Ancestors in the Walls: Bronze Age Italy Caterina December 10, 2025 – 4 min read Share this post Papers Ancient Iranian mtDNA and skeletal identification Elam in the Lowlands of Khuzestan In southwestern Iran, on the hot plains of Khuzestan, one of the oldest great civilizations of the ancient Near East once thrived: Elam. Though often overshadowed by Mesopotamia, Elam commanded trade routes, labour, and ideas across the Iranian Plateau. Its territory stretched from Khuzestan By Sven • 4 min read Papers Ancient DNA reveals family ties, ancestry, sex, and bone disease in degraded Song Dynasty remains Zhangliu: A Song Dynasty Burial Ground in the Huai River World In the river-shaped landscapes of eastern China, the Zhangliu site opens a vivid window into the Song Dynasty world. Located in Huai'an, Jiangsu Province, this burial ground sits in the great meeting zone between north and south By Jamie L • 3 min read Papers Ancient DNA reveals diverse origins at a 7th-century Madrid burial site El Rebollar: A Mountain Church Full of Surprises High in Spain's Sierra de Guadarrama, a seventh-century church at El Boalo served as both house of worship and house of the dead. At first glance it seems a remote, isolated place — yet the burials inside tell a far more By Caterina • 5 min read Haplogroups and Noble Lines Haplogroup N1a1a1a1a1a2a At Luistari in Eura, one of Finland's most famous medieval cemeteries, an individual labelled TU481 has been dated to around AD 1222 and identified in MyTrueAncestry's records as belonging to Y-DNA haplogroup N1a1a1a1a1a2a. That is already enough to make the burial interesting. Luistari is not some By Jamie L • 5 min read Haplogroups and Noble Lines Haplogroup G1a1a1b2b At Amiternum in Abruzzo, an early medieval burial identified as ASM_S21 offers one of those wonderfully awkward reminders that paternal lineages do not stay politely inside the borders historians later draw on maps. The man lived around AD 800, in central Italy, at a site with deep Roman roots By Jamie L • 5 min read Haplogroups and Noble Lines Haplogroup J2a1a1a2b2a1b1a At Hagios Charalambos Cave in Lasithi, on Crete, ancient DNA has put an unexpectedly fine point on an old archaeological question: how much continuity sits beneath the famous Bronze Age cultures of the Aegean? One Early Bronze Age man from the cave, sample HGC009, dated to around 1972 BC, has By Jamie L • 5 min read Haplogroups and Noble Lines Haplogroup G2a2b1a2 At Lucena in Cordoba, in southern Spain, one late Roman burial from the Cortijo Basilica del Coracho stands out not because of treasure or legend, but because of a Y-chromosome result. The individual identified as I37210, dated to around AD 450, has been associated with the paternal haplogroup G2a2b1a2. That By Jamie L • 5 min read Haplogroups and Noble Lines Haplogroup J2a1a1b2a1b1b2 At Lucena in Cordoba province, a Late Roman burial from the basilica of Cortijo del Basilica del Coracho has produced one of the clearest ancient signposts yet for the paternal line J2a1a1b2a1b1b2. The individual, sample I37207, is dated to around AD 450, right at the moment when Roman rule in By Jamie L • 5 min read Haplogroups and Noble Lines Haplogroup R1b1a1b1a1a2b1c1a1 At Sarria de Ter, near Girona in northeastern Spain, one man from the late Roman world has become an unexpectedly useful signpost for the Y-DNA haplogroup R1b1a1b1a1a2b1c1a1. The individual known as I20390, dated to around AD 337, belonged to imperial Roman Spain at a moment when the western empire was By Jamie L • 5 min read
Papers Ancient Iranian mtDNA and skeletal identification Elam in the Lowlands of Khuzestan In southwestern Iran, on the hot plains of Khuzestan, one of the oldest great civilizations of the ancient Near East once thrived: Elam. Though often overshadowed by Mesopotamia, Elam commanded trade routes, labour, and ideas across the Iranian Plateau. Its territory stretched from Khuzestan By Sven • 4 min read
Papers Ancient DNA reveals family ties, ancestry, sex, and bone disease in degraded Song Dynasty remains Zhangliu: A Song Dynasty Burial Ground in the Huai River World In the river-shaped landscapes of eastern China, the Zhangliu site opens a vivid window into the Song Dynasty world. Located in Huai'an, Jiangsu Province, this burial ground sits in the great meeting zone between north and south By Jamie L • 3 min read
Papers Ancient DNA reveals diverse origins at a 7th-century Madrid burial site El Rebollar: A Mountain Church Full of Surprises High in Spain's Sierra de Guadarrama, a seventh-century church at El Boalo served as both house of worship and house of the dead. At first glance it seems a remote, isolated place — yet the burials inside tell a far more By Caterina • 5 min read
Haplogroups and Noble Lines Haplogroup N1a1a1a1a1a2a At Luistari in Eura, one of Finland's most famous medieval cemeteries, an individual labelled TU481 has been dated to around AD 1222 and identified in MyTrueAncestry's records as belonging to Y-DNA haplogroup N1a1a1a1a1a2a. That is already enough to make the burial interesting. Luistari is not some By Jamie L • 5 min read
Haplogroups and Noble Lines Haplogroup G1a1a1b2b At Amiternum in Abruzzo, an early medieval burial identified as ASM_S21 offers one of those wonderfully awkward reminders that paternal lineages do not stay politely inside the borders historians later draw on maps. The man lived around AD 800, in central Italy, at a site with deep Roman roots By Jamie L • 5 min read
Haplogroups and Noble Lines Haplogroup J2a1a1a2b2a1b1a At Hagios Charalambos Cave in Lasithi, on Crete, ancient DNA has put an unexpectedly fine point on an old archaeological question: how much continuity sits beneath the famous Bronze Age cultures of the Aegean? One Early Bronze Age man from the cave, sample HGC009, dated to around 1972 BC, has By Jamie L • 5 min read
Haplogroups and Noble Lines Haplogroup G2a2b1a2 At Lucena in Cordoba, in southern Spain, one late Roman burial from the Cortijo Basilica del Coracho stands out not because of treasure or legend, but because of a Y-chromosome result. The individual identified as I37210, dated to around AD 450, has been associated with the paternal haplogroup G2a2b1a2. That By Jamie L • 5 min read
Haplogroups and Noble Lines Haplogroup J2a1a1b2a1b1b2 At Lucena in Cordoba province, a Late Roman burial from the basilica of Cortijo del Basilica del Coracho has produced one of the clearest ancient signposts yet for the paternal line J2a1a1b2a1b1b2. The individual, sample I37207, is dated to around AD 450, right at the moment when Roman rule in By Jamie L • 5 min read
Haplogroups and Noble Lines Haplogroup R1b1a1b1a1a2b1c1a1 At Sarria de Ter, near Girona in northeastern Spain, one man from the late Roman world has become an unexpectedly useful signpost for the Y-DNA haplogroup R1b1a1b1a1a2b1c1a1. The individual known as I20390, dated to around AD 337, belonged to imperial Roman Spain at a moment when the western empire was By Jamie L • 5 min read
