title: Genomic Evidence Establishes Anatolia as the Source of the European Neolithic Gene Pool.
abstract: Anatolia and the Near East have long been recognized as the epicenter of the Neolithic expansion through archaeological evidence. Recent archaeogenetic studies on Neolithic European human remains have shown that the Neolithic expansion in Europe was driven westward and northward by migration from a supposed Near Eastern origin [1-5]. However, this expansion and the establishment of numerous culture complexes in the Aegean and Balkans did not occur until 8,500 before present (BP), over 2,000 years after the initial settlements in the Neolithic core area [6-9]. We present ancient genome-wide sequence data from 6,700-year-old human remains excavated from a Neolithic context in Kumtepe, located in northwestern Anatolia near the well-known (and younger) site Troy [10]. Kumtepe is one of the settlements that emerged around 7,000 BP, after the initial expansion wave brought Neolithic practices to Europe. We show that this individual displays genetic similarities to the early European Neolithic gene pool and modern-day Sardinians, as well as a genetic affinity to modern-day populations from the Near East and the Caucasus. Furthermore, modern-day Anatolians carry signatures of several admixture events from different populations that have diluted this early Neolithic farmer component, explaining why modern-day Sardinian populations, instead of modern-day Anatolian populations, are genetically more similar to the people that drove the Neolithic expansion into Europe. Anatolia's central geographic location appears to have served as a connecting point, allowing a complex contact network with other areas of the Near East and Europe throughout, and after, the Neolithic.
authors.affiliation: Department of Archaeology and Classical Studies, Stockholm University, Lilla Frescativägen 7, 114 18, Stockholm, Sweden. Electronic address: ayca.omrak@arklab.su.se.
authors.forename: Ayça
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Omrak
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Genetics, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18D, 752 36, Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Torsten
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Günther
authors.affiliation: Department of Archaeology, Environment and Community Planning, La Trobe University, VIC 3086, Melbourne, Australia; Department of Ecology and Genetics, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18D, 752 36, Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Valdiosera
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Genetics, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18D, 752 36, Uppsala, Sweden; Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Ullsväg 26, 75007, Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Emma M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Svensson
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Genetics, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18D, 752 36, Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Helena
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Malmström
authors.affiliation: Project Troia, Institute of Prehistory, Early History, and Medieval Archaeology, Tübingen University, Schloss-Burgsteige 11, 72070, Tuebingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Henrike
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kiesewetter
authors.affiliation: Biotechnology Center and Department of Classics and Ancient Near Eastern Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1220 Linden Drive, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Aylward
authors.affiliation: Department of Archaeology and Classical Studies, Stockholm University, Lilla Frescativägen 7, 114 18, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Storå
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Genetics, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18D, 752 36, Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Mattias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jakobsson
authors.affiliation: Department of Archaeology and Classical Studies, Stockholm University, Lilla Frescativägen 7, 114 18, Stockholm, Sweden. Electronic address: anders.gotherstrom@arklab.su.se.
authors.forename: Anders
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Götherström
mesh_terms: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics*; D005788:Gene Pool; D005828:Genetics, Population / Q000379:methods; D016678:Genome; D023281:Genomics; D006801:Humans; D008877:Middle East; D044465:White People / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial