title: Different waves and directions of Neolithic migrations in the Armenian Highland.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The peopling of Europe and the nature of the Neolithic agricultural migration as a primary issue in the modern human colonization of the globe is still widely debated. At present, much uncertainty is associated with the reconstruction of the routes of migration for the first farmers from the Near East. In this context, hospitable climatic conditions and the key geographic position of the Armenian Highland suggest that it may have served as a conduit for several waves of expansion of the first agriculturalists from the Near East to Europe and the North Caucasus.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Here, we assess Y-chromosomal distribution in six geographically distinct populations of Armenians that roughly represent the extent of historical Armenia. Using the general haplogroup structure and the specific lineages representing putative genetic markers of the Neolithic Revolution, haplogroups R1b1a2, J2, and G, we identify distinct patterns of genetic affinity between the populations of the Armenian Highland and the neighboring ones north and west from this area.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Based on the results obtained, we suggest a new insight on the different routes and waves of Neolithic expansion of the first farmers through the Armenian Highland. We detected at least two principle migratory directions: (1) westward alongside the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea and (2) northward to the North Caucasus.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Ethnogenomics, Institute of Molecular Biology NAS RA, 7 Hasratyan Str., Yerevan, Armenia.
authors.forename: Anahit
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hovhannisyan
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Ethnogenomics, Institute of Molecular Biology NAS RA, 7 Hasratyan Str., Yerevan, Armenia.
authors.forename: Zaruhi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Khachatryan
authors.affiliation: The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Haber
authors.affiliation: Armenian DNA Project at Family Tree DNA, Houston, Texas 77008 USA.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hrechdakian
authors.affiliation: ARL Division of Biotechnology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721 USA.
authors.forename: Tatiana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Karafet
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Lebanese American University, PO Box 13-5053, Chouran, Beirut 1102 2801 Lebanon ; Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02215 USA.
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zalloua
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Ethnogenomics, Institute of Molecular Biology NAS RA, 7 Hasratyan Str., Yerevan, Armenia.
authors.forename: Levon
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yepiskoposyan
keywords: Armenian Highland; Neolithic migration; Y chromosome