Ancient DNA reveals early human and canine migrations

New genetic research has provided significant insights into human and canine populations during the Ice Age. Scientists have recovered the oldest genome of a modern human from southwestern Europe, belonging to a woman who lived approximately 30,000 years ago near the Isturitz Cave in the French Basque Country.

Analysis of this genome reveals that eastern and western European populations were not as genetically isolated as previously believed. While standard models suggested these lineages remained separate, the woman’s DNA contains fragments linked to hunter-gatherers from the region of the modern Czech Republic, indicating genetic exchange across the continent.

In a separate finding, researchers have identified the oldest confirmed dog DNA to date. Nuclear DNA recovered from remains in Pınarbaşı, Turkey, dating to roughly 15,800 years ago, and Gough’s Cave, United Kingdom, dating to about 14,300 years ago, pushes the timeline of dog domestication back by approximately 5,000 years. Despite the vast distance and time between the two sites, the dogs were genetically similar, suggesting a single, widespread dog population existed across western Eurasia during the late Ice Age.