Ancient DNA from European early neolithic farmers reveals their near eastern affinities.

Wolfgang Haak,Carolin Schwarz,Veit Dresely,Barbara Fritsch,Juan J Sanchez,Oleg Balanovsky,Guido Brandt,Nicole Nicklisch,Clio S I Der Sarkissian,Richard Villems,The Genographic Consortium ,Christina J Adler,Kurt W Alt,Sergey Koshel,Harald Meller,Valery Zaporozhchenko,Elena Balanovska,Alan Cooper

doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1000536

Abstract

Author SummaryThe transition from a hunter–gatherer existence to a sedentary farming-based lifestyle has had key consequences for human groups around the world and has profoundly shaped human societies. Originating in the Near East around 11,000 y ago, an agricultural lifestyle subsequently spread across Europe during the New Stone Age (Neolithic). Whether it was mediated by incoming farmers or driven by the transmission of innovative ideas and techniques remains a subject of continuing debate in archaeology, anthropology, and human population genetics. Ancient DNA from the earliest farmers can provide a direct view of the genetic diversity of these populations in the earliest Neolithic. Here, we compare Neolithic haplogroups and their diversity to a large database of extant European and Eurasian populations. We identified Neolithic haplotypes that left clear traces in modern populations, and the data suggest a route for the migrating farmers that extends from the Near East and Anatolia into Central Europe. When compared to indigenous hunter–gatherer populations, the unique and characteristic genetic signature of the early farmers suggests a significant demographic input from the Near East during the onset of farming in Europe.

Highlights

The transition from a hunter–gatherer existence to a ‘‘Neolithic lifestyle,’’ which was characterized by increasing sedentarism and the domestication of animals and plants, has profoundly altered human societies around the world [1,2]
Whether it was mediated by incoming farmers or driven by the transmission of innovative ideas and techniques remains a subject of continuing debate in archaeology, anthropology, and human population genetics
Ancient DNA from the earliest farmers can provide a direct view of the genetic diversity of these populations in the earliest Neolithic

Summary

Introduction

The transition from a hunter–gatherer existence to a ‘‘Neolithic lifestyle,’’ which was characterized by increasing sedentarism and the domestication of animals and plants, has profoundly altered human societies around the world [1,2]. In Europe, archaeological and population genetic views of the spread of this event from the. Near East have traditionally been divided into two contrasting positions. Most researchers have interpreted the Neolithic transition as a period of substantial demographic flux (demic diffusion) potentially involving large-scale expansions of farming populations from the Near East, which are expected to have left a detectable genetic footprint [3,4]. The alternative view (cultural diffusion model; e.g., [5]) suggests that indigenous Mesolithic

Author Summary

Findings

Materials and Methods