Jacques de Imbelloni
12-31-2022, 03:46 PM
full article
https://www.nature.com/articles/srep31326
The genetics of an early Neolithic pastoralist from the Zagros, Iran
Published: <time datetime="2016-08-09">09 August 2016
</time> (https://www.nature.com/articles/srep31326#article-info)<section aria-labelledby="Abs1" data-title="Abstract" data-gtm-vis-first-on-screen-50443292_562="18635" data-gtm-vis-total-visible-time-50443292_562="10000" data-gtm-vis-first-on-screen-50443292_563="18842" data-gtm-vis-total-visible-time-50443292_563="10000" data-gtm-vis-has-fired-50443292_562="1" data-gtm-vis-has-fired-50443292_563="1" lang="en">AbstractThe agricultural transition profoundly changed human societies. We sequenced and analysed the first genome (1.39x) of an early Neolithic woman from Ganj Dareh, in the Zagros Mountains of Iran, a site with early evidence for an economy based on goat herding, ca. 10,000 BP. We show that Western Iran was inhabited by a population genetically most similar to hunter-gatherers from the Caucasus, but distinct from the Neolithic Anatolian people who later brought food production into Europe. The inhabitants of Ganj Dareh made little direct genetic contribution to modern European populations, suggesting those of the Central Zagros were somewhat isolated from other populations of the Fertile Crescent. Runs of homozygosity are of a similar length to those from Neolithic farmers, and shorter than those of Caucasus and Western Hunter-Gatherers, suggesting that the inhabitants of Ganj Dareh did not undergo the large population bottleneck suffered by their northern neighbours. While some degree of cultural diffusion between Anatolia, Western Iran and other neighbouring regions is possible, the genetic dissimilarity between early Anatolian farmers and the inhabitants of Ganj Dareh supports a model in which Neolithic societies in these areas were distinct.
</section> <section data-title="Introduction" data-gtm-vis-first-on-screen-50443292_563="19991" data-gtm-vis-total-visible-time-50443292_563="9600" data-gtm-vis-polling-id-50443292_563="1469" data-gtm-vis-recent-on-screen-50443292_563="256661">IntroductionThe agricultural transition started in a region comprising the Ancient Near East and Anatolia ~12,000 years ago with the first Pre-Pottery Neolithic villages and the first domestication of cereals and legumes1 (https://www.nature.com/articles/srep31326#ref-CR1),2 (https://www.nature.com/articles/srep31326#ref-CR2). Archaeological evidence suggests a complex scenario of multiple domestications in a number of areas3 (https://www.nature.com/articles/srep31326#ref-CR3), coupled with examples of trade4 (https://www.nature.com/articles/srep31326#ref-CR4). Ancient DNA (aDNA) has revealed that this cultural package was later brought into Europe by dispersing farmers from Anatolia (so called ‘demic’ diffusion, as opposed to non-demic cultural diffusion5 (https://www.nature.com/articles/srep31326#ref-CR5),6 (https://www.nature.com/articles/srep31326#ref-CR6)) ~8,400 years ago. However a lack of aDNA from early Neolithic individuals from the Near East leaves a key question unanswered: was the agricultural transition developed by one major population group spanning the Near East, including Anatolia and the Central Zagros Mountains; or was the region inhabited by genetically diverse populations, as is suggested by the heterogeneous mode and timing of the appearance of early domesticates at different localities?
To answer this question, we sequenced the genome of an early Neolithic female from Ganj Dareh, GD13a, from the Central Zagros (Western Iran), dated to 10000-9700 cal BP7 (https://www.nature.com/articles/srep31326#ref-CR7), a region located at the eastern edge of the Near East. Ganj Dareh is well known for providing the earliest evidence of herd management of goats beginning at 9,900 BP7 (https://www.nature.com/articles/srep31326#ref-CR7),8 (https://www.nature.com/articles/srep31326#ref-CR8),9 (https://www.nature.com/articles/srep31326#ref-CR9). It is a classic mound site at an altitude of ~1400 m in the Gamas-Ab Valley of the High Zagros zone in Kermanshah Province, Western Iran. It was discovered in the 1960s during survey work and excavated over four seasons between 1967 and 1974. The mound, ~40 m in diameter, shows 7 to 8 m of early Neolithic cultural deposits. Five major levels were found, labelled A through E from top to bottom. Extended evidence showed a warren of rooms with evidence of under-floor inhumations within what may be burial chambers and/or disused houses10 (https://www.nature.com/articles/srep31326#ref-CR10). The current Minimum Number of Individuals is 116, with 56 catalogued as skeletons that had four or more bones recovered11 (https://www.nature.com/articles/srep31326#ref-CR11). The individual analysed here was part of burial 13, which contained three individuals, and was recovered in level C in 1971 from the floor of a brick-walled structure. The individual sampled, 13A (referred to as GD13a throughout the text), was a 30–50 year old female; the other individuals in the burial unit were a second adult (13B) and an adolescent (13).
The site has been directly dated to 9650–9950 cal BP7 (https://www.nature.com/articles/srep31326#ref-CR7), and shows intense occupation over two to three centuries. The economy of the population was that of pastoralists with an emphasis on goat herding7 (https://www.nature.com/articles/srep31326#ref-CR7). Archaeobotanical evidence is limited12 (https://www.nature.com/articles/srep31326#ref-CR12) but the evidence present is for two-row barley with no evidence for wheat, rye or other domesticates. This implies that the overall economy was at a much earlier stage in the development of cereal agriculture than that found in the Levant, Anatolia and Northern Mesopotamian basin.
