1. Social stratification without genetic differentiation at the site of Kulubnarti in Christian Period Nubia
- Author
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Nadin Rohland, Kimberly Callan, Ron Pinhasi, Nicole Adamski, Fatma Zalzala, Jonas Oppenheimer, Carla S. Hadden, Eadaoin Harney, Mark Lipson, Rebecca Bernardos, Megan Michel, Matthew Ferry, Kendra Sirak, Iñigo Olalde, Dennis P. Van Gerven, David Reich, Nick Patterson, Matthew Mah, Kristin Stewardson, Jessica C. Thompson, Ann Marie Lawson, Daniel Fernandes, Harald Ringbauer, Swapan Mallick, Nasreen Broomandkhoshbacht, National Science Foundation (US), John Templeton Foundation, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and Paul G. Allen Family Foundation
- Subjects
Male ,Population genetics ,Science ,Genetic genealogy ,General Physics and Astronomy ,Article ,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology ,Sudan ,Prehistory ,Humans ,History, Ancient ,Sex Characteristics ,Multidisciplinary ,Fossils ,Genome, Human ,Genetic Drift ,Genetic Variation ,Islam ,Gene Pool ,General Chemistry ,Genomics ,Social Status ,Social stratification ,humanities ,Genetic differentiation ,Genetics, Population ,Geography ,Period (geology) ,Ethnology ,Egypt ,Female ,Gene pool ,Social status - Abstract
Relatively little is known about Nubia’s genetic landscape prior to the influence of the Islamic migrations that began in the late 1st millennium CE. Here, we increase the number of ancient individuals with genome-level data from the Nile Valley from three to 69, reporting data for 66 individuals from two cemeteries at the Christian Period (~650–1000 CE) site of Kulubnarti, where multiple lines of evidence suggest social stratification. The Kulubnarti Nubians had ~43% Nilotic-related ancestry (individual variation between ~36–54%) with the remaining ancestry consistent with being introduced through Egypt and ultimately deriving from an ancestry pool like that found in the Bronze and Iron Age Levant. The Kulubnarti gene pool – shaped over a millennium – harbors disproportionately female-associated West Eurasian-related ancestry. Genetic similarity among individuals from the two cemeteries supports a hypothesis of social division without genetic distinction. Seven pairs of inter-cemetery relatives suggest fluidity between cemetery groups. Present-day Nubians are not directly descended from the Kulubnarti Nubians, attesting to additional genetic input since the Christian Period., Little is known about the genetic landscape of people living in the Nile region prior to the Islamic migrations of the late 1st millennium CE. Here, the authors report genome-wide data for 66 ancient individuals to investigate the genetic ancestry of a Christian Period group from Kulubnarti.
- Published
- 2021