Mateja Hajdinjak

Group leader
Abteilung für Evolutionäre Genetik
Max-Planck-Institut für evolutionäre Anthropologie
Deutscher Platz 6
04103 Leipzig
Telefon: +49 (0) 341 3550 502
E-Mail: mateja_hajdinjak@[>>> Please remove the text! <<<]eva.mpg.de
Publications
2025
Cosnefroy, Q., Crevecoeur, I., Semal, P., Hajdinjak, M., Bossoms Mesa, A., Krause, J., Gnecchi-Ruscone, G. A., Posth, C., Bocherens, H., Devièse, T., & Rougier, H.(2025). Highly selective cannibalism in the Late Pleistocene of Northern Europe reveals Neandertals were targeted prey. Scientific Reports,15: 40741. | |
Talamo, S., Casaccia, N., Richards, M. P., Wacker, L., Tassoni, L., Nadachowski, A., Kraszewska, A., Kowal, M., Skłucki, J., Barrington, C., Kelly, M., Tait, F., Williams, M., Figus, C., Vazzana, A., Di Bernardo, G., Romandini, M., Di Domenico, G., Benazzi, S., Malegori, C., Sciutto, G., Oliveri, P., Hublin, J.-J., Hajdinjak, M., Skoglund, P., Picin, A., & Valde‑Nowak, P.(2025). Boomerang and bones: Refining the chronology of the Early Upper Paleolithic at Obłazowa Cave, Poland. PLoS One,20(6): e0324911. | |
Sümer, A. P. *., Rougier, H., Villalba-Mouco, V., Huang, Y., Iasi, L. N., Essel, E., Bossoms Mesa, A., Furtwaengler, A., Peyrégne, S., de Filippo, C., Rohrlach, A. B., Pierini, F., Mafessoni, F., Fewlass, H., Zavala, E. I., Mylopotamitaki, D., Bianco, R. A., Schmidt, A., Zorn, J., Nickel, B., Patova, A., Posth, C., Smith, G. M., Ruebens, K., Sinet-Mathiot, V., Stoessel, A., Dietl, H., Orschiedt, J., Kelso, J., Zeberg, H., Bos, K. I., Welker, F., Weiss, M., McPherron, S., Schüler, T., Hublin, J.-J., Velemínský, P., Brůžek, J., Peter, B. M., Meyer, M., Meller, H., Ringbauer, H., Hajdinjak, M., Prüfer, K. *., & Krause, J. *.(2025). Earliest modern human genomes constrain timing of Neanderthal admixture. Nature,638(8051), 711-717. | |
Morez Jacobs, A., Irish, J. D., Cooke, A., Anastasiadou, K., Barrington, C., Gilardet, A., Kelly, M., Silva, M., Speidel, L., Tait, F., Williams, M., Brucato, N., Ricaut, F.-X., Wilkinson, C., Madgwick, R., Holt, E., Nederbragt, A. J., Inglis, E., Hajdinjak, M., Skoglund, P., & Girdland-Flink, L.(2025). Whole-genome ancestry of an Old Kingdom Egyptian. Nature,644, 714-721. |
2024
Iasi, L. N., Chintalapati, M., Skov, L., Bossoms Mesa, A., Hajdinjak, M., Peter, B. M., & Moorjani, P.(2024). Neanderthal ancestry through time: Insights from genomes of ancient and present-day humans. Science,386(6727). | |
Mylopotamitaki, D., Weiss, M., Fewlass, H., Zavala, E. I., Rougier, H., Sümer, A., Hajdinjak, M., Smith, G. M., Ruebens, K., Sinet-Mathiot, V., Pederzani, S., Essel, E., Harking, F. S., Xia, H., Hansen, J., Kirchner, A., Lauer, T., Stahlschmidt, M., Hein, M., Talamo, S., Wacker, L., Meller, H., Dietl, H., Orschiedt, J., Olsen, J. V., Zeberg, H., Prüfer, K., Krause, J., Meyer, M., Welker, F., McPherron, S. P., Schüler, T., & Hublin, J.-J.(2024). Homo sapiens reached the higher latitudes of Europe by 45,000 years ago. Nature,626, 341-346. |
2023
