Craniometric data supports demic diffusion model for the spread of agriculture into Europe.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The spread of agriculture into Europe and the ancestry of the first European farmers have been subjects of debate and controversy among geneticists, archaeologists, linguists and anthropologists. Debates have centred on the extent to which the transition was associated with the active migration of people as opposed to the diffusion of cultural practices. Recent studies have shown that patterns of human cranial shape variation can be employed as a reliable proxy for the neutral genetic relationships of human populations.

Methodology/principal findings

Here, we employ measurements of Mesolithic (hunter-gatherers) and Neolithic (farmers) crania from Southwest Asia and Europe to test several alternative population dispersal and hunter-farmer gene-flow models. We base

SUBMITTER: Pinhasi R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2727056 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature