Genome study tracks 'Inuk'

An artist's impression of the face of an Inuk tribesman who lived in the high Arctic of Western Greenland about 2000 BC. Photo / Supplied

LONDON - The first, almost complete genome of an ancient human has revealed traits of a man living 4000 years ago.

Scientists have deciphered about 80 per cent of the man's genome by extracting DNA from hair excavated from a site in northwestern Greenland. He had brown eyes, non-white skin, "shovel-shaped" front teeth and was at high risk of going bald.

"Inuk" was closely related to the modern tribes of eastern Siberia, suggesting a migration to Greenland about 5000 years ago.

- INDEPENDENT