Fewlass, H., Zavala, E. I., Fagault, Y., Tuna, T., Bard, E., Hublin, J.-J., Hajdinjak, M., & Wilczyński, J.(2023). Chronological and genetic analysis of an Upper Palaeolithic female infant burial from Borsuka Cave, Poland. iScience,26(12): 108283. | |
Swali, P., Schulting, R., Gilardet, A., Kelly, M., Anastasiadou, K., Glocke, I., McCabe, J., Williams, M., Audsley, T., Loe, L., Fernández-Crespo, T., Ordoño, J., Walker, D., Clare, T., Cook, G., Hodkinson, I., Simpson, M., Read, S., Davy, T., Silva, M., Hajdinjak, M., Bergström, A., Booth, T., & Skoglund, P.(2023). Yersinia pestis genomes reveal plague in Britain 4000 years ago. Nature Communications,14: 2930. | |
Soressi, M., & Hajdinjak, M.(2023). Ancient woman’s DNA recovered from a 20,000-year-old pendant [A summary of: Essel, E. et al. Ancient human DNA recovered from a Palaeolithic pendant. Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06035-2 (2023)]. Nature. | |
Essel, E., Zavala, E. I., Schulz-Kornas, E., Kozlikin, M. B., Fewlass, H., Vernot, B., Shunkov, M. V., Derevianko, A. P., Douka, K., Barnes, I., Soulier, M.-C., Schmidt, A., Szymanski, M., Tsanova, T., Sirakov, N., Endarova, E., McPherron, S. P., Hublin, J.-J., Kelso, J., Pääbo, S., Hajdinjak, M., Soressi, M., & Meyer, M.(2023). Ancient human DNA recovered from a Palaeolithic pendant. Nature,618, 328-332. |
2022
Charlton, S., Brace, S., Hajdinjak, M., Kearney, R., Booth, T., Reade, H., Tripp, J. A., Sayle, K. L., Grimm, S. B., Bello, S. M., Walker, E. A., Gilardet, A., East, P., Glocke, I., Larson, G., Higham, T., Stringer, C., Skoglund, P., Barnes, I., & Stevens, R. E.(2022). Dual ancestries and ecologies of the Late Glacial Palaeolithic in Britain. Nature Ecology & Evolution,6, 1658-1668. | |
Skov, L., Peyrégne, S., Popli, D. R., Iasi, L. N., Devièse, T., Slon, V., Zavala, E. I., Hajdinjak, M., Sümer, A., Grote, S., Bossoms Mesa, A., López Herráez, D., Nickel, B., Nagel, S., Richter, J., Essel, E., Gansauge, M.-T., Schmidt, A., Korlevic, P., Comeskey, D., Derevianko, A. P., Kharevich, A., Markin, S. V., Talamo, S., Douka, K., Krajcarz, M. T., Roberts, R. G., Higham, T., Viola, B., Krivoshapkin, A. I., Kolobova, K. A., Kelso, J., Meyer, M., Pääbo, S., & Peter, B. M.(2022). Genetic insights into the social organization of Neanderthals. Nature,610, 519-525. | |
Hopkins, R. J. A., Hajdinjak, M., Šefčáková, A., Comeskey, D., Devièse, T., & Higham, T. F. G.(2022). Single amino acid radiocarbon dating of two Neanderthals found at Šal’a (Slovakia). Radiocarbon,64, 87-100. |
2021
Hodgkins, J., Orr, C. M., Gravel-Miguel, C., Riel-Salvatore, J., Miller, C. E., Bondioli, L., Nava, A., Lugli, F., Talamo, S., Hajdinjak, M., Cristiani, E., Romandini, M., Meyer, D., Drohobytsky, D., Kuester, F., Pothier-Bouchard, G., Buckley, M., Mancini, L., Baruffaldi, F., Silvestrini, S., Arrighi, S., Keller, H. M., Griggs, R. B., Peresani, M., Strait, D. S., Benazzi, S., & Negrino, F.(2021). An infant burial from Arma Veirana in northwestern Italy provides insights into funerary practices and female personhood in early Mesolithic Europe. Scientific Reports,11: 23735. | |
