RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Early Neolithic genomes from the eastern Fertile Crescent JF Science JO Science FD American Association for the Advancement of Science SP 499 OP 503 DO 10.1126/science.aaf7943 VO 353 IS 6298 A1 Broushaki, Farnaz A1 Thomas, Mark G. A1 Link, Vivian A1 López, Saioa A1 van Dorp, Lucy A1 Kirsanow, Karola A1 Hofmanová, Zuzana A1 Diekmann, Yoan A1 Cassidy, Lara M. A1 Díez-del-Molino, David A1 Kousathanas, Athanasios A1 Sell, Christian A1 Robson, Harry K. A1 Martiniano, Rui A1 Blöcher, Jens A1 Scheu, Amelie A1 Kreutzer, Susanne A1 Bollongino, Ruth A1 Bobo, Dean A1 Davoudi, Hossein A1 Munoz, Olivia A1 Currat, Mathias A1 Abdi, Kamyar A1 Biglari, Fereidoun A1 Craig, Oliver E. A1 Bradley, Daniel G. A1 Shennan, Stephen A1 Veeramah, Krishna R. A1 Mashkour, Marjan A1 Wegmann, Daniel A1 Hellenthal, Garrett A1 Burger, Joachim YR 2016 UL http://science.sciencemag.org/content/353/6298/499.abstract AB The genetic composition of populations in Europe changed during the Neolithic transition from hunting and gathering to farming. To better understand the origin of modern populations, Broushaki et al. sequenced ancient DNA from four individuals from the Zagros region of present-day Iran, representing the early Neolithic Fertile Crescent. These individuals unexpectedly were not ancestral to early European farmers, and their genetic structures did not contribute significantly to those of present-day Europeans. These data indicate that a parallel Neolithic transition probably resulted from structured farming populations across southwest Asia.Science, this issue p. 499We sequenced Early Neolithic genomes from the Zagros region of Iran (eastern Fertile Crescent), where some of the earliest evidence for farming is found, and identify a previously uncharacterized population that is neither ancestral to the first European farmers nor has contributed substantially to the ancestry of modern Europeans. These people are estimated to have separated from Early Neolithic farmers in Anatolia some 46,000 to 77,000 years ago and show affinities to modern-day Pakistani and Afghan populations, but particularly to Iranian Zoroastrians. We conclude that multiple, genetically differentiated hunter-gatherer populations adopted farming in southwestern Asia, that components of pre-Neolithic population structure were preserved as farming spread into neighboring regions, and that the Zagros region was the cradle of eastward expansion.