Dr Wolfgang Haak

Research Interests

My research interests and my research area are best described as 'human palaeobiology'. Here I work at the interface of conventional disciplines of archaeology, anthropology, molecular genetics and medical and forensic sciences. I most notably utilise the time-travelling ability of ancient genetic data to create new views on evolutionary and cultural changes in the complex journey of the human past, mostly via comparison with large datasets from modern-day populations.

Publications

Balanovsky O, Dibirova K, Dybo A, Mudrak O, Frolova S, Pocheshkhova E, Haber M, Platt D, Schurr T, Haak W, Kuznetsova M, Radzhabov M, Balaganskaya O, Druzhinina E, Zakharova T, Soria Hernanz DF, Zalloua P, Koshel S, Ruhlen M, Renfrew C, Wells RS, Tyler-Smith C, Balanovska E, The Genographic Consortium (2011) Parallel Evolution of Genes and Languages in the Caucasus Region. Molecular Biology & Evolution. Accepted (04/2011).

 Yang K, Zheng H, Qin Z, Lu Y, Farina SE, Li S, Jin L, Li D, Li H, and The Genographic Consortium (2011) Positive selection on mitochondrial M7 lineages among the Gelong people in Hainan. Journal of Human Genetics 56: 253–256.

 Haber M, Platt DE, Badro DA, Xue Y, El-Sibai M, Bonab MA, Youhanna SC, Saade S, Soria-Hernanz DF, Royyuru A, Wells RS, Tyler-Smith C, Zalloua PA, The Genographic Consortium (2011) Influences of history, geography, and religion on genetic structure: the Maronites in Lebanon. European Journal of Human Genetics 19 (3): 334-340.

 Adler CJ, Haak W, Donlon D, Cooper A, The Genographic Consortium (2011) Survival and recovery of DNA from ancient teeth and bones. Journal of Archaeological Science 38 (5): 956-964.

 Melé M, Javed A, Pybus M, Calafell F, Parida L, Bertranpetit J, The Genographic Consortium (2010) A New Method to Reconstruct Recombination Events at a Genomic Scale. PLoS Computational Biology 6(11): e1001010. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1001010.

 Haak W, Balanovsky O, Sanchez JJ, Koshel S, Zaporozhchenko V, Adler CJ, Der Sarkissian CSI, Brandt G, Schwarz C, Nicklisch N, Dresely V, Fritsch B, Balanovska E, Villems R, Meller H, Alt KW, Cooper A, the Genographic Consortium (2010) Ancient DNA from European Early Neolithic Farmers Reveals Their Near Eastern Affinities. PLoS Biology 8( 11): e1000536.

 Qin Z, Yang Y, Kang L, Yan S, Cho K, Cai X, Lu Y, Zheng H, Zhu D, Fei D, Li S, Jin L, Li H, The Genographic Consortium (2010) A mitochondrial revelation of early human migrations to the Tibetan Plateau before and after the last glacial maximum. American Journal Physical Anthropology 143 (4): 555-69. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.21350

 Meyer C, Brandt G, Haak W, Ganslmeier RA, Meller H, Alt KW (2009) The Eulau eulogy: Bioarchaeological interpretation of lethal violence in Corded Ware multiple burials from Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 28 (4), pp. 412-423.

 Bramanti B, Thomas MG, Haak W, Unterlaender M, Jores P, Tambets K, Antanaitis-Jacobs I, Haidle MN, Jankauskas R, Kind C-J, Lueth F, Terberger T, Hiller J, Matsumura S, Forster P, Burger J (2009) Genetic discontinuity between local hunter-gatherers and central Europe's first farmers. Science 326 (5949), pp. 137-140.

 Haak W, Brandt G, De Jong HN, Meyer C, Ganslmeier R, Heyd V, Hawkesworth C, Pike AWG, Meller H, Alt KW (2008) Ancient DNA, strontium isotopes, and osteological analyses shed light on social and kinship organization of the later stone age. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 105 (47), pp. 18226-18231.

 Donlon D, Casey M, Haak W, Adler C (2008) Early colonial burial practices for perinates at the Parramatta convict hospital, NSW. Australasian Historical Archaeology 26, pp.71-84.

 Burger J, Kirchner M, Bramanti B, Haak W, Thomas MG (2007) Absence of the lactase-persistence associated allele in early Neolithic Europeans. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 104 (10), pp. 3736-3741.

 Burger J, Gronenborn D, Forster P, Matsumura S, Bramanti B, Haak W (2006) Response to Comment on “Ancient DNA from the First European Farmers in 7500-Year-Old Neolithic Sites”. Science 312: 1875b.

 Haak W, Gruber P, Rühli FJ, Böni T, Ulrich-Bochsler S, Frauendorf E, Burger, J, Alt KW (2005) Molecular evidence of HLA-B27 in a historical case of ankylosing spondylitis. Arthritis and Rheumatism 52 (10), pp. 3318-3319.

 Haak W, Forster P, Bramanti B, Matsumura S, Brandt G, Tänzer M, Villems R, Renfrew C, Gronenborn D, Alt KW, Burger J (2005) Ancient DNA from the first European farmers in 7500-year-old Neolithic sites. Science 310 (5750), pp. 1016-1018.

 Haak W, Burger J, Alt KW (2004) ABO genotyping by PCR-RFLP and cloning and sequencing. Anthropologischer Anzeiger 62 (4), pp. 397-410.

Conference Proceedings

Haak W, Brandt G, Meyer C, De Jong HN, Ganslmeier R, Pike AWG, Meller H, Alt KW (2010) Die schnurkeramischen Familiengräber von Eulau – ein außergewöhnlicher Fund und seine interdisziplinäre Bewertung. Tagungen des Landesmuseums für Vorgeschichte Halle, Band 04, pp. 80-89.

 Burger J, Haak W (2010) Mitochondrial Haplotypen aus humanen neolithischen Skeletten der LBK bzw. AVK. In: Gronenborn D, Petrasch (eds) The Spread of the Neolithic to Central Europe. RGZM-Tagungen, Band 4 1/2, pp. 141-146.

Other Publications

Haak W, Gronenborn D, Dresely V, Alt KW; Populationsdynamik und Kulturwandel im mitteldeutschen Neolithikum. Natur und Geist 2006, 22(2): 29-33.

Published Expert Interview

Muhl A, Meller H, Heckenhahn K (2010) Tatort Eulau - Ein 4500 Jahre altes Verbrechen wird aufgeklärt. Theiss.

Entry last updated: Wednesday, 21 Sep 2011