The rules and structure of human culture impact health as much as genetics or environment. To study these relationships, we combine ancient DNA (n=230), skeletal metrics (n=391), paleopathology (n=606), and dietary stable isotopes (n=873) to analyze stature variation in Early Neolithic Europeans from North Central, South Central, Balkan, and Mediterranean regions. In North Central Europe, stable isotopes and linear enamel hypoplasias (LEH) indicate high environmental stress across sexes, but female stature is low, despite polygenic scores identical to males, and suggests cultural factors preferentially supported male recovery from stress. In Mediterranean populations, sexual dimorphism is reduced, indicating male vulnerability to stress and no strong cultural preference for males. Our analysis indicates that biological effects of sex-specific inequities can be linked to cultural influences at least as early as 7000 years ago, and culture, more than environment or genetics, drove height disparities in Early Neolithic Europe.
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Long-term trends in human body size track regional variation in subsistence transitions and growth acceleration linked to dairying
Evidence for a reduction in stature between Mesolithic foragers and Neolithic farmers has been interpreted as reflective of declines in health, however, our current understanding of this trend fails to account for the complexity of cultural and dietary transitions or the possible causes of phenotypic change. The agricultural transition was extended in primary centers of domestication and abrupt in regions characterized by demic diffusion. In regions such as Northern Europe where foreign domesticates were difficult to establish, there is strong evidence for natural selection for lactase persistence in relation to dairying. We employ broad-scale analyses of diachronic variation in stature and body mass in the Levant, Europe, the Nile Valley, South Asia, and China, to test three hypotheses about the timing of subsistence shifts and human body size, that: 1) the adoption of agriculture led to a decrease in stature, 2) there were different trajectories in regions of in situ domestication or cultural diffusion of agriculture; and 3) increases in stature and body mass are observed in regions with evidence for selection for lactase persistence. Our results demonstrate that 1) decreases in stature preceded the origins of agriculture in some regions; 2) the Levant and China, regions of in situ domestication of species and an extended period of mixed foraging and agricultural subsistence, had stable stature and body mass over time; and 3) stature and body mass increases in Central and Northern Europe coincide with the timing of selective sweeps for lactase persistence, providing support for the “Lactase Growth Hypothesis.”
more » « less- Award ID(s):
- 1727368
- PAR ID:
- 10470875
- Publisher / Repository:
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Volume:
- 120
- Issue:
- 4
- ISSN:
- 0027-8424
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Abstract Since the last glacial maximum (
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Abstract Large ancient DNA (aDNA) studies offer the chance to examine genomic changes over time, providing direct insights into human evolution. While recent studies have used time-stratified aDNA for selection scans, most focus on single-locus methods. We conducted a multi-locus genotype scan on 708 samples spanning 7000 years of European history. We show that the G12 statistic, originally designed for unphased diploid data, can effectively detect selection in aDNA processed to create ‘pseudo-haplotypes’. In simulations and at known positive control loci (e.g., lactase persistence), G12 outperforms the allele frequency-based selection statistic, SweepFinder2, previously used on aDNA. Applying our approach, we identified 14 candidate regions of selection across four time periods, with half the signals detectable only in the earliest period. Our findings suggest that selective events in European prehistory, including from the onset of animal domestication, have been obscured by neutral processes like genetic drift and demographic shifts such as admixture.
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2209482119