</section><time datetime="2016-08-09">
</time> (https://www.nature.com/articles/srep31326#article-info)
https://www.nature.com/articles/srep31326
The genetics of an early Neolithic pastoralist from the Zagros, Iran
Published: <time datetime="2016-08-09">09 August 2016
</time> (https://www.nature.com/articles/srep31326#article-info)<section aria-labelledby="Abs1" data-title="Abstract" data-gtm-vis-first-on-screen-50443292_562="18635" data-gtm-vis-total-visible-time-50443292_562="10000" data-gtm-vis-first-on-screen-50443292_563="18842" data-gtm-vis-total-visible-time-50443292_563="10000" data-gtm-vis-has-fired-50443292_562="1" data-gtm-vis-has-fired-50443292_563="1" lang="en">AbstractThe agricultural transition profoundly changed human societies. We sequenced and analysed the first genome (1.39x) of an early Neolithic woman from Ganj Dareh, in the Zagros Mountains of Iran, a site with early evidence for an economy based on goat herding, ca. 10,000 BP. We show that Western Iran was inhabited by a population genetically most similar to hunter-gatherers from the Caucasus, but distinct from the Neolithic Anatolian people who later brought food production into Europe. The inhabitants of Ganj Dareh made little direct genetic contribution to modern European populations, suggesting those of the Central Zagros were somewhat isolated from other populations of the Fertile Crescent. Runs of homozygosity are of a similar length to those from Neolithic farmers, and shorter than those of Caucasus and Western Hunter-Gatherers, suggesting that the inhabitants of Ganj Dareh did not undergo the large population bottleneck suffered by their northern neighbours. While some degree of cultural diffusion between Anatolia, Western Iran and other neighbouring regions is possible, the genetic dissimilarity between early Anatolian farmers and the inhabitants of Ganj Dareh supports a model in which Neolithic societies in these areas were distinct.
</section> <section data-title="Introduction" data-gtm-vis-first-on-screen-50443292_563="19991" data-gtm-vis-total-visible-time-50443292_563="9600" data-gtm-vis-polling-id-50443292_563="1469" data-gtm-vis-recent-on-screen-50443292_563="256661">IntroductionThe agricultural transition started in a region comprising the Ancient Near East and Anatolia ~12,000 years ago with the first Pre-Pottery Neolithic villages and the first domestication of cereals and legumes1 (https://www.nature.com/articles/srep31326#ref-CR1),2 (https://www.nature.com/articles/srep31326#ref-CR2). Archaeological evidence suggests a complex scenario of multiple domestications in a number of areas3 (https://www.nature.com/articles/srep31326#ref-CR3), coupled with examples of trade4 (https://www.nature.com/articles/srep31326#ref-CR4). Ancient DNA (aDNA) has revealed that this cultural package was later brought into Europe by dispersing farmers from Anatolia (so called ‘demic’ diffusion, as opposed to non-demic cultural diffusion5 (https://www.nature.com/articles/srep31326#ref-CR5),6 (https://www.nature.com/articles/srep31326#ref-CR6)) ~8,400 years ago. However a lack of aDNA from early Neolithic individuals from the Near East leaves a key question unanswered: was the agricultural transition developed by one major population group spanning the Near East, including Anatolia and the Central Zagros Mountains; or was the region inhabited by genetically diverse populations, as is suggested by the heterogeneous mode and timing of the appearance of early domesticates at different localities?
To answer this question, we sequenced the genome of an early Neolithic female from Ganj Dareh, GD13a, from the Central Zagros (Western Iran), dated to 10000-9700 cal BP7 (https://www.nature.com/articles/srep31326#ref-CR7), a region located at the eastern edge of the Near East. Ganj Dareh is well known for providing the earliest evidence of herd management of goats beginning at 9,900 BP7 (https://www.nature.com/articles/srep31326#ref-CR7),8 (https://www.nature.com/articles/srep31326#ref-CR8),9 (https://www.nature.com/articles/srep31326#ref-CR9). It is a classic mound site at an altitude of ~1400 m in the Gamas-Ab Valley of the High Zagros zone in Kermanshah Province, Western Iran. It was discovered in the 1960s during survey work and excavated over four seasons between 1967 and 1974. The mound, ~40 m in diameter, shows 7 to 8 m of early Neolithic cultural deposits. Five major levels were found, labelled A through E from top to bottom. Extended evidence showed a warren of rooms with evidence of under-floor inhumations within what may be burial chambers and/or disused houses10 (https://www.nature.com/articles/srep31326#ref-CR10). The current Minimum Number of Individuals is 116, with 56 catalogued as skeletons that had four or more bones recovered11 (https://www.nature.com/articles/srep31326#ref-CR11). The individual analysed here was part of burial 13, which contained three individuals, and was recovered in level C in 1971 from the floor of a brick-walled structure. The individual sampled, 13A (referred to as GD13a throughout the text), was a 30–50 year old female; the other individuals in the burial unit were a second adult (13B) and an adolescent (13).
The site has been directly dated to 9650–9950 cal BP7 (https://www.nature.com/articles/srep31326#ref-CR7), and shows intense occupation over two to three centuries. The economy of the population was that of pastoralists with an emphasis on goat herding7 (https://www.nature.com/articles/srep31326#ref-CR7). Archaeobotanical evidence is limited12 (https://www.nature.com/articles/srep31326#ref-CR12) but the evidence present is for two-row barley with no evidence for wheat, rye or other domesticates. This implies that the overall economy was at a much earlier stage in the development of cereal agriculture than that found in the Levant, Anatolia and Northern Mesopotamian basin.
</section><time datetime="2016-08-09">
</time> (https://www.nature.com/articles/srep31326#article-info)