Yilei Huang

Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

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Harald Ringbauer

Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

Johannes Krause

Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

Cosimo Posth

University of Tübingen

Hélène Rougier

California State University, Northridge

Helen Fewlass

University of Bristol

Katerina Harvati

Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment

Alexander Stoessel

Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

Tim Schüler

Landesamt für Archäologie Sachsen

Vanessa Villalba‐Mouco

Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

Adam B. Rohrlach

Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

Cooperative Institutions

Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

Max Planck Society

Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History

Leipzig University

University of Tübingen

De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel : Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie

Université de Bordeaux

Ministère de la Culture

University of Bologna

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Author Correction: Palaeogenomics of Upper Palaeolithic to Neolithic European hunter-gatherers

Nature (2023)

Cosimo Posth Yu He Ayshin Ghalichi Hélène Rougier Isabelle Crevecœur

Upper Paleolithic

Mesolithic

10.1038/s41586-023-05942-8

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Citations (2)

Ancient genomes reveal trans-Eurasian connections between the European Huns and the Xiongnu Empire

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2025)

Guido Alberto Gnecchi‐Ruscone Zsófia Rácz Salvatore Liccardo Juhyeon Lee Yilei Huang

The Huns appeared in Europe in the 370s, establishing an Empire that reshaped West Eurasian history. Yet until today their origins remain a matter of extensive debate. Traditional theories link them to the Xiongnu, the founders of the first nomadic empire of the Mongolian steppe. The Xiongnu empire dissolved, however, ~300 y before the Huns appeared in Europe, and there is little archaeological and historical evidence of Huns in the steppe during this time gap. Furthermore, despite the rich 5th to 6th centuries current era (CE) archaeological record of the Carpathian Basin, the cultural elements of connections with the steppe are limited to few findings and even fewer solitary eastern-type burials. In this study, we coanalyze archaeological evidence with 35 newly sequenced and published genomic data for a total of 370 individuals—from 5th to 6th century CE contexts in the Carpathian Basin including 10 Hun-period eastern-type burials, 2nd to 5th century sites across Central Asia and 2nd c. before current era (BCE) to 1st c. CE Xiongnu period sites across the Mongolian steppe. We find no evidence for the presence of a large eastern/steppe descent community among the Hun- and post-Hun-period Carpathian Basin population. We also observe a high genetic diversity among the eastern-type burials that recapitulates the variability observed across the Eurasian Steppe. This suggests a mixed origin of the incoming steppe conquerors. Nevertheless, long-shared genomic tracts provide compelling evidence of genetic lineages directly connecting some individuals of the highest Xiongnu-period elite with 5th to 6th century CE Carpathian Basin individuals, showing that some European Huns descended from them.

Steppe

Elite

10.1073/pnas.2418485122

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Evidence for dynastic succession among early Celtic elites in Central Europe

Nature Human Behaviour (2024)

Joscha Gretzinger Felicitas Schmitt Angela Mötsch Selina Carlhoff Thiseas C. Lamnidis

The early Iron Age (800 to 450 BCE) in France, Germany and Switzerland, known as the 'West-Hallstattkreis', stands out as featuring the earliest evidence for supra-regional organization north of the Alps. Often referred to as 'early Celtic', suggesting tentative connections to later cultural phenomena, its societal and population structure remain enigmatic. Here we present genomic and isotope data from 31 individuals from this context in southern Germany, dating between 616 and 200 BCE. We identify multiple biologically related groups spanning three elite burials as far as 100 km apart, supported by trans-regional individual mobility inferred from isotope data. These include a close biological relationship between two of the richest burial mounds of the Hallstatt culture. Bayesian modelling points to an avuncular relationship between the two individuals, which may suggest a practice of matrilineal dynastic succession in early Celtic elites. We show that their ancestry is shared on a broad geographic scale from Iberia throughout Central-Eastern Europe, undergoing a decline after the late Iron Age (450 BCE to ~50 CE).

Celtic languages

Elite

10.1038/s41562-024-01888-7

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Citations (3)

Estimating realized relatedness in free-ranging macaques by inferring identity-by-descent segments

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2025)

Annika Freudiger Vladimir Jovanović Yilei Huang Noah Snyder‐Mackler Donald F. Conrad

Biological relatedness is a key consideration in studies of behavior, population structure, and trait evolution. Except for parent–offspring dyads, pedigrees capture relatedness imperfectly. The number and length of identical-by-descent DNA segments (IBD) yield the most precise relatedness estimates. Here, we leverage different methods for estimating IBD segments from low-depth whole genome resequencing data to demonstrate the feasibility and value of resolving fine-scaled gradients of relatedness in free-living animals. Using primarily 4 to 6× depth data from a rhesus macaque ( Macaca mulatta ) population with long-term pedigree data, we show that we can infer the number and length of IBD segments across the genome with high accuracy even at 0.5× sequencing depth. In line with expectations based on simulation, the resulting estimates demonstrate substantial variation in genetic relatedness within kin classes, leading to overlapping distributions between kin classes. By comparing the IBD-based estimates with pedigree and short tandem repeat-based methods, we show that IBD estimates are more reliable and provide more detailed information on kinship. The inferred IBD segments also identify cryptic genetic relatives not represented in the pedigree and reveal elevated recombination rates in females relative to males, which enables the majority of close maternal and paternal kin to be distinguished with genotype data alone. Our findings represent a breakthrough in the ability to study the predictors and consequences of genetic relatedness in natural populations, contributing to our understanding of a fundamental component of population structure in the wild.

Identity by descent

Pedigree chart

Trait

10.1073/pnas.2401106122

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Earliest modern human genomes constrain timing of Neanderthal admixture

Nature (2024)

Arev Pelin Sümer Hélène Rougier Vanessa Villalba‐Mouco Yilei Huang Leonardo Nicola Martin Iasi

Neanderthal

Hominidae

Ancient DNA