Social stratification without genetic differentiation at the site of Kulubnarti in Christian Period Nubia

Kendra A Sirak; Daniel M Fernandes; Mark Lipson; Swapan Mallick; Matthew Mah; Iñigo Olalde; Harald Ringbauer; Nadin Rohland; Carla S Hadden; Éadaoin Harney; Nicole Adamski; Rebecca Bernardos; Nasreen Broomandkhoshbacht; Kimberly Callan; Matthew Ferry; Ann Marie Lawson; Megan Michel; Jonas Oppenheimer; Kristin Stewardson; Fatma Zalzala; Nick Patterson; Ron Pinhasi; Jessica C Thompson; Dennis Van Gerven; David Reich

doi:10.1038/s41467-021-27356-8

Social stratification without genetic differentiation at the site of Kulubnarti in Christian Period Nubia

Nat Commun. 2021 Dec 14;12(1):7283. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-27356-8.

Authors

Kendra A Sirak^{1

2

3

4}, Daniel M Fernandes^{5

6

7}, Mark Lipson^{8

9}, Swapan Mallick^{8

10

11}, Matthew Mah^{8

10

11}, Iñigo Olalde^{8

12}, Harald Ringbauer^{8

9}, Nadin Rohland^{8

10}, Carla S Hadden¹³, Éadaoin Harney^{8

9

14}, Nicole Adamski^{8

11}, Rebecca Bernardos⁸, Nasreen Broomandkhoshbacht^{8

11

15}, Kimberly Callan^{8

11}, Matthew Ferry^{8

11}, Ann Marie Lawson^{8

11

16}, Megan Michel^{8

11

9}, Jonas Oppenheimer^{8

11

17}, Kristin Stewardson^{8

11}, Fatma Zalzala^{8

11}, Nick Patterson¹⁰, Ron Pinhasi^{5

6}, Jessica C Thompson^{18

19

20

21}, Dennis Van Gerven²², David Reich^{8

9

10

11}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA. [email protected].
² Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA. [email protected].
³ Department of Anthropology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA. [email protected].
⁴ Earth Institute and School of Archaeology, University College Dublin, Dublin, 4, Ireland. [email protected].
⁵ Earth Institute and School of Archaeology, University College Dublin, Dublin, 4, Ireland.
⁶ Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Vienna, Vienna, 1090, Austria.
⁷ CIAS, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, 3000-456, Coimbra, Portugal.
⁸ Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
⁹ Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA.
¹⁰ Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA, 02142, USA.
¹¹ Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
¹² Institute of Evolutionary Biology, CSIC-Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain.
¹³ Center for Applied Isotope Studies, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA.
¹⁴ Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA.
¹⁵ Department of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064, USA.
¹⁶ Department of Human Genetics, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA.
¹⁷ Department of Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064, USA.
¹⁸ Department of Anthropology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA.
¹⁹ Department of Anthropology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA.
²⁰ Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA.
²¹ Institute of Human Origins, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85287, USA.
²² Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA.

Abstract

Relatively little is known about Nubia's genetic landscape prior to the influence of the Islamic migrations that began in the late 1st millennium CE. Here, we increase the number of ancient individuals with genome-level data from the Nile Valley from three to 69, reporting data for 66 individuals from two cemeteries at the Christian Period (~650-1000 CE) site of Kulubnarti, where multiple lines of evidence suggest social stratification. The Kulubnarti Nubians had ~43% Nilotic-related ancestry (individual variation between ~36-54%) with the remaining ancestry consistent with being introduced through Egypt and ultimately deriving from an ancestry pool like that found in the Bronze and Iron Age Levant. The Kulubnarti gene pool - shaped over a millennium - harbors disproportionately female-associated West Eurasian-related ancestry. Genetic similarity among individuals from the two cemeteries supports a hypothesis of social division without genetic distinction. Seven pairs of inter-cemetery relatives suggest fluidity between cemetery groups. Present-day Nubians are not directly descended from the Kulubnarti Nubians, attesting to additional genetic input since the Christian Period.

Publication types

Historical Article
Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Egypt
Female
Fossils
Gene Pool
Genetic Drift
Genetic Variation
Genetics, Population
Genome, Human / genetics
History, Ancient
Humans
Male
Sex Characteristics
Social Status*
Sudan

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding