title: Craniometric data supports demic diffusion model for the spread of agriculture into Europe.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Archaeology, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland. r.pinhasi@ucc.ie
authors.forename: Ron
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pinhasi
authors.forename: Noreen
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: von Cramon-Taubadel
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture; D002508:Cephalometry; D005060:Europe; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical
references.citation: Science. 1978 Sep 1;201(4358):786-92
references.pmid: 356262
references.citation: Genetics. 1943 Mar;28(2):114-38
references.pmid: 17247074
references.citation: Proc Biol Sci. 2009 Mar 7;276(1658):809-14
references.pmid: 19129123
references.citation: Hum Biol. 1998 Aug;70(4):643-57
references.pmid: 9686478
references.citation: Hum Biol. 1990 Feb;62(1):49-70
references.pmid: 2323769
references.citation: J Hum Evol. 1997 May;32(5):476-88
references.pmid: 9169996
references.citation: Cancer Res. 1967 Feb;27(2):209-20
references.pmid: 6018555
references.citation: Am J Hum Genet. 1996 Jul;59(1):185-203
references.pmid: 8659525
references.citation: Am J Phys Anthropol. 2008 May;136(1):108-13
references.pmid: 18161847
references.citation: PLoS Biol. 2005 Dec;3(12):e410
references.pmid: 16292981
references.citation: Science. 2000 Nov 10;290(5494):1155-9
references.pmid: 11073453
references.citation: Anat Rec A Discov Mol Cell Evol Biol. 2006 Dec;288(12):1225-33
references.pmid: 17075844
references.citation: Annu Rev Genet. 2004;38:645-79
references.pmid: 15568989
references.citation: Am J Hum Genet. 2000 Dec;67(6):1526-43
references.pmid: 11078479
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1998 Jul 21;95(15):9053-8
references.pmid: 9671803
references.citation: Nature. 2007 Jul 19;448(7151):346-8
references.pmid: 17637668
references.citation: Mol Biol Evol. 2004 Jul;21(7):1361-72
references.pmid: 15044595
references.citation: Am J Phys Anthropol. 2001 Oct;116(2):154-65
references.pmid: 11590587
references.citation: Science. 2005 Nov 11;310(5750):1016-8
references.pmid: 16284177
references.citation: Proc Biol Sci. 2005 Apr 7;272(1564):679-88
references.pmid: 15870030
references.citation: Am J Phys Anthropol. 1994 Sep;95(1):53-62
references.pmid: 7527996
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2004 Aug 31;101(35):12824-9
references.pmid: 15326305
references.citation: Annu Rev Genomics Hum Genet. 2004;5:119-50
references.pmid: 15485345
references.citation: Am J Phys Anthropol. 2009 Oct;140(2):205-15
references.pmid: 19418568
references.citation: Genetics. 2006 Feb;172(2):733-41
references.pmid: 16299392
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2001 Jan 2;98(1):22-5
references.pmid: 11136246
references.citation: Hum Biol. 1990 Feb;62(1):5-25
references.pmid: 2323770
references.citation: Nat Genet. 2008 May;40(5):646-9
references.pmid: 18425127
references.citation: Ann Hum Genet. 1998 May;62(Pt 3):241-60
references.pmid: 9803269
references.citation: J Hum Evol. 2009 Aug;57(2):179-90
references.pmid: 19604539
references.citation: Proc Biol Sci. 2006 Jul 7;273(1594):1595-602
references.pmid: 16769629
references.citation: Am J Phys Anthropol. 2007 Mar;132(3):367-80
references.pmid: 17205548
references.citation: Am J Hum Biol. 2009 Jan-Feb;21(1):36-47
references.pmid: 18663742
references.citation: Ann Eugen. 1951 Mar;15(4):323-54
references.pmid: 24540312
references.citation: Proc Biol Sci. 2005 Jan 7;272(1558):3-16
references.pmid: 15875564
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2005 Nov 1;102(44):15942-7
references.pmid: 16243969
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2002 Aug 20;99(17):11008-13
references.pmid: 12167671
references.citation: Proc Biol Sci. 2007 Sep 7;274(1622):2161-7
references.pmid: 17609193
references.citation: Nature. 1994 Mar 31;368(6470):452-4
references.pmid: 8133890
references.citation: Hum Biol. 2004 Aug;76(4):499-513
references.pmid: 15754968
references.citation: Nature. 1991 May 9;351(6322):143-5
references.pmid: 2030731
references.citation: Am J Hum Genet. 2000 Nov;67(5):1251-76
references.pmid: 11032788
references.citation: Bioessays. 2007 Dec;29(12):1185-8
references.pmid: 18008372
references.citation: Am J Phys Anthropol. 1990 May;82(1):45-52
references.pmid: 2349970
references.citation: Am J Phys Anthropol. 1985 Nov;68(3):367-73
references.pmid: 4061618