australian Rock Art

1 April 2021

1 April 2021

Rock art is the oldest surviving human art form. Throughout Australia, petroglyphs are part of the life and customs of...

In Pontefract, archaeologists have discovered Neolithic remains

18 June 2021

18 June 2021

Archaeologists working on the site of the former Carleton Furniture factory at Mill Dam Lane in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England,...

A Large Roman Pottery Production Center was Found in Poland

2 April 2021

2 April 2021

A large Roman pottery production center was found in Poland. The production center was discovered near the village of Wrzepia,...

Rare Prehistoric Animal Carvings Discovered For The First Time In Scotland

31 May 2021

31 May 2021

Animal carvings thousands of years old have been found for the first time in Scotland. The carvings, estimated to be...

Game Bone Stones from a Roman Military Strategy Game Found in Hadrianopolis Ancient City, Türkiye

10 January 2025

10 January 2025

During the excavations in Hadrianopolis Ancient City in Eskipazar district of Karabük, 2 bone game stones belonging to the military...

Drought unveils sunken basilica in Turkey

14 October 2022

14 October 2022

The sunken basilica remains discovered in 2014 became visible as a result of Lake Iznik’s water withdrawal. Climate change is...

9,000-Year-Old Rock Art Suggests Early Humans Interacted with Dinosaur Footprints

22 February 2025

22 February 2025

In Brazil, researchers have made an extraordinary discovery of ancient rock art dating back over 9,000 years, found alongside dinosaur...

Part of The ‘Missing Link’ in Human Migration may have been Found in Kaldar Cave

3 April 2021

3 April 2021

Kaldar cave is an important archaeological site that provides evidence for the transition from the Middle and Upper Paleolithic Ages...

Two Deep Ritual Wells Sealed with 3100-year-old Calcium Carbonate Discovered on Greek Island

6 August 2024

6 August 2024

Aerial photographs of the “Kotroni” Lakithra region, strategically located on the island of Cephalonia, west of the Greek mainland, revealed...

Recent excavations reveal the complete water conservancy system of the nearly 5000-year-old Liangzhu Ruins

26 November 2024

26 November 2024

In recent excavations around the Liangzhu Ruins in east China’s Zhejiang Province, researchers have discovered about 20 ancient dams. Seven...

Detectorist Finds 2,500-Year-Old Unique Bronze Brooch

26 August 2024

26 August 2024

A metal detectorist, who chose to remain anonymous, uncovered three artifacts, including a massive fibula, i.e. a bronze brooch dating...

A Unique 2000-Year-Old Oil Lamp Found in Israel

5 May 2021

5 May 2021

Archaeologists have discovered a rare 2,000-year-old oil lamp in David, Jerusalem. Archaeologists have discovered a rare oil lamp, shaped like...

Women with Sart Renovate Largest Synagogue of Ancient World

4 August 2023

4 August 2023

Village women take part in the renovation works of the largest synagogue in the ancient world, located in the ancient...

Oldest Aboriginal pottery discovered in Far North Queensland

10 April 2024

10 April 2024

More than 2000 years ago, Aboriginal Australians were producing ceramics on a secluded island about 35 kilometers off the coast...

Rare Langsax fighting blade with Viking origins discovered in Poland

20 August 2021

20 August 2021

Archaeologists working in the Wdecki Landscape Park in Poland’s Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship have discovered a rare langsax long knife with potential...