(May 3rd, 2016) Italy is also participating in the discovery of the Ice Age population. An international team of researchers, part of a team from the University of Siena (Annamaria Ronchitelli and Stefano Ricci) and the University of Florence (David Caramelli and Maria Lari). Analysing the genome of fifty different individuals who lived in Europe between 45,000 and 7,000 years ago before the introduction of agriculture they have managed to create the most detailed account of the European human genetic history alive during the Ice Age. The results of this survey has resulted in the tenfold multiplication of the DNA sample belonging to the population of the European hunter-gatherers tenfold and have published in the scientific journal ‘Nature’. Headquartered in London is one of the oldest and most important scientific journals. Three fossil specimens come from Paglicci Cave in Apulia where Annamaria Ronchitelli from the Department of Physical, Earth and Environmental Sciences from the University of Siena has coordinated the research in collaboration with the Archaeological Superintendence of Apulia. Genetic analysis of these findings is the responsibility of the Molecular Anthropology and Paleogenetics Laboratory at the University of Florence directed by David Caramelli from the Biology Department. The study which saw the collaboration of the two universities and of research institutions around the world under the supervision of David Reich from Harvard Medical School, Svante Pääbo (Max Planck Institute in Leipzig) and Johannes Krause from the University of Tübingen.
