title: Ancient DNA from South-East Europe Reveals Different Events during Early and Middle Neolithic Influencing the European Genetic Heritage.
abstract: The importance of the process of Neolithization for the genetic make-up of European populations has been hotly debated, with shifting hypotheses from a demic diffusion (DD) to a cultural diffusion (CD) model. In this regard, ancient DNA data from the Balkan Peninsula, which is an important source of information to assess the process of Neolithization in Europe, is however missing. In the present study we show genetic information on ancient populations of the South-East of Europe. We assessed mtDNA from ten sites from the current territory of Romania, spanning a time-period from the Early Neolithic to the Late Bronze Age. mtDNA data from Early Neolithic farmers of the Starčevo Criş culture in Romania (Cârcea, Gura Baciului and Negrileşti sites), confirm their genetic relationship with those of the LBK culture (Linienbandkeramik Kultur) in Central Europe, and they show little genetic continuity with modern European populations. On the other hand, populations of the Middle-Late Neolithic (Boian, Zau and Gumelniţa cultures), supposedly a second wave of Neolithic migration from Anatolia, had a much stronger effect on the genetic heritage of the European populations. In contrast, we find a smaller contribution of Late Bronze Age migrations to the genetic composition of Europeans. Based on these findings, we propose that permeation of mtDNA lineages from a second wave of Middle-Late Neolithic migration from North-West Anatolia into the Balkan Peninsula and Central Europe represent an important contribution to the genetic shift between Early and Late Neolithic populations in Europe, and consequently to the genetic make-up of modern European populations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Physical Anthropology and Animal Physiology, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Bizkaia, Spain.
authors.forename: Montserrat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hervella
authors.affiliation: National History Museum of Transylvania, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
authors.forename: Mihai
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rotea
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Physical Anthropology and Animal Physiology, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Bizkaia, Spain.
authors.forename: Neskuts
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Izagirre
authors.affiliation: "Francisc I. Rainer" Institute of Anthropology, Romanian Academy, Bucharest, Romania.
authors.forename: Mihai
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Constantinescu
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Physical Anthropology and Animal Physiology, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Bizkaia, Spain.
authors.forename: Santos
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Alonso
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Mihai
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ioana
authors.affiliation: National History Museum of Romania, Bucharest, Romania.
authors.forename: Cătălin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lazăr
authors.affiliation: Oltenia Museum Craiova, Craiova, Romania.
authors.forename: Florin
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ridiche
authors.affiliation: "Francisc I. Rainer" Institute of Anthropology, Romanian Academy, Bucharest, Romania.
authors.forename: Andrei Dorian
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Soficaru
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Radboud Center for Infectious Diseases, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Mihai G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Netea
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Physical Anthropology and Animal Physiology, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Bizkaia, Spain.
authors.forename: Concepcion
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: de-la-Rua
mesh_terms: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics*; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005828:Genetics, Population; D005843:Geography; D006239:Haplotypes / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D012383:Romania; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial