The Beaker phenomenon and the genomic transformation of northwest Europe
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Resource type
Journal article
Creator (person)
Olalde, Ià±igo
Brace, Selina
Allentoft, Morten E
Armit, Ian
Kristiansen, Kristian
Rohland, Nadin
Mallick, Swapan
Booth, Thomas
Szécsényi-Nagy, Anna
Mittnik, Alissa
Altena, Eveline
Lipson, Mark
Lazaridis, Iosif
Patterson, Nick J
Broomandkhoshbacht, Nasreen
Diekmann, Yoan
Faltyskova, Zuzana
Fernandes, Daniel M
Ferry, Matthew
Harney, Eadaoin
de Knijff, Peter
Michel, Megan
Oppenheimer, Jonas
Stewardson, Kristin
Barclay, Alistair
Alt, Kurt W
Avilés Fernà¡ndez, Azucena
Bà¡nffy, Eszter
Bernabà²-Brea, Maria
Billoin, David
Blasco, Concepcià³n
Bonsall, Clive
Bonsall, Laura
Allen, Tim
Bà¼ster, Lindsey
Carver, Sophie
Castells Navarro, Laura
Craig, Oliver Edward
Cook, Gordon T
Cunliffe, Barry
Denaire, Anthony
Dinwiddy, Kirsten Egging
Dodwell, Natasha
Ernée, Michal
Evans, Christopher
KuchaÅ™àk, Milan
Farré, Joan Francès
Fokkens, Harry
Fowler, Chris
Gazenbeek, Michiel
Garrido Pena, Rafael
Haber-Uriarte, Maràa
Haduch, Elżbieta
Hey, Gill
Jowett, Nick
Knowles, Timothy
Massy, Ken
Pfrengle, Saskia
Lefranc, Philippe
Lemercier, Olivier
Lefebvre, Arnaud
Joaquàn, Lomba Maurandi
Majà³, Tona
McKinley, Jacqueline I
McSweeney, Kathleen
Gusztà¡v, Mende Balà¡zs
Modi, Alessandra
Kulcsà¡r, Gabriella
Kiss, Viktà³ria
Czene, Andrà¡s
Patay, Rà³bert
Endrà³di, Anna
Kà¶hler, Kitti
Hajdu, Tamà¡s
Cardoso, Joà£o Luàs
Liesau, Corina
Pearson, Mike Parker
WÅ‚odarczak, Piotr
Price, T Douglas
Prieto, Pilar
Rey, Pierre-Jérà´me
Ràos, Patricia
Risch, Roberto
Rojo Guerra, Manuel A
Schmitt, Aurore
Serralongue, Joà«l
Silva, Ana Maria
SmrÄ ka, Và¡clav
Vergnaud, Luc
Zilhà£o, Joà£o
Caramelli, David
Higham, Thomas
Heyd, Volker
Sheridan, J A
Sjà¶gren, Karl-Gà¶ran
Thomas, Mark G
Stockhammer, Philipp W
Pinhasi, Ron
Krause, Johannes
Haak, Wolfgang
Barnes, Ian
Lalueza-Fox, Carles
Reich, David
Date published
May 9, 2017
Abstract
Bell Beaker pottery spread across western and central Europe beginning around 2750 BCE before disappearing between 2200-1800 BCE. The mechanism of its expansion is a topic of long-standing debate, with support for both cultural diffusion and human migration. We present new genome-wide ancient DNA data from 170 Neolithic, Copper Age and Bronze Age Europeans, including 100 Beaker-associated individuals. In contrast to the Corded Ware Complex, which has previously been identified as arriving in central Europe following migration from the east, we observe limited genetic affinity between Iberian and central European Beaker Complex-associated individuals, and thus exclude migration as a significant mechanism of spread between these two regions. However, human migration did have an important role in the further dissemination of the Beaker Complex, which we document most clearly in Britain using data from 80 newly reported individuals dating to 3900-1200 BCE. British Neolithic farmers were genetically similar to contemporary populations in continental Europe and in particular to Neolithic Iberians, suggesting that a portion of the farmer ancestry in Britain came from the Mediterranean rather than the Danubian route of farming expansion. Beginning with the Beaker period, and continuing through the Bronze Age, all British individuals harboured high proportions of Steppe ancestry and were genetically closely related to Beaker-associated individuals from the Lower Rhine area. We use these observations to show that the spread of the Beaker Complex to Britain was mediated by migration from the continent that replaced >90% of Britain's Neolithic gene pool within a few hundred years, continuing the process that brought Steppe ancestry into central and northern Europe 400 years earlier.
Journal title
bioRxiv
Publisher
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
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Additional information
This article is a preprint and has not been peer-reviewed