Early farmers from across Europe directly descended from Neolithic Aegeans.
Farming and sedentism first appeared in southwestern Asia during the early Holocene and later spread to neighboring regions, including Europe, along multiple dispersal routes. Conspicuous uncertainties remain about the relative roles of migration, cultural diffusion, and admixture with local foragers in the early Neolithization of Europe. Here we present paleogenomic data for five Neolithic individuals from northern Greece and northwestern Turkey spanning the time and region of the earliest spread of farming into Europe. We use a novel approach to recalibrate raw reads and call genotypes from ancient DNA and observe striking genetic similarity both among Aegean early farmers and with those from across Europe. Our study demonstrates a direct genetic link between Mediterranean and Central European early farmers and those of Greece and Anatolia, extending the European Neolithic migratory chain all the way back to southwestern Asia.
Palaeogenetics Group, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55099 Mainz, Germany;
Zuzana
Z
Hofmanová
Palaeogenetics Group, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55099 Mainz, Germany;
Susanne
S
Kreutzer
Department of Genetics, Evolution, and Environment, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom;
Garrett
G
Hellenthal
Palaeogenetics Group, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55099 Mainz, Germany;
Christian
C
Sell
Department of Genetics, Evolution, and Environment, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom;
Yoan
Y
Diekmann
Department of Genetics, Evolution, and Environment, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom;
David
D
Díez-Del-Molino
Department of Genetics, Evolution, and Environment, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom;
Lucy
L
van Dorp
Department of Genetics, Evolution, and Environment, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom;
Saioa
S
López
Department of Biology, University of Fribourg, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland; Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland;
Athanasios
A
Kousathanas
Department of Biology, University of Fribourg, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland; Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland;
Vivian
V
Link
Palaeogenetics Group, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55099 Mainz, Germany;
Karola
K
Kirsanow
Molecular Population Genetics, Smurfit Institute of Genetics, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland;
Lara M
LM
Cassidy
Molecular Population Genetics, Smurfit Institute of Genetics, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland;
Rui
R
Martiniano
Palaeogenetics Group, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55099 Mainz, Germany;
Melanie
M
Strobel
Palaeogenetics Group, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55099 Mainz, Germany; Molecular Population Genetics, Smurfit Institute of Genetics, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland;
Amelie
A
Scheu
Faculty of Philosophy, School of History and Archaeology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece;
Kostas
K
Kotsakis
Department of Archaeology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S1 4ET, United Kingdom;
Paul
P
Halstead
Faculty of Philosophy, School of History and Archaeology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece;
Sevi
S
Triantaphyllou
Honorary Ephor of Antiquities, Hellenic Ministry of Culture & Sports, 106 82 Athens, Greece;
Nina
N
Kyparissi-Apostolika
Department of History and Ethnology, Democritus University of Thrace, 69100 Komotini, Greece;
Dushka
0000-0002-9534-6340
D
Urem-Kotsou
Ephorate of Antiquities of Florina, Hellenic Ministry of Culture & Sports, 106 82 Athens, Greece;
Christina
C
Ziota
Ephorate of Antiquities of Chalkidiki and Mount Athos, Hellenic Ministry of Culture & Sports, 106 82 Athens, Greece;
Fotini
F
Adaktylou
Department of Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York 11794-5245;
Shyamalika
S
Gopalan
Department of Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York 11794-5245;
Dean M
DM
Bobo
Palaeogenetics Group, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55099 Mainz, Germany;
Laura
L
Winkelbach
Palaeogenetics Group, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55099 Mainz, Germany;
Jens
J
Blöcher
Palaeogenetics Group, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55099 Mainz, Germany;
Martina
M
Unterländer
Department of Mathematics, University of Fribourg, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland;
Christoph
C
Leuenberger
Department of Protohistory and Near Eastern Archeology, Faculty of Letters, Ege University, 35100 Bornova, Izmir, Turkey;
Çiler
Ç
Çilingiroğlu
Institute of Oriental and European Archaeology, Austrian Academy of Sciences, 1010 Vienna, Austria;
Barbara
B
Horejs
Netherlands Institute in Turkey, Beyoglu 34433, Istanbul, Turkey;
Fokke
F
Gerritsen
Institute of Archaeology, University College London, London WC1H 0PY, United Kingdom;
Stephen J
SJ
Shennan
Molecular Population Genetics, Smurfit Institute of Genetics, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland;
Daniel G
DG
Bradley
Anthropology Unit, Department of Genetics & Evolution, University of Geneva, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland;
Mathias
M
Currat
Department of Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York 11794-5245;
Krishna R
KR
Veeramah
Department of Biology, University of Fribourg, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland; Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland;
Daniel
0000-0003-2866-6739
D
Wegmann
Department of Genetics, Evolution, and Environment, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom;
Mark G
MG
Thomas
Laboratory of Anthropology, Department of History and Ethnology, Democritus University of Thrace, 69100 Komotini, Greece cpapage@he.duth.gr jburger@uni-mainz.de.
Christina
C
Papageorgopoulou
Palaeogenetics Group, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55099 Mainz, Germany; cpapage@he.duth.gr jburger@uni-mainz.de.
Joachim
J
Burger
D000383:Agriculture; D000883:Anthropology; D005060:Europe; D005828:Genetics, Population; D006801:Humans; D019083:Mediterranean Region; D025341:Principal Component Analysis
Anatolia; Greece; Mesolithic; Neolithic; paleogenomics