Skip to main content
bioRxiv
  • Home
  • About
  • Submit
  • ALERTS / RSS
Advanced Search
New Results

Population Replacement in Early Neolithic Britain

Selina Brace, Yoan Diekmann, Thomas J. Booth, Zuzana Faltyskova, Nadin Rohland, Swapan Mallick, Matthew Ferry, Megan Michel, Jonas Oppenheimer, Nasreen Broomandkhoshbacht, Kristin Stewardson, Susan Walsh, Manfred Kayser, Rick Schulting, Oliver E. Craig, Alison Sheridan, Mike Parker Pearson, Chris Stringer, David Reich, Mark G. Thomas, Ian Barnes
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/267443
Selina Brace
1Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Yoan Diekmann
2Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Thomas J. Booth
1Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Zuzana Faltyskova
2Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Nadin Rohland
3Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Swapan Mallick
3Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
4Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA
5Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Matthew Ferry
3Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
4Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Megan Michel
3Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
4Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Jonas Oppenheimer
3Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
4Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Nasreen Broomandkhoshbacht
3Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
4Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Kristin Stewardson
3Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
4Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Susan Walsh
6Department of Biology, Indiana University Purdue University, Indianapolis (IUPUI), Indianapolis, IN, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Manfred Kayser
7Department of Genetic Identification, Erasmus MC University Medical Centre Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Rick Schulting
8Institute of Archaeology, University of Oxford, 36 Beaumont St, Oxford,OX1 2PG
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Oliver E. Craig
9BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, UK
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Alison Sheridan
10National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh EH1 1JF, UK
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Mike Parker Pearson
11Institute of Archaeology, University College London,London WC1H 0PY, UK
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Chris Stringer
1Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
David Reich
3Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
4Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA
5Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Mark G. Thomas
2Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Ian Barnes
1Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Abstract
  • Full Text
  • Info/History
  • Metrics
  • Supplementary material
  • Preview PDF
Loading

Abstract

The roles of migration, admixture and acculturation in the European transition to farming have been debated for over 100 years. Genome-wide ancient DNA studies indicate predominantly Anatolian ancestry for continental Neolithic farmers, but also variable admixture with local Mesolithic hunter-gatherers1–⇓⇓⇓⇓⇓⇓⇓9. Neolithic cultures first appear in Britain c. 6000 years ago (kBP), a millennium after they appear in adjacent areas of northwestern continental Europe. However, the pattern and process of the British Neolithic transition remains unclear10–⇓⇓⇓⇓15. We assembled genome-wide data from six Mesolithic and 67 Neolithic individuals found in Britain, dating from 10.5-4.5 kBP, a dataset that includes 22 newly reported individuals and the first genomic data from British Mesolithic hunter-gatherers. Our analyses reveals persistent genetic affinities between Mesolithic British and Western European hunter-gatherers over a period spanning Britain’s separation from continental Europe. We find overwhelming support for agriculture being introduced by incoming continental farmers, with small and geographically structured levels of additional hunter-gatherer introgression. We find genetic affinity between British and Iberian Neolithic populations indicating that British Neolithic people derived much of their ancestry from Anatolian farmers who originally followed the Mediterranean route of dispersal and likely entered Britain from northwestern mainland Europe.

Footnotes

  • ↵# these authors co-supervised the work

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission.
Back to top
PreviousNext
Posted February 18, 2018.
Download PDF

Supplementary Material

Email

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about bioRxiv.

NOTE: Your email address is requested solely to identify you as the sender of this article.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Population Replacement in Early Neolithic Britain
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from bioRxiv
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from the bioRxiv website.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Share
Population Replacement in Early Neolithic Britain
Selina Brace, Yoan Diekmann, Thomas J. Booth, Zuzana Faltyskova, Nadin Rohland, Swapan Mallick, Matthew Ferry, Megan Michel, Jonas Oppenheimer, Nasreen Broomandkhoshbacht, Kristin Stewardson, Susan Walsh, Manfred Kayser, Rick Schulting, Oliver E. Craig, Alison Sheridan, Mike Parker Pearson, Chris Stringer, David Reich, Mark G. Thomas, Ian Barnes
bioRxiv 267443; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/267443
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
Citation Tools
Population Replacement in Early Neolithic Britain
Selina Brace, Yoan Diekmann, Thomas J. Booth, Zuzana Faltyskova, Nadin Rohland, Swapan Mallick, Matthew Ferry, Megan Michel, Jonas Oppenheimer, Nasreen Broomandkhoshbacht, Kristin Stewardson, Susan Walsh, Manfred Kayser, Rick Schulting, Oliver E. Craig, Alison Sheridan, Mike Parker Pearson, Chris Stringer, David Reich, Mark G. Thomas, Ian Barnes
bioRxiv 267443; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/267443

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Subject Area

  • Evolutionary Biology
Subject Areas
All Articles
  • Animal Behavior and Cognition (2516)
  • Biochemistry (4961)
  • Bioengineering (3458)
  • Bioinformatics (15159)
  • Biophysics (6876)
  • Cancer Biology (5372)
  • Cell Biology (7699)
  • Clinical Trials (138)
  • Developmental Biology (4514)
  • Ecology (7120)
  • Epidemiology (2059)
  • Evolutionary Biology (10202)
  • Genetics (7494)
  • Genomics (9761)
  • Immunology (4811)
  • Microbiology (13166)
  • Molecular Biology (5124)
  • Neuroscience (29332)
  • Paleontology (203)
  • Pathology (833)
  • Pharmacology and Toxicology (1459)
  • Physiology (2125)
  • Plant Biology (4728)
  • Scientific Communication and Education (1007)
  • Synthetic Biology (1336)
  • Systems Biology (4000)
  • Zoology (768)