title: Human paleogenetics of Europe--the known knowns and the known unknowns.
abstract: The number of ancient human DNA studies has drastically increased in recent years. This results in a substantial record of mitochondrial sequences available from many prehistoric sites across Western Eurasia, but also growing Y-chromosome and autosomal sequence data. We review the current state of research with specific emphasis on the Holocene population events that likely have shaped the present-day genetic variation in Europe. We reconcile observations from the genetic data with hypotheses about the peopling and settlement history from anthropology and archaeology for various key regions, and also discuss the data in light of evidence from related disciplines, such as modern human genetics, climatology and linguistics.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Anthropology, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Colonel-Kleinmannweg 2, D-55099 Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Guido
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Brandt
authors.affiliation: Institute of Anthropology, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Colonel-Kleinmannweg 2, D-55099 Mainz, Germany; Archaeological Institute, Research Centre for the Humanities, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, H-1014 Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Szécsényi-Nagy
authors.affiliation: Institute of Anthropology, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Colonel-Kleinmannweg 2, D-55099 Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Roth
authors.affiliation: State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt and State Heritage Museum, Richard-Wagner-Straße 9, D-06114 Halle, Germany; Institute for Prehistory and Archaeological Science, Basel University, Petersplatz 1, 4003 Basel, Switzerland; Danube Private University, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Doktor-Karl-Dorrek-Straße 23, 3500 Krems an der Donau, Austria.
authors.forename: Kurt Werner
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Alt
authors.affiliation: Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, The University of Adelaide, North Terrace Campus, SA-5005 Adelaide, Australia. Electronic address: wolfgang.haak@adelaide.edu.au.
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Haak
mesh_terms: D001106:Archaeology; D002877:Chromosomes, Human / Q000235:genetics; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics*; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D005060:Europe; D014644:Genetic Variation / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D010163:Paleontology
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D004247:DNA
keywords: Ancient DNA; Archaeology; Mesolithic; Neolithic; Paleolithic