The spatiotemporal spread of human migrations during the European Holocene
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The spatiotemporal spread of human migrations during the European Holocene. / Racimo, Fernando; Woodbridge, Jessie; Fyfe, Ralph M.; Sikora, Martin; Sjogren, Karl-Goran; Kristiansen, Kristian; Vander Linden, Marc.
In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 117, No. 16, 2020, p. 8989-9000.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - The spatiotemporal spread of human migrations during the European Holocene
AU - Racimo, Fernando
AU - Woodbridge, Jessie
AU - Fyfe, Ralph M.
AU - Sikora, Martin
AU - Sjogren, Karl-Goran
AU - Kristiansen, Kristian
AU - Vander Linden, Marc
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - The European continent was subject to two major migrations of peoples during the Holocene: the northwestward movement of Anatolian farmer populations during the Neolithic and the westward movement of Yamnaya steppe peoples during the Bronze Age. These movements changed the genetic composition of the continent's inhabitants. The Holocene was also characterized by major changes in vegetation composition, which altered the environment occupied by the original hunter-gatherer populations. We aim to test to what extent vegetation change through time is associated with changes in population composition as a consequence of these migrations, or with changes in climate. Using ancient DNA in combination with geostatistical techniques, we produce detailed maps of ancient population movements, which allow us to visualize how these migrations unfolded through time and space. We find that the spread of Neolithic farmer ancestry had a two-pronged wavefront, in agreement with similar findings on the cultural spread of farming from radiocarbon-dated archaeological sites. This movement, however, did not have a strong association with changes in the vegetational landscape. In contrast, the Yamnaya migration speed was at least twice as fast and coincided with a reduction in the amount of broad-leaf forest and an increase in the amount of pasture and natural grasslands in the continent. We demonstrate the utility of integrating ancient genomes with archaeometric datasets in a spatiotemporal statistical framework, which we foresee will enable future studies of ancient populations' movements, and their putative effects on local fauna and flora.
AB - The European continent was subject to two major migrations of peoples during the Holocene: the northwestward movement of Anatolian farmer populations during the Neolithic and the westward movement of Yamnaya steppe peoples during the Bronze Age. These movements changed the genetic composition of the continent's inhabitants. The Holocene was also characterized by major changes in vegetation composition, which altered the environment occupied by the original hunter-gatherer populations. We aim to test to what extent vegetation change through time is associated with changes in population composition as a consequence of these migrations, or with changes in climate. Using ancient DNA in combination with geostatistical techniques, we produce detailed maps of ancient population movements, which allow us to visualize how these migrations unfolded through time and space. We find that the spread of Neolithic farmer ancestry had a two-pronged wavefront, in agreement with similar findings on the cultural spread of farming from radiocarbon-dated archaeological sites. This movement, however, did not have a strong association with changes in the vegetational landscape. In contrast, the Yamnaya migration speed was at least twice as fast and coincided with a reduction in the amount of broad-leaf forest and an increase in the amount of pasture and natural grasslands in the continent. We demonstrate the utility of integrating ancient genomes with archaeometric datasets in a spatiotemporal statistical framework, which we foresee will enable future studies of ancient populations' movements, and their putative effects on local fauna and flora.
KW - migrations
KW - ancient DNA
KW - Neolithic
KW - Bronze Age
KW - land cover
KW - LAND-COVER
KW - GENETIC-STRUCTURE
KW - HUNTER-GATHERERS
KW - POTENTIAL ROLE
KW - EARLY FARMERS
KW - POPULATION
KW - ADMIXTURE
KW - VEGETATION
KW - CLIMATE
KW - ORIGIN
U2 - 10.1073/pnas.1920051117
DO - 10.1073/pnas.1920051117
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 32238559
VL - 117
SP - 8989
EP - 9000
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
SN - 0027-8424
IS - 16
ER -
ID: 245710630