The ancient cline of haplogroup K implies that the Neolithic transition in Europe was mainly demic.

ABSTRACT: Using a database with the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of 513 Neolithic individuals, we quantify the space-time variation of the frequency of haplogroup K, previously proposed as a relevant Neolithic marker. We compare these data to simulations, based on a mathematical model in which a Neolithic population spreads from Syria to Anatolia and Europe, possibly interbreeding with Mesolithic individuals (who lack haplogroup K) and/or teaching farming to them. Both the data and the simulations show that the percentage of haplogroup K (%K) decreases with increasing distance from Syria and that, in each region, the %K tends to decrease with increasing time after the arrival of farming. Both the model and the data display a local minimum of the genetic cline, and for the same Neolithic regional cultur

SUBMITTER: Isern N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5594011 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature