ABSTRACT
We report genome-wide ancient DNA from 44 ancient Near Easterners ranging in time between ~12,000 and 1,400 bc, from Natufian hunter-gatherers to Bronze Age farmers. We show that the earliest populations of the Near East derived around half their ancestry from a 'Basal Eurasian' lineage that had little if any Neanderthal admixture and that separated from other non-African lineages before their separation from each other. The first farmers of the southern Levant (Israel and Jordan) and Zagros Mountains (Iran) were strongly genetically differentiated, and each descended from local hunter-gatherers. By the time of the Bronze Age, these two populations and Anatolian-related farmers had mixed with each other and with the hunter-gatherers of Europe to greatly reduce genetic differentiation. The impact of the Near Eastern farmers extended beyond the Near East: farmers related to those of Anatolia spread westward into Europe; farmers related to those of the Levant spread southward into East Africa; farmers related to those of Iran spread northward into the Eurasian steppe; and people related to both the early farmers of Iran and to the pastoralists of the Eurasian steppe spread eastward into South Asia.
Subject(s)
Agriculture/history , Genomics , Human Migration/history , Phylogeny , Racial Groups/genetics , Africa, Eastern , Animals , Armenia , Asia , DNA/analysis , Europe , History, Ancient , Humans , Hybridization, Genetic/genetics , Iran , Israel , Jordan , Neanderthals/genetics , Phylogeography , TurkeyABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: This study aims to evaluate the dental variability and the phenetic relationships among archaeological human populations of the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age in North-Eastern Romania. METHODS: The evaluation of phenotypic variability was performed using the 2D Geometric Morphometrics on the second molars (upper - M2, and lower - M2) belonging to adult skeletons discovered in archaeological sites of the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age in North-Eastern Romania. RESULTS: The size (Centroid Size, CS) and shape analysis of the second molar highlighted specific characteristics for each prehistoric period. The CS doesn't achieve any statistical significance for two of the comparison criterium used (i.e., period, archaeological site). Instead, statistically significant differences were recorded between males and females. The greater variability in the shape of M2 compared to M2 was noticed. The M2 model of the Bronze Age is flattened mesiodistal compared to the Chalcolithic one, while differences in M2 morphotypes are associated with the hypocone shape, particularly. CONCLUSION: This study of dental morphology provides new data that could contribute as evidence of interactions between biological human groups in different regional prehistoric contexts.