Genomic and strontium isotope variation reveal immigration patterns in a viking age town

Abstract: The impact of human mobility on the northern Euro- pean urban populations during the Viking and Early Middle Ages and its repercussions in Scandinavia it- self are still largely unexplored. Our study of the de- mographics in the final phase of the Viking era is the first comprehensive multidisciplinary investiga- tion that includes genetics, isotopes, archaeology, and osteology on a larger scale. This early Christian dataset is particularly important as the earlier com- mon pagan burial tradition during the Iron Age was cremation, hindering large-scale DNA analyses. We present genome-wide sequence data from 23 indi- viduals from the 10th to 12th century Swedish town of Sigtuna. The data revealed high genetic diversity among the early urban residents. The observed vari- ation exceeds the genetic diversity in distinct mod- ern-day and Iron Age groups of central and northern Europe. Strontium isotope data suggest mixed local and non-local origin of the townspeople..

Archaeogenomic analysis of the first steps of Neolithization in Anatolia and the Aegean

The Neolithic transition in west Eurasia occurred in two main steps: the gradual development of sedentism and plant cultivation in the Near East and the subsequent spread of Neolithic cultures into the Aegean and across Europe after 7000 cal BCE. Here, we use published ancient genomes to investigate gene flow events in west Eurasia during the Neolithic transition. We confirm that the Early Neolithic central Anatolians in the ninth millennium BCE were probably descendants of local hunter-gatherers, rather than immigrants from the Levant or Iran. We further study the emergence of post-7000 cal BCE north Aegean Neolithic communities. Although Aegean farmers have frequently been assumed to be colonists originating from either central Anatolia or from the Levant, our findings raise alternative possibilities: north Aegean Neolithic populations may have been the product of multiple westward migrations, including south Anatolian emigrants, or they may have been descendants of local Aegean Mesolithic groups who adopted farming. These scenarios are consistent with the diversity of material cultures among Aegean Neolithic communities and the inheritance of local forager know-how. The demographic and cultural dynamics behind the earliest spread of Neolithic culture in the Aegean could therefore be distinct from the subsequent Neolithization of mainland Europe.WoSScopu

Genomic and strontium isotope variation reveal immigration patterns in a Viking Age town

The impact of human mobility on the northern European urban populations during the Viking and Early Middle Ages and its repercussions in Scandinavia itself are still largely unexplored. Our study of the demographics in the final phase of the Viking era is the first comprehensive multidisciplinary investigation that includes genetics, isotopes, archaeology, and osteology on a larger scale. This early Christian dataset is particularly important as the earlier common pagan burial tradition during the Iron Age was cremation, hindering large-scale DNA analyses. We present genome-wide sequence data from 23 individuals from the 10th to 12th century Swedish town of Sigtuna. The data revealed high genetic diversity among the early urban residents. The observed variation exceeds the genetic diversity in distinct modern-day and Iron Age groups of central and northern Europe. Strontium isotope data suggest mixed local and non-local origin of the townspeople. Our results uncover the social system underlying the urbanization process of the Viking World of which mobility was an intricate part and was comparable between males and females. The inhabitants of Sigtuna were heterogeneous in their genetic affinities, probably reflecting both close and distant connections through an established network, confirming that early urbanization processes in northern Europe were driven by migration

Variable kinship patterns in Neolithic Anatolia revealed by ancient genomes

The social organization of the first fully sedentary societies that emerged during the Neolithic period in Southwest Asia remains enigmatic, mainly because material culture studies provide limited insight into this issue. However, because Neolithic Anatolian communities often buried their dead beneath domestic buildings, household composition and social structure can be studied through these human remains. Here, we describe genetic relatedness among co-burials associated with domestic buildings in Neolithic Anatolia using 59 ancient genomes, including 22 new genomes from Aşıklı Höyük and Çatalhöyük. We infer pedigree relationships by simultaneously analyzing multiple types of information, including autosomal and X chromosome kinship coefficients, maternal markers, and radiocarbon dating. In two early Neolithic villages dating to the 9th and 8th millennia BCE, Aşıklı Höyük and Boncuklu, we discover that siblings and parent-offspring pairings were frequent within domestic structures, which provides the first direct indication of close genetic relationships among co-burials. In contrast, in the 7th millennium BCE sites of Çatalhöyük and Barcın, where we study subadults interred within and around houses, we find close genetic relatives to be rare. Hence, genetic relatedness may not have played a major role in the choice of burial location at these latter two sites, at least for subadults. This supports the hypothesis that in Çatalhöyük, and possibly in some other Neolithic communities, domestic structures may have served as burial location for social units incorporating biologically unrelated individuals. Our results underscore the diversity of kin structures in Neolithic communities during this important phase of sociocultural development.Additional co-authors: Hasan Can Gemici, Arda Sevkar, Nihan Dilşad Dağtaş, Gülşah Merve Kılınç, Donovan Adams, Arielle R. Munters, Ekin Sağlıcan, Marco Milella, Eline M.J. Schotsmans, Erinç Yurtman, Mehmet Çetin, Sevgi Yorulmaz, N. Ezgi Altınışık, Ayshin Ghalichi, Anna Juras, C. Can Bilgin, Torsten Günther, Jan Storå, Mattias Jakobsson, Maurice de Kleijn, Gökhan Mustafaoğlu, Andrew Fairbairn, Jessica Pearson, İnci Togan, Nurcan Kayacan, Arkadiusz Marciniak, Clark Spencer Larsen, Ian Hodder, Çiğdem Atakuman, Marin Pilloud, Elif Sürer, Fokke Gerritsen, Rana Özbal, Douglas Baird, Yılmaz Selim Erdal, Güneş Duru, Mihriban Özbaşaran, Scott D. Haddow, Christopher J. Knüsel, Anders Götherström, Füsun Özer, Mehmet Some

Archaeogenetic analysis of Neolithic sheep from Anatolia suggests a complex demographic history since domestication

Yurtman, ozer, Yuncu et al. provide an ancient DNA data set to demonstrate the impact of human activity on the demographic history of domestic sheep. The authors demonstrate that there may have been multiple domestication events with notable changes to the gene pool of European and Anatolian sheep since the Neolithic. Sheep were among the first domesticated animals, but their demographic history is little understood. Here we analyzed nuclear polymorphism and mitochondrial data (mtDNA) from ancient central and west Anatolian sheep dating from Epipaleolithic to late Neolithic, comparatively with modern-day breeds and central Asian Neolithic/Bronze Age sheep (OBI). Analyzing ancient nuclear data, we found that Anatolian Neolithic sheep (ANS) are genetically closest to present-day European breeds relative to Asian breeds, a conclusion supported by mtDNA haplogroup frequencies. In contrast, OBI showed higher genetic affinity to present-day Asian breeds. These results suggest that the east-west genetic structure observed in present-day breeds had already emerged by 6000 BCE, hinting at multiple sheep domestication episodes or early wild introgression in southwest Asia. Furthermore, we found that ANS are genetically distinct from all modern breeds. Our results suggest that European and Anatolian domestic sheep gene pools have been strongly remolded since the Neolithic

Neolitik anadoludaki yerleşik toplumlarda genetik ilişkilerin ve akrabalık örüntülerinin arkeogenomik analizi

The Neolithic way of life first emerged in the Fertile Crescent (c.10thand early 9thmillennium cal BCE) and quickly spread to neighbouring regionssuch as Central Anatoliaand Cyprus,and eventually further westwards. This transition involved to fundamental changes in human lifestyle,with the first emergence of villages during the early Neolithicandthe later the growing reliance on farming and herdingduring the late Neolithic periods. Changes in the social organization of sedentary communitiesare also hypothesized to have occurred during this period, includingchanges between early and late Neolithicperiods. Central Anatolia was one of the major regions where these developments took place. Like other regions of early Neolithization, it shows distinctive traditionsin the early and late Neolithic settlementsin the region. Earlier studies based on small sample sizes from Central Anatoliaanalyzed genetic relationships amongtheNeolithic populations in the region. In this study, for the first time, we investigatedancient genomes from Aşıklı Höyük and Çatalhöyük from Central Anatolia, representing early (Aceramic)and late (Ceramic) Neolithic, respectively. We vigenerateda total of 22 genomesfromAşıklı (n=8) and Çatalhöyük (n=14), and combined these with published genomesfrom other Anatolian Neolithic sites(Boncuklu, Barcın and Tepecik-Çiftlik). We first investigatedgenetic relationships among Anatolian Neolithic groups at both individual-and population-level. We found strong genetic affinity between Aceramic Aşıklı and Boncuklu, supporting the notion thatthese early Neolithic populationsfrom Central Anatoliamay have been part of the same gene pool.Likewise, we observed genetic affinity between Çatalhöyük and other Anatolian CeramicNeolithic populations (Barcın and Tepecik-Çiftlik). In addition, we identifiedhigher within-population genetic diversityin the Anatolian Ceramic Neolithicpopulations (Çatalhöyük, Barcın and Tepecik-Çiftlik) compared to those of Aceramic Neolithic (Boncuklu and Aşıklı).Further, our findingsbased on a larger sample sizesupportedthe notion of a possible gene flow from Levant and Iran to Anatoliaduring the transition from Aceramic to Ceramic Neolithic period, after c.7,500BCE.Next, we studiedgenetic kinship among individuals co-buried within the same structures withinAceramic and Ceramic Neolithic settlements from bothCentral and Northwest Anatolia,to understand social structuresof Neolithicsocieties inthe earlier and later period of Neolithic lifein Anatolia. In the two AceramicNeolithic societies from Central Anatolia, Aşıklı and Boncuklu,we identified close genetic kin-relationships (e.g., first-degree) among co-burials at a high frequency,while the frequency of genetically close relatives was lower among co-buried individuals in Çatalhöyük and Barcın, which representCeramicNeolithic societies fromCentral and Northwest Anatolia, respectively. Our findings supported the notionthat genetickinship patterns among co-buried individuals,who could represent households,might have changed over time during the transition from Aceramic to Ceramic Neolithic in Anatolia.İnsanlığın avcı-toplayıcı yaşam tarzından, tarım ve hayvancılığa dayanan yerleşik hayata geçişi Neolitik Dönüşüm olarak adlandırılır ve insanlık tarihindeki önemli değişimlerden biridir. Bu dönüşümilk olarak Verimli Hilal bölgesinde ortaya çıkmış(yaklaşık MÖ 10. ve 9. binyıl)ve hızla Orta Anadoluve Kıbrıs gibi yakın bölgelere, daha sonrada batıya doğru yayılım göstermiştir. Bu noktada, Neolitik geçişin çekirdekbölgelerinden biri olması ve Neolitikyaşam tarzının batıya yayılım rotası üzerinde bulunması sebebiyle Orta Anadolu bölgesi büyük biröneme sahiptir. Bu çalışmada, Orta Anadolu Neolitiği’nin erken (Çanak-Çömleksiz) ve geç (Çanak-Çömlekli) dönemlerini temsil eden, sırasıylaAşıklı Höyük ve Çatalhöyük yerleşimlerinden ilk defa antik insan örnekleriçalışıldı. Bu iki yerleşimden toplamda 22 antik genom elde edildi ve karşılaştımalı analizlerde kullanılmak üzere Anadolu Neolitiği’ne ait önceki yıllarda yayınlanmış genomik verilerlebirleştirildi. Bu çalışmada Anadolulu Neolitiktoplumların genetik yapısı ve akrabalık örüntüleri hem toplum-içi hem de toplumlar-arası düzeyde analiz edildi.Bu çalışmada ilk olarak Anadolulu Neolitik gruplar arasındaki genetik ilişkileri hem bireyler arası hem de populasyonlar arası karşılaştırmalarla inceledik. Sonuç olarak, Anadolulu erken Neolitik populasyonlarının (Aşıklı ve Boncuklu) genetik olarak birbirine daha yakın olduğunu, Çatalhöyük popülasyonunun ise Anadolulu geç Neolitik dönem gruplarına (Barcın ve Tepecik-Çiftlik) genetik olarakdaha benzer olduğunugözlemledik. Ek olarak, Anadolulu geç Neolitik dönem popülasyonlarının (Çatalhöyük,Barcın ve Tepecik-Çiftlik) grup içi genetik çeşitliliklerinin Anadolulu erken Neolitik popülasyonlara (Aşıklı ve Boncuklu)göre daha yüksek olduğunu bulguladık.Ayrıca, Anadolu’dan daha fazla genetik veri kullanarak ortaya çıkan sonuçlarımız, yaklaşık olarak MÖ 7,500sonrasında, Levant ve İran Neolitik toplumlarından Anadolu’ya gen akışı olduğu düşüncesini desteklemektedir. İkinci olarak, Anadolu’da erken ve geç Neolitik dönem yerleşimlerinde,aynı bina içine gömülü olan bireyler arasındaki genetik akrabalık ilişkileriniinceledik. Sonuç olarak, Anadolu’dan her iki erken Neolitik dönem topluluğundada, birbirine yakın gömülen bireyler arasında yüksek oranda yakın genetik akrabalık ilişkisi (birinci derece) olduğunu; diğer taraftan geç Neolitik dönem topluluklarında ise yakın genetik akrabalık sıklığının azaldığını bulguladık. Sonuçlarımız, en azından Orta Anadolu erken Neolitik topluluklarında, birliktegömülen ev halkının yakın akraba olabileceğineişaret etmektedir.Ayrıca, bulgularımız Anadolu'da Çanak-Çömleksiz(erken) Neolitik dönemden Çanak-Çömlekli(geç) Neolitik dönemegeçiş sırasında hanehalkını temsil ettiği düşünülenbirlikte gömülü bireyler arasındaki genetik akrabalık örüntülerinin zamanla değişmişolabileceği görüşünü desteklemektedir.Ph.D. - Doctoral Progra

Güneydoğu Anadolu'daki Batman, Çemialo sırtı kazı yerinden çıkarılmış insan örneklerinden antik DNA izolasyonu ve mitokondriyal DNA analizi.

The main purpose of the study was to obtain aDNA sequences of ancient human remains in the dedicated ancient DNA (aDNA) laboratory which was established at Middle East Technical University, in 2012. For this purpose, human samples approximately dating between 600-500 BC from Çemialo Sırtı excavation site in Batman in southeast Anatolia, were employed. aDNA extraction was performed using bone and teeth samples from 9 human skeletal remains. Then the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) Hypervariable region I and Hypervariable region II (HVRI-HVRII) of 7 samples could be successfully amplified and their sequences were obtained. Success rates in extractions (9/9) and amplifications (7/9) were 100% and 77.8%, respectively. Postmortem nucleotide changes (misincorporations) were also detected supporting the authenticity of the sequences. aDNA sequences were used to determine mtDNA haplogroups (HPGs) of the samples. The observed percentage of each haplogroup was: HPG H=28.57%, HPG HV=14.29%, HPG M=14.29%, HPG R=28.57%, HPG U2=14.29% for the 7 Çemialo Sırtı individuals. vi When the mtDNA based haplogroup and sequence data of the present study were evaluated together with the results of some other ancient and modern populations by means of Principle Component Analysis (PCA), it was observed that Çemialo Sırtı population is relatively similar to the neareastern Neolithic population (7300 BC) from northern Syria. Continuity between the Çemialo Sırtı population (n=7) and the same Neolithic population from northern Syria (n=10) was tested by calculating the FST value between these two populations, and comparing that with the FST values generated by coalescent simulations. During the simulations, random drift was assumed to be the force of genetic differentiation between the two populations. Under the exponential growth and no growth models, continuity from Neolithic population to Çemialo Sırtı population could not be rejected. Since the sample size was small in Çemialo Sırtı population, comparative results must be taken with caution.M.S. - Master of Scienc

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