Picin, A., Benazzi, S., Blasco, R., Hajdinjak, M., Helgen, K. M., Hublin, J.-J., Rosell, J., Skoglund, P., Stringer, C., & Talamo, S.(2021). Comment on “A global environmental crisis 42,000 years ago”. Science,374(6570): eabi8330. | |
Devièse, T., Abrams, G., Hajdinjak, M., Pirson, S., De Groote, I., Di Modica, K., Toussaint, M., Fischer, V., Comeskey, D., Spindler, L., Meyer, M., Semal, P., & Higham, T.(2021). Reply to Van Peer: Direct radiocarbon dating and ancient genomic analysis reveal the true age of the Neanderthals at Spy Cave. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America,118(26): e2107116118. | |
Devièse, T., Abrams, G., Hajdinjak, M., Pirson, S., De Groote, I., Di Modica, K., Toussaint, M., Fischer, V., Comeskey, D., Spindler, L., Meyer, M., Semal, P., & Higham, T.(2021). Reevaluating the timing of Neanderthal disappearance in Northwest Europe. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,118(12): e2022466118. | |
Hajdinjak, M., Mafessoni, F., Skov, L., Vernot, B., Hübner, A., Fu, Q., Essel, E., Nagel, S., Nickel, B., Richter, J., Moldovan, O. T., Constantin, S., Endarova, E., Zahariev, N., Spasov, R., Welker, F., Smith, G. M., Sinet-Mathiot, V., Paskulin, L., Fewlass, H., Talamo, S., Rezek, Z., Sirakova, S., Sirakov, N., McPherron, S. P., Tsanova, T., Hublin, J.-J., Peter, B., Meyer, M., Skoglund, P., Kelso, J., & Pääbo, S.(2021). Initial Upper Palaeolithic humans in Europe had recent Neanderthal ancestry. Nature,592, 253-257. |
2020
Massilani, D., Skov, L., Hajdinjak, M., Gunchinsuren, B., Tseveendorj, D., Yi, S., Lee, J., Nagel, S., Nickel, B., Devièse, T., Higham, T., Meyer, M., Kelso, J., Peter, B., & Pääbo, S.(2020). Denisovan ancestry and population history of early East Asians. Science,370(6516), 579-583. | |
Petr, M., Hajdinjak, M., Fu, Q., Essel, E., Rougier, H., Crevecoeur, I., Semal, P., Golovanova, L. V., Doronichev, V. B., Lalueza-Fox, C., de la Rasilla, M., Rosas, A., Shunkov, M. V., Kozlikin, M. B., Derevianko, A. P., Vernot, B., Meyer, M., & Kelso, J.(2020). The evolutionary history of Neanderthal and Denisovan Y chromosomes. Science,369(6511), 1653-1656. | |
Picin, A., Hajdinjak, M., Nowaczewska, W., Benazzi, S., Urbanowski, M., Marciszak, A., Fewlass, H., Socha, P., Stefaniak, K., Żarski, M., Wiśniewski, A., Hublin, J.-J., Nadachowski, A., & Talamo, S.(2020). New perspectives on Neanderthal dispersal and turnover from Stajnia Cave (Poland). Scientific Reports,10: 14778. | |
Yang, M. A., Fan, X., Sun, B., Chen, C., Lang, J., Ko, Y.-C., Tsang, C.-h., Chiu, H., Wang, T., Bao, Q., Wu, X., Hajdinjak, M., Ko, A.-M.-S., Ding, M., Cao, P., Yang, R., Liu, F., Nickel, B., Dai, Q., Feng, X., Zhang, L., Sun, C., Ning, C., Zeng, W., Zhao, Y., Zhang, M., Gao, X., Cui, Y., Reich, D., Stoneking, M., & Fu, Q.(2020). Ancient DNA indicates human population shifts and admixture in northern and southern China. Science,369(6501), 282-288. | |
Hublin, J.-J., Sirakov, N., Aldeias, V., Bailey, S., Bard, E., Delvigne, V., Endarova, E., Fagault, Y., Fewlass, H., Hajdinjak, M., Kromer, B., Krumov, I., Marreiros, J., Martisius, N. L., Paskulin, L., Sinet-Mathiot, V., Meyer, M., Pääbo, S., Popov, V., Rezek, Z., Sirakova, S., Skinner, M. M., Smith, G. M., Spasov, R., Talamo, S., Tuna, T., Wacker, L., Welker, F., Wilcke, A., Zahariev, N., McPherron, S. P., & Tsanova, T.(2020). Initial Upper Palaeolithic Homo sapiens from Bacho Kiro Cave, Bulgaria. Nature,581(7808), 299-302. |
2019
Narasimhan, V. M., Patterson, N., Moorjani, P., Rohland, N., Bernardos, R., Mallick, S., Lazaridis, I., Nakatsuka, N., Olalde, I., Lipson, M., Kim, A. M., Olivieri, L. M., Coppa, A., Vidale, M., Mallory, J., Moiseyev, V., Kitov, E., Monge, J., Adamski, N., Alex, N., Broomandkhoshbacht, N., Candilio, F., Callan, K., Cheronet, O., Culleton, B. J., Ferry, M., Fernandes, D., Freilich, S., Gamarra, B., Gaudio, D., Hajdinjak, M., Harney, É., Harper, T. K., Keating, D., Lawson, A. M., Mah, M., Mandl, K., Michel, M., Novak, M., Oppenheimer, J., Rai, N., Sirak, K., Slon, V., Stewardson, K., Zalzala, F., Zhang, Z., Akhatov, G., Bagashev, A. N., Bagnera, A., Baitanayev, B., Bendezu-Sarmiento, J., Bissembaev, A. A., Bonora, G. L., Chargynov, T. T., Chikisheva, T., Dashkovskiy, P. K., Derevianko, A., Dobeš, M., Douka, K., Dubova, N., Duisengali, M. N., Enshin, D., Epimakhov, A., Fribus, A. V., Fuller, D., Goryachev, A., Gromov, A., Grushin, S. P., Hanks, B., Judd, M., Kazizov, E., Khokhlov, A., Krygin, A. P., Kupriyanova, E., Kuznetsov, P., Luiselli, D., Maksudov, F., Mamedov, A. M., Mamirov, T. B., Meiklejohn, C., Merrett, D. C., Micheli, R., Mochalov, O., Mustafokulov, S., Nayak, A., Pettener, D., Potts, R., Razhev, D., Rykun, M., Sarno, S., Savenkova, T. M., Sikhymbaeva, K., Slepchenko, S. M., Soltobaev, O. A., Stepanova, N., Svyatko, S., Tabaldiev, K., Teschler-Nicola, M., Tishkin, A. A., Tkachev, V. V., Vasilyev, S., Velemínský, P., Voyakin, D., Yermolayeva, A., Zahir, M., Zubkov, V. S., Zubova, A., Shinde, V. S., Lalueza-Fox, C., Meyer, M., Anthony, D., Boivin, N., Thangaraj, K., Kennett, D. J., Frachetti, M., Pinhasi, R., & Reich, D.(2019). The formation of human populations in South and Central Asia. Science,365(6457): eaat7487. | |
Bokelmann, L., Hajdinjak, M., Peyrégne, S., Brace, S., Essel, E., de Filippo, C., Glocke, I., Grote, S., Mafessoni, F., Nagel, S., Kelso, J., Prüfer, K., Vernot, B., Barnes, I., Pääbo, S., Meyer, M., & Stringer, C.(2019). A genetic analysis of the Gibraltar Neanderthals. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,116(31), 15610-15615. | |
Peyrégne, S., Slon, V., Mafessoni, F., de Filippo, C., Hajdinjak, M., Nagel, S., Nickel, B., Essel, E., Le Cabec, A., Wehrberger, K., Conard, N. J., Kind, C. J., Posth, C., Krause, J., Abrams, G., Bonjean, D., Di Modica, K., Toussaint, M., Kelso, J., Meyer, M., Pääbo, S., & Prüfer, K.(2019). Nuclear DNA from two early Neandertals reveals 80,000 years of genetic continuity in Europe. Science Advances,5(6): eaaw5873. |
2018
Slon, V., Mafessoni, F., Vernot, B., de Filippo, C., Grote, S., Viola, T. B., Hajdinjak, M., Peyrégne, S., Nagel, S., Brown, S., Douka, K., Higham, T., Kozlikin, M. B., Shunkov, M. V., Derevianko, A. P., Kelso, J., Meyer, M., Prüfer, K., & Pääbo, S.(2018). The genome of the offspring of a Neanderthal mother and a Denisovan father. Nature,561(7721), 113-116. | |
Hajdinjak, M., Fu, Q., Hübner, A., Petr, M., Mafessoni, F., Grote, S., Skoglund, P., Narasimham, V., Rougier, H., Crevecoeur, I., Semal, P., Soressi, M., Talamo, S., Hublin, J.-J., Gušic, I., Kucan, Ž., Rudan, P., Golovanova, L. V., Doronichev, V. B., Posth, C., Krause, J., Korlevic, P., Nagel, S., Nickel, B., Slatkin, M., Patterson, N., Reich, D., Prüfer, K., Meyer, M., Pääbo, S., & Kelso, J.(2018). Reconstructing the genetic history of late Neanderthals. Nature,555(7698), 652-656. | |
Hajdinjak, M.(2018). The Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition in Europe: Studies of ancient DNA from early modern humans and late Neandertals. PhD Thesis, Universität, Leipzig. | |
Slon, V., Mafessoni, F., Vernot, B., de Filippo, C., Grote, S., Viola, B., Hajdinjak, M., Peyrégne, S., Nagel, S., Brown, S., Douka, K., Higham, T., Kozlikin, M. B., Shunkov, M. V., Derevianko, A. P., Kelso, J., Meyer, M., Prüfer, K., & Pääbo, S.(2018). Denisova 11: The daughter of a Neandertal and a Denisovan. In T. A. Klimenkova ( |
2017
Prüfer, K., Filippo, C. d., Grote, S., Mafessoni, F., Korlevic, P., Hajdinjak, M., Vernot, B., Skov, L., Hsieh, P., Peyrégne, S., Reher, D., Hopfe, C., Nagel, S., Maricic, T., Fu, Q., Theunert, C., Rogers, R., Skoglund, P., Chintalapati, M., Dannemann, M., Nelson, B. J., Key, F. M., Rudan, P., Kucan, Ž., Gušic, I., Golovanova, L. V., Doronichev, V. B., Patterson, N., Reich, D., Eichler, E. E., Slatkin, M., Schierup, M. H., Andrés, A. M., Kelso, J., Meyer, M., & Pääbo, S.(2017). A high-coverage Neandertal genome from Vindija Cave in Croatia. Science,358(6363), 655-658. | |
Devièse, T., Karavanic, I., Comeskey, D., Kubiak, C., Korlevic, P., Hajdinjak, M., Radovic, S., Procopio, N., Buckley, M., Pääbo, S., & Higham, T.(2017). Direct dating of Neanderthal remains from the site of Vindija Cave and implications for the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America,114(40), 10606-10611. | |
Skoglund, P., Thompson, J. C., Prendergast, M. E., Mittnik, A., Sirak, K., Hajdinjak, M., Salie, T., Rohland, N., Mallick, S., Peltzer, A., Heinze, A., Olalde, I., Ferry, M., Harney, E., Michel, M., Stewardson, K., Cerezo-Román, J. I., Chiumia, C., Crowther, A., Gomani-Chindebvu, E., Gidna, A. O., Grillo, K. M., Helenius, I. T., Hellenthal, G., Helm, R., Horton, M., López, S., Mabulla, A. Z. P., Parkington, J., Shipton, C., Thomas, M. G., Tibesasa, R., Welling, M., Hayes, V. M., Kennett, D. J., Ramesar, R., Meyer, M., Pääbo, S., Patterson, N., Morris, A. G., Boivin, N., Pinhasi, R., Krause, J., & Reich, D.(2017). Reconstructing prehistoric African population structure. Cell,171(1), 59-71.e21. | |
Devièse, T., Karavanic, I., Comeskey, D., Kubiak, C., Korlević, P., Hajdinjak, M., Radovic, S., Buckley, M., Pääbo, S., & Higham, T.(2017). New single amino acid radiocarbon dating and DNA analysis of the Vindija Cave Neanderthals. InProceedings of the European Society for the study of Human Evolution (PESHE) (6, pp. 49). | |
Hajdinjak, M., Fu, Q., Stenzel, U., Hübner, A., Petr, M., Mafessoni, F., Grote, S., Rougier, H., Crevecoeur, I., Semal, P., Soressi, M., Talamo, S., Hublin, J.-J., Gušić, I., Kućan, Ž., Rudan, P., Golovanova, L. V., Doronichev, V. B., Posth, C., Krause, J., Korlević, P., Nagel, S., Nickel, B., Prüfer, K., Kelso, J., Meyer, M., & Pääbo, S.(2017). Population history of late Neandertals. InProceedings of the European Society for the study of Human Evolution (PESHE) (6, pp. 83). |
2016
Welker, F., Hajdinjak, M., Talamo, S., Jaouen, K., Dannemann, M., David, F., Julien, M., Meyer, M., Kelso, J., Barnes, I., Braces, S., Kamminga, P., Fischer, R., Kessler, B., Stewart, J. R., Pääbo, S., Collins, M. J., & Hublin, J.-J.(2016). Palaeoproteomic evidence identifies archaic hominins associated with the Châtelperronian at the Grotte du Renne. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America,113(44), 11162-11167. | |
Talamo, S., Hajdinjak, M., Mannino, M. A., Fasani, L., Welker, F., Martini, F., Romagnoli, F., Zorzin, R., Meyer, M., & Hublin, J.-J.(2016). Direct radiocarbon dating and genetic analyses on the purported Neanderthal mandible from the Monti Lessini (Italy). Scientific Reports,6: 29144. | |
Fu, Q., Posth, C., Hajdinjak, M., Petr, M., Mallick, S., Fernandes, D., Furtwängler, A., Haak, W., Meyer, M., Mittnik, A., Nickel, B., Peltzer, A., Rohland, N., Slon, V., Talamo, S., Lazaridis, I., Lipson, M., Mathieson, I., Schiffels, S., Skoglund, P., Derevianko, A. P., Drozdov, N., Slavinsky, V., Tsybankov, A., Cremonesi, R. G., Mallegni, F., Gély, B., Vacca, E., Morales, M. R. G., Straus, L. G., Neugebauer-Maresch, C., Teschler-Nicola, M., Constantin, S., Moldovan, O. T., Benazzi, S., Peresani, M., Coppola, D., Lari, M., Ricci, S., Ronchitelli, A., Valentin, F., Thevenet, C., Wehrberger, K., Grigorescu, D., Rougier, H., Crevecoeur, I., Flas, D., Semal, P., Mannino, M. A., Cupillard, C., Bocherens, H., Conard, N. J., Harvati, K., Moiseyev, V., Drucker, D. G., Svoboda, J., Richards, M. P., Caramelli, D., Pinhasi, R., Kelso, J., Patterson, N., Krause, J., Pääbo, S., & Reich, D.(2016). The genetic history of Ice Age Europe. Nature,534(7606), 200-205. |
2015
Korlević, P., Gerber, T., Gansauge, M.-T., Hajdinjak, M., Nagel, S., Ayinuer-Petri, A., & Meyer, M.(2015). Reducing microbial and human contamination in DNA extractions from ancient bones and teeth. BioTechniques,59(2), 87-93. |
2014
Hajdinjak, M., Korlević, P., Gansauge, M.-T., Dabney, J., Slon, V., Glocke, I., Sawyer, S., Nickel, B., Nagel, S., Gerber, T., Hopfe, C., Stenzel, U., Renaud, G., Andrés, A. M., Castellano, S., Kelso, J., Prüfer, K., Meyer, M., & Pääbo, S.(2014).Neandertal genetic diversity. Poster presented at XVII World UISPP Congress, Burgos, Spain. |
Contact
Department of Evolutionary Genetics
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Deutscher Platz 6
04103 Leipzig
phone:+49 (0)341 3550 - 500
e-mail: genetics_office@[>>> Please remove the text! <<<]eva.mpg.de
Open Access