The genetic history of the Southern Arc: a bridge between West Asia and Europe

By sequencing 727 ancient individuals from the Southern Arc (Anatolia and its neighbors in Southeastern Europe and West Asia) over 10,000 years, we contextualize its Chalcolithic period and Bronze Age (about 5000 to 1000 BCE), when extensive gene flow entangled it with the Eurasian steppe. Two streams of migration transmitted Caucasus and Anatolian/Levantine ancestry northward, and the Yamnaya pastoralists, formed on the steppe, then spread southward into the Balkans and across the Caucasus into Armenia, where they left numerous patrilineal descendants. Anatolia was transformed by intra–West Asian gene flow, with negligible impact of the later Yamnaya migrations. This contrasts with all other regions where Indo-European languages were spoken, suggesting that the homeland of the Indo-Anatolian language family was in West Asia, with only secondary dispersals of non-Anatolian Indo-Europeans from the steppe

Orta Anadolu-Sivas’ta Paleolitik Çağ Kalıntıları

Bu çalışmanın konusu, 2016-2019 yılları arasında Orta Anadolu’da konumlanan Sivas iline bağlı Divriği, Kangal, Gürün ve Altınyayla ilçelerinde gerçekleştirilen Pleistosen Dönem yüzey araştırmasının sonuçlarını değerlendirmektir. Çalışmanın amacı, yontmataş buluntular, mağaralar, kaya altı sığınakları ve hammadde kaynaklarını tespit etmek ve bulguları Türkiye Paleolitik stratigrafisine eklemektir. Araştırmada “yaya yüzey araştırması yöntemi” kullanılmıştır. Paleolitik dolguların belirlendiği alanlarda yontmataş buluntular toplamış ve tanımlamalar yapılmıştır. Yontmataş buluntular öncelikle Paleolitik dönemlere göre ayrılmıştır ve yontmataş buluntuların teknolojik-tipolojik tanımlamaları yapılmıştır. Araştırmada 16 paleolitik alan tespit edilmiş ve 236 yontmataş tanımlanmıştır. Paleolitik dolgu içeren mağara ya da kaya altı sığınağı bulunamamış ancak Divriği, Kangal ve Gürün’ün volkanik kayaçlar ve çakmaktaşı açısından çok zengin olduğu kaydedilmiştir. Taş aletlerin teknolojik ve tipolojik analizleri, Divriği’de volkanik kayaçların kullanıldığı, Mod 1 endüstrisine benzerlik gösteren bir Alt Paleolitik kültürünün varlığını; Kangal, Gürün ve Altınyayla’da hammadde olarak çakmaktaşının tercih edildiği Orta Paleolitik ve Geç Üst Paleolitik (belki Epipaleolitik) kültürlerinin mevcut olduğunu göstermiştir. Sivas Orta Paleolitik kültürü, Hatay’dan çok Karain Mağarası’nın Orta Paleolitik buluntuları ile benzerlik göstermektedir. Buluntular in-situ olmadığı için radyometrik tarihlendirme yapılamamıştır. Bu çalışma bölgede yürütülen nadir Paleolitik arkeoloji araştırmalarından biridir ve Pleistosen Dönem’de yüksek rakımlı bölgelerde insanların yaşayabildiğini, Sivas’ın Pleistosen’de de önemli bir geçiş bölgesi olduğunu, bölgede en azından iki farklı insan türünün yaşamış olması gerektiğini ortaya koymuştur

The genetic history of the Southern Arc: A bridge between West Asia and Europe

Materials and Methods The materials and methods described here are for the combined study of the population history of the Southern Arc and pertain to the present study (which describe the entire dataset and analytically focuses on the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age periods), and two studies on Neolithic populations and the more recent history of the Southern Arc which employ the same analysis dataset and method

Ancient DNA from Mesopotamia suggests distinct Pre-Pottery and Pottery Neolithic migrations into Anatolia

We present the first ancient DNA data from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic of Mesopotamia (Southeastern Turkey and Northern Iraq), Cyprus, and the Northwestern Zagros, along with the first data from Neolithic Armenia. We show that these and neighboring populations were formed through admixture of pre-Neolithic sources related to Anatolian, Caucasus, and Levantine hunter-gatherers, forming a Neolithic continuum of ancestry mirroring the geography of West Asia. By analyzing Pre-Pottery and Pottery Neolithic populations of Anatolia, we show that the former were derived from admixture between Mesopotamian-related and local Epipaleolithic-related sources, but the latter experienced additional Levantine-related gene flow, thus documenting at least two pulses of migration from the Fertile Crescent heartland to the early farmers of Anatolia

