Bacho Kiro genomes reveal mtDNA lineages M, N, R and U8

March 06, 2026Bioarchaeology

Source: The First Europeans Who Conquered Neanderthals 45k years ago by Timeless with Fred Snyder

Ancient mitochondrial DNA from more than 40,000-year-old Bacho Kiro individuals in Bulgaria has been assigned to haplogroups M, N, R and U8. M is now rare in Europe but common across Asia and Oceania, while N and R are early branches of the non-African mitochondrial tree. U8 is a separate branch of haplogroup U, not an ancestor of U4 or U5. The video argues that this diversity shows close ancestry between the earliest Europeans and later Asian and Oceanian populations, and that M’s near-disappearance from Europe reflects population replacement. The ancient sample is too small to establish either interpretation.

Key facts

The relevant remains are from Bacho Kiro Cave in Bulgaria and date to roughly 45,000–41,500 calibrated years ago; “40,000-year-old Europeans” is an imprecise summary.
Reported mitochondrial haplogroups include M, N, R and U8. These are maternal lineages, not Y-chromosome haplogroups.
Haplogroup M is rare in modern Europe but widespread across Asia and Oceania, while N and R are early-diverging branches of the non-African mitochondrial tree.
U8 is a branch within mitochondrial haplogroup U. It is not ancestral to U4 or U5; both are separate branches sharing the broader U ancestor. “UF” is not a standard label in this context.
The video argues that the lineages demonstrate close ancestry with Asian and Australo-Melanesian populations and that M’s later disappearance from Europe indicates population replacement. The small ancient sample does not establish either interpretation by itself.