When the waves of European Neolithization met: first paleogenetic evidence from early farmers in the southern Paris Basin

PLoS One. 2015 Apr 30;10(4):e0125521. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0125521. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

An intense debate concerning the nature and mode of Neolithic transition in Europe has long received much attention. Recent publications of paleogenetic analyses focusing on ancient European farmers from Central Europe or the Iberian Peninsula have greatly contributed to this debate, providing arguments in favor of major migrations accompanying European Neolithization and highlighting noticeable genetic differentiation between farmers associated with two archaeologically defined migration routes: the Danube valley and the Mediterranean Sea. The aim of the present study was to fill a gap with the first paleogenetic data of Neolithic settlers from a region (France) where the two great currents came into both direct and indirect contact with each other. To this end, we analyzed the Gurgy 'Les Noisats' group, an Early/Middle Neolithic necropolis in the southern part of the Paris Basin. Interestingly, the archaeological record from this region highlighted a clear cultural influence from the Danubian cultural sphere but also notes exchanges with the Mediterranean cultural area. To unravel the processes implied in these cultural exchanges, we analyzed 102 individuals and obtained the largest Neolithic mitochondrial gene pool so far (39 HVS-I mitochondrial sequences and haplogroups for 55 individuals) from a single archaeological site from the Early/Middle Neolithic period. Pairwise FST values, haplogroup frequencies and shared informative haplotypes were calculated and compared with ancient and modern European and Near Eastern populations. These descriptive analyses provided patterns resulting from different evolutionary scenarios; however, the archaeological data available for the region suggest that the Gurgy group was formed through equivalent genetic contributions of farmer descendants from the Danubian and Mediterranean Neolithization waves. However, these results, that would constitute the most ancient genetic evidence of admixture between farmers from both Central and Mediterranean migration routes in the European Neolithization debate, are subject to confirmation through appropriate model-based approaches.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Archaeology / methods*
  • DNA, Mitochondrial / genetics
  • Europe
  • Farmers / statistics & numerical data*
  • France
  • Haplotypes / genetics
  • Humans
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Paris
  • White People

Substances

  • DNA, Mitochondrial

Associated data

  • GENBANK/KP863031
  • GENBANK/KP863032
  • GENBANK/KP863033
  • GENBANK/KP863034
  • GENBANK/KP863035
  • GENBANK/KP863036
  • GENBANK/KP863037
  • GENBANK/KP863038
  • GENBANK/KP863039
  • GENBANK/KP863040
  • GENBANK/KP863041
  • GENBANK/KP863042
  • GENBANK/KP863043
  • GENBANK/KP863044
  • GENBANK/KP863045
  • GENBANK/KP863046
  • GENBANK/KP863047
  • GENBANK/KP863048
  • GENBANK/KP863049
  • GENBANK/KP863050
  • GENBANK/KP863051
  • GENBANK/KP863052
  • GENBANK/KP863053
  • GENBANK/KP863054
  • GENBANK/KP863055
  • GENBANK/KP863056
  • GENBANK/KP863057
  • GENBANK/KP863058
  • GENBANK/KP863059
  • GENBANK/KP863060
  • GENBANK/KP863061
  • GENBANK/KP863062
  • GENBANK/KP863063
  • GENBANK/KP863064
  • GENBANK/KP863065
  • GENBANK/KP863066
  • GENBANK/KP863067
  • GENBANK/KP863068
  • GENBANK/KP863069

Grants and funding

This study benefitted from excavation grant support from the region of Bourgogne, France, and the Service Régional de l'Archéologie de Bourgogne (89 198 008). This research is funded by a ministerial grant from the Research National Agency as a program of prospects investments ANR-10-LABX-52 (project 'Diversité biologique et culturelle de l'Homme de la fin de la Préhistoire à la Protohistoire'; dir: SR; Université de Bordeaux 1, LaScArBx-ANR; 2012–14) and has also been performed thanks to the PhD research grant from the Ministère de l'Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche for MR. Part of the experiments (SNPs analyses) presented were performed at the Genomic and Sequencing Facility of Bordeaux (grants from the Conseil Regional d’Aquitaine n°20030304002FA and 20040305003FA and from the European Union, FEDER n°2003227 and from Investissements d'avenir, Convention attributive d’aide N°ANR-10-EQPX-16-01). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.