Population genomics of Mesolithic Scandinavia: Investigating early postglacial migration routes and high-latitude adaptation

Günther, Torsten; Malmström, Helena; Svensson, Emma M; Omrak, Ayça; Sánchez-Quinto, Federico; Kılınç, Gülşah M; Krzewińska, Maja; Eriksson, Gunilla; Fraser, Magdalena; Edlund, Hanna; Munters, Arielle R; Coutinho, Alexandra; Simões, Luciana G; Vicente, Mário; Sjölander, Anders; Sellevold, Berit Jansen; Jørgensen, Roger; Claes, Peter; Shriver, Mark D; Valdiosera, Cristina; Netea, Mihai G; Apel, Jan; Lidén, Kerstin; Skar, Birgitte; Storå, Jan; Götherström, Anders; Jakobsson, Mattias

doi:10.26181/23280791.v1

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Population genomics of Mesolithic Scandinavia: Investigating early postglacial migration routes and high-latitude adaptation

journal contribution

posted on 2023-06-02, 02:00 authored by Torsten Günther, Helena Malmström, Emma M Svensson, Ayça Omrak, Federico Sánchez-Quinto, Gülşah M Kılınç, Maja Krzewińska, Gunilla Eriksson, Magdalena Fraser, Hanna Edlund, Arielle R Munters, Alexandra Coutinho, Luciana G Simões, Mário Vicente, Anders Sjölander, Berit Jansen Sellevold, Roger Jørgensen, Peter Claes, Mark D Shriver, Cristina ValdioseraCristina Valdiosera, Mihai G Netea, Jan Apel, Kerstin Lidén, Birgitte Skar, Jan Storå, Anders Götherström, Mattias Jakobsson

Scandinavia was one of the last geographic areas in Europe to become habitable for humans after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). However, the routes and genetic composition of these postglacial migrants remain unclear. We sequenced the genomes, up to 57× coverage, of seven hunter-gatherers excavated across Scandinavia and dated from 9,500–6,000 years before present (BP). Surprisingly, among the Scandinavian Mesolithic individuals, the genetic data display an east–west genetic gradient that opposes the pattern seen in other parts of Mesolithic Europe. Our results suggest two different early postglacial migrations into Scandinavia: initially from the south, and later, from the northeast. The latter followed the ice-free Norwegian north Atlantic coast, along which novel and advanced pressure-blade stone-tool techniques may have spread. These two groups met and mixed in Scandinavia, creating a genetically diverse population, which shows patterns of genetic adaptation to high latitude environments. These potential adaptations include high frequencies of low pigmentation variants and a gene region associated with physical performance, which shows strong continuity into modern-day northern Europeans.

Funding

Berit Wallenberg foundation (grant number BWS2011.0090) to MF. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. European Research Council starting grant to MJ. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Wenner-Gren Foundations postdoctoral fellowship to TG. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Knut and Alice Wallenberg foundation to MJ, JS, AG. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Riksbankens Jubileumsfond to MJ, JS, AG. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Swedish Research council (grant number 421-2013-730) to JA, JS. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Swedish Research council (grant number 2013-1905) to MJ, JS, AG. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Formas (grant number 2011-1138) to EMS. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

History

Publication Date

2018-01-09

Journal

PLOS Biology

Volume

16

Issue

1

Article Number

e2003703

Pagination

22p. (p. 1-22)

Publisher

Public Library of Science

ISSN

1544-9173

Rights Statement

© 2018 Günther et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.