A new genetic study has revealed that the Jomon people of ancient Japan carried almost no Denisovan DNA, setting them apart from other East Asian populations. The research suggests that the ancestors of this prehistoric group likely had little to no contact with the Denisovans, a now-extinct lineage of ancient humans that once lived across Eurasia.
The findings, published Oct. 20 in the journal Current Biology, show that individuals from Japan’s Jomon period, which spanned from about 16,000 to 3,000 years ago, had the lowest level of Denisovan ancestry among both ancient and modern East Asians.
One Jomon individual who lived around 3,755 years ago had significantly less Denisovan genetic material than is typically found in East Asians today, who carry about 0.1 percent.
Limited Denisovan traces in Japan linked to early migrations
Researchers believe the limited Denisovan DNA in the Jomon population may be linked to early migration patterns. Study author Jiaqi Yang, a doctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, said this could indicate that some human groups moved through East Asia along routes that bypassed areas where Denisovans lived.
Another possibility is that Denisovan communities were so sparsely distributed that encounters with them were uncommon.
While Denisovan genes were largely absent during the Jomon period, later populations in Japan did carry them. Genetic material from the Kofun period, which lasted from approximately A.D. 300 to 710, showed a noticeable increase in Denisovan ancestry.
Researchers suggest that this change likely occurred as a result of large-scale migrations of East Asian populations into the Japanese archipelago during that time.
Highest and lowest levels of Denisovan DNA across Eurasia
The research team analyzed the genomes of 115 ancient individuals from regions including East Asia, Siberia, West Eurasia, the Americas and Southeast Asia. These samples ranged from about 45,000 years ago to just under 800 years ago. They also examined genetic data from 279 living individuals through the Simons Genome Diversity Project.
The highest levels of Denisovan ancestry were found in 40,000-year-old remains from China, known as the Tianyuan individual, who carried about 0.25 percent Denisovan DNA from multiple groups. In contrast, ancient populations in places such as Iran and Georgia showed the lowest levels in western Eurasia.
Despite the new insights, gaps remain. The oldest sequenced Jomon genome dates back 9,000 years, but archaeological evidence shows humans lived in Japan as early as 32,000 years ago. The authors note that DNA from this earlier period could help fill in the missing pieces of Japan’s early population history.
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