Ancient genomes from Neolithic North Africa (Fregel et al. 2017 preprint)

[Petalpusher]

Abstract

Neolithization of North Africa involved the migration of people from both the Levant and Europe

One of the greatest transitions in the human story was the change from hunter-gatherer to farmer. How farming traditions expanded from their birthplace in the Fertile Crescent has always been a matter of contention. Two models were proposed, one involving the movement of people and the other based on the transmission of ideas. Over the last decade, paleogenomics has been instrumental in settling long-disputed archaeological questions, including those surrounding the Neolithic revolution. Compared to the extensive genetic work done on Europe and the Near East, the Neolithic transition in North Africa, including the Maghreb, remains largely uncharacterized. Archaeological evidence suggests this process may have happened through an in situ development from Epipaleolithic communities, or by demic diffusion from the Eastern Mediterranean shores or Iberia. In fact, Neolithic pottery in North Africa strongly resembles that of European cultures like Cardial and Andalusian Early Neolithic, the southern-most early farmer culture from Iberia. Here, we present the first analysis of individuals' genome sequences from early and late Neolithic sites in Morocco, as well as Andalusian Early Neolithic individuals. We show that Early Neolithic Moroccans are distinct from any other reported ancient individuals and possess an endemic element retained in present-day Maghrebi populations, indicating long-term genetic continuity in the region. Among ancient populations, early Neolithic Moroccans share affinities with Levantine Natufian hunter-gatherers (~9,000 BCE) and Pre-Pottery Neolithic farmers (~6,500 BCE). Late Neolithic (~3,000 BCE) Moroccan remains, in comparison, share an Iberian component of a prominent European-wide demic expansion, supporting theories of trans-Gibraltar gene flow. Finally, the Andalusian Early Neolithic samples share the same genetic composition as the Cardial Mediterranean Neolithic culture that reached Iberia ~5,500 BCE. The cultural and genetic similarities of the Iberian Neolithic cultures with that of North African Neolithic sites further reinforce the model of an Iberian intrusion into the Maghreb.

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/bior...91569.full.pdf









Basically coastal NA are between their EN and LN, some drifiting a bit towards the Levant (maybe more Tunisian/Egyptians), some got more W.Africa since then, and their LN is somewhere between their EN and the European EN, so they really have Iberian influence as explained in the paper.


Some interesting F3 stats, N.African EN (IAM) vs Iberia_EN, left the pop are NA EN shifted (ofc the most is the NA_LN KEB), and right more Iberia neo (similar to other Euro_EN) or just no particular affinity to either of both (like Tajik).

[Drenica]

I thought it was the opposite, that Europe was settled by North African farmers.

[Petalpusher]

I thought it was the opposite, that Europe was settled by North African farmers.

No they came from NW Anatolia in the EN, we have a truckload of samples confirming it. What we can see now is they kind of ran in circles, expanding west into Europe, then went to North Africa, maybe some back through the Levant and some through Iberia, their neo happened even a bit later.

Late Neolithic (~3,000 BCE) Moroccan remains, in comparison, share an Iberian component of a prominent European-wide demic expansion, supporting theories of trans-Gibraltar gene flow. Finally, the Andalusian Early Neolithic samples share the same genetic composition as the Cardial Mediterranean Neolithic culture that reached Iberia ~5,500 BCE. The cultural and genetic similarities of the Iberian Neolithic cultures with that of North African Neolithic sites further reinforce the model of an Iberian intrusion into the Maghreb.

[Brás Garcia de Mascarenhas]

Iberia was also settled by North African tribes during the neolithic expansion, they constituted the La Almagra Pottery culture. Pre-Roman Iberia used to be a melting pot of Indo-European tribes and non-Indo-European tribes.

[Drenica]

No they came from NW Anatolia in the EN, we have a truckload of samples confirming it. What we can see now is they kind of ran in circles, expanding west into Europe, then went to North Africa, maybe some back through the Levant and some through Iberia.

You need to take in mind that there were different type of farmers too though. Neolithic farmers did come from the Near East and maybe some carried haplogroup E into Europe and Africa but there is some other type of farmer input that does not exist in Sardinians but that also came from Near East but I read some farmers had later expanded from Northern Africa, idk how true this is. The high I2a1 in Sardinians is most likely a bottleneck effect when the farmers mingled with the mesolithic Europeans or it is really a Neolithic marker.

I know some people doubt Ev13 is Neolithic, if not then it expanded with the Bronze Age society... but this Neolithic migration into Africa supports a Caucasoid origin of haplogroup E rather than out of Africa

[Brás Garcia de Mascarenhas]

You need to take in mind that there were different type of farmers too though. Neolithic farmers did come from the Near East and maybe some carried haplogroup E into Europe and Africa but there is some other type of farmer input that does not exist in Sardinians but that also came from Near East but I read some farmers had later expanded from Northern Africa, idk how true this is. The high I2a1 in Sardinians is most likely a bottleneck effect when the farmers mingled with the mesolithic Europeans or it is really a Neolithic marker.

I know some people doubt Ev13 is Neolithic, if not then it expanded with the Bronze Age society... but this Neolithic migration into Africa supports a Caucasoid origin of haplogroup E rather than out of Africa

"The close phylogenetic relationship between Basque I2a1a and Sardinian I2a1a suggest that they share a common Neolithic origin. In other words, modern I2a1a in Iberia may not actually represent the direct descendants of the I2a1 people who lived in Iberia during the Mesolithic period, but perhaps the descendants of other Mesolithic Europeans, from the Balkans or Italy, who became integrated to the expanding community of Neolithic farmers early on, then spread alongside G2a, the dominant Neolithic male lineage from the Near East.

Likewise, other branches of haplogroup I found in Iberia today, namely I1 and I2a2a (M223), originated in other parts of Europe and arrived to Iberia much later, brought by Germanic tribes in the fifth century CE (see below).

The presence of G2a and other Near Eastern lineages like E1b1b, J1, J2a and T among both the Basques and Sardinians confirms the mixed Mesolithic and Neolithic origin of both populations, and further corroborates the hypothesis of an early assimilation of indigenous Europeans by Near Eastern farmers and herders."

[Petalpusher]

You need to take in mind that there were different type of farmers too though. Neolithic farmers did come from the Near East and maybe some carried haplogroup E into Europe and Africa but there is some other type of farmer input that does not exist in Sardinians but that also came from Near East but I read some farmers had later expanded from Northern Africa, idk how true this is. The high I2a1 in Sardinians is most likely a bottleneck effect when the farmers mingled with the mesolithic Europeans or it is really a Neolithic marker.

I know some people doubt Ev13 is Neolithic, if not then it expanded with the Bronze Age society... but this Neolithic migration into Africa supports a Caucasoid origin of haplogroup E rather than out of Africa

For the 1000 time, there was no EV13 in the early neolithic, out of nearly 100 samples, only one was found EV13 in the Balkan, that's like a lower frequency than any European population today. EV13 didn't arrive in the neolithic, at least not with the early farmers of NW Anatolian, the green triangle on the pca, you can even see the progression towards more WHG ancestry as time passed (the yellow triangles) so it was these farmers who expanded into Europe, not anything else.

[Drenica]

For the 1000 time, there was no EV13 in the early neolithic, out of nearly 100 samples, only one was found EV13 in the Balkan, that's like a much lower frequency than any European population today. EV13 didn't arrive in the neolithic, at least not with the early farmers of NW Anatolian, the green triangle on the pca, you can even see the progression towards more WHG ancestry as time passed (the yellow triangles) so it was these farmers who expanded into Europe, not anything else.

Breath a little bit. Didnt say it arrived neccessarily with Neolithic but it was never found in any Bronze age society afaik. Ev13 most likely developed in Europe , in the Balkans , its ancestral clade supposedly ev12 or something was found at a Neolithic site in the Balkans. There were also Calcolithic farmers eneolithic etc.

So how do you think E arrived in Europe and Africa? With Aliens?

Maybe you should look into bottleneck effect, founder effect etc.

A lot of Neolithic samples found in Europe belonged to Mesolithic Europeans as they were picked up most likely through some bottle neck effect they became dominant.

Same reason how I was dominant in Mesolithic Europeans rather than J.


Majority of Bronze age samples were not J2b2 yet a J2b2 bronze age was found in Dalmatia, meaning most likely J2b2 L283 did expand with Bronze Age society unless they got it from farmers orand something.


One E being found most likely means it could of come with some farmers unless farmers picked it up , its higher frequency today could be the result of a bottle neck effect like a majority of European ydna % are , just like G is found much less in modern Europeans today including in populations that are supposedly pred. Neolithic.

You need to take into account bottle neck effects, founder effects, genetic drifts etc


''This haplogroup wasn't found that much here'' doesn't hold any arguements at all, and if I recall it has been found several times actually unless you're not up to date.

E could aswell been some rare Mesolithic lineage picked up by bronze age and farmers. Nothing can really be ruled out.

Seems majority of you people here don't even understand bottleneck effects.

[Nyx]

Makes sense, there's no arable land between the Nile and Algeria so they would have had no choice but to go through Europe to get to Morocco.

[Sikeliot]

Some interesting F3 stats, N.African EN (IAM) vs Iberia_EN, left the pop are NA EN shifted (ofc the most is the NA_LN KEB), and right more Iberia neo (similar to other Euro_EN) or just no particular affinity to either of both (like Tajik).

Interesting. Canarians, Sicilians, and whoever "Spanish" is are much more North African shifted than mainland south Italians, "Spanish North" or Greeks. Also Lebanese Muslims have more North African shift than do the Christians.