[Mitochondria DNA markers and genetic demographic processes in neolithic Europe].

Distribution patterns of mitochondrial DNA markers, BamHI-2/AvaII-5(3), BamHI-3/MspI-4, and BamHI-1/AvaII-5(3), and mitotypes with the control region corresponding to the Cambridge reference sequence in European and Middle Eastern populations are discussed with respect to the history of the European populations in the Neolith. It is suggested that distribution of mtDNA markers is associated with the Neolithic invasion of the Caucasoid populations from the Middle East to Europe in accordance with the "wave-of-advance" hypothesis of Ammerman and Cavalli-Sforza. However, genetic differences between regional European population groups indicate a more pronounced demic diffusion in the southeast of Europe, better correlated with the hypothesis of C. Renfrew, while in the northeast the agriculture and the Indo-European languages could have been adopted by the ancient Caucasoid populations without any considerable genetic admixture with at least the women from the Neolithic migration wave from the Middle East.