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The Mesolithic-Neolithic Transition in Europe: A Perspective from Ancient Human DNA

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Times of Neolithic Transition along the Western Mediterranean

Part of the book series: Fundamental Issues in Archaeology ((FIAR))

Abstract

Recent advances in DNA genotyping techniques have made it possible to recover a substantial body of ancient DNA data from Mesolithic and Neolithic skeletons, improving our understanding of the biological mechanisms involved in the transition to farming. Overall, both mitochondrial and nuclear ancient DNA evidence suggest that hunter-gatherer and Early Neolithic European groups had a different genetic makeup. This has been interpreted as a signature of genetic replacement by genetically distinct Neolithic groups of Near Eastern origin.

However, the scarceness of genetic data from the Mesolithic background and also from key areas within Europe—like the core and interim regions in the Near East, Greece, Italy, France, and Southern and Western Iberia—greatly limits our understanding of the genetic implications linked to the expansion of the Neolithic techno-complex at a local scale. With this in mind, in this chapter we will revise and discuss the contribution of ancient DNA analysis to the understanding of the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition and the spread of the Neolithic in Europe, focusing on the areas with publicly available ancient DNA data from these periods.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the invaluable help of Professor Mehmet Özdogan for the constructive discussion about the potential of ancient DNA analyses in the study of the European Mesolithic-Neolithic transition, and for providing an archaeological context for the interpretation of the Neolithic Anatolian data. Very special thanks also to Professor Peter Rowley-Conwy for his interest in this article and for highlighting the similarities between the Cardial and La Hoguette/Limburg ware cultures. Last, but not less important, we would like to thank Professor António F. Carvalho for the feedback on this manuscript and to Dr. Nicholas Shipillis for proofreading it.

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  1. Department of Archaeology, Durham University, DH1, Durham, UK

    E. Fernández-Domínguez

  2. Research Centre in Evolutionary Anthropology and Palaeoecology, Liverpool John Moores University, L3 3AF, Liverpool, UK

    Luke Reynolds

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  1. PREMEDOC Research Group, Departament de Prehistὸria Arqueologia i Histὸria Antiga, Universitat de València, València, Spain

    Oreto García-Puchol

  2. Grupo de Investigación en Prehistoria IT-622-13 (UPV-EHU)/IKERBASQUE-Basque Foundation for Science, Vitoria, Spain

    Domingo C. Salazar-García

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Fernández-Domínguez, E., Reynolds, L. (2017). The Mesolithic-Neolithic Transition in Europe: A Perspective from Ancient Human DNA. In: García-Puchol, O., Salazar-García, D. (eds) Times of Neolithic Transition along the Western Mediterranean. Fundamental Issues in Archaeology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-52939-4_12

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