Human population increased sharply at the end of the Stone Age

The team's findings were published in the online PLoS ONE newspaper on July 29.
Reconstructing the time and extent of population change plays an important role in understanding the evolution of mankind. It has long been argued around the question of why the population of humans began to increase sharply due to improvements in tools and methods of hunting focused on the Late Tan Canh Tan, or the advancement of agriculture. career in the Neolithic period. Hammer's research combined genetics with archaeological and archaeological discoveries to answer this multidisciplinary question.

Recreate paintings in the cave. (Photo: iStockphoto / Jose Ramirez)

The team at the University of Arizona's Hammer and University of California San Francisco collaborators surveyed the genetic material of nearly 184 individuals from seven human populations and used a computerized tissue regeneration approach. Image evolution of gene lines over time. Researchers found that concentrated hunting groups as well as gathering groups have resulted in a 10-fold increase in the number of members before the introduction of agricultural farming.

A thorough research plan, along with the use of computing power, allows the team to come to the conclusion that the expansion of the population scale takes place from the beginning of the Post-Stone Age - a period that is still marked today Traces of archaeological sites, the development of technology of making stone knives, stone-making, and the exchange of goods became popular and expanded among regions.In the next step of the project, scientists will gather more data by examining more populations and more segments on each genome.

Journal reference:
Cox MP, Morales DA, Woerner AE, Sozanski J, Wall JD, et al.Autosomal Resequence Data Reveal Late Stone Age Signals of Population Expansion in African Sub-Saharan Foraging and Farming Populations.PLoS ONE, 4 (7): e6366 DOI: 10.1371 / journal.pone.0006366