Kulubnarti aDNA

Relatively little is known about Nubia's genetic landscape prior to the Islamic migrations of the late 1st millennium CE. Here, we report genome-wide data for 66 individuals from Kulubnarti (~650–1000 CE) to investigate the genetic ancestry of a Christian Period group and address a long-standing question about the relationship among people buried in two plausibly socially-stratified cemeteries. On average, Kulubnarti Nubians had ~43% Nilotic-related ancestry (with individual variation between ~36-54%) with the remaining ancestry seemingly introduced through Egypt but ultimately like that found in the Bronze and Iron Age Levant. The Kulubnarti gene pool – shaped over a millennium – harbors disproportionately female-associated West Eurasian-related ancestry. Genetic similarity among individuals from the two cemeteries supports a hypothesis of social division without genetic distinction. Seven pairs of inter-cemetery relatives suggest fluidity between cemetery groups. Present-day Nubians are not directly descended from the Kulubnarti Nubians, attesting to additional genetic input since the Christian Period.scape of Nubia.