Abstract
The agricultural revolution in Eastern Europe began in the Eneolithic with the Cucuteni-Trypillia culture complex. In Ukraine, the Trypillian culture (TC) existed for over two millennia (ca. 5,400–2,700 BCE) and left a wealth of artifacts. Yet, their burial rituals remain a mystery and to date almost nothing is known about the genetic composition of the TC population. One of the very few TC sites where human remains can be found is a cave called Verteba in western Ukraine. This report presents four partial and four complete mitochondrial genomes from nine TC individuals uncovered in the cave. The results of this analysis, combined with the data from previous reports, indicate that the Trypillian population at Verteba carried, for the most part, a typical Neolithic farmer package of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) lineages traced to Anatolian farmers and Neolithic farming groups of central Europe. At the same time, the find of two specimens belonging to haplogroup U8b1 at Verteba can be viewed as a connection of TC with the Upper Paleolithic European populations. At the level of mtDNA haplogroup frequencies, the TC population from Verteba demonstrates a close genetic relationship with population groups of the Funnel Beaker/ Trichterbecker cultural complex from central and northern Europe (ca. 3,950–2,500 BCE).
Highlights
The Cucuteni-Trypillia culture complex dominated the cultural landscape of the Carpathian foothills in eastern Romania, Moldova and the territory of modern-day Ukraine west of the Dnieper River during the Eneolithic (Copper Age) period in eastern Europe, ca. 5,400–2,700 BCE
Specimen A22 was initially typed to haplogroup H5b and produced a 17-fold mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) coverage at Harvard Medical School (HMS), but its mtDNA contamination estimate using the contamMix software [21] suggests only 90% of sequences matching to the consensus, which is a substantial contamination rate
The mtDNA haplogroup diversity found in the Trypillian culture (TC) remains at Verteba is, overall, typical of a group of European Neolithic farmers tracing their maternal genetic roots from Anatolia with little or no admixture with indigenous hunter-gatherers
Summary
The Cucuteni-Trypillia culture complex dominated the cultural landscape of the Carpathian foothills in eastern Romania, Moldova and the territory of modern-day Ukraine west of the Dnieper River during the Eneolithic (Copper Age) period in eastern Europe, ca. 5,400–2,700 BCE. The Cucuteni-Trypillia culture complex dominated the cultural landscape of the Carpathian foothills in eastern Romania, Moldova and the territory of modern-day Ukraine west of the Dnieper River during the Eneolithic (Copper Age) period in eastern Europe, ca. It is known as the Cucuteni culture in its western ranges, while in its eastern part it is known as the Trypillian culture (TC) after the village of Trypillia in what is central Ukraine where it was first identified by Vikentij Khvoika in the late 19th century [1]. Ancient mitochondrial DNA from eneolithic Ukraine activities. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript
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