Craniometric data supports demic diffusion model for the spread of agriculture into Europe.
BACKGROUND
The spread of agriculture into Europe and the ancestry of the first European farmers have been subjects of debate and controversy among geneticists, archaeologists, linguists and anthropologists. Debates have centred on the extent to which the transition was associated with the active migration of people as opposed to the diffusion of cultural practices. Recent studies have shown that patterns of human cranial shape variation can be employed as a reliable proxy for the neutral genetic relationships of human populations.


RESULTS
Here, we employ measurements of Mesolithic (hunter-gatherers) and Neolithic (farmers) crania from Southwest Asia and Europe to test several alternative population dispersal and hunter-farmer gene-flow models. We base our alternative hypothetical models on a null evolutionary model of isolation-by-geographic and temporal distance. Partial Mantel tests were used to assess the congruence between craniometric distance and each of the geographic model matrices, while controlling for temporal distance. Our results demonstrate that the craniometric data fit a model of continuous dispersal of people (and their genes) from Southwest Asia to Europe significantly better than a null model of cultural diffusion.


CONCLUSIONS
Therefore, this study does not support the assertion that farming in Europe solely involved the adoption of technologies and ideas from Southwest Asia by indigenous Mesolithic hunter-gatherers. Moreover, the results highlight the utility of craniometric data for assessing patterns of past population dispersal and gene flow.
Pinhasi
Ron
R
Department of Archaeology, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland. r.pinhasi@ucc.ie
von Cramon-Taubadel
Noreen
N
D000383:Agriculture; D002508:Cephalometry; D005060:Europe; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical
Science. 1978 Sep 1;201(4358):786-92
356262
Genetics. 1943 Mar;28(2):114-38
17247074
Proc Biol Sci. 2009 Mar 7;276(1658):809-14
19129123
Hum Biol. 1998 Aug;70(4):643-57
9686478
Hum Biol. 1990 Feb;62(1):49-70
2323769
J Hum Evol. 1997 May;32(5):476-88
9169996
Cancer Res. 1967 Feb;27(2):209-20
6018555
Am J Hum Genet. 1996 Jul;59(1):185-203
8659525
Am J Phys Anthropol. 2008 May;136(1):108-13
18161847
PLoS Biol. 2005 Dec;3(12):e410
16292981
Science. 2000 Nov 10;290(5494):1155-9
11073453
Anat Rec A Discov Mol Cell Evol Biol. 2006 Dec;288(12):1225-33
17075844
Annu Rev Genet. 2004;38:645-79
15568989
Am J Hum Genet. 2000 Dec;67(6):1526-43
11078479
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1998 Jul 21;95(15):9053-8
9671803
Nature. 2007 Jul 19;448(7151):346-8
17637668
Mol Biol Evol. 2004 Jul;21(7):1361-72
15044595
Am J Phys Anthropol. 2001 Oct;116(2):154-65
11590587
Science. 2005 Nov 11;310(5750):1016-8
16284177
Proc Biol Sci. 2005 Apr 7;272(1564):679-88
15870030
Am J Phys Anthropol. 1994 Sep;95(1):53-62
7527996
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2004 Aug 31;101(35):12824-9
15326305
Annu Rev Genomics Hum Genet. 2004;5:119-50
15485345
Am J Phys Anthropol. 2009 Oct;140(2):205-15
19418568
Genetics. 2006 Feb;172(2):733-41
16299392
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2001 Jan 2;98(1):22-5
11136246
Hum Biol. 1990 Feb;62(1):5-25
2323770
Nat Genet. 2008 May;40(5):646-9
18425127
Ann Hum Genet. 1998 May;62(Pt 3):241-60
9803269
J Hum Evol. 2009 Aug;57(2):179-90
19604539
Proc Biol Sci. 2006 Jul 7;273(1594):1595-602
16769629
Am J Phys Anthropol. 2007 Mar;132(3):367-80
17205548
Am J Hum Biol. 2009 Jan-Feb;21(1):36-47
18663742
Ann Eugen. 1951 Mar;15(4):323-54
24540312
Proc Biol Sci. 2005 Jan 7;272(1558):3-16
15875564
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2005 Nov 1;102(44):15942-7
16243969
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2002 Aug 20;99(17):11008-13
12167671
Proc Biol Sci. 2007 Sep 7;274(1622):2161-7
17609193
Nature. 1994 Mar 31;368(6470):452-4
8133890
Hum Biol. 2004 Aug;76(4):499-513
15754968
Nature. 1991 May 9;351(6322):143-5
2030731
Am J Hum Genet. 2000 Nov;67(5):1251-76
11032788
Bioessays. 2007 Dec;29(12):1185-8
18008372
Am J Phys Anthropol. 1990 May;82(1):45-52
2349970
Am J Phys Anthropol. 1985 Nov;68(3):367-73
4061618