Sokal R R, Oden N L, Wilson C
Department of Ecology and Evolution, State University of New York, Stony Brook 11794-5245.
Nature. 1991 May 9;351(6322):143-5. doi: 10.1038/351143a0.
European agriculture originated in the Near East about 9,000 years ago. The Neolithic reached almost all areas suitable for agriculture by 5,000 yr BP (before present). The routes and times of the spread of agriculture through Europe are relatively well established, but not its manner of spreading. This could have been by cultural diffusion with few genetic consequences. By contrast, Ammerman and Cavalli-Sforza proposed that the spread of farming increased local population densities, causing demic expansion into new territory and diffusive gene flow between the neolithic farmers and mesolithic groups. We have now tested observed genetic patterns against expectations derived from the demic expansion hypothesis. We found significant partial correlations of genetic distances with a distance matrix especially designed to represent the spread of agriculture on that continent, when geographic distances are held constant. These findings support the hypothesis of Ammerman and Cavalli-Sforza and invite further investigation into Renfrew's hypothesis on the origin of the Indo-European languages.
欧洲农业起源于约9000年前的近东地区。到距今5000年前（公元前），新石器时代几乎覆盖了所有适合农业的地区。农业在欧洲传播的路线和时间相对明确，但传播方式尚不明确。传播方式可能是文化扩散，几乎没有基因方面的影响。相比之下，阿默曼和卡瓦利 - 斯福扎提出，农业的传播增加了当地人口密度，导致人口向新领土扩张，并在新石器时代农民和中石器时代群体之间产生扩散性基因流动。我们现在根据人口扩张假说得出的预期来检验观察到的基因模式。当地理距离保持不变时，我们发现基因距离与专门设计用来表示农业在该大陆传播情况的距离矩阵存在显著的偏相关。这些发现支持了阿默曼和卡瓦利 - 斯福扎的假说，并促使人们对伦弗鲁关于印欧语系起源的假说进行进一步研究。
