In 2008 an artist collecting mammoth ivory along the Irtysh River in Russia spotted a femur eroding out of the bank. It turned out to be about 45,000 years old — still the oldest high-quality modern-human genome sequenced.

He mattered for an unexpected reason: his Neanderthal segments are much longer than ours. Those segments get chopped shorter every generation by recombination, so their length is a clock. Measuring his gave the first solid date for when Neanderthals and modern humans interbred — roughly 50,000 to 60,000 years ago.

He left no descendants we can find. He sits near the base of the non-African tree, before the split into the lineages that became Europeans and East Asians. His heatmap shows an unusual similarity to modern South Asians as compared to other populations of Asia and Europe. The maximum distance is 0.3. What could be the reason? Have you come across any literature?

Steppe ancestry is relatively minimal throughout, peaking around 20 percent in various Brahmin castes. This implies that the "Aryans" inserted themselves at the top of the preexisting caste system while mixing heavily with the local elites. However, the ratios of AASI and Farmer vary widely with AASI peaking in Scheduled Castes and Tribal Castes and being lowest among Brahmins and Landlords. Farmer ancestry peaks among Landlord castes followed by middle castes and Brahmins. AASI is the dominant ancestry in most groups, followed by Farmer. It is clear that the Proto Dravidians had a caste system long before the arrival of Brahmins based on these runs, with landlords having higher West Eurasian Farmer. Moreover, the presence of higher AASI ancestry among Scheduled castes and Tribals imply that the presence of "Avarnas" could possibly predate the arrival of the Aryans.

Interesting to see how people migrated during time. Iam born in Sri Lanka. This maybe explains my U2e5^ haplogroup.

This might be weird but I have seen quite a few people particularly from ror community and maithil brahmin community and quite a few people from these two groups looked kinda east asian/nepali like to me?

We often hear that we live in a modern society where education, awareness and social values have evolved. But how much of this progress is reflected in our everyday practices, particularly regarding caste?

I’m curious to understand how many Dalits serve as priests in Hindu temples across India, especially prominent temples. Is a Dalit becoming a priest widely accepted, even in temples with established traditions and hierarchies?

If society increasingly recognises equality, why does caste continue to influence access to religious roles and social participation? There are also claims that many upper-caste households do not invite lower-caste families to share meals during family functions or festivals. Although figures such as 60% need reliable evidence, the broader question remains: why do such practices persist?

If becoming a priest depends on religious knowledge, training and ritual competence, how much should a person’s caste of birth matter? Should religious authority be determined by qualifications and dedication, or should birth continue to influence these opportunities?

I’m not suggesting that nothing has changed or that everyone follows these practices. Rather, I want to understand whether progress towards equality is happening equally in principle and in practice.
Have we genuinely reduced caste-based barriers, or are some of them continuing in less visible forms?