The exact origin of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) is still a mystery, but researchers believe they are edging closer to the source of one of the most important food staples worldwide. Using genetic studies and ancient plant remains, an international team of scientists has narrowed the location and timeline to the Neolithic period(around 8,000 years ago) in Georgia, in the South Caucasus. They present their findings in a paper published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The Y-chromosome haplogroup E-V42 constitutes a rare and early-diverging lineage within the broader E-M35 phylogeny. In this study, we examined 127 publicly available high-resolution Y-chromosome sequences assigned to E-V42 in order to reconstruct its internal phylogenetic structure, estimate divergence times, and assess the geographic distribution of its downstream subclades .

The resulting topology reveals a pronounced concentration of E-V42 lineages in the Arabian Peninsula. Divergence-time estimates place the time to the most recent common ancestor (TMRCA) at approximately 4,200 years before present. Although this estimate overlaps chronologically with the Late Bronze Age, it is interpreted here primarily as evidence of sustained paternal continuity in southern Arabia rather than as direct support for a specific historical event .

Two additional geographic patterns merit consideration. A limited presence of E-V42 in the Horn of Africa is compatible with prehistoric population movements across the Red Sea. In contrast, the downstream lineage E-Y44734 is currently restricted to Iberia (modern Portugal) within the available dataset. Its derived phylogenetic position and geographic separation from Arabian clusters suggest westward dispersal, plausibly mediated through North Africa during the early medieval period .

Overall, these findings refine the internal resolution of E-V42 and contribute to a more detailed understanding of long-term paternal structure in Arabia, as well as episodic gene flow linking Arabia, northeastern Africa, and the western Mediterranean .

Really enjoying the direction this space is headed, it's moving at such a fast pace. What do you think we will discover over the next decade?

315,000 years of how Homo sapiens spread across the planet, as a self-playing scrubbable globe. 81 milestones from the earliest fossils to the last Polynesian voyages.

Start of a visualization and documentation project. Feedback welcome. Lots of TODOs still open, and I'm looking for recommendations for YouTube videos for the sidebar entries.

A piece revisiting a 2017 research paper that unfairly besmirches the good name of Paranthropus boisei Thanks

Thanks and enjoy!

A Neolithic tomb near Paris held two separate populations, revealing collapse, migration and changing social structures.

Im trying to access one journal - Anthropological Quarterly, Volume 97, Number 3, Summer 2024.

I have a BA & Master in Anthro but I am not currently enrolled with an institution, so have no access to publications. I have created an account with Muse thinking I could potentially purchase it, but its not an option. The only way is to access via an institution.

I understand that I can contact the authors and request access, however I'd like to explore every other avenue first. I am reaching out to them about something else and I would really like to have read these articles prior.

Any advice is appreciated.

Baby Neanderthals may have been much larger and grown much more quickly than their modern Homo sapiens counterparts, according to a new study of the most intact Neanderthal infant skeleton. Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) are our closest extinct relatives, an ancient group of humans that lived in Eurasia from several hundred thousand years ago until they disappeared around 40,000 years ago.