Dataset Information

An integrative skeletal and paleogenomic analysis of stature variation suggests relatively reduced health for early European farmers.

ABSTRACT: Human culture, biology, and health were shaped dramatically by the onset of agriculture ∼12,000 y B.P. This shift is hypothesized to have resulted in increased individual fitness and population growth as evidenced by archaeological and population genomic data alongside a decline in physiological health as inferred from skeletal remains. Here, we consider osteological and ancient DNA data from the same prehistoric individuals to study human stature variation as a proxy for health across a transition to agriculture. Specifically, we compared “predicted” genetic contributions to height from paleogenomic data and “achieved” adult osteological height estimated from long bone measurements for 167 individuals across Europe spanning the Upper Paleolithic to Iron Age (∼38,000 to 2,400 B.P.). We found that individuals from the Neolithic were shorter than expected (given their individual polygenic height scores) by an average of −3.82 cm relative to individuals from the Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic (P = 0.040) and −2.21 cm shorter relative to post-Neolithic individuals (P = 0.068), with osteological vs. expected stature steadily increasing across the Copper (+1.95 cm relative to the Neolithic), Bronze (+2.70 cm), and Iron (+3.27 cm) Ages. These results were attenuated when we additionally accounted for genome-wide genetic ancestry variation: for example, with Neolithic individuals −2.82 cm shorter than expected on average relative to pre-Neolithic individuals (P = 0.120). We also incorporated observations of paleopathological indicators of nonspecific stress that can persist from childhood to adulthood in skeletal remains into our model. Overall, our work highlights the potential of integrating disparate datasets to explore proxies of health in prehistory.

SUBMITTER: Marciniak S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9169634 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

An integrative skeletal and paleogenomic analysis of stature variation suggests relatively reduced health for early European farmers.

Marciniak Stephanie S Bergey Christina M CM Silva Ana Maria AM Hałuszko Agata A Furmanek Mirosław M Veselka Barbara B Velemínský Petr P Vercellotti Giuseppe G Wahl Joachim J Zariņa Gunita G Longhi Cristina C Kolář Jan J Garrido-Pena Rafael R Flores-Fernández Raúl R Herrero-Corral Ana M AM Simalcsik Angela A Müller Werner W Sheridan Alison A Miliauskienė Žydrūnė Ž Jankauskas Rimantas R Moiseyev Vyacheslav V Köhler Kitti K Király Ágnes Á Gamarra Beatriz B Cheronet Olivia O Szeverényi Vajk V Kiss Viktória V Szeniczey Tamás T Kiss Krisztián K Zoffmann Zsuzsanna K ZK Koós Judit J Hellebrandt Magdolna M Maier Robert M RM Domboróczki László L Virag Cristian C Novak Mario M Reich David D Hajdu Tamás T von Cramon-Taubadel Noreen N Pinhasi Ron R Perry George H GH

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20220406 15

Human culture, biology, and health were shaped dramatically by the onset of agriculture ∼12,000 y B.P. This shift is hypothesized to have resulted in increased individual fitness and population growth as evidenced by archaeological and population genomic data alongside a decline in physiological health as inferred from skeletal remains. Here, we consider osteological and ancient DNA data from the same prehistoric individuals to study human stature variation as a proxy for health across a transit ...[more]

PMID: 35389750

Similar Datasets

Project description:Abstract Objectives Ancient DNA provides an opportunity to separate the genetic and environmental bases of complex traits by allowing direct estimation of genetic values in ancient individuals. Here, we test whether genetic scores for height in ancient individuals are predictive of their actual height, as inferred from skeletal remains. We estimate the contributions of genetic and environmental variables to observed phenotypic variation as a first step towards quantifying individual sources of morphological variation. Materials and methods We collected stature estimates and femur lengths from West Eurasian skeletal remains with published genome‐wide ancient DNA data (n = 182, dating from 33,000–850 BP). We also recorded genetic sex, genetic ancestry, date and paleoclimate data for each individual, and δ13C and δ15N stable isotope values where available (n = 69). We tested different methods of calculating polygenic scores, using summary statistics from four different genome wide association studies (GWAS) for height, and three methods for imputing missing genotypes. Results A polygenic score for height predicts 6.3% of the variance in femur length in our data (n = 132, SD = 0.0069%, p = 0.001), controlling for sex, ancestry, and date. This is consistent with the predictive power of height PRS in present‐day populations and the low coverage of ancient samples. Comparatively, sex explains about 17% of the variance in femur length in our sample. Environmental effects also likely play a role in variation, independent of genetics, though with considerable uncertainty (longitude: R2 = 0.033, SD = 0.008, p = 0.011). Genotype imputation did not improve polygenic prediction, and results varied based on the GWAS summary statistics we used. Discussion Polygenic scores explain a small but significant proportion of the variance in height in ancient individuals, though not enough to make useful predictions of individual phenotypes. However, environmental variables also contribute to phenotypic outcomes and understanding their interaction with direct genetic predictions will provide a framework with which to model how plasticity and genetic changes ultimately combine to drive adaptation and evolution.

Dataset Information

An integrative skeletal and paleogenomic analysis of stature variation suggests relatively reduced health for early European farmers.

Publications

An integrative skeletal and paleogenomic analysis of stature variation suggests relatively reduced health for early European farmers.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets