Hervella et al. 2012
Samples :
Haplogroups :
Haplogroup H is the major one, showing a frequency of 45% in the ancient
samples analysed. This figure is similar to that observed in some
present-day European populations including the North of the Iberian
Peninsula
Two of the Palolithic hunter-gatherer from Cantabria belong to mtDNA H .
The three groups of hunter-gatherers considered in this analysis (from
Scandinavia, Central Europe and the Cantabrian fringe on the Iberian
Peninsula) did not show statistically significant differences between
one another, but
they are significantly different from any population compared, because
to the high frequency of haplotypes within the haplogroup U (50%–80%) .
Abstract
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.
Conclusion
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.
