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The high-quality genome sequence of a 45,000-year-old modern human from Siberia reveals that gene flow from Neanderthals into the ancestors of this individual had already occurred about 7,000 to 13,000 years earlier; genomic comparisons show that he belonged to a population that lived close in time to the separation of populations in east and west Eurasia and that may represent an early modern human radiation out of Africa that has no direct descendants today.

Using DNA from a finger bone, the genome of an archaic hominin from southern Siberia has been sequenced to about 1.9-fold coverage. The group to which this individual belonged shares a common origin with Neanderthals, and although it was not involved in the putative gene flow from Neanderthals into Eurasians, it contributed 4–6% of its genetic material to the genomes of present-day Melanesians. A tooth whose mitochondrial genome is very similar to that of the finger bone further suggests that these hominins are evolutionarily distinct from Neanderthals and modern humans.

Genomic evidence of the offspring of a Neanderthal mother and a Denisovan father suggests that mixing among different hominin groups may have more been frequent than previously appreciated.

Determining the precise identity or origin of fragmentary fossils can be difficult. Here, mitochondrial DNA sequences are used to confirm that the skeleton of a child recovered in Uzbekistan in the 1930s was of Neanderthal origin and that remains from the Altai region of Siberia, much further east, are also Neanderthal, extending the Neanderthal range 2,000 km further east than previously assumed.

Ancient mitochondrial DNA from a hominin individual who lived in the mountains of Central Asia between 48,000–30,000 years ago has been sequenced. Comparative genomics suggest that this mitochondrial DNA derives from an out-of-Africa migration distinct from the ones that gave rise to Neanderthals and modern humans. It also seems that this hominin lived in close spatio-temporal proximity to Neanderthals and modern humans.

Genetic data for 13 Neanderthals from 2 Middle Palaeolithic sites in the Altai Mountains of southern Siberia presented provide insights into the social organization of an isolated Neanderthal community at the easternmost extent of their known range.

Genome-wide ancient DNA data from 225 individuals who lived in southeastern Europe between 12000 and 500 bc reveals that the region acted as a genetic crossroads before and after the arrival of farming.

It is known that there was gene flow from Neanderthals to modern humans around 50,000 years ago; now, analysis of a Neanderthal genome from the Altai Mountains in Siberia reveals evidence of gene flow 100,000 years ago in the other direction—from early modern humans to Neanderthals.

A complete genome sequence is presented of a female Neanderthal from Siberia, providing information about interbreeding between close relatives and uncovering gene flow events among Neanderthals, Denisovans and early modern humans, as well as establishing substitutions that became fixed in modern humans after their separation from the ancestors of Neanderthals and Denisovans.

Bayesian modelling of chronometric, stratigraphic and genetic data from Denisova Cave provides a chronological framework for understanding Neanderthal and Denisovan presence at the site, as well as interactions between these groups.

Analysis of DNA from a 37,000–42,000-year-old modern human from Romania reveals that 6–9% of the genome is derived from Neanderthals, with the individual having a Neanderthal ancestor as recently as four to six generations back.

Nuclear DNA sequences from Middle Pleistocene Sima de los Huesos hominins show they were more closely related to Neanderthals than to Denisovans, and indicate a population divergence between Neanderthals and Denisovans that predates 430,000 years ago.