title: Pig domestication and human-mediated dispersal in western Eurasia revealed through ancient DNA and geometric morphometrics.
abstract: Zooarcheological evidence suggests that pigs were domesticated in Southwest Asia ~8,500 BC. They then spread across the Middle and Near East and westward into Europe alongside early agriculturalists. European pigs were either domesticated independently or more likely appeared so as a result of admixture between introduced pigs and European wild boar. As a result, European wild boar mtDNA lineages replaced Near Eastern/Anatolian mtDNA signatures in Europe and subsequently replaced indigenous domestic pig lineages in Anatolia. The specific details of these processes, however, remain unknown. To address questions related to early pig domestication, dispersal, and turnover in the Near East, we analyzed ancient mitochondrial DNA and dental geometric morphometric variation in 393 ancient pig specimens representing 48 archeological sites (from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic to the Medieval period) from Armenia, Cyprus, Georgia, Iran, Syria, and Turkey. Our results reveal the first genetic signatures of early domestic pigs in the Near Eastern Neolithic core zone. We also demonstrate that these early pigs differed genetically from those in western Anatolia that were introduced to Europe during the Neolithic expansion. In addition, we present a significantly more refined chronology for the introduction of European domestic pigs into Asia Minor that took place during the Bronze Age, at least 900 years earlier than previously detected. By the 5th century AD, European signatures completely replaced the endemic lineages possibly coinciding with the widespread demographic and societal changes that occurred during the Anatolian Bronze and Iron Ages.
authors.affiliation: Center for Archaeological Sciences, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ottoni
authors.forename: Linus Girdland
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Flink
authors.forename: Allowen
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Evin
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Geörg
authors.forename: Bea
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: De Cupere
authors.forename: Wim
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Van Neer
authors.forename: László
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bartosiewicz
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Linderholm
authors.forename: Ross
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Barnett
authors.forename: Joris
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Peters
authors.forename: Ronny
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Decorte
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Waelkens
authors.forename: Nancy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Vanderheyden
authors.forename: François-Xavier
authors.initials: FX
authors.lastname: Ricaut
authors.forename: Canan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cakirlar
authors.forename: Ozlem
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Cevik
authors.forename: A Rus
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Hoelzel
authors.forename: Marjan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mashkour
authors.forename: Azadeh Fatemeh Mohaseb
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Karimlu
authors.forename: Shiva Sheikhi
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Seno
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Daujat
authors.forename: Fiona
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Brock
authors.forename: Ron
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pinhasi
authors.forename: Hitomi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hongo
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Perez-Enciso
authors.forename: Morten
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rasmussen
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Frantz
authors.forename: Hendrik-Jan
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Megens
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Crooijmans
authors.forename: Martien
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Groenen
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Arbuckle
authors.forename: Nobert
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Benecke
authors.forename: Una Strand
authors.initials: US
authors.lastname: Vidarsdottir
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Burger
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Cucchi
authors.forename: Keith
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dobney
authors.forename: Greger
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Larson
mesh_terms: D063147:Animal Distribution; D000818:Animals; D000829:Animals, Domestic / Q000235:genetics; D001208:Asia; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics*; D005060:Europe; D006801:Humans; D008963:Molar / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D058974:Phylogeography; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D034421:Sus scrofa / Q000235:genetics*; D013552:Swine / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial