Ancient genomes from North Africa evidence prehistoric migrations to the Maghreb from both the Levant and Europe (original) (raw)
ADS
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- Méndez, Fernando L. ;
- Bokbot, Youssef ;
- Martín-Socas, Dimas ;
- Camalich-Massieu, María D. ;
- Santana, Jonathan ;
- Morales, Jacob ;
- Ávila-Arcos, María C. ;
- Underhill, Peter A. ;
- Shapiro, Beth ;
- Wojcik, Genevieve ;
- Rasmussen, Morten ;
- Soares, André E. R. ;
- Kapp, Joshua ;
- Sockell, Alexandra ;
- Rodríguez-Santos, Francisco J. ;
- Mikdad, Abdeslam ;
- Trujillo-Mederos, Aioze ;
- Bustamante, Carlos D.
Abstract
The acquisition of agricultural techniques during the so-called Neolithic revolution has been one of the major steps forward in human history. Using next-generation sequencing and ancient-DNA techniques, we directly test whether Neolithization in North Africa occurred through the transmission of ideas or by demic diffusion. We show that Early Neolithic Moroccans are composed of an endemic Maghrebi element still retained in present-day North African populations, resembling the genetic component observed in Later Stone Age communities from Morocco. However, Late Neolithic individuals from North Africa are admixed, with a North African and a European component. Our results support the idea that the Neolithization of North Africa involved both the development of Epipaleolithic communities and the migration of people from Europe.
Publication:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Science
Pub Date:
June 2018
DOI:
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