title: Emerging genetic patterns of the European Neolithic: perspectives from a late Neolithic Bell Beaker burial site in Germany.
abstract: The transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture in Europe is associated with demographic changes that may have shifted the human gene pool of the region as a result of an influx of Neolithic farmers from the Near East. However, the genetic composition of populations after the earliest Neolithic, when a diverse mosaic of societies that had been fully engaged in agriculture for some time appeared in central Europe, is poorly known. At this period during the Late Neolithic (ca. 2,800-2,000 BC), regionally distinctive burial patterns associated with two different cultural groups emerge, Bell Beaker and Corded Ware, and may reflect differences in how these societies were organized. Ancient DNA analyses of human remains from the Late Neolithic Bell Beaker site of Kromsdorf, Germany showed distinct mitochondrial haplotypes for six individuals, which were classified under the haplogroups I1, K1, T1, U2, U5, and W5, and two males were identified as belonging to the Y haplogroup R1b. In contrast to other Late Neolithic societies in Europe emphasizing maintenance of biological relatedness in mortuary contexts, the diversity of maternal haplotypes evident at Kromsdorf suggests that burial practices of Bell Beaker communities operated outside of social norms based on shared maternal lineages. Furthermore, our data, along with those from previous studies, indicate that modern U5-lineages may have received little, if any, contribution from the Mesolithic or Neolithic mitochondrial gene pool.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School "Human Development in Landscapes," Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Germany.
authors.forename: Esther J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Cheryl
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Makarewicz
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Renneberg
authors.forename: Melanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Harder
authors.forename: Ben
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Krause-Kyora
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.forename: Sven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ostritz
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fehren-Schmitz
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schreiber
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: von Wurmb-Schwark
authors.forename: Almut
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nebel
mesh_terms: D000885:Anthropology, Physical; D055699:Cemeteries; D003468:Cultural Evolution; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D005858:Germany; D006239:Haplotypes; D049690:History, Ancient; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D044465:White People / Q000235:genetics* / Q000266:history*
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial