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Familial migration of the Neolithic contrasts massive male migration during Bronze Age in Europe inferred from ancient X chromosomes

View ORCID ProfileAmy Goldberg, Torsten Günther, Noah A. Rosenberg, Mattias Jakobsson
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/078360
Amy Goldberg
1Department of Biology, Stanford University, 94305 Stanford, California
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  • For correspondence: agoldb@stanford.edu mattias.jakobsson@ebc.uu.se
Torsten Günther
2Department of Organismal Biology, Uppsala University, 75236 Uppsala, Sweden
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Noah A. Rosenberg
1Department of Biology, Stanford University, 94305 Stanford, California
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Mattias Jakobsson
2Department of Organismal Biology, Uppsala University, 75236 Uppsala, Sweden
3Science for Life laboratory, Uppsala University, 75123 Uppsala, Sweden
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  • For correspondence: agoldb@stanford.edu mattias.jakobsson@ebc.uu.se
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Abstract

Dramatic events in human prehistory, such as the spread of agriculture to Europe from Anatolia and the Late Neolithic/Bronze Age (LNBA) migration from the Pontic-Caspian steppe, can be investigated using patterns of genetic variation among the people that lived in those times. In particular, studies of differing female and male demographic histories on the basis of ancient genomes can provide information about complexities of social structures and cultural interactions in prehistoric populations. We use a mechanistic admixture model to compare the sex-specifically-inherited X chromosome to the autosomes in 20 early Neolithic and 16 LNBA human remains. Contrary to previous hypotheses suggested by the patrilocality of many agricultural populations, we find no evidence of sex-biased admixture during the migration that spread farming across Europe during the early Neolithic. For later migrations from the Pontic steppe during the LNBA, however, we estimate a dramatic male bias, with ~5-14 migrating males for every migrating female. We find evidence of ongoing, primarily male, migration from the steppe to central Europe over a period of multiple generations, with a level of sex bias that excludes a pulse migration during a single generation. The contrasting patterns of sex-specific migration during these two migrations suggest a view of differing cultural histories in which the Neolithic transition was driven by mass migration of both males and females in roughly equal numbers, perhaps whole families, whereas the later Bronze Age migration and cultural shift were instead driven by male migration, potentially connected to new technology and conquest.

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Posted September 30, 2016.
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Familial migration of the Neolithic contrasts massive male migration during Bronze Age in Europe inferred from ancient X chromosomes
Amy Goldberg, Torsten Günther, Noah A. Rosenberg, Mattias Jakobsson
bioRxiv 078360; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/078360
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Familial migration of the Neolithic contrasts massive male migration during Bronze Age in Europe inferred from ancient X chromosomes
Amy Goldberg, Torsten Günther, Noah A. Rosenberg, Mattias Jakobsson
bioRxiv 078360; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/078360

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