Neandertal growth hormone receptor increases muscle mass in people today

 

To the point

• Two Neandertal-specific changes: The study identified two amino acid changes that are unique to the Neandertal growth hormone receptor.
• Increased receptor activity: When exposed to growth hormone, laboratory-grown cells carrying the Neandertal receptor grew 40 percent more than cells carrying the more common modern human version.
• Inherited through interbreeding: Modern humans acquired the Neandertal version through interbreeding with Neandertals around 47,000 years ago. Today, it is carried by up to 24 percent of people in some parts of South Asia.
• Increased weight and muscle mass in carriers: Adults who carry the Neandertal version have, on average, about 270 grams more muscle. They also tend to have slightly shorter tooth roots and subtle differences in the shape of the jaw.

Neandertals were generally more strongly built than most people living today. Their bones show signs of large muscles, and they had characteristic features such as prominent brow ridges and relatively short tooth roots.

Growth hormone helps shape the body by regulating the growth of muscles and bones. It is released by the pituitary gland at the base of the brain and travels through the bloodstream. To act on a cell, the hormone must bind to a receptor on its surface, which then passes the signal into the cell.

An international team led by Hugo Zeberg of Karolinska Institutet and Philipp Kanis of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology found that the Neandertal version of this receptor has two changes that are not present in the version most common in modern humans.

Neandertal variant responds more strongly to growth hormone

The study shows that laboratory-grown cells with the Neandertal receptor responded more strongly to growth hormone. They grew 40 percent more than cells with the more common modern human receptor. The researchers linked most of this stronger response to one of the two Neandertal-specific changes.

Modern humans inherited this version of the receptor through interbreeding with Neandertals around 47,000 years ago. Today, it is particularly common in South and East Asia. Up to 24 percent of people in some South Asian populations carry it, compared with around 0.5 percent of Europeans.

“What struck me most was that two very different types of evidence told the same story,” says Philipp Kanis, first author of the study and a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. “Cells grown in the laboratory responded more strongly, while data from more than a million people showed signs of the same effect in the body. It is rare to see laboratory and population evidence fit together so clearly.”

Differences first become apparent after childhood

The difference appears to emerge only after childhood. The researchers examined body measurements from more than 6,000 children and found no link between the Neandertal version and growth up to the age of eleven. This suggests that its effects may become noticeable later, possibly around puberty, when growth hormone levels increase substantially. Among adults, people carrying the Neandertal version had, on average, around 270 grams more muscle mass.

“As someone who does CrossFit, I was delighted to find Neandertal genetics and muscle mass coming together in the same study,” says co-author Miriam Berreiter. “But even a Neandertal growth hormone receptor is no substitute for training.”

The Neandertal version was also linked to subtle differences in the skull and teeth. Carriers tended to have a slightly shorter rear section of the lower jaw and shorter tooth roots. Both features are closer to what was typical of Neandertals.

“It is fascinating that one genetic change inherited from Neandertals can still have an effect on the human body today,” says Hugo Zeberg, senior author of the study. “But this is only one of many genetic influences on growth and body shape. It cannot explain the Neandertal body type on its own, and it certainly does not determine a person’s overall appearance.”

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Journal

Current Biology

DOI

10.1016/j.cub.2026.07.025 

Unprecedented excavation of Roman-era pottery kilns in Burgenland

 

Two pottery kilns have already been unearthed in a field in the municipality of Hannersdorf; a further 100 kilns may still lie buried

Reports and Proceedings

University of Vienna

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Remains of a pottery kiln from Roman-period pottery production

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Credit: IKA_Burg_2026, photo L. Schlamp

A few years ago, the first ceramic finds came to light during construction work in the Burg district of the municipality of Hannersdorf. Geomagnetic surveys in subsequent years provided evidence of numerous kilns that are thought to lie hidden beneath the field. In a recent educational excavation led by Basema Hamarneh from the University of Vienna, archaeologists have now uncovered two pottery kilns. A further 100 kilns are thought to still lie buried – an unprecedented discovery of a local production centre for utilitarian pottery from the Roman period. The finds date from the mid-1st century to the mid-2nd century CE.

The fields north of Burger Badesee have long been known as the Asten archaeological site due to surface finds dating from the Roman Imperial period. In 2021, during construction work on the B56 Geschriebenstein Straße, situated to the east of the site, a large number of Roman pottery fragments and the remains of pottery kilns were discovered. In the years that followed, geomagnetic surveys revealed that numerous archaeological structures lie beneath the field: kilns, building foundations and levelled burial mounds. The current excavations are now intended to shed light on the actual scale and significance of the site – and the findings so far have exceeded expectations.

