Stable population structure in Europe since the Iron Age, despite high mobility.

Ancient DNA research in the past decade has revealed that European population structure changed dramatically in the prehistoric period (14,000-3000 years before present, YBP), reflecting the widespread introduction of Neolithic farmer and Bronze Age Steppe ancestries. However, little is known about how population structure changed from the historical period onward (3000 YBP - present). To address this, we collected whole genomes from 204 individuals from Europe and the Mediterranean, many of which are the first historical period genomes from their region (e.g. Armenia and France). We found that most regions show remarkable inter-individual heterogeneity. At least 7% of historical individuals carry ancestry uncommon in the region where they were sampled, some indicating cross-Mediterranean contacts. Despite this high level of mobility, overall population structure across western Eurasia is relatively stable through the historical period up to the present, mirroring geography. We show that, under standard population genetics models with local panmixia, the observed level of dispersal would lead to a collapse of population structure. Persistent population structure thus suggests a lower effective migration rate than indicated by the observed dispersal. We hypothesize that this phenomenon can be explained by extensive transient dispersal arising from drastically improved transportation networks and the Roman Empire's mobilization of people for trade, labor, and military. This work highlights the utility of ancient DNA in elucidating finer scale human population dynamics in recent history.

Nonmetric cranial variation in human skeletal remains from the Armenian Highland: microevolutionary relations and an intergroup analysis

Nonmetric traits are frequently analyzed in the field of anthropology to measure genetic relatedness, or biodistance within or between populations. These studies are performed under the assumption that nonmetric traits are inherited genetically. Historically, interpretations of both biological and cultural change within the Armenian Highlands, have cited large-scale population movements. Biological estimates of these changes have traditionally relied upon biodistance estimates, using odontologic, craniofacial measures of both deformed and nondeformed skulls. In order to evaluate whether large-scale prehistoric and historic migrations occurred in the Armenian Highlands, we examine the biodistance results from nonmetric cranial traits for 19 mortuary samples that represented all time periods on the Armenian Highlands. None of the distances between each pair of mortuary samples examined in this study was significant. These results suggest biological continuity in the populations of Armenia. The biodistance results also suggest endogamy within inland populations. The broader implications of these results are also discussed (AU)

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