Human and faunal low coverage genomes from 25,000 year old sediment from the Southern Caucasus. Human and faunal low coverage genomes from 25,000 year old sediment from the Southern Caucasus

Archaeological sediments have been shown to preserve ancient DNA, but so far have not yielded genome-wide data of mammalian species. We performed shotgun sequencing on sediment DNA from Satsurblia cave, Georgia, dated to 25,000 years ago, and retrieved three low-coverage mammalian genomes from a single soil sample. First, a human female genome with substantial basal Eurasian ancestry, which was an ancestry component of the majority of post-Ice Age people in the Near East, North Africa, and parts of Europe. Second, a wolf genome that is basal to extant Eurasian wolves and dogs and represents a previously unknown, likely extinct, Caucasian lineage that diverged from the ancestors of modern wolves and dogs before these diversified. And last, a bison genome that is basal to present-day populations, suggesting that population structure has been substantially reshaped since the Last Glacial Maximum. Our results demonstrate that sediment DNA can be used not only for species identification, but also be a source of genome-wide ancestry information.