Artificial cranial deformation in the Proto-neolithic and Neolithic Near East and its possible origin : Evidence from four sites.

The discussion of artificial cranial deformation of Near Eastern Neolithic material begun by Lambert's description of six crania from the Iranian site of Ganj Dareh is developed in this paper. Lambert regarded these specimens as being the earliest reported cases of the phenomenon in the region. This paper reports on a restudy of the Ganj Dareh material, together with findings obtained from three further sites, Shanidar Cave in Iraq, Tepe Ghenil in Iran, and Bouqras in Syria. We show the presence of a series of features that indicate the widespread use of an as yet undetermined form of head-gear that produced alteration in cranial form. However, in contrast to later examples of deformation there are no obvious sex or social correlates of the phenomenon. The findings are discussed within the framework of other literature on cranial form and patterns of skull treatment within the Neolithic of the Middle East.La discussion sur la déformation crânienne artificielle observée au Proche Orient au Néolithique, amorcée par Lambert à partir de six crânes trouvés sur le site de Ganj Dareh (Iran) est reprise ici. Lambert considérait, pour la région, ces crânes comme étant les plus anciens ayant pu être affectés par une pareille altération. Le matériel de Ganj Dareh réétudié est confronté aux conclusions obtenues à partir de matériel trouvé sur trois autres sites : la grotte de Shanidar en Iraq, tepe Ghenil en Iran et Bouqras en Syrie. La présence des différents traits indique le port très répandu d'une sorte de serre-tête de forme encore indéfinissable qui aurait entraîné des modifications de la forme du crâne. Cependant, contrairement à certains exemples de déformation plus récents, il n'y aurait pas de lien évident entre ces modifications et le sexe ou la position sociale des individus. Les résultats obtenus sont comparés à ceux déjà publiés sur la morphologie crânienne et les traitements de crânes néolithiques au Proche-Orient.Meiklejohn Christopher, Agelarakis Anagnostis, Akkermans Peter A., Smith Philip E. L., Solecki Rose. Artificial cranial deformation in the Proto-neolithic and Neolithic Near East and its possible origin : Evidence from four sites.. In: Paléorient, 1992, vol. 18, n°2. pp. 83-97

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. Stories about the peopling?and people?of Southern Europe and West Asia have been passed down for thousands of years, and these stories have contributed to our historical understanding of populations. Genomic data provide the opportunity to truly understand these patterns independently from written history. In a trio of papers, Lazaridis et al. examined more than 700 ancient genomes from across this region, the Southern Arc, spanning 11,000 years, from the earliest farming cultures to post-Medieval times (see the Perspective by Arbuckle and Schwandt). On the basis of these results, the authors suggest that earlier reliance on modern phenotypes and ancient writings and artistic depictions provided an inaccurate picture of early Indo-Europeans, and they provide a revised history of the complex migrations and population integrations that shaped these cultures. ?SNV A web of migrations between Anatolia, its neighbors, and the Steppe suggests a West Asian origin of Indo-Anatolian languages

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 IndoAnatolian language family was in West Asia, with only secondary dispersals of non-Anatolian IndoEuropeans from the steppe