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Oldest DNA from South Africa Decoded
Thirteen ancient human genomes from the Oakhurst rock shelter in South Africa provide new insights into human history in the region.
Ancient DNA has provided spectacular insights into human history, particularly in Europe and Asia, where researchers have reconstructed the genomes of thousands of people. However, fewer than two dozen ancient genomes have been recovered from southern Africa - specifically Botswana, South Africa and Zambia - which has some of the world's earliest evidence of modern humans, with the oldest genomes dating back around 2,000 years.
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A team of researchers from the University of Cape Town (South Africa) and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig (Germany) have analyzed human remains from the Oakhurst rock shelter in southernmost Africa and reconstructed the genomes of thirteen individuals, who died between 1,300 and 10,000 years ago, including the oldest human genome from South Africa to date.
"Oakhurst rock shelter is an ideal site to study human history, as it contained more than 40 human graves and preserved layers of human artefacts, such as stone tools, going back 12,000 years," says Victoria Gibbon, Professor of Biological Anthropology at the University of Cape Town and co-senior author of the study.
"Sites like this are rare in South Africa, and Oakhurst has allowed a better understanding of local population movements and relationships across the landscape over nearly 9,000 years."
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