Within the first two weeks of work, the remains of two pottery kilns with working pits, as well as further pits believed to be clay extraction and waste pits, were documented just below the surface (at a depth of approx. 40 cm). The kilns and surrounding pits are filled with pottery. “Our finds suggest that this was a large pottery production site,” says excavation director Basema Hamarneh from the University of Vienna. The items produced included bowls, dishes, cups and storage vessels.

Finds preserved in their entirety provide fascinating insights into everyday production

The current excavation has already yielded a number of special finds. “There are a striking number of vessels preserved in their entirety, which is not often the case. In addition, there are many defective pieces – that is, items that failed during production. On the one hand, this suggests that production here took place on a large scale and was not merely for local consumption. And such defective pieces also give us fascinating insights into the production processes,” explains Hamarneh. The archaeologists have also found imported goods (such as ‘Terra Sigillata’), which further supports the theory of a large-scale production site.

It is also striking that there is no known consumer settlement in the immediate vicinity of the site. The nearest major Roman settlement is the Roman town of Savaria (Szombathely) in present-day Hungary, founded in the early first century and situated 16 km away as the crow flies. This also suggests that this was a supra-regional pottery production site.

Neolithic finds point to a particularly favourable location for production

The location of the find is unlikely to be a coincidence. Indeed, there are also Neolithic surface finds (pottery shards, remains of post-built longhouses) dating from the 6th millennium BCE. “This is therefore what is known as a multi-period site. The finds from the Neolithic and Roman periods are not directly related, but they show that the site was already inhabited millennia earlier and apparently offers very good conditions for production,” said Hamarneh.

Data from geomagnetic surveys have also shown that, some 1.5 km away, there are outliers of the well-known Hallstatt and Roman-period Schandorf burial mound field. “This is further evidence that the site was an important hub of human activity over thousands of years,” explains Hamarneh.

Burgenland was a driving force behind production and trade in Roman times

The excavations will continue until 7 August, with the team uncovering new finds every day. “Every find – from intact vessels and defective pottery to imported terra sigillata – helps to paint a clearer picture of a vibrant, widely connected Roman economic landscape in what is now Burgenland, and underlines once again that the region was far more than just a ‘peripheral province’ of the Empire; it was an active driving force behind production and trade,” says Hamarneh.

Ancient DNA reveals Ice Age humans preferred female mammoths

 

Peer-Reviewed Publication

Stockholm University

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Excavation in Langmannersdorf 2025. Photo: Marc Händel/Austrian Academy of Sciences.

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Credit: Marc Händel/Austrian Academy of Sciences

Analysing ancient DNA of over 500 mammoth bones, an international team of researchers found that Ice Age humans selectively targeted female woolly mammoths. The results of the study, published in Current Biology, show that in contrast to the sex ratio among naturally occurring woolly mammoth remains, large bone accumulations associated with ancient human activity are dominated by females.

“Whether these massive mammoth bone accumulations were formed naturally or by human hunting has been debated for decades”, says David Díez del Molino, Researcher at the Centre for Palaeogenetics and co-senior author of the study. “By comparing the genetic sex ratios of hundreds of mammoths from natural settings with those found in these archaeological contexts, we can now infer that human activity was the primary driver behind these bone accumulations.” 

Divergent sex ratios in different contexts
The team analysed genome data from 521 woolly mammoths across Eurasia and North America, including 448 individuals sequenced for the first time. Genetic sex inference revealed a striking contrast depending on where the remains were found. Mammoth remains recovered from dispersed, natural settings were mostly male (34 per cent female: 66 per cent male), consistent with the idea that solitary males were more likely to die in natural traps (for example sinkholes or landslides), thereby increasing the chance of long-term bone preservation. In contrast, mammoths from accumulation sites were predominantly female (70 per cent female: 30 per cent male). These results raised questions about how Ice Age hunter-gatherers interacted with mammoths.

“We know that Upper Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers sometimes hunted mammoths directly, as evidenced by projectile points embedded in mammoth bones, and they may also have scavenged material from carcasses”, says Jarosław Wilczyński, archaeologist at the Institute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

“While it is tempting to assume that hunters would have targeted females because they were smaller than adult males, the reality may have been more complex. If mammoths behaved like modern elephants, females living in matriarchal herds may have had group defences that would have made encounters with herds equally or even more risky. Another possibility is that female-led herds moved across the landscape in more predictable ways than solitary males, meaning Upper Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers may simply have encountered them more frequently, whether for hunting or scavenging”, says Hannah M. Moots, Postdoctoral Researcher at the Centre for Palaeogenetics and lead author of the study.

