Ancient genomes and the diversity of human cultures in prehistory: Europe vs. Southwest Asia

June 7th, 2024 4 PM CET/10 AM EST

Doctor Mehmet Somel, Associate Teaching Professor at Carnegie Mellon University Qatar (CMU-Q)

See it at : https://youtu.be/y2T8L-f0FRY

The number of published human partial paleogenomes has passed 10,000. Although the geographic distribution of this data is highly biased towards Europe, genomes from other parts of the world are also being produced and are providing unique insights into the diversity of social dynamics in past societies. Our group has been particularly focused on generating paleogenomic data from Anatolia and the wider Southwest Asia. I will be talking about two case studies where the European picture and that from Southwest Asia appear to diverse. The first is on gender roles in the first agricultural societies. Here, the genetic evidence suggests strong patrilocal/patrilineal patterns in Europe. In Anatolia we find no such indication; rather, the data is more compatible with matrilocal/matrilineal patterns. The second involves the dynamics of cultural variation and change. The Neolithic expansion westward that started in the 7th millennium BCE and spread through Europe has been long described to be driven by demographic change; specifically, migration. However, at the very stem of this expansion, in West Anatolia, genetic admixture and cultural variation patterns do not appear correlate, suggesting that cultural change was shaped by processes largely independent of demography. Finally, I argue that paleogenomics as well as evolutionary genetic research in general that involves local biological resources should be led by local researchers to the maximum extent possible, instead of being solely led by research centers from a few rich countries. This would help reduce inequalities in research capacity and increase global scientific research output in the long run.

Biosketch:

Mehmet Somel did a biology undergrad and a biotechnology MSc at the Middle East Technical University (METU), Ankara. He worked at the MPI for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig for his Ph.D., and as postdoctoral fellow in PICB, Shanghai, and in UC Berkeley. Since 2013 he is working as faculty member at METU Biological Sciences. His research interests include population and evolutionary genetics, including archaeogenomics and human evolution, and the biology of aging. He works as part of the CompEvo group (http://compevo.bio.metu.edu.tr/) and the METU/Hacettepe Ancient DNA Team.

EvoKE webinars are held on the first Friday of every month at 4 PM CET/10 AM EST