Y genetic data support the Neolithic demic diffusion model.

Y genetic data support the Neolithic demic diffusion model.

..famous and ´´old´´ article

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2002 Aug 20;99(17):11008-13. Epub 2002 Aug 07. Related Articles, Links


Y genetic data support the Neolithic demic diffusion model.

Chikhi L, Nichols RA, Barbujani G, Beaumont MA.

Department of Biology, University College London, Darwin Building, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom. l.chikhi@ucl.ac.uk

There still is no general agreement on the origins of the European gene pool, even though Europe has been more thoroughly investigated than any other continent. In particular, there is continuing controversy about the relative contributions of European Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers and of migrant Near Eastern Neolithic farmers, who brought agriculture to Europe. Here, we apply a statistical framework that we have developed to obtain direct estimates of the contribution of these two groups at the time they met. We analyze a large dataset of 22 binary markers from the non-recombining region of the Y chromosome (NRY), by using a genealogical likelihood-based approach. The results reveal a significantly larger genetic contribution from Neolithic farmers than did previous indirect approaches based on the distribution of haplotypes selected by using post hoc criteria. We detect a significant decrease in admixture across the entire range between the Near East and Western Europe. We also argue that local hunter-gatherers contributed less than 30% in the original settlements. This finding leads us to reject a predominantly cultural transmission of agriculture. Instead, we argue that the demic diffusion model introduced by Ammerman and Cavalli-Sforza [Ammerman, A. J. & Cavalli-Sforza, L. L. (1984) The Neolithic Transition and the Genetics of Populations in Europe (Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton)] captures the major features of this dramatic episode in European prehistory.

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Originally Posted by Euclides

There still is no general agreement on the origins of the European gene pool, even though Europe has been more thoroughly investigated than any other continent. In particular, there is continuing controversy about the relative contributions of European Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers and of migrant Near Eastern Neolithic farmers, who brought agriculture to Europe.

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In the south-east, according to the overall genetic distance, the natives were assimilated by the immigrants while outside this area, the immigrants were assimilated by the natives.

I interpret this as two neolithic expansions, one by the immigrants, and the other by the native TRB which adopted fertile crescent crops from the LBK, without a high level of racial admixture. In my opinion, Balto-Slavic and Celtic, Italic and Germanic are descended from TRB languages.

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Originally Posted by atlanto-med

In the south-east, according to the overall genetic distance, the natives were assimilated by the immigrants while outside this area, the immigrants were assimilated by the natives.

I interpret this as two neolithic expansions, one by the immigrants, and the other by the native TRB which adopted fertile crescent crops from the LBK, without a high level of racial admixture. In my opinion, Balto-Slavic and Celtic, Italic and Germanic are descended from TRB languages.

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TRB? LBK?

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Originally Posted by Euclides

TRB? LBK?

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They're Neolithic cultures. The LBK is the Linear Banded and the TRB is the Funel Beaker. The Linear Banded introduced the Neolithic to the ancestors of the Funnel Beaker, by acculturation. They probably brought Indo-European languages as well.