Genomic history of Neolithic to Bronze Age Anatolia, Northern Levant, and Southern Caucasus

2020

CELL

Genomic history of Neolithic to Bronze Age Anatolia, Northern Levant, and Southern Caucasus

01 Pubblicazione su rivista

Skourtanioti Eirini, Erdal Yilmaz S., Frangipane Marcella, Balossi Restelli Francesca, Yener K. Aslıhan, Pinnock Frances, Matthiae Paolo, Özbal Rana, Schoop Ulf-Dietrich, Guliyev Farhad, Akhundov Tufan, Lyonnet Bertille, Hammer Emily L., Nugent Selin E., Burri Marta, Neumann Gunnar U., Penske Sandra, Ingman Tara, Akar Murat, Shafiq Rula, Palumbi Giulio, Eisenmann Stefanie, D’Andrea Marta, Rohrlach Adam B., Warinner Christina, Jeong Choongwon, Stockhammer Philipp W., Haak Wolfgang, Krause Johannes

DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.04.044

ISSN: 0092-8674

Here, we report genome-wide data analyses from 110 ancient Near Eastern individuals spanning the Late
Neolithic to Late Bronze Age, a period characterized by intense interregional interactions for the Near
East. We find that 6th millennium BCE populations of North/Central Anatolia and the Southern Caucasus
shared mixed ancestry on a genetic cline that formed during the Neolithic between Western Anatolia and regions
in today’s Southern Caucasus/Zagros. During the Late Chalcolithic and/or the Early Bronze Age, more
than half of the Northern Levantine gene pool was replaced, while in the rest of Anatolia and the Southern
Caucasus, we document genetic continuity with only transient gene flow. Additionally, we reveal a genetically
distinct individual within the Late Bronze Age Northern Levant. Overall, our study uncovers multiple scales of
population dynamics through time, from extensive admixture during the Neolithic period to long-distance
mobility within the globalized societies of the Late Bronze Age.

aDNA anatolia