The analysis of ancient DNA in Egypt is difficult due to its bad conservation by the climate, but it has been possible to sequence the complete genome of a man who lived more than 4,500-4,800 years ago, possibly an potter, with ancestry of North Africa and the Middle East.
The DNA comes from the remains buried in a large sealed ceramic coffin inside a stone tomb in Nuwayrat (northern Egypt), dated around 2855-2570 before our era, at the time of the first pyramids, which coincides with the end of the early dynastic period and the beginning of the old kingdom.
This sample constitutes the oldest of DNA in Egypt, which belonged to a person with an 80% descent related to ancient Neolithic peoples in North Africa, according to the research team, headed by the Francis Crick Institute (United Kingdom), which publishes its research in Nature.
The individual comes from previous North African ascendencies, which “suggests that, at least part of that Egyptian population, came mainly from the local population” and this agrees with the archaeological hypothesis, explained in a virtual press conference Adeline Morez, one of the authors of the study.
The remaining 20 % is linked to the east of the growing fertile, which covers Iraq, west of Iran, part of Syria and the southeast end of Turkey, and specifically to the area of Mesopotamia (approximately the current Iraq).
Morez, from the Francis Crick Institute, stressed that by archeology it is known that both cultures were influenced each other for millennia, but there was also “a complex network of people who moved and mixed with the local population.”
This person may not be representative of the entire population of the time, “with an individual we do not capture all the diversity of the population” throughout the Nile Valley, he said, but the finding is an advance in the understanding of the Egyptians of the ancient kingdom.
Discovery of the root of a tooth, probably of a potter
The individual lived on horseback between the old kingdom (2686-2125 AC), which followed the unification of the high and bass Egypt, and the early dynastic period (3150-2686 AC), of a remarkable stability and innovation, including the construction of the first stepped pyramid.
The team extracted DNA from the root of a tooth and also analyzed the skeleton, in an exceptional state of conservation. The chemical signals of his teeth related to the diet and the environment showed that, he had probably grown in Egypt.
See: Ancient DNA rewrites history: Europeans did not take leprosy to America
The researcher Joel Irish, from the British John Moores University of Liverpool (LJMU), explained that man lived until an advanced age for his time. It would be between the mid -40s and 60s, closer to this last age, “given the high degree of arthritis and osteoporosis.”
In addition, he had a “incredibly hard” physical life. He spent much of the time looking down and, due to the type of osteoarthritis in the column, he leaned a lot forward. Muscle brands in the arms indicate that they kept them extended for long periods and with folded elbows.
The Osterartritis of the Ischions (the bones on which we sit) show that, for decades it passed long periods sitting on hard surfaces and with extended legs or on squatting.
Irish analyzed the images in various Egyptian tombs of the era that reproduced occupations and, “although it is circumstantial and cannot be tested”, the one that best fits with its characteristics is that of the potter.
However, the burial in a sealed vessel was typical of the upper class and not expected for someone of that profession, although he considered that “perhaps it was exceptionally skilled or success to improve their social status.”
DNA conservation
The difficult conservation of DNA due to high temperatures has made it known very little about the genetic origin of the ancient Egyptians and, until now, only three genomes had been partially sequenced, approximately 1,500 years after the now sequenced, Morez added.
In this case, said Linus Gredland-Flink, of the LJMU, the hypothesis is that the type of burial “provided a stable environment” of temperature, one of the fundamental factors for the conservation of DNA, and also highlighted the great advance in paleogenetic techniques.
In addition, his death occurred before artificial mummification was a common practice, which may have contributed to preserve his DNA.
The reminisious remains and of which it has been tried to know, at least, part of its history were excavated in 1902, for more than a century they were in several Liverpool institutions and are now in the World Museum in that city.
With EFE information
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