Genomic insights into the origin of farming in the ancient Near East

AI interpretationAI-generated

Ancient DNA reveals how Near Eastern hunter-gatherers became the world's first farmers.

This study sequenced 44 ancient genomes from the Near East, spanning 12,000 to 1,400 BC. It found that early Near Easterners carried a 'Basal Eurasian' ancestry with little Neanderthal DNA. The first farmers in the southern Levant and Zagros Mountains were genetically distinct, each descending from local hunter-gatherers. Later, these groups mixed with each other and with European hunter-gatherers, reducing differences. Near Eastern farmers then spread into Europe, East Africa, the Eurasian steppe, and South Asia.

• Earliest Near Easterners had about half their ancestry from a 'Basal Eurasian' lineage with minimal Neanderthal admixture.
• First farmers in the southern Levant and Zagros Mountains were genetically distinct and descended from local hunter-gatherers.
• By the Bronze Age, mixing among these farmer groups and European hunter-gatherers greatly reduced genetic differentiation.

Sample interpretation

The site samples include 14 ancient individuals, with 13 resolved Y-chromosome lineages. Y haplogroups are diverse: E-M78 (2), R-M124 (2), and single instances of E-M5555, G-FT276712, L-TYT171661, L-M27, G-FGC595, J-Y3165. Mitochondrial DNA shows T1a2 (3), plus H-T152C!, R0a1a, K1a8, J1c10, and H2a1. Cultures represented are Areni_CA (1) and Kura_Araxes (1). Sites include ERS1211898 (5), Kura-Araxes culture (4), ERS1211938 (4), and ERS1211903 (1).

For genealogy enthusiasts

For ancestry enthusiasts, this shows the Near East as a key source of farming populations. Modern Europeans, East Africans, South Asians, and steppe peoples partly descend from these early farmers. The diverse Y and mtDNA lineages in the samples reflect the complex mixing that shaped later populations.