Ancient DNA Reveals Key Stages in the Formation of Central European Mitochondrial Genetic Diversity
Open accessAbstract
The Origins of Europeans: To investigate the genetic origins of modern Europeans,Brandt et al.(p.257) examined ancient mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and were able to identify genetic differences in 364 Central Europeans spanning the early Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age. Observed changes in mitochondrial haplotypes corresponded with hypothesized human migration across Eurasia and revealed the complexity of the demographic changes and evidence of a Late Neolithic origin for the European mtDNA gene pool. This transect through time reveals four key population events associated with well-known archaeological cultures, which involved genetic influx into Central Europe from various directions at various times.
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At least along the Danube route from Anatolia to Central Europe, the first stage of the Neolithic transition occurred through migration of farmers, followed by admixture with local hunter-gatherers in a second stage.
“At least along the Danube route from Anatolia to Central Europe, paleogenetic analyses have revealed that the first stage of the Neolithic transition occurred through the migration of FAs, followed by admixture with local HGs in a second stage, e.g., (32, 33, 35, 47).”
From Past human expansions shaped the spatial pattern of Neanderthal ancestry (2023) · cites this paper as [32]
The Event A passage (section labeled Abstract; page unavailable) supports an initial influx of farming populations into Central Europe from a region including Anatolia. Event B describes later interaction with local hunter-gatherers in southern Scandinavia and a subsequent return of hunter-gatherer lineages to Central Europe. It does not establish a second stage of admixture with local hunter-gatherers along the Danube route. (LLM, conf=0.85)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredDuring the European Neolithic transition, farmers coming from southeast Europe and Anatolia partially replaced hunter-gatherers.
“This includes the European Neolithic transition, when farmers coming from southeast Europe and Anatolia partially replaced hunter-gatherers (32–35), as well as the Bronze Age, with the spread of pastoralist populations from Eurasian steppes (36–38).”
From Past human expansions shaped the spatial pattern of Neanderthal ancestry (2023) · cites this paper as [32]
The Event A passage (page unavailable) describes a Neolithic genetic influx into Central Europe with affinities to Anatolia and a marked shift from hunter-gatherer to farmer mtDNA lineages. It supports substantial genetic replacement in Central Europe, but does not identify southeast Europe as the farmers’ origin or establish the claim for Europe as a whole. (LLM, conf=0.83)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe partial replacement of hunter-gatherers by farmers contributed to reducing the level of Neanderthal ancestry in western Eurasia more than in eastern Eurasia.
“The partial replacement of HGs by FAs (32, 33) thus contributed to reducing the level of NE ancestry in western Eurasia more than in eastern Eurasia.”
From Past human expansions shaped the spatial pattern of Neanderthal ancestry (2023) · cites this paper as [32]
This corresponds to the model of population expansion with partial replacement supported by paleogenomic studies for the Neolithic.
“This corresponds to the model of population expansion with partial replacement supported by paleogenomic studies for the Neolithic (32–34).”
From Past human expansions shaped the spatial pattern of Neanderthal ancestry (2023) · cites this paper as [32]
High mtDNA diversity was observed during the Neolithic period.
“In contrast, we observe high mtDNA diversity during this period, as previously observed in Central Europe23.”
From Genome flux and stasis in a five millennium transect of European prehistory (2014) · cites this paper as [23]
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References 83 · Cited by 322
Research works printed but not linked: 8
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- Authors
- Brandt, G., Haak, W., Adler, C. J., Roth, C., Szécsényi-Nagy, A., Karimnia, S., Möller-Rieker, S., Meller, H., Ganslmeier, R., Friederich, S., Dresely, V., Nicklisch, N., Pickrell, J. K., Sirocko, F., Reich, D., Cooper, A., Alt, K. W., & The Genographic Consortium
- Affiliations
- Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (DE)
- The University of Adelaide (AU)
- The University of Sydney (AU)
- Institute of Anthropology, Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, Colonel-Kleinmann-Weg 2, D-55128 Mainz, Germany.
- State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt and Heritage Museum, Richard-Wagner-Straße 9, D-06114 Halle (Saale), Germany.
- Harvard University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Brandt, Guido
- Haak, Wolfgang
- Cooper, Alan
- Alt, Kurt W.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Science
- Published
- 2013-10-11
- Volume
- 342
- Issue
- 6155
- Pages
- 257-261
- ISSN
- 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
- 1095-9203
- PMC
- PMC4039305
- OpenAlex
- W2050178723
- Cited by
- 322
- References
- 83
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 26 · 2020: 16 · 2019: 31 · 2018: 28 · 2017: 52 · 2016: 32 · 2015: 39 · 2014: 34 · 2013: 4
- FWCI
- 24.08
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- ScholarlyCommons (University of Pennsylvania) (submittedVersion)
- Adelaide Research & Scholarship (AR&S) (University of Adelaide) (submittedVersion)
- MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of General Medical Sciences (R01GM100233)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Forensic and Genetic Research
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic diversity and population structure
- Social Sciences › Anthropology › Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology
- Keywords
- mitochondrial DNA, Neolithic, Early Bronze Age, hunter-gatherers, Neolithic farmers, genetic admixture, population structure, Late Neolithic, ancient DNA
- MeSH terms
- Agriculture, Base Sequence, DNA, Mitochondrial, Europe, Humans, Molecular Sequence Data, Population, Transients and Migrants, Genetic Variation, Genetic Drift, History, Ancient
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