Explore Satsurblia’s archaeological sequence and the Late Upper Palaeolithic genome used in Caucasus hunter-gatherer research.
📍 RegionGeorgia
🧬 Closest modern matchSvan
⏳ Time periodUpper Paleolithic
Satsurblia: life and ancestry after the Ice Age
Satsurblia cave preserves evidence from more than one episode of human occupation. Its archaeological sequence and its famous ancient genome illuminate related but different parts of western Georgia’s past.
Activities preserved in the cave
The archaeological study describes hearths and living surfaces, animal remains, stone and bone tools, and ornaments at Satsurblia. These finds provide evidence for food preparation, tool production and other activities that cannot be reconstructed from a genetic-distance table.
The excavated sequence includes occupations before and after the Last Glacial Maximum. The 2014 authors discussed a possible gap in occupation during the coldest interval, while stressing the limits of the regional record. That site-level sequence is not the same thing as the age of the later sequenced individual.
Jones and colleagues sequenced a Satsurblia individual dated to roughly 13,300 years ago. Its relationship with the younger Mesolithic Kotias genome helped establish the CHG reference category.
This comparison concerns genetic continuity across sampled time points. It cannot prove uninterrupted occupation of every cave in western Georgia, or identify the language spoken by the individual. Archaeology and genetics address different aspects of continuity.
The record contains n=1 for this CHG-labelled reference. A single genome can be informative without representing the entire population that used Satsurblia over many millennia. Earlier archaeological layers should not be assigned its genetic profile automatically.
The comparison tools show how the supplied coordinates relate to other references. They do not reveal the individual’s diet, the boundaries of a community’s hunting territory or the identity of a modern ethnic group. For those questions, the material evidence and the scope of the original studies remain essential.
What is Georgia UP Satsurblia (CHG) DNA closest to?
In the World Genetics modern G25 comparison, the closest non-self match for Georgia UP Satsurblia (CHG) is Svan. Other nearby references include Mingrelian, Mingrelian Obuji, Hinukh, and Mingrelian Kurzu. This gives the Georgia UP Satsurblia (CHG) profile its nearest modern genetic context inside the current reference database.
Closest Matches
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Distance
What does Georgia UP Satsurblia (CHG) ancestry look like?
The ancestral breakdown below loads the best-fitting World Genetics calculator for the Georgia UP Satsurblia (CHG) average. It should be read as a model of deep ancestry components, while the closest-match table is the better guide to which modern populations are most similar in G25 space.
Ancestral Breakdown
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Loading ancestral breakdown.
Where is Georgia UP Satsurblia (CHG) DNA closest on the map?
The heatmap gives the Georgia UP Satsurblia (CHG) profile a geographic shape. Warmer areas mark regions where available modern reference populations sit closer to the Georgia UP Satsurblia (CHG) average, while cooler areas represent more distant matches.
What populations are genetically closest to Georgia UP Satsurblia (CHG)?
The closest non-self match in this World Genetics comparison is Svan. Other nearby references include Mingrelian, Mingrelian Obuji, Hinukh, and Mingrelian Kurzu.
Is Georgia UP Satsurblia (CHG) DNA closest to Svan?
In the current modern G25 reference set, Svan is the closest listed match to the Georgia UP Satsurblia (CHG) average after removing Georgia UP Satsurblia (CHG) itself from the table.
What does the Georgia UP Satsurblia (CHG) heatmap show?
The heatmap shows where modern reference populations are closer or farther from the Georgia UP Satsurblia (CHG) G25 average, giving the closest-match results a geographic view.
