Papers Ancient DNA Reveals 4,000 Years of Population Shifts at the Ningxia Crossroads Between Steppe and Yellow River China Ningxia: A Long-Term Crossroads of Peoples and Genes Ningxia: A Long-Term Crossroads of Peoples and Genes Ningxia emerges as one of Eurasia's great crossroads—not just a line on a map, but a place where very different worlds met across four millennia. This region witnessed the convergence of By Caterina • 5 min read
Papers Genetic Continuity and Mainland Affinities of Pre‑Ceramic Caribbean Populations Early Settlement and Cultural Chronology of the Pre-Ceramic Caribbean Early Settlement and Cultural Chronology of the Pre-Ceramic Caribbean The Caribbean islands were among the very last places in the Americas to be settled, with the first clear traces of people on Hispaniola and Cuba appearing about 6,000 years ago. By Caterina • 6 min read
Papers Intensified Production of Recombinant Marburg Virus Glycoprotein in Drosophila S2 Cells Viruses, Bats, and Ancient Crossings: A Comprehensive Study of Marburg Virus Viruses, Bats, and Ancient Crossings: What Marburg Can Tell Us About Our Shared History This comprehensive examination delves into the story of Marburg virus disease, one of the deadliest viral fevers known to humanity, and uses modern vaccine-production studies By Caterina • 5 min read
Papers Ancient Streptococcus pyogenes Genome from a Pre‑Columbian Bolivian Mummy Reveals Early American Lineage Ancient Pathogen Genomics in the Pre-Columbian Andes Ancient Pathogen Genomics in the Pre-Columbian Andes: A Streptococcus pyogenes Genome from a Bolivian Mummy The Mummified Young Man from the Highland Towers The story begins with a single haunting relic from the Bolivian highlands: a naturally mummified human head, once belonging to By Caterina • 7 min read
Papers Ancient DNA Reveals Deep Balkan Roots and Medieval Admixture in the Ancestry of Albanians Ancient DNA and the Origins of the Albanian People Ancient DNA and the Origins of the Albanian People: From Bronze Age Hillforts to Medieval Villages This comprehensive study plunges the reader into the rugged landscapes of the western Balkans at the end of the Bronze Age and the dawn of By Caterina • 6 min read
Papers Ancient DNA and the Rise of Archaeogenetics Unearthing Ancient Lives: Archaeology Meets Ancient DNA Unearthing Ancient Lives: Archaeology Meets Ancient DNA This comprehensive exploration plunges readers into the heart of a revolutionary approach to archaeology, where mud-spattered trenches and delicate grave goods are examined alongside microscopic traces of ancient DNA. Rather than focusing on broad theories, it By Caterina • 6 min read
Papers Millet Farmers on the Steppe: Ancient DNA and Isotopes Reveal Mixed Farming–Herding at Bronze Age Erdaojingzi Yellow River Farmers on the West Liao Steppe: A Bronze Age Frontier Settlement The Erdaojingzi settlement in Inner Mongolia represents a remarkable Bronze Age frontier town where people, animals, and ideas from the Yellow River heartland met the open grasslands of the West Liao River Basin. Here, in what archaeologists By Caterina • 7 min read
Papers The genetic legacy of the 17th-century colonial capital of St. Mary's City Archaeological Discoveries: Stories from Ancient Burial Grounds Archaeological Discoveries: Stories from Ancient Burial Grounds The world of archaeology opens windows onto long-lost civilizations, using ancient skeletons, burial mounds, and forgotten artifacts to tell stories that written records never preserved. At its heart lies a series of archaeological dig sites where By Caterina • 7 min read
Papers Early Horse Riding Before Full Domestication: Insights from Ancient DNA and Archaeology Riders Before Domestication: Early Horse Taming on the Eurasian Steppe Riders Before Domestication: Early Horse Taming on the Eurasian Steppe This comprehensive examination sweeps readers back to a time when humans first dared to climb onto the backs of wild horses, long before the fully domesticated animals known from later By Caterina • 5 min read
Papers Bronze Age Calabria DNA Reveals Inbred Community and a Rare Father–Daughter Incest Case Bronze Age People on the Edge of Italy: Demography and Mobility in Calabria The article plunges the reader into the rugged mountains of northern Calabria during the Middle Bronze Age (around 1780–1380 BCE), using ancient DNA to put flesh – quite literally – back on the scattered bones from one extraordinary By Caterina • 7 min read
Papers Malaria as a Long‑Term Driver of Human Settlement Patterns in Africa Malaria and the Archaeology of African Journeys Malaria and the Archaeology of African Journeys The article by Colucci and colleagues invites the reader to look again at some of Africa's most famous archaeological sites and ancient burials, but this time with a rather unexpected travelling companion in mind: By Caterina • 9 min read
Papers Ancient DNA reveals Yakut origins and resilience under Russian conquest Yakut Origins and Long-Term Continuity in Eastern Siberia Yakut Origins and Long-Term Continuity The article opens in the vast, frozen landscapes of Yakutia, where winter can plunge below –60°C and rivers like the Lena, Yana and Indigirka carve through the permafrost. In this setting, archaeologists working with the French– By Caterina • 7 min read
Papers Ancient Zoonotic Pathogens in Animal Bones: Integrating Zooarchaeology, Palaeopathology and DNA Across 6,000 Years Ancient Animal Pathogens: Hunting Disease in Archaeological Bones Ancient Animal Pathogens: Hunting Disease in Archaeological Bones Introduction: From Barnyard to Laboratory This comprehensive study examines animal bone collections from 34 archaeological sites across Eurasia, spanning roughly 6,000 years of human-animal cohabitation. The research addresses a fundamental question in archaeological By Caterina • 9 min read
Papers Ancient DNA and kinship analysis in Bronze Age and Iron Age European populations Ancient DNA and the People Behind the Bones: A Comprehensive Study Ancient DNA and the People Behind the Bones: A Comprehensive Study of Past Lives, Kinship Networks, and Population Movements Introduction: Voices from the Graves This comprehensive study plunges deep into the world of ancient DNA recovered from human skeletons, By Caterina • 8 min read
Papers Ancient Genomic History of the Oral Pathogen Streptococcus mutans Over 8,000 Years Ancient Streptococcus mutans across 8,000 years of Eurasian history Ancient Streptococcus mutans across 8,000 years of Eurasian history This comprehensive study follows a single bacterial companion of humanity – Streptococcus mutans, a key player in tooth decay – through some 8,000 years of Eurasian history. By extracting DNA from By Caterina • 5 min read
Papers Cosmopolitan Goths: Archaeogenomic Evidence for a Genetically Diverse Masłomęcz Community in Late Iron Age Barbaricum Goths on the Move: The Masłomęcz Group and Gothic Origins Goths on the Move: The Masłomęcz Group and Gothic Origins Introduction: A Gothic Community Revealed Through DNA The migration route of the Goths sweeps from the chilly shores of the Baltic Sea down towards the Black Sea, but pauses for By Caterina • 8 min read
Papers Neolithic Population Turnover and the End of Megalith Building in the Paris Basin Neolithic Decline and Demographic Collapse in North-Western Europe Neolithic Decline and Demographic Collapse in North-Western Europe: Evidence from the Bury Megalithic Tomb Introduction: A Crisis at the End of the Fourth Millennium BC The flourishing Neolithic world of north-western Europe began to unravel at the very end of the fourth By Caterina • 10 min read
Papers Ancient Y Chromosomes Reveal Coastal and Inland Migrations that Shaped East Asian Paternal History Paleolithic Peopling and Agricultural Transitions in East Asia: Y-Chromosome Evidence Paleolithic Peopling and Agricultural Transitions in East Asia: Y-Chromosome Evidence from Ancient DNA and Archaeological Sites Introduction: Tracing Ancient Migrations Through Paternal Lineages The peopling of East Asia represents one of the most complex chapters in human prehistory, involving multiple By Caterina • 10 min read
Papers µCT Scanning and Ancient DNA: A Safer Workflow for Archaeological Petrous Bones This methodological study tests whether µCT scanning measurably harms ancient DNA preservation in archaeological human petrous portions. Across 93 samples, the authors do not find strong evidence that routine scanning systematically degrades key aDNA quality metrics. They also propose a more sustain By Caterina • 1 min read
Papers Ancient Regulatory Evolution Shapes Individual Language Abilities in Present-Day Humans Ancient regulatory regions in the human genome may still influence language-related abilities in people today. By Caterina • 1 min read
Papers Sex‑Biased Genetic Mixing on Rome’s Dacian Frontier Roman Dacia: A Frontier Contact Zone at the Edge of Empire The province of Roman Dacia, perched north of the Danube River, represents one of the most fascinating examples of imperial frontier dynamics in the ancient world. Here, where the Roman Empire pushed into landscapes already shaped by local Dacians, By Caterina • 7 min read
Papers Ancient DNA Reveals Three Millennia of Mixed Tibetan, South Asian, and Central Asian Ancestry in Ladakh Ancient Tibetan-Related Ancestry in Ladakh Ancient Tibetan-Related Ancestry in Ladakh: Caves, Mounds, and Mountain Empires This comprehensive study examines two remarkable high-altitude burial sites in western Ladakh – the Old Lady Spider Cave (Gachu Lhabrog) and burial mounds at Hanu – revealing how people with diverse ancestral backgrounds lived, died, and were By Caterina • 5 min read
Papers Ancient Genomes Reveal East–West Genetic Mixing Along the Eastern Tianshan Corridor Eastern Tianshan: Mountain Gateway Between China and the Steppe Eastern Tianshan: Mountain Gateway Between China and the Steppe The eastern Tianshan mountains emerge from ancient DNA studies as one of the great crossroads of the ancient world. This rugged range in today's Xinjiang sat precisely where three civilizations By Caterina • 8 min read
Papers Ancient DNA Shows Recent Natural Selection Intensified Human Immune Responses and Altered Disease Risks Immune Adaptation and Infectious Disease in the Last 10,000 Years Immune Adaptation and Infectious Disease in the Last 10,000 Years This comprehensive study explores one of the most dramatic stories of recent human history: how people living in West Eurasia, from the first farmers to medieval townsfolk, reshaped By Caterina • 6 min read
