TY - JOUR
T1 - Y-chromosomal evidence of the cultural diffusion of agriculture in southeast Europe
AU - Battaglia, Vincenza
AU - Fornarino, Simona
AU - Al-Zahery, Nadia
AU - Olivieri, Anna
AU - Pala, Maria
AU - Myres, Natalie M.
AU - King, Roy J.
AU - Rootsi, Siiri
AU - Marjanovic, Damir
AU - Primorac, Dragan
AU - Hadziselimovic, Rifat
AU - Vidovic, Stojko
AU - Drobnic, Katia
AU - Durmishi, Naser
AU - Torroni, Antonio
AU - Santachiara-Benerecetti, Silvana A.
AU - Underhill, Peter A.
AU - Semino, Ornella
PY - 2009/12/24
Y1 - 2009/12/24
N2 - The debate concerning the mechanisms underlying the prehistoric spread of farming to Southeast Europe is framed around the opposing roles of population movement and cultural diffusion. To investigate the possible involvement of local people during the transition of agriculture in the Balkans, we analysed patterns of Y-chromosome diversity in 1206 subjects from 17 population samples, mainly from Southeast Europe. Evidence from three Y-chromosome lineages, I-M423, E-V13 and J-M241, make it possible to distinguish between Holocene Mesolithic forager and subsequent Neolithic range expansions from the eastern Sahara and the Near East, respectively. In particular, whereas the Balkan microsatellite variation associated to J-M241 correlates with the Neolithic period, those related to E-V13 and I-M423 Balkan Y chromosomes are consistent with a late Mesolithic time frame. In addition, the low frequency and variance associated to I-M423 and E-V13 in Anatolia and the Middle East, support an European Mesolithic origin of these two clades. Thus, these Balkan Mesolithic foragers with their own autochthonous genetic signatures, were destined to become the earliest to adopt farming, when it was subsequently introduced by a cadre of migrating farmers from the Near East. These initial local converted farmers became the principal agents spreading this economy using maritime leapfrog colonization strategies in the Adriatic and transmitting the Neolithic cultural package to other adjacent Mesolithic populations. The ensuing range expansions of E-V13 and I-M423 parallel in space and time the diffusion of Neolithic Impressed Ware, thereby supporting a case of cultural diffusion using genetic evidence.
AB - The debate concerning the mechanisms underlying the prehistoric spread of farming to Southeast Europe is framed around the opposing roles of population movement and cultural diffusion. To investigate the possible involvement of local people during the transition of agriculture in the Balkans, we analysed patterns of Y-chromosome diversity in 1206 subjects from 17 population samples, mainly from Southeast Europe. Evidence from three Y-chromosome lineages, I-M423, E-V13 and J-M241, make it possible to distinguish between Holocene Mesolithic forager and subsequent Neolithic range expansions from the eastern Sahara and the Near East, respectively. In particular, whereas the Balkan microsatellite variation associated to J-M241 correlates with the Neolithic period, those related to E-V13 and I-M423 Balkan Y chromosomes are consistent with a late Mesolithic time frame. In addition, the low frequency and variance associated to I-M423 and E-V13 in Anatolia and the Middle East, support an European Mesolithic origin of these two clades. Thus, these Balkan Mesolithic foragers with their own autochthonous genetic signatures, were destined to become the earliest to adopt farming, when it was subsequently introduced by a cadre of migrating farmers from the Near East. These initial local converted farmers became the principal agents spreading this economy using maritime leapfrog colonization strategies in the Adriatic and transmitting the Neolithic cultural package to other adjacent Mesolithic populations. The ensuing range expansions of E-V13 and I-M423 parallel in space and time the diffusion of Neolithic Impressed Ware, thereby supporting a case of cultural diffusion using genetic evidence.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=67349272014&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://www.nature.com/articles/ejhg200921
U2 - 10.1038/ejhg.2008.249
DO - 10.1038/ejhg.2008.249
M3 - Article
C2 - 19107149
AN - SCOPUS:67349272014
VL - 17
SP - 820
EP - 830
JO - European Journal of Human Genetics
JF - European Journal of Human Genetics
SN - 1018-4813
IS - 6
ER -