Reconstructing Ice Age human-mammoth interactions
Mammoths were a vital resource for Ice Age human populations, providing meat, fat, hide and bones for building structures, and ivory for tools, art, and ornaments. The mammoth bone accumulations included in the study span eleven key Ice Age archaeological sites across Eurasia, dating to roughly 30,000–20,000 years ago. By combining 100 individuals from these human-associated site accumulations with 421 mammoths from natural depositional settings, the team analysed a large dataset of woolly mammoths across Eurasia and North America. This unprecedented scale provides a rare look at how ancient humans and woolly mammoths interacted across the Late Pleistocene.

“This research demonstrates the power of ancient DNA studies to answer long-standing archaeological questions”, says Love Dalén, Professor in Evolutionary Genomics at Stockholm University, co-senior author of the study. “By scaling up sample sizes, ancient DNA can go beyond evolutionary history to teach us about animal behaviour and human culture tens of thousands of years ago.”

A rare genetic discovery in an extinct species
The researchers identified one mammoth from Wrangel Island that was neither XX (biologically female) nor XY (biologically male). Instead, this individual had a different sex chromosome combination known as X0/XX mosaicism, where the individual has a single copy of the X chromosome in some cells, and two in others. In humans, this is known as Turner syndrome. This is the first time that this has been documented in an extinct species.

Article
“Palaeogenomic sex inference of mammoth remains sheds light on the anthropogenic nature of bone accumulations” Moots et al., Current Biology. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2026.07.023.

Chilean mummies preserve ancient smallpox genome that traces disease to European colonization

Analysis of DNA from Chilean mummies has revealed the earliest known strain of ancient smallpox from the Americas. The findings offer the clearest genetic evidence yet that European colonization brought this disease to the New World. Smallpox was one of the deadliest diseases introduced to the Americas during European colonization. The rapid spread of the disease across North, Central, and South America is estimated to have resulted in the deaths of three to four million people, particularly among Indigenous populations with no prior immunity. However, due to the lack of ancient smallpox genomes from the Americas, much about the viral strains responsible remains in question. 

Bruno González and colleagues identified ancient smallpox virus DNA in two mummified Indigenous Inca-Early Colonial-era individuals recovered from northern Chile, who lived between 1492-1631 CE. The two ancient viral genomes were nearly identical, indicating the individuals were likely infected during the same outbreak or by the same circulating strain, providing rare direct molecular evidence of a smallpox strain circulating in colonial-era South America. According to González et al., the so-called “CAM9” smallpox lineage is the earliest known smallpox genome from the Americas.

By comparing the Chilean smallpox genomes with ancient and modern variola viruses, the authors found that the previously unknown and now-extinct lineage occupies an evolutionary position between early medieval European strains and the lineages that later gave rise to modern smallpox. This placement provides molecular evidence that smallpox reached the Americas through European colonization. The genomes also allowed researchers to track patterns of gene inactivation and mutation, revealing changing rates of viral evolution that appear linked to major demographic and epidemiological shifts during the colonial era.

 

Journal

Science

DOI

10.1126/science.aee6957 

 

What sheep's teeth can tell us about life in a medieval Kazakhstan town

 

University of Michigan

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Sheep mandibles were analyzed for isotopes in an international study including University of Michigan researchers. The study examined flexible herding techniques in a city in Kazakhstan during the 9th and 10th centuries.

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Credit: Alicia Ventresca-Miller, University of Michigan

ANN ARBOR—You might not often think about the molars of livestock, but everything from the grass they eat to the water they drink can tell a story about how people lived centuries ago.

An international collaboration led by University of Michigan researchers examined herd management in medieval Kazakhstan using isotopes embedded in the enamel of sheep's molars. They found that people living in the arid region fine-tuned their strategies of animal management in order to succeed in a challenging environment.

The study specifically found that people in the medieval town of Dzhankent fed their flocks dried grass, acquired animals from outside their region for food, and carefully planned when sheep would give birth, which suggests they were trying to ensure milk and milk products like cheese would be available year-round, the researchers say.

