Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology have found the first known Neanderthal family in a Siberian cave. They sequenced the DNA from 17 remains belonging to 13 Neanderthal individuals, leading to the discovery of the first known Neanderthal community. Since the first Neanderthal draft genome was published in 2010, the researchers have sequenced a further 18 genomes from 18 different archaeological sites across Eurasia. The genomes have served as a treasure trove of secrets about Neanderthals, the closest extinct human relatives.
Swedish geneticist Svante Pääbo, who won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, did pioneering work in the genetic analysis of Neanderthals and Denisovans, the extinct relatives of human beings or A wise man. Pääbo was awarded the Nobel Prize “for his discoveries concerning the genome of extinct hominins and human evolution”.
Discoveries of ancient DNA in southern Siberia
The researchers conducted analyses in southern Siberia to know more about the social structure of Neanderthals. Southern Siberia has previously been very fruitful for ancient DNA research. The Denisovan hominin remains were also discovered at the famous Denisova Cave. Over the years, a lot of research has been conducted in southern Siberia. Previous studies found that Neanderthals and Denisovans were present in the region over hundreds of thousands of years. Also, Neanderthals and Denisovans interacted with each other, the finding of a child with a Denisovan father and a Neanderthal mother has shown.
A 40,000-year-old fragment from a finger bone, discovered in the Denisova cave in the southern part of Siberia, in 2008, contained exceptionally well-preserved DNA. Pääbo and his team sequenced this DNA, and found that the sequence was unique when compared to all known sequences from Neanderthals and present-day humans. A previously unknown hominin had been discovered, which went on to be known as Denisova.
First Neanderthal family
The study describing the first Neanderthal family was recently published in the journal Nature. The researchers analysed the Neanderthal remains in Chagyrskaya and Okladnikov Caves, which are within 100 kilometres of Denisova Cave. Neanderthals lived in these caves for a short period of time around 54,000 years ago. The researchers from Max Planck Institute successfully retrieved DNA from 17 Neanderthal remains. This is the largest number of Neanderthal remains ever sequenced in a single study.
Over the last 14 years, researchers from the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Russian Academy of Sciences, have excavated the Chagyrskaya Cave. They recovered several hundred thousand stone tools and animal bones, and more than 80 bone and tooth fragments of Neanderthals. These represent one of the largest assemblages of these fossil humans not only in the region but also in the world.
According to the Max Planck Society, the Neanderthals at Chagyrskaya and Okladnikov hunted ibex, bison, horses and other animals that migrated through the river valleys that the caves overlook, and collected raw materials for their stone tools dozens of kilometres away. The groups inhabiting these localities were closely linked, researchers infer from the occurrence of the same raw material at the sites.
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The first Neanderthal family was related to European Neanderthals
Around 1,20,000 years ago, Neanderthals inhabited the Altai mountains in southern Siberia, previous studies of a fossil tow from the Denisova Cave have shown. Neanderthals from Chagyrskaya and Okladnikov Caves are not descendents of the groups from Altai mountains, but are related closer to European Neanderthals, genetic data shows. The archaeological material, which includes stone tools from Chagyrskaya Cave, supports this theory. This is because the stone tools are most similar to the so-called Micoquian culture known from Germany and Eastern Europe.
Who were the 13 Neanderthal individuals?
The 13 Neanderthal individuals whose remains were analysed included seven men and six women. Of these, eight were adults, and five were children and young adolescents. The researchers found several heteroplasmies in the mitochondrial DNA of these Neanderthals. According to the Max Planck Society, heteroplasmies are a special kind of genetic variant that only persists for a small number of generations.
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A Neanderthal father and his teenage daughter
Among the 17 remains were those of a Neanderthal father and his teenage daughter. Researchers from Max Planck Society also found a pair of second degree relatives. These were a young boy and an adult female, perhaps a cousin, aunt or grandmother. The Neanderthals in Chagyrskaya Cave must have lived and died at around the same time, the combination of heteroplasmies and related individuals strongly suggests.
Genetic diversity within the first Neanderthal family
The study found an extremely low genetic diversity within this Neanderthal community. The diversity is consistent with a group size of 10 to 20 individuals. This is more similar to the group sizes of endangered species at the verge of extinction, and is much lower than those recorded for any ancient or present-day human community.
The study found that Neanderthals did not live in completely isolated communities. The researchers compared the genetic diversity on the Y-chromosome, which is inherited father-to-son, with the mitochondrial DNA diversity, which is inherited from mothers. By doing so, the researchers could answer the question about whether it was the men or the women who moved between communities.
Female migration between Neanderthal communities
The authors concluded that Neanderthal communities were primarily linked by female migration. This is because the mitochondrial genetic diversity was much higher than the Y chromosome diversity. The cave was close to the Denisova Cave. Despite this, the migrations do not appear to have involved Denisovans. The study found no evidence of Denisovan gene flow in the Chagyrskaya Neanderthals in the last 20,000 years before they lived.
More about Neanderthals
Neanderthals had some defining features such as a distinctive sloped forehead, large pelvis, large middle part of the face, angled cheek bones, and a huge nose for warming cold, dry air.
The closest extinct human relatives had bodies that were shorter and stockier than humans, another adaptation to living in cold environments.
They made and used a diverse set of sophisticated tools, controlled fire, lived in shelters, were skilled hunters of large animals, made and wore clothing, and occasionally made ornamental objects.
Neanderthals are believed to have deliberately buried their death and occasionally marked their graves with offerings such as flowers.
Neanderthals lived during the middle to late Pleistocene Epoch, about 4,00,000 to 40,000 years ago, mostly in Eurasia. Some fossils of Neanderthals have also been discovered in present-day Belgium and the Mediterranean and southwest Asia.
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