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The mixed genetic origin of the first farmers of Europe

View ORCID ProfileNina Marchi, Laura Winkelbach, View ORCID ProfileIlektra Schulz, View ORCID ProfileMaxime Brami, View ORCID ProfileZuzana Hofmanová, Jens Blöcher, View ORCID ProfileCarlos S. Reyna-Blanco, View ORCID ProfileYoan Diekmann, Alexandre Thiéry, View ORCID ProfileAdamandia Kapopoulou, View ORCID ProfileVivian Link, Valérie Piuz, View ORCID ProfileSusanne Kreutzer, View ORCID ProfileSylwia M. Figarska, View ORCID ProfileElissavet Ganiatsou, Albert Pukaj, View ORCID ProfileNecmi Karul, Fokke Gerritsen, View ORCID ProfileJoachim Pechtl, View ORCID ProfileJoris Peters, View ORCID ProfileAndrea Zeeb-Lanz, View ORCID ProfileEva Lenneis, View ORCID ProfileMaria Teschler-Nicola, View ORCID ProfileSevasti Triantaphyllou, View ORCID ProfileSofija Stefanović, View ORCID ProfileChristina Papageorgopoulou, View ORCID ProfileDaniel Wegmann, View ORCID ProfileJoachim Burger, View ORCID ProfileLaurent Excoffier
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.11.23.394502
Nina Marchi
1CMPG, Institute for Ecology and Evolution, University of Berne, Berne, Switzerland
2Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, Switzerland
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Laura Winkelbach
3Palaeogenetics Group, Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution (iomE), Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
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Ilektra Schulz
2Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, Switzerland
4Department of Biology, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
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Maxime Brami
3Palaeogenetics Group, Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution (iomE), Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
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Zuzana Hofmanová
2Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, Switzerland
4Department of Biology, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
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Jens Blöcher
3Palaeogenetics Group, Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution (iomE), Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
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Carlos S. Reyna-Blanco
2Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, Switzerland
4Department of Biology, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
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Yoan Diekmann
3Palaeogenetics Group, Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution (iomE), Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
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Alexandre Thiéry
1CMPG, Institute for Ecology and Evolution, University of Berne, Berne, Switzerland
2Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, Switzerland
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Adamandia Kapopoulou
1CMPG, Institute for Ecology and Evolution, University of Berne, Berne, Switzerland
2Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, Switzerland
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Vivian Link
2Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, Switzerland
4Department of Biology, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
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Valérie Piuz
1CMPG, Institute for Ecology and Evolution, University of Berne, Berne, Switzerland
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Susanne Kreutzer
3Palaeogenetics Group, Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution (iomE), Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
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Sylwia M. Figarska
3Palaeogenetics Group, Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution (iomE), Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
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Elissavet Ganiatsou
5Laboratory of Physical Anthropology, Department of History and Ethnology, Democritus University of Thrace, Komotini, Greece
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Albert Pukaj
3Palaeogenetics Group, Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution (iomE), Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
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Necmi Karul
6Department of Prehistory, İstanbul University, Turkey
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Fokke Gerritsen
7Netherlands Institute in Turkey, Istanbul, Turkey
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Joachim Pechtl
8Institute of Archaeology, Innsbruck University, Austria
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Joris Peters
9Institute of Palaeoanatomy, Domestication Research and the History of Veterinary Medicine, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany
10SNSB, State Collection of Anthropology and Palaeoanatomy Munich, Germany
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Andrea Zeeb-Lanz
11Generaldirektion Kulturelles Erbe Rheinland-Pfalz, Speyer, Germany
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Eva Lenneis
12Department of Prehistoric and Historical Archaeology, University of Vienna, Austria
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Maria Teschler-Nicola
13Department of Anthropology, Natural History Museum of Vienna, Austria
14Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Vienna, Austria
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Sevasti Triantaphyllou
15Department of History and Archaeology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
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Sofija Stefanović
16Biosense Institute, University of Novi Sad/Department of Archaeology, Laboratory for Bioarchaeology, University of Belgrade, Serbia
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Christina Papageorgopoulou
5Laboratory of Physical Anthropology, Department of History and Ethnology, Democritus University of Thrace, Komotini, Greece
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Daniel Wegmann
2Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, Switzerland
4Department of Biology, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
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  • For correspondence: laurent.excoffier@iee.unibe.ch jburger@uni-mainz.de daniel.wegmann@unifr.ch
Joachim Burger
3Palaeogenetics Group, Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution (iomE), Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
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  • For correspondence: laurent.excoffier@iee.unibe.ch jburger@uni-mainz.de daniel.wegmann@unifr.ch
Laurent Excoffier
1CMPG, Institute for Ecology and Evolution, University of Berne, Berne, Switzerland
2Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, Switzerland
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  • For correspondence: laurent.excoffier@iee.unibe.ch jburger@uni-mainz.de daniel.wegmann@unifr.ch
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Summary

While the Neolithic expansion in Europe is well described archaeologically, the genetic origins of European first farmers and their affinities with local hunter-gatherers (HGs) remain unclear. To infer the demographic history of these populations, the genomes of 15 ancient individuals located between Western Anatolia and Southern Germany were sequenced to high quality, allowing us to perform population genomics analyses formerly restricted to modern genomes. We find that all European and Anatolian early farmers descend from the merging of a European and a Near Eastern group of HGs, possibly in the Near East, shortly after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Western and Southeastern European HG are shown to split during the LGM, and share signals of a very strong LGM bottleneck that drastically reduced their genetic diversity. Early Neolithic Central Anatolians seem only indirectly related to ancestors of European farmers, who probably originated in the Near East and dispersed later on from the Aegean along the Danubian corridor following a stepwise demic process with only limited (2-6%) but additive input from local HGs.

Our analyses provide a time frame and resolve the genetic origins of early European farmers. They highlight the impact of Late Pleistocene climatic fluctuations that caused the fragmentation, merging and reexpansion of human populations in SW Asia and Europe, and eventually led to the world's first agricultural populations.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
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The mixed genetic origin of the first farmers of Europe
Nina Marchi, Laura Winkelbach, Ilektra Schulz, Maxime Brami, Zuzana Hofmanová, Jens Blöcher, Carlos S. Reyna-Blanco, Yoan Diekmann, Alexandre Thiéry, Adamandia Kapopoulou, Vivian Link, Valérie Piuz, Susanne Kreutzer, Sylwia M. Figarska, Elissavet Ganiatsou, Albert Pukaj, Necmi Karul, Fokke Gerritsen, Joachim Pechtl, Joris Peters, Andrea Zeeb-Lanz, Eva Lenneis, Maria Teschler-Nicola, Sevasti Triantaphyllou, Sofija Stefanović, Christina Papageorgopoulou, Daniel Wegmann, Joachim Burger, Laurent Excoffier
bioRxiv 2020.11.23.394502; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.11.23.394502
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The mixed genetic origin of the first farmers of Europe
Nina Marchi, Laura Winkelbach, Ilektra Schulz, Maxime Brami, Zuzana Hofmanová, Jens Blöcher, Carlos S. Reyna-Blanco, Yoan Diekmann, Alexandre Thiéry, Adamandia Kapopoulou, Vivian Link, Valérie Piuz, Susanne Kreutzer, Sylwia M. Figarska, Elissavet Ganiatsou, Albert Pukaj, Necmi Karul, Fokke Gerritsen, Joachim Pechtl, Joris Peters, Andrea Zeeb-Lanz, Eva Lenneis, Maria Teschler-Nicola, Sevasti Triantaphyllou, Sofija Stefanović, Christina Papageorgopoulou, Daniel Wegmann, Joachim Burger, Laurent Excoffier
bioRxiv 2020.11.23.394502; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.11.23.394502

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