Early Neolithic genomes from the eastern Fertile Crescent.
Broushaki FPalaeogenetics Group, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55099 Mainz, Germany.
Thomas MGDepartment of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
Link VDepartment of Biology, University of Fribourg, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland.
López SDepartment of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
van Dorp LDepartment of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
Kirsanow KPalaeogenetics Group, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55099 Mainz, Germany.
Hofmanová ZPalaeogenetics Group, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55099 Mainz, Germany.
Diekmann YDepartment of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
Cassidy LMSmurfit Institute of Genetics, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland.
Díez-Del-Molino DDepartment of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
Kousathanas ADepartment of Biology, University of Fribourg, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland.
Sell CPalaeogenetics Group, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55099 Mainz, Germany.
Robson HKBioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, York, YO10 5YW, UK.
Martiniano RSmurfit Institute of Genetics, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland.
Blöcher JPalaeogenetics Group, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55099 Mainz, Germany.
Scheu APalaeogenetics Group, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55099 Mainz, Germany.
Kreutzer SPalaeogenetics Group, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55099 Mainz, Germany.
Bollongino RPalaeogenetics Group, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55099 Mainz, Germany.
Bobo DDepartment of Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, 11794- 5245, USA.
Davudi HDepartment of Archaeology, Faculty of Humanities, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
Munoz OUMR 7041 ArScAn -VEPMO, Maison de l'Archéologie et de l'Ethnologie, 21 allée de l'Université, 92023 Nanterre, France.
Currat MDepartment of Genetics & Evolution-Anthropology Unit, University of Geneva, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland.
Abdi KSamuel Jordan Center for Persian Studies and Culture, University of California-lrvine, Irvine, CA 92697-3370, USA.
Biglari FPaleolithic Department, National Museum of Iran, 113617111, Tehran, Iran.
Craig OEBioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, York, YO10 5YW, UK.
Bradley DGSmurfit Institute of Genetics, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland.
Shennan SInstitute of Archaeology, University College London, London WC1H 0PY, UK.
Veeramah KDepartment of Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, 11794- 5245, USA.
Mashkour MCNRS/MNHN/SUs - UMR 7209, Archéozoologie et Archéobotanique, Sociétés, Pratiques et Environnements, Département Ecologie et Gestion de la Biodiversité, 55 rue Buffon, 75005 Paris, France.
Wegmann DDepartment of Biology, University of Fribourg, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland.
Hellenthal GDepartment of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
Burger JPalaeogenetics Group, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55099 Mainz, Germany.
English
We 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.