Molecular Archaeology Lab
Molecular Archaeology Lab
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The lab is housed in the Life Science Building on Allendale campus of GVSU. It contains a state-of-the-art clean DNA room, where ancient DNA is exptracted and prepared for analysis.
The main focus of the lab is to receate the life history of individuals who inhabited the arid grasslands of the northern Black Sea shores (the North Pontic Steppe) and adjacent forest-steppe areas and river valleys from the early Holocene to the beginning of the Modern Era.
The lab also maintains a physical and digital anthropology collection, consisitng of osteological and dental specimens from archaeological excavations in the North Pontic steppe and adjacent forest steppe. The digital archive can be accessed on the Project Page (coming soon).
Research partners
Research partners
Institute of Archaeology, National Academy of Sicences of Ukraine
Archaeometry Laboratory, University of Missouri, USA
Reich's Genetics Lab, Harvard University, USA
Selected Recent Publications
Selected Recent Publications
2025
A genomic history of the North Pontic Region from the Neolithic to the
Bronze Age
Nikitin AG, Lazaridis I et al.
Nature, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-08372-2
2023
Genetic continuity, isolation and gene flow in Stone Age Eastern Europe
Mattila T, et al.
Communications Biology, https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-023-05131-3
Interactions between Trypillian farmers and North Pontic forager-pastoralists in Eneolithic central Ukraine
Alexey G. Nikitin, Mykhailo Videiko, Nick Patterson, Virginie Renson, David Reich
PlosOne, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0285449
The Origins and Chronology of the Usatove Culture
Nikitin AG, Ivanova S.
Archaeologia Lituana 23 (December), 148-56
https://doi.org/10.15388/ArchLit.2022.23.9
Long distance exchanges along the Black Sea coast in the Eneolithic and the steppe genetic ancestry problem
Nikitin AG, Ivanova S.
In: Preda-Bălănică, B., Ahola, M. (Eds.), Steppe Transmissions. Archaeolingua, Budapest, pp. 9–27. Article link
How Cucuteni-Trypillia farmers and North Pontic steppe pastoralists shaped the genetic ancestry of the Yamna culture complex.
Nikitin AG.
Stratum Plus: 567-571.
Radiocarbon dating and stable isotope analysis of human remains from the Usatove culture site of Mayaki in Ukraine
Nikitin AG, Ivanova S, Culleton B, Potekhina I, Reich DE.
SSRN Electronic Journal, https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4236123
2022
Ancient DNA from Mesopotamia suggests distinct Pre-Pottery and Pottery Neolithic migrations into Anatolia
Lazaridis I, et al.
Science 377 (6609), doi/10.1126/science.abq0762
The genetic history of the Southern Arc: a bridge between West Asia and Europe
Lazaridis I, et al.
Science 377 (6609), doi/10.1126/science.abm4247
A genetic probe into the ancient and medieval history of Southern Europe and West Asia
Lazaridis I, et al.
Science 377 (6609), doi/10.1126/science.abq0755
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