Late Pleistocene human genome suggests a local origin for the first farmers of central Anatolia

Nat Commun. 2019 Mar 19;10(1):1218. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-09209-7.

Abstract

Anatolia was home to some of the earliest farming communities. It has been long debated whether a migration of farming groups introduced agriculture to central Anatolia. Here, we report the first genome-wide data from a 15,000-year-old Anatolian hunter-gatherer and from seven Anatolian and Levantine early farmers. We find high genetic continuity (~80-90%) between the hunter-gatherers and early farmers of Anatolia and detect two distinct incoming ancestries: an early Iranian/Caucasus related one and a later one linked to the ancient Levant. Finally, we observe a genetic link between southern Europe and the Near East predating 15,000 years ago. Our results suggest a limited role of human migration in the emergence of agriculture in central Anatolia.

Publication types

  • Historical Article
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Agriculture / history*
  • Archaeology
  • Bone and Bones
  • DNA, Ancient / analysis*
  • DNA, Ancient / isolation & purification
  • Europe
  • Farmers / history*
  • Female
  • Genome, Human / genetics*
  • High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing
  • History, Ancient
  • Human Migration / history*
  • Humans
  • Iran
  • Male
  • Radiometric Dating

Substances

  • DNA, Ancient