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12/22/2024 07:15:19 pm

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Europeans Descended from a New Ancestral Group

Eurasians

(Photo : Edward S. Curtis/Wikipedia) Europeans come from three groups of ancestors: the latest addition are Eurasians

The modern gene pool of Europeans actually consisted of three major groups descended from ancient humans, according to a new study about gene analysis published in the journal, Nature.

The accepted theory says Europeans descended from only two major groups: farmers from the Middle East that migrated to Europe around 7,500 years ago and local hunter-gatherers.

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This new study, however, declared there was certainly a third group from Northern Eurasia that mixed with the other groups.

The study's findings says these Northern Eurasians inhabited vast grasslands that cover the expanse of the majority of Russia and northern Asia. The Northern Eurasians led to the amalgamation of the gene pool of Europe and North America.

It's already been proven that the influence of the Eurasians is apparent in North America. Scientists believe this people crossed on ice bridges that linked connecting islands from Alaska to the Bering Strait some 15,000 years ago.

David Reich of Harvard Medical School, lead author of the study, said they've found unambiguous proof that the people from Europe derived from these three ancestral groups.

The team of 100 scientists collected evidence from a myriad sources and deciphered DNA from nine exhumed skeleton remains from Sweden, Luxembourg and Germany.

These remains date back from 8,000 years ago. Eight were hunter-gatherers that lived before agriculture took place in Europe and a lone farmer believed to be 7,000 years old.

Reich noted there was an unusual genetic transition from the era of hunter-gatherers and farmers, which suggests that a major migration drew people from the near east of Russia and Asia towards Europe.

Today, these set of genomes have been interwoven and overlaid along with some 2,300 genetic codes of modern day people from different parts of the world.

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