title: Early Neolithic genomes from the eastern Fertile Crescent.
abstract: We sequenced Early Neolithic genomes from the Zagros region of Iran (eastern Fertile Crescent), where some of the earliest evidence for farming is found, and identify a previously uncharacterized population that is neither ancestral to the first European farmers nor has contributed substantially to the ancestry of modern Europeans. These people are estimated to have separated from Early Neolithic farmers in Anatolia some 46,000 to 77,000 years ago and show affinities to modern-day Pakistani and Afghan populations, but particularly to Iranian Zoroastrians. We conclude that multiple, genetically differentiated hunter-gatherer populations adopted farming in southwestern Asia, that components of pre-Neolithic population structure were preserved as farming spread into neighboring regions, and that the Zagros region was the cradle of eastward expansion.
authors.affiliation: Palaeogenetics Group, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55099 Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Farnaz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Broushaki
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
authors.forename: Mark G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Fribourg, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland.|Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Vivian
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Link
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
authors.forename: Saioa
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: López
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
authors.forename: Lucy
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: van Dorp
authors.affiliation: Palaeogenetics Group, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55099 Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Karola
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kirsanow
authors.affiliation: Palaeogenetics Group, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55099 Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Zuzana
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hofmanová
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
authors.forename: Yoan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Diekmann
authors.affiliation: Smurfit Institute of Genetics, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland.
authors.forename: Lara M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Cassidy
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK.|Department of Bioinformatics and Genetics, Swedish Museum of Natural History, SE-10405, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Díez-Del-Molino
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Fribourg, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland.|Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.|Unit of Human Evolutionary Genetics, Institut Pasteur, 75015 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Athanasios
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kousathanas
authors.affiliation: Palaeogenetics Group, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55099 Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sell
authors.affiliation: BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, York, YO10 5YW, UK.
authors.forename: Harry K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Robson
authors.affiliation: Smurfit Institute of Genetics, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland.
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Martiniano
authors.affiliation: Palaeogenetics Group, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55099 Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Jens
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Blöcher
authors.affiliation: Palaeogenetics Group, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55099 Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Amelie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Scheu
authors.affiliation: Palaeogenetics Group, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55099 Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kreutzer
authors.affiliation: Palaeogenetics Group, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55099 Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bollongino
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, 11794- 5245, USA.
authors.forename: Dean
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bobo
authors.affiliation: Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Humanities, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Hossein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Davudi
authors.affiliation: UMR 7041 ArScAn -VEPMO, Maison de l'Archéologie et de l'Ethnologie, 21 allée de l'Université, 92023 Nanterre, France.
authors.forename: Olivia
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Munoz
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics & Evolution-Anthropology Unit, University of Geneva, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Mathias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Currat
authors.affiliation: Samuel Jordan Center for Persian Studies and Culture, University of California-lrvine, Irvine, CA 92697-3370, USA.
authors.forename: Kamyar
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Abdi
authors.affiliation: Paleolithic Department, National Museum of Iran, 113617111, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Fereidoun
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Biglari
authors.affiliation: BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, York, YO10 5YW, UK.
authors.forename: Oliver E
authors.initials: OE
authors.lastname: Craig
authors.affiliation: Smurfit Institute of Genetics, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland.
authors.forename: Daniel G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Bradley
authors.affiliation: Institute of Archaeology, University College London, London WC1H 0PY, UK.
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shennan
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, 11794- 5245, USA.
authors.forename: Krishna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Veeramah
authors.affiliation: CNRS/MNHN/SUs - UMR 7209, Archéozoologie et Archéobotanique, Sociétés, Pratiques et Environnements, Département Ecologie et Gestion de la Biodiversité, 55 rue Buffon, 75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Marjan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mashkour
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Fribourg, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland.|Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wegmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
authors.forename: Garrett
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hellenthal
authors.affiliation: Palaeogenetics Group, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55099 Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Burger
mesh_terms: D000346:Afghanistan / Q000208:ethnology; D000383:Agriculture / Q000266:history; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000235:genetics; D014644:Genetic Variation; D015894:Genome, Human; D049690:History, Ancient; D063426:Human Migration; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran / Q000208:ethnology; D010154:Pakistan / Q000208:ethnology; D044465:White People / Q000235:genetics