U5a1 Mitochondrial DNA Haplotype Identified in Eneolithic Skeleton from Shatar Chuluu, Mongolia.

The mitochondrial haplotype U5a1 was identified from an Eneolithic grave associated with the Afanasievo archaeological culture in Bayankhongor Province, Erdenetsogt Township, at the site of Shatar Chuluu. This is the earliest appearance of an mtDNA haplotype associated with modern European populations on the Mongol Steppe. This evidence demonstrations that people with "western" mtDNA lived on the Mongol Steppe east of the Altai Mountains before the Bronze Age and refutes the notion that the Altai Mountains were a substantial barrier to gene flow, and definitively expands the acknowledged range of the Afanasievo archaeological culture.

Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) Population Spans Multiple Protected Areas in the Albertine Rift.

We used mitochondrial DNA to examine gene flow in a region of western Uganda that has received little attention regarding chimpanzee population dynamics. The area is critical to gene flow between isolated Democratic Republic of Congo populations and the rest of East Africa. None of the chimpanzees in each of the 4 protected areas under consideration (Toro-Semliki Wildlife Reserve, Semuliki National Park, Rwenzori Mountains National Park and Itwara Central Forest Reserve) are fully habituated.

Ancient DNA from the Schild site in Illinois: Implications for the Mississippian transition in the Lower Illinois River Valley.

Archaeologists have long debated whether rapid cultural change in the archaeological record is due to in situ developments, migration of a new group into the region, or the spread of new cultural practices into an area through existing social networks, with the local peoples adopting and adapting practices from elsewhere as they see fit (acculturation). Researchers have suggested each of these explanations for the major cultural transition that occurred at the beginning of the Mississippian period (AD 1050) across eastern North America. In this study, we used ancient DNA to test competing hypotheses of migration and acculturation for the culture change that occurred between the Late Woodland (AD 400-1050) and Mississippian (AD 1050-1500) periods in the Lower Illinois River Valley.

Brief communication: Conjoined twins at angel mounds? an ancient DNA perspective.

Conjoined twins are born when a single fertilized egg partially splits into two fetuses. A hypothetical case of infant conjoined twins from Angel Mounds, a Middle Mississippian site (A.D.

Investigation of ancient DNA from Western Siberia and the Sargat culture.

Mitochondrial DNA from 14 archaeological samples at the Ural State University in Yekaterinburg, Russia, was extracted to test the feasibility of ancient DNA work on their collection. These samples come from a number of sites that fall into two groupings. Seven samples are from three sites, dating to the 8th-12th century AD, that belong to a northern group of what are thought to be Ugrians, who lived along the Ural Mountains in northwestern Siberia.

LRP5 sequence and polymorphisms in the baboon.

Background: LRP5 is known to have an important relationship with bone density and a variety of other biological processes. Mapping to human chromosome 11q13.2, LRP5 shows considerable evolutionary conservation.

Population continuity or replacement? A novel computer simulation approach and its application to the Numic expansion (Western Great Basin, USA).

In a previous study, Kaestle and Smith [Am J Phys Anthropol 115 (2001) 1-12] supported a recent (A.D. 1000) Numic expansion into the Great Basin region based on a molecular and statistical analysis of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of ancient and modern native inhabitants of the region.

Reanalysis of Eurasian population history: ancient DNA evidence of population affinities.

Mitochondrial hypervariable region I genetic data from ancient populations at two sites in Asia-Linzi in Shandong (northern China) and Egyin Gol in Mongolia-were reanalyzed to detect population affinities. Data from 51 modern populations were used to generate distance measures (Fst's) to the two ancient populations. The tests first analyzed relationships at the regional level and then compiled the top regional matches for an overall comparison to the two probe populations.

Mitochondrial DNA and prehistoric settlements: native migrations on the western edge of North America.

We analyzed previously reported mtDNA haplogroup frequencies of 577 individuals and hypervariable segment 1 (HVS1) sequences of 265 individuals from Native American tribes in western North America to test hypotheses regarding the settlement of this region. These data were analyzed to determine whether Hokan and Penutian, two hypothesized ancient linguistic stocks, represent biological units as a result of shared ancestry within these respective groups. Although the pattern of mtDNA variation suggests regional continuity and although gene flow between populations has contributed much to the genetic landscape of western North America, some evidence supports the existence of both the Hokan and Penutian phyla.

Patterns of mtDNA diversity in northwestern North America.

The mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroups of 54 full-blooded modern and 64 ancient Native Americans from northwestern North America were determined. The control regions of 10 modern and 30 ancient individuals were sequenced and compared. Within the Northwest, the frequency distribution for haplogroup A is geographically structured, with haplogroup A decreasing with distance from the Pacific Coast.

Ancient DNA in anthropology: methods, applications, and ethics.

Anthropologists were quick to recognize the potential of new techniques in molecular biology to provide additional lines of evidence on questions long investigated in anthropology, as well as those questions that, while always of interest, could not have been addressed by more traditional techniques. The earliest ancient DNA studies, both within anthropology and in other fields, lacked rigorous hypothesis testing. However, more recently the true value of ancient DNA studies is being realized, and methods are being applied to a wide variety of anthropological questions.

Native American mtDNA prehistory in the American Southwest.

This study examines the mtDNA diversity of the proposed descendants of the multiethnic Hohokam and Anasazi cultural traditions, as well as Uto-Aztecan and Southern-Athapaskan groups, to investigate hypothesized migrations associated with the Southwest region. The mtDNA haplogroups of 117 Native Americans from southwestern North America were determined. The hypervariable segment I (HVSI) portion of the control region of 53 of these individuals was sequenced, and the within-haplogroup diversity of 18 Native American populations from North, Central, and South America was analyzed.

The structure of diversity within New World mitochondrial DNA haplogroups: implications for the prehistory of North America.

The mitochondrial DNA haplogroups and hypervariable segment I (HVSI) sequences of 1,612 and 395 Native North Americans, respectively, were analyzed to identify major prehistoric population events in North America. Gene maps and spatial autocorrelation analyses suggest that populations with high frequencies of haplogroups A, B, and X experienced prehistoric population expansions in the North, Southwest, and Great Lakes region, respectively. Haplotype networks showing high levels of reticulation and high frequencies of nodal haplotypes support these results.