Genomic insights into the origin of farming in the ancient Near East

We report genome-wide ancient DNA from 44 ancient Near Easterners ranging in time between ~12,000 and 1,400 BC, from Natufian hunter–gatherers to Bronze Age farmers. We show that the earliest populations of the Near East derived around half their ancestry from a ‘Basal Eurasian’ lineage that had little if any Neanderthal admixture and that separated from other non-African lineages before their separation from each other. The first farmers of the southern Levant (Israel and Jordan) and Zagros Mountains (Iran) were strongly genetically differentiated, and each descended from local hunter–gatherers. By the time of the Bronze Age, these two populations and Anatolian-related farmers had mixed with each other and with the hunter–gatherers of Europe to greatly reduce genetic differentiation. The impact of the Near Eastern farmers extended beyond the Near East: farmers related to those of Anatolia spread westward into Europe; farmers related to those of the Levant spread southward into East Africa; farmers related to those of Iran spread northward into the Eurasian steppe; and people related to both the early farmers of Iran and to the pastoralists of the Eurasian steppe spread eastward into South Asia

Genome-wide patterns of selection in 230 ancient Eurasians

Ancient DNA makes it possible to directly witness natural selection by analyzing samples from populations before, during and after adaptation events. Here we report the first scan for selection using ancient DNA, capitalizing on the largest genome-wide dataset yet assembled: 230 West Eurasians dating to between 6500 and 1000 BCE, including 163 with newly reported data. The new samples include the first genome-wide data from the Anatolian Neolithic culture whose genetic material we extracted from the DNA-rich petrous bone and who we show were members of the population that was the source of Europe’s first farmers. We also report a complete transect of the steppe region in Samara between 5500 and 1200 BCE that allows us to recognize admixture from at least two external sources into steppe populations during this period. We detect selection at loci associated with diet, pigmentation and immunity, and two independent episodes of selection on height

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

Hayaz Höyük and the final PPNB in the Taurus foothills

In this paper differences of various aspects between Pre-Pottery Neolithic Hayaz and Pottery Neolithic Kumartepe are emphasized. Although these settlements are close in space and time, it seems that the Pottery Neolithic of the Taurus foothills owe little to the PPNB, especially where the chipped stone industry is concerned.Cette contribution porte sur les différents aspects qui séparent le site PPNB de Havaz du site de Kumartepe, lequel appartient au Néolithique à poterie. Bien que les deux sites soient proches dans l'espace et dans le temps, il semble que le Néolithique à poterie dans les contreforts du Taurus ne soit guère redevable à la tradition du PPNB, en particulier quant à son industrie lithique.Roodenberg Jacob. Hayaz Höyük and the final PPNB in the Taurus foothills. In: Paléorient, 1989, vol. 15, n°1. pp. 91-101

Traces d'utilisation sur les haches polies de Bouqras (Syrie)

The Neolithic occupation of Tell Bouqras was located on the right bank of the Middle Euphrates valley, across from the junction with the Khabour. The village was occupied continuously from 6400 to 5900 B.C., and comprised about 180 houses, at its peak. A PPNB facies of chipped stone tools of flint, and, less commonly, obsidian, were found here, as well as many ground stone artifacts, including an esthetically-pleasing stoneware and rather abundant ground stone woodworking tools. Study of microtraces of use, along with observation of other attributes, proved to be useful in functional classification of the various ground stone tools. At least five distinct functional types were distinguished : felling axe, wedge, chisel, paring chisel and adze.Roodenberg Jacob J. Traces d'utilisation sur les haches polies de Bouqras (Syrie). In: Traces d’utilisation sur les outils néolithiques du Proche Orient. Table ronde CNRS tenue à Lyon du 8 au 10 juin 1982. Lyon : Maison de l'Orient et de la Méditerranée Jean Pouilloux, 1983. pp. 177-185. (Travaux de la Maison de l'Orient, 5