Department of Genetics, Physical Anthropology and Animal Physiology, University of the Basque Country, Bizkaia, Spain.
PLoS One. 2012;7(4):e34417. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0034417. Epub 2012 Apr 25.
BACKGROUND/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The phenomenon of Neolithisation refers to the transition of prehistoric populations from a hunter-gatherer to an agro-pastoralist lifestyle. Traditionally, the spread of an agro-pastoralist economy into Europe has been framed within a dichotomy based either on an acculturation phenomenon or on a demic diffusion. However, the nature and speed of this transition is a matter of continuing scientific debate in archaeology, anthropology, and human population genetics. In the present study, we have analyzed the mitochondrial DNA diversity in hunter-gatherers and first farmers from Northern Spain, in relation to the debate surrounding the phenomenon of Neolithisation in Europe.
METHODOLOGY/SIGNIFICANCE: Analysis of mitochondrial DNA was carried out on 54 individuals from Upper Paleolithic and Early Neolithic, which were recovered from nine archaeological sites from Northern Spain (Basque Country, Navarre and Cantabria). In addition, to take all necessary precautions to avoid contamination, different authentication criteria were applied in this study, including: DNA quantification, cloning, duplication (51% of the samples) and replication of the results (43% of the samples) by two independent laboratories. Statistical and multivariate analyses of the mitochondrial variability suggest that the genetic influence of Neolithisation did not spread uniformly throughout Europe, producing heterogeneous genetic consequences in different geographical regions, rejecting the traditional models that explain the Neolithisation in Europe.
The differences detected in the mitochondrial DNA lineages of Neolithic groups studied so far (including these ones of this study) suggest different genetic impact of Neolithic in Central Europe, Mediterranean Europe and the Cantabrian fringe. The genetic data obtained in this study provide support for a random dispersion model for Neolithic farmers. This random dispersion had a different impact on the various geographic regions, and thus contradicts the more simplistic total acculturation and replacement models proposed so far to explain Neolithisation.
背景/主要发现：新石器时代化现象是指史前人口从狩猎采集者向农牧民生活方式的转变。传统上，农牧经济向欧洲的传播是在基于文化适应现象或人群扩散的二分法框架内进行的。然而，这种转变的性质和速度是考古学、人类学和人类群体遗传学中持续科学争论的问题。在本研究中，我们分析了来自西班牙北部的狩猎采集者和最初的农民的线粒体 DNA 多样性，以探讨围绕欧洲新石器时代化现象的争论。
方法/意义：对来自西班牙北部九个考古地点（巴斯克地区、纳瓦拉和坎塔布里亚）的 54 名上旧石器时代和新石器时代早期个体进行了线粒体 DNA 分析。此外，为了避免污染，本研究采用了不同的验证标准，包括：DNA 定量、克隆、复制（51%的样本）和由两个独立实验室复制结果（43%的样本）。线粒体变异性的统计和多元分析表明，新石器时代化的遗传影响并非在整个欧洲均匀传播，而是在不同地理区域产生了不同的遗传后果，从而否定了传统的解释欧洲新石器时代化的模型。
迄今为止（包括本研究）研究的新石器时代群体的线粒体 DNA 谱系中检测到的差异表明，中欧、地中海欧洲和坎塔布里亚边缘地区的新石器时代的遗传影响不同。本研究获得的遗传数据支持新石器时代农民的随机扩散模型。这种随机扩散对不同地理区域产生了不同的影响，从而反驳了迄今为止提出的更为简单的完全文化适应和替代模型，以解释新石器时代化。
