Highlights d Bronze Age (BA) Helladic, Cycladic, and Minoan genomes from the Aegean were sequenced d 3,000 BCE Aegeans are homogeneous and derive ancestry mainly from Neolithic farmers d Neolithic Caucasus-like and BA Pontic-Caspian Steppe-like gene flow shaped the Aegean d Present-day Greeks are genetically similar to 2,000 BCE Aegeans from Northern Greece
The aim of the study is to investigate mitochondrial diversity in Neolithic Greece and its relation to hunter-gatherers and farmers who populated the Danubian Neolithic expansion axis. We sequenced 42 mitochondrial palaeogenomes from Greece and analysed them together with European set of 328 mtDNA sequences dating from the Early to the Final Neolithic and 319 modern sequences. To test for population continuity through time in Greece, we use an original structured population continuity test that simulates DNA from different periods by explicitly considering the spatial and temporal dynamics of populations. We explore specific scenarios of the mode and tempo of the European Neolithic expansion along the Danubian axis applying spatially explicit simulations coupled with Approximate Bayesian Computation. We observe a striking genetic homogeneity for the maternal line throughout the Neolithic in Greece whereas population continuity is rejected between the Neolithic and present-day Greeks. Along the Danubian expansion axis, our best-fitting scenario supports a substantial decrease in mobility and an increasing local hunter-gatherer contribution to the gene-pool of farmers following the initial rapid Neolithic expansion. Οur original simulation approach models key demographic parameters rather than inferring them from fragmentary data leading to a better understanding of this important process in European prehistory.
Nitrogen stable isotope ratios (δ15N) of incremental dentine collagen have been extensively used for the study of breastfeeding and weaning practices in ancient populations. The shifts in δ15N values reveal the duration of exclusive breastfeeding, the onset and completion of weaning. Despite the significant progress in sampling precision protocols, the weaning estimation is still performed by visual observation of δ15N individual profiles, a time-consuming, labor-intensive, and error-prone task. To fill this gap, we generated WEAN, a tool that enables automated estimation of weaning age based on δ15N measurements from incremental dentine collagen. WEAN generates a refined age assignment based on regression analysis and calculates the knee/elbow point of the δ15N curvature as the individual’s weaning age. We tested the accuracy of the tool by re-estimating 130 weaning ages from published datasets with the calculation of the root mean square error (RMSE). The results show a strong agreement between the visual observation and the elbow method underlining that an automatic mathematical framework can be used for the accurate estimation of weaning age. The tool can estimate the weaning age of a single or many individuals and produces visually appealing graphics (scatter and line plots) and output files. WEAN introduces a novel and robust method that streamlines the assessment of δ15N values for the exploration of breastfeeding and weaning patterns in antiquity.
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