The genetic history of the Southern Arc : a bridge between West Asia and Europe

By sequencing 727 ancient individuals from the Southern Arc (Anatolia and its neighbors in Southeastern Europe and West Asia) over 10,000 years, we contextualize its Chalcolithic period and Bronze Age (about 5000 to 1000 BCE), when extensive gene flow entangled it with the Eurasian steppe. Two streams of migration transmitted Caucasus and Anatolian/Levantine ancestry northward, and the Yamnaya pastoralists, formed on the steppe, then spread southward into the Balkans and across the Caucasus into Armenia, where they left numerous patrilineal descendants. Anatolia was transformed by intra–West Asian gene flow, with negligible impact of the later Yamnaya migrations. This contrasts with all other regions where Indo-European languages were spoken, suggesting that the homeland of the Indo-Anatolian language family was in West Asia, with only secondary dispersals of non-Anatolian Indo-Europeans from the steppe

A genetic probe into the ancient and medieval history of Southern Europe and West Asia

Literary and archaeological sources have preserved a rich history of Southern Europe and West Asia since the Bronze Age that can be complemented by genetics. Mycenaean period elites in Greece did not differ from the general population and included both people with some steppe ancestry and others, like the Griffin Warrior, without it. Similarly, people in the central area of the Urartian Kingdom around Lake Van lacked the steppe ancestry characteristic of the kingdom’s northern provinces. Anatolia exhibited extraordinary continuity down to the Roman and Byzantine periods, with its people serving as the demographic core of much of the Roman Empire, including the city of Rome itself. During medieval times, migrations associated with Slavic and Turkic speakers profoundly affected the region

Ancient DNA from Mesopotamia suggests distinct Pre-Pottery and Pottery Neolithic migrations into Anatolia

We present the first ancient DNA data from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic of Mesopotamia (Southeastern Turkey and Northern Iraq), Cyprus, and the Northwestern Zagros, along with the first data from Neolithic Armenia. We show that these and neighboring populations were formed through admixture of pre-Neolithic sources related to Anatolian, Caucasus, and Levantine hunter-gatherers, forming a Neolithic continuum of ancestry mirroring the geography of West Asia. By analyzing Pre-Pottery and Pottery Neolithic populations of Anatolia, we show that the former were derived from admixture between Mesopotamian-related and local Epipaleolithic-related sources, but the latter experienced additional Levantine-related gene flow, thus documenting at least two pulses of migration from the Fertile Crescent heartland to the early farmers of Anatolia

The early Upper Paleolithic occupations at Üçağızlı Cave (Hatay, Turkey)

This paper summarizes results from excavations at Üçağızlı Cave (Hatay, Turkey) between 1999 and 2002 and 2005. This collapsed karstic chamber contains a sequence of early Upper Paleolithic deposits that span an interval between roughly 29,000 and 41,000 (uncalibrated) radiocarbon years BP. Lithic assemblages can be assigned to two major chronostratigraphic units. The earliest assemblages correspond with the Initial Upper Paleolithic, whereas the most recent ones fit within the definition of the Ahmarian. Substantial assemblages of stone tools, vertebrate faunal remains, ornaments, osseous artifacts, and other cultural materials provide an unusually varied picture of human behavior during the earliest phases of the Upper Paleolithic in the northern Levant. The sequence at Üçağızlı Cave documents the technological transition between Initial Upper Paleolithic and Ahmarian, with a high degree of continuity in foraging and technological activities. The sequence also documents major shifts in occupational intensity and mobility

A genetic probe into the ancient and medieval history of Southern Europe and West Asia

Literary and archaeological sources have preserved a rich history of Southern Europe and West Asia since the Bronze Age that can be complemented by genetics. Mycenaean period elites in Greece did not differ from the general population and included both people with some steppe ancestry and others, like the Griffin Warrior, without it. Similarly, people in the central area of the Urartian Kingdom around Lake Van lacked the steppe ancestry characteristic of the kingdom's northern provinces. Anatolia exhibited extraordinary continuity down to the Roman and Byzantine periods, with its people serving as the demographic core of much of the Roman Empire, including the city of Rome itself. During medieval times, migrations associated with Slavic and Turkic speakers profoundly affected the region