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Material and genetic resemblance in the Bronze Age Southern Levant

05.06.2020

Different "Canaanite" people from the Bronze Age Southern Levant not only culturally, but also genetically resemble each other more than other populations. A team around Ron Pinhasi from the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology found in a recent study that their DNA is a mixture of two populations: The Chalcolithic Zagros and Early Bronze Age Caucasus. The results have been published in Cell.

A team around Ron Pinhasi at the University of Vienna carried out a detailed analysis of ancient DNA of individuals from the Bronze Age Southern Levant known as "Canaanites", to provide insights on the historical and demographic events that shaped the populations of that time and area. The scientists aimed at answering three basic questions: How genetically homogenous were the people from the Bronze Age Southern Levant, what were their plausible origins with respect to earlier peoples, and how much change in ancestry has there been in the region since the Bronze Age? [more]

Publication in "Cell": Agranat-Tamir et al., The Genomic History oft he Bronze Age Southern Levant, Cell, May 28, 2020. DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.04.024

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