Genomic History of Neolithic to Bronze Age Anatolia,Northern Levant, and Southern Caucasus

Description

Here, we report genome-wide data analyses from 110 ancient Near Eastern individuals spanning the LateNeolithic to Late Bronze Age, a period characterized by intense interregional interactions for the NearEast. We find that 6th millennium BCE populations of North/Central Anatolia and the Southern Caucasusshared mixed ancestry on a genetic cline that formed during the Neolithic between Western Anatolia and regionsin today's Southern Caucasus/Zagros. During the Late Chalcolithic and/or the Early Bronze Age, morethan half of the Northern Levantine gene pool was replaced, while in the rest of Anatolia and the SouthernCaucasus, we document genetic continuity with only transient gene flow. Additionally, we reveal a geneticallydistinct individual within the Late Bronze Age Northern Levant. Overall, our study uncovers multiple scales ofpopulation dynamics through time, from extensive admixture during the Neolithic period to long-distancemobility within the globalized societies of the Late Bronze Age.

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