️ Episode 143: The genetic history of the Southern Caucasus: 5,000 years of continuity despite high mobility

In this episode of PaperCast Base by Base, we explore a comprehensive archaeogenomic study tracing 230 ancient individuals from Georgia and Armenia over 5,000 years, from the Bronze Age to the Early Middle Ages. The research investigates how extensive mobility and cultural interactions shaped the genetic landscape of the Southern Caucasus.

Study Highlights:
The analysis of genome-wide data revealed a remarkably persistent local gene pool across millennia, even as populations absorbed ancestry from Anatolia, Iran, and the Eurasian Steppe during the Middle to Late Bronze Age. Evidence of population growth and increased diversity emerged in urban centers of eastern Georgia, where individual ancestry outliers were most frequent. The study also examined 21 individuals with artificially deformed skulls, showing that while the practice arrived with nomadic Steppe groups, it was quickly adopted as a local cultural tradition. By integrating haplotype sharing and runs of homozygosity, the researchers uncovered contrasting social structures between urban hubs with high diversity and rural communities with stronger endogamy.

Conclusion:
This study demonstrates that despite high levels of mobility and external influences, the Southern Caucasus maintained a core genetic continuity that highlights the resilience of local populations while providing new insights into cultural and demographic shifts.

Reference:
Skourtanioti E, Jia X, Tavartkiladze N, Bitadze L, Shengelia R, Tushabramishvili N, Aslanishvili V, Gasparyan B, Kandel AW, Naumann D, et al. The genetic history of the Southern Caucasus from the Bronze Age to the Early Middle Ages: 5,000 years of genetic continuity despite high mobility. Cell. 2025 Sep 18;188(19):5278–5294. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2025.07.013

License:
This episode is based on an open-access article published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0) – https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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