"Dzhankent was particularly resilient in that they were flexible in their herd management strategies to keep the population fed year-round," said Kara Larson, doctoral candidate in the U-M Museum of Anthropological Archaeology and lead author of the study published in the journal Archaeometry. "So often we see narratives of urban populations being solely reliant on one method of herd management, so it is exciting to see how adaptive Dzhankent was, both in local herding and in pulling in regionally sourced animals."

From the 7th to 11th centuries CE, Dzhankent, located in southern Kazakhstan, evolved from a fishing and agricultural village to a larger town, serving as a key node on the northern Silk Roads, a network of Asian trade routes. But little is known about how the city sustained itself.

"The Silk Road city of Dzhankent was vital to trade during the 9th and 10th centuries. In order to feed its inhabitants, there was a great diversity in herding strategies and the season of birth of sheep," said Alicia Ventresca-Miller, associate curator of archaeological sciences at the UMMAA. "This indicates inhabitants were trying to extend access to milk products across the year, and were further mitigating risks by having varied pasturing and foddering practices. That is, they were intentionally moving sheep and giving them extra cut grass during lean times."

Flexibility in a challenging environment

Situated within the Aral Sea basin, Dzhankent is surrounded by semi-desert and desert, and dependent on water from the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers. During the winter, air from Siberia keeps temperatures at around 14 degrees below zero. Summers are hot and dry, and temperatures hover around 80 degrees. Between 4 and 5.5 inches of rain fall each year.

As sheep eat and drink, isotopes in their food and water become part of their teeth. Determining the composition of isotopes in the sheep's teeth can tell researchers how sheep were pastured, when they gave birth and were culled, and how they were foddered, or fed. To study the herd management practices of people living at Dzhankent, the researchers analyzed the second molars of 16 sheep, sequentially measuring carbon and oxygen isotopes within the enamel. 

The researchers then broke the 16 sheep down into six groups based on the combined  carbon and oxygen values. There is seasonal variation in oxygen isotope ratios, which are elevated during the summer months and lower during the winter months. 

Comparatively, higher carbon isotope ratios indicate consumption of grass during the summer or dry seasons, while lower carbon isotope ratios indicate consumption of plants in the winter or wetter seasons. 

Researchers found that sheep likely were bred throughout the year, with the majority of individuals born in the spring months. Breeding sheep throughout the year was likely a strategy to keep them producing milk during the winter months.

"People living at Dzhankent could depend on milk and milk products such as dried, salted cheese curds that served as a source of sustenance during lean times. This is similar to the modern era when people eat qurt, a Kazakh cheese, year round," Ventresca-Miller said. "Based on the diversity of herding practices and extension of sheep birthing periods, we know that this town was resilient."

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Journal

Archaeometry

DOI

10.1111/arcm.70199 

Mesolithic hunter-gatherers on Malta

 

Peer-Reviewed Publication

PNAS Nexus

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Cave site of Latnija in the northern Mellieħa region of Malta, which revealed evidence of over 1000 years of forager occupations.

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Credit: Huw Groucutt

The existence of humans on Malta, a tiny Mediterranean island, in the Mesolithic period is puzzling. Archaeological evidence indicates foragers occupied the Maltese islands between 8,500 and 7,500 years ago, and it is hypothesized that they arrived by a sea crossing. How did they survive over such an extended timeframe, given the limited resources available on this small island? James Blinkhorn and colleagues model the demographic and subsistence potential of Malta and Sicily during the terminal Pleistocene to Holocene. The authors considered sea levels and fluctuations in the productivity of the vegetation to generate estimates of forager densities from comparisons to recent ethnographic datasets. Malta and Sicily became separate islands by about 14,200 years ago, and both shrank in area over time, with Malta eventually reaching its current size of 252 km2. The minimum sea crossing distance between the islands reached 80 km within a millennium of their separation. Predicted maximum population sizes for Malta following disconnection from Sicily start at 419 individuals and drop to 170 individuals by 9,000 years ago—not long before the first evidence of human occupation. As this is well below the minimum population size for long-term viability, the authors conclude that the longevity of forager inhabitation on Malta must have relied upon repeated, long-distance sea crossings. Malta may have been a seasonal destination, or occupied for longer periods. According to the authors, the prospect of seafaring Mesolithic hunter-gatherers has implications for the demographic and cultural world of the Mediterranean before farming, as well as the origins of European hunter-gatherer ancestry in North Africa.

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Journal

PNAS Nexus

Article Title

Life on the edge: Mesolithic population size and viability on Malta