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Ancient DNA Analysis of 8000 B.C. Near Eastern Farmers Supports an Early Neolithic Pioneer Maritime Colonization of Mainland Europe through Cyprus and the Aegean Islands

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Fernández, Eva, Pérez-Pérez, Alejandro, Gamba, Cristina, Prats, Eva, Cuesta, Pedro, Anfruns, Josep, Molist, Miquel, Arroyo-Pardo, Eduardo +1 more·2014·PLoS Genetics
DOI 10.1371/journal.pgen.1004401PMC PMC4046922
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Abstract

The genetic impact associated to the Neolithic spread in Europe has been widely debated over the last 20 years. Within this context, ancient DNA studies have provided a more reliable picture by directly analyzing the protagonist populations at different regions in Europe. However, the lack of available data from the original Near Eastern farmers has limited the achieved conclusions, preventing the formulation of continental models of Neolithic expansion. Here we address this issue by presenting mitochondrial DNA data of the original Near-Eastern Neolithic communities with the aim of providing the adequate background for the interpretation of Neolithic genetic data from European samples. Sixty-three skeletons from the Pre Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) sites of Tell Halula, Tell Ramad and Dja'de El Mughara dating between 8,700-6,600 cal. B.C. were analyzed, and 15 validated mitochondrial DNA profiles were recovered. In order to estimate the demographic contribution of the first farmers to both Central European and Western Mediterranean Neolithic cultures, haplotype and haplogroup diversities in the PPNB sample were compared using phylogeographic and population genetic analyses to available ancient DNA data from human remains belonging to the Linearbandkeramik-Alföldi Vonaldiszes Kerámia and Cardial/Epicardial cultures. We also searched for possible signatures of the original Neolithic expansion over the modern Near Eastern and South European genetic pools, and tried to infer possible routes of expansion by comparing the obtained results to a database of 60 modern populations from both regions. Comparisons performed among the 3 ancient datasets allowed us to identify K and N-derived mitochondrial DNA haplogroups as potential markers of the Neolithic expansion, whose genetic signature would have reached both the Iberian coasts and the Central European plain. Moreover, the observed genetic affinities between the PPNB samples and the modern populations of Cyprus and Crete seem to suggest that the Neolithic was first introduced into Europe through pioneer seafaring colonization.

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  • The populations at the four corners of the PCA quadrangle had differentiation of FST=0.08-0.15, comparable to the value of 0.09-0.13 seen between present-day West Eurasians and East Asians (Han).

    “We computed squared allele frequency differentiation between all pairs of ancient West Eurasians28 (Methods; Fig. 3; Extended Data Fig. 2b; Extended Data Fig. 4), and found that the populations at the four corners of the quadrangle had differentiation of FST=0.08-0.15, comparable to the value of 0.09-0.13 seen between present-day West Eurasians and East Asians (Han) (Supplementary Data Table 3).”

    From Genomic insights into the origin of farming in the ancient Near East (2016) · cites this paper as [28]

    The Results sections on Genetic distances and Principal Component Analysis report FST comparisons and a PCA of haplogroup frequencies, but do not identify four corners of a PCA quadrangle or report FST=0.08–0.15 for those populations. Searches for the quadrangle and the Han comparison also found no passage giving the claimed 0.09–0.13 benchmark. The cited paper therefore does not verify the numerical comparison in the quoted claim. (LLM, conf=0.76)

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Authors
Fernández, E., Pérez-Pérez, A., Gamba, C., Prats, E., Cuesta, P., Anfruns, J., Molist, M., Arroyo-Pardo, E., & Turbón, D.
Affiliations
  • Universidad Complutense de Madrid (ES)
  • Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (ES)
  • Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ES)
  • Universitat de Barcelona (ES)
ORCID
Venue
PLoS Genetics
Publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Published
2014-06-05
Volume
10
Issue
6
Pages
e1004401
ISSN
  • 1553-7390 (ISSN-L)
  • 1553-7404
DOI
10.1371/journal.pgen.1004401
PMC
PMC4046922
OpenAlex
W2052058956
Cited by
109
References
2
Citations by year
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FWCI
10.95
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • PLoS Genetics (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • RECERCAT (Consorci de Serveis Universitaris de Catalunya) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • Durham Research Online (Durham University) (acceptedVersion, other-oa)
  • Durham Research Online (Durham University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Dipòsit Digital de la Universitat de Barcelona (Universitat de Barcelona) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • European Commission
  • Universidad Complutense de Madrid
  • Liverpool John Moores University
  • European Social Fund
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
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Archaeology and ancient environmental studies
Keywords
Neolithic expansion, Pre-Pottery Neolithic B, mitochondrial DNA, Cyprus, Aegean islands, Tell Halula, Linearbandkeramik, Cardial culture, Iberian Peninsula, Central Europe, phylogeography, population structure
MeSH terms
Greece, Ancient, Agriculture, Archaeology, Base Sequence, Cyprus, DNA, Mitochondrial, Ethnicity, Europe, Gene Frequency, Gene Pool, Genetics, Population, Haplotypes, Humans, Mitochondria, Molecular Sequence Data, Skeleton, Sequence Analysis, DNA, Principal Component Analysis, History, Ancient, Human Migration

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