title: Y-chromosomal evidence of the cultural diffusion of agriculture in Southeast Europe.
abstract: The debate concerning the mechanisms underlying the prehistoric spread of farming to Southeast Europe is framed around the opposing roles of population movement and cultural diffusion. To investigate the possible involvement of local people during the transition of agriculture in the Balkans, we analysed patterns of Y-chromosome diversity in 1206 subjects from 17 population samples, mainly from Southeast Europe. Evidence from three Y-chromosome lineages, I-M423, E-V13 and J-M241, make it possible to distinguish between Holocene Mesolithic forager and subsequent Neolithic range expansions from the eastern Sahara and the Near East, respectively. In particular, whereas the Balkan microsatellite variation associated to J-M241 correlates with the Neolithic period, those related to E-V13 and I-M423 Balkan Y chromosomes are consistent with a late Mesolithic time frame. In addition, the low frequency and variance associated to I-M423 and E-V13 in Anatolia and the Middle East, support an European Mesolithic origin of these two clades. Thus, these Balkan Mesolithic foragers with their own autochthonous genetic signatures, were destined to become the earliest to adopt farming, when it was subsequently introduced by a cadre of migrating farmers from the Near East. These initial local converted farmers became the principal agents spreading this economy using maritime leapfrog colonization strategies in the Adriatic and transmitting the Neolithic cultural package to other adjacent Mesolithic populations. The ensuing range expansions of E-V13 and I-M423 parallel in space and time the diffusion of Neolithic Impressed Ware, thereby supporting a case of cultural diffusion using genetic evidence.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Genetica e Microbiologia, Università di Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
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: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Olivieri
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pala
authors.forename: Natalie M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Myres
authors.forename: Roy J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: King
authors.forename: Siiri
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rootsi
authors.forename: Damir
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Marjanovic
authors.forename: Dragan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Primorac
authors.forename: Rifat
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hadziselimovic
authors.forename: Stojko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vidovic
authors.forename: Katia
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Drobnic
authors.forename: Naser
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Durmishi
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Torroni
authors.forename: A Silvana
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Santachiara-Benerecetti
authors.forename: Peter A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Underhill
authors.forename: Ornella
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Semino
mesh_terms: D000352:Africa, Northern; D000383:Agriculture; D041322:Chromosomes, Human, Y / Q000235:genetics*; D003468:Cultural Evolution; D005060:Europe; D005819:Genetic Markers; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005828:Genetics, Population; D005843:Geography; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny
chemical_list: D005819:Genetic Markers