Author:
Lazaridis Iosif,Nadel Dani,Rollefson Gary,Merrett Deborah C.,Rohland Nadin,Mallick Swapan,Fernandes Daniel,Novak Mario,Gamarra Beatriz,Sirak Kendra,Connell Sarah,Stewardson Kristin,Harney Eadaoin,Fu Qiaomei,Gonzalez-Fortes Gloria,Alpaslan Roodenberg Songül,Lengyel György,Bocquentin Fanny,Gasparian Boris,Monge Janet M.,Gregg Michael,Eshed Vered,Mizrahi Ahuva-Sivan,Meiklejohn Christopher,Gerritsen Fokke,Bejenaru Luminita,Blueher Matthias,Campbell Archie,Cavalleri Gianpero,Comas David,Froguel Philippe,Gilbert Edmund,Kerr Shona M.,Kovacs Peter,Krause Johannes,McGettigan Darren,Merrigan Michael,Merriwether D. Andrew,O’Reilly Seamus,Richards Martin B.,Semino Ornella,Shamoon-Pour Michel,Stefanescu Gheorghe,Stumvoll Michael,Tönjes Anke,Torroni Antonio,Wilson James F.,Yengo Loic,Hovhannisyan Nelli A.,Patterson Nick,Pinhasi Ron,Reich David
Abstract
We report genome-wide ancient DNA from 44 ancient Near Easterners ranging in time between ~12,000-1,400 BCE, from Natufian hunter-gatherers to Bronze Age farmers. We show that the earliest populations of the Near East derived around half their ancestry from a ‘Basal Eurasian’ lineage that had little if any Neanderthal admixture and that separated from other non-African lineages prior to their separation from each other. The first farmers of the southern Levant (Israel and Jordan) and Zagros Mountains (Iran) were strongly genetically differentiated, and each descended from local hunter-gatherers. By the time of the Bronze Age, these two populations and Anatolian-related farmers had mixed with each other and with the hunter-gatherers of Europe to drastically reduce genetic differentiation. The impact of the Near Eastern farmers extended beyond the Near East: farmers related to those of Anatolia spread westward into Europe; farmers related to those of the Levant spread southward into East Africa; farmers related to those from Iran spread northward into the Eurasian steppe; and people related to both the early farmers of Iran and to the pastoralists of the Eurasian steppe spread eastward into South Asia.
Publisher
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory