title: The mtDNA legacy of the Levantine early Upper Palaeolithic in Africa.
abstract: Sequencing of 81 entire human mitochondrial DNAs (mtDNAs) belonging to haplogroups M1 and U6 reveals that these predominantly North African clades arose in southwestern Asia and moved together to Africa about 40,000 to 45,000 years ago. Their arrival temporally overlaps with the event(s) that led to the peopling of Europe by modern humans and was most likely the result of the same change in climate conditions that allowed humans to enter the Levant, opening the way to the colonization of both Europe and North Africa. Thus, the early Upper Palaeolithic population(s) carrying M1 and U6 did not return to Africa along the southern coastal route of the "out of Africa" exit, but from the Mediterranean area; and the North African Dabban and European Aurignacian industries derived from a common Levantine source.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Genetica e Microbiologia, Università di Pavia, Via Ferrata 1, 27100 Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Olivieri
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Achilli
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pala
authors.forename: Vincenza
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Battaglia
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fornarino
authors.forename: Nadia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Al-Zahery
authors.forename: Rosaria
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Scozzari
authors.forename: Fulvio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cruciani
authors.forename: Doron M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Behar
authors.forename: Jean-Michel
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Dugoujon
authors.forename: Clotilde
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Coudray
authors.forename: A Silvana
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Santachiara-Benerecetti
authors.forename: Ornella
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Semino
authors.forename: Hans-Jürgen
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Bandelt
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Torroni
mesh_terms: D000349:Africa; D001208:Asia; D041322:Chromosomes, Human, Y / Q000235:genetics; D002980:Climate; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics*; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D005060:Europe; D005260:Female; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005843:Geography; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019083:Mediterranean Region; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D011157:Population Dynamics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013995:Time
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial