Mitochondrial DNA of Armenian women has not undergone any upheaval over the last 8,000 years, researchers from Centre for GeoGenetics at the Natural History Museum of Denmark revealed.

Mitochondria are passed from mothers to their children. Therefore, the study of mitochondrial genomes enables scientists to trace the unique history of females over time, eurekalert.org reported.

“We analyzed many ancient and modern mitochondrial genomes in parts of the South Caucasus and found genetic continuity for at least 8,000 years,” said Ashot Margaryan and Morten E. Allentoft from Centre for GeoGenetics at the Natural History Museum of Denmark. “In other words, we could not detect any changes to the female gene pool over this very long time frame. This is highly interesting because this region has experienced multiple cultural shifts over the same time period, but these changes do not appear to have had a genetic impact–at least not on the female population.”

To shed light on the maternal genetic history of the region, the researchers analyzed the complete mitochondrial genomes of 52 ancient skeletons from present-day Armenia and Artsakh. Those specimens span 7,800 years of history. Allentoft’s team combined this new data with 206 mitochondrial genomes of modern Armenians and previously published data representing more than 480 individuals from seven neighboring populations.

The findings imply that the female population in at least some parts of the South Caucasus has been highly stable through many cultural shifts that have occurred over thousands of years. They also suggest that documented migrations into this region during the last 2,000 to 3,000 years have had little genetic impact on the local female population.