Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 May 28;181(5):1158-1175.e28.
doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.04.044.

Genomic History of Neolithic to Bronze Age Anatolia, Northern Levant, and Southern Caucasus

Eirini Skourtanioti  1 , Yilmaz S Erdal  2 , Marcella Frangipane  3 , Francesca Balossi Restelli  3 , K Aslıhan Yener  4 , Frances Pinnock  3 , Paolo Matthiae  3 , Rana Özbal  5 , Ulf-Dietrich Schoop  6 , Farhad Guliyev  7 , Tufan Akhundov  7 , Bertille Lyonnet  8 , Emily L Hammer  9 , Selin E Nugent  10 , Marta Burri  1 , Gunnar U Neumann  1 , Sandra Penske  1 , Tara Ingman  5 , Murat Akar  11 , Rula Shafiq  12 , Giulio Palumbi  13 , Stefanie Eisenmann  1 , Marta D'Andrea  3 , Adam B Rohrlach  14 , Christina Warinner  15 , Choongwon Jeong  16 , Philipp W Stockhammer  17 , Wolfgang Haak  18 , Johannes Krause  19
Affiliations
Free article

Genomic History of Neolithic to Bronze Age Anatolia, Northern Levant, and Southern Caucasus

Eirini Skourtanioti et al. Cell. .
Free article

Abstract

Here, we report genome-wide data analyses from 110 ancient Near Eastern individuals spanning the Late Neolithic to Late Bronze Age, a period characterized by intense interregional interactions for the Near East. We find that 6th millennium BCE populations of North/Central Anatolia and the Southern Caucasus shared mixed ancestry on a genetic cline that formed during the Neolithic between Western Anatolia and regions in today's Southern Caucasus/Zagros. During the Late Chalcolithic and/or the Early Bronze Age, more than half of the Northern Levantine gene pool was replaced, while in the rest of Anatolia and the Southern Caucasus, we document genetic continuity with only transient gene flow. Additionally, we reveal a genetically distinct individual within the Late Bronze Age Northern Levant. Overall, our study uncovers multiple scales of population dynamics through time, from extensive admixture during the Neolithic period to long-distance mobility within the globalized societies of the Late Bronze Age. VIDEO ABSTRACT.

Keywords: Eastern Mediterranean; Kura-Araxes; Near East; Ubaid; Uruk; admixture; ancient DNA; archaeogenetics; genetic continuity; genome-wide data; human population history.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Interests The authors declare no competing interests.

Comment in

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources