a DNA from ceremonial burials and war graves has revealed population dynamics like migrations, admixture events, and cultural transitions.
These studies help trace population replacement and expansion—peaceful or violent—and wealth distribution at different scales.
Challenges in Genetic Ancestry:
Populations across regions often show statistical similarity, complicating ancestry studies.
Ancient genomes typically have smaller sample sizes and lower sequencing quality compared to mediaeval or modern genomes.
Traditional and Modern Methods:
Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) Analysis: Effective for population studies but dependent on high-quality DNA and less effective for closely related populations.
Haplotypes and Rare Variants: Provide more detailed insights by combining information about shared DNA segments (identity-by-descent) and rare genetic variations.
Twigstats: A Game-Changing Method
A new method called Twigstats uses time-stratified ancestry analysis, combining genealogical tree inference, haplotype sharing, and rare variants.
Application: Twigstats was tested on 1,556 ancient genomes from northern and central Europe (500 BC–1000 AD).
It uncovered high-resolution maps of population movements, admixture events, and ancestry transitions.
Key Findings Using Twigstats
1. Viking Migrations: High-resolution insights into Viking migrations and their genetic impact across Europe.
Evidence of Scandinavian-like ancestry in Britain and the Baltic regions before the Viking Age suggests earlier-than-expected migrations and interactions.
Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe
2.Evidence of bidirectional gene flow: Scandinavian ancestry expanded across Europe, while continental European and British ancestry influenced Scandinavia.
3. Cultural and Genetic Shifts: Population shifts were linked to major cultural transitions, such as changes in ancestry in Poland during the Bronze Age and the Wielbark culture era.
This study demonstrates the interplay between genetic data, archaeology, and historical evidence, offering a nuanced understanding of early populations.
Twigstats could revolutionize genetic ancestry studies globally, enabling high-resolution reconstructions of population histories.
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