Abstract

Mehmet Somel will present some recent results on the first steps of the Neolithic expansion westward, “out-of-Anatolia”. For this study, his group generated 30 new paleogenomes from six settlements in West and Central Anatolia dating to c.10,000-8,000 years ago. The researchers further compiled a digitalized material culture dataset comprising 58 cultural elements, from architecture and tools to burial types and pottery styles.  The dataset revealed that the westward expansion of the Neolithic was much more diverse in its dynamics than usually assumed.

By 10,000 years ago, in West Anatolia, they found cultural adoption of Neolithic elements, but without genetic evidence for mobility. By 8,500 years ago, they found mobility from Neolithic core areas in the east, where the incomers mixed with local foraging groups in West Anatolia. Later, the descendants of this genetically mixed population expanded into Europe to establish the Neolithic there.

Secondly, Mehmet’s group performed a quantitative comparison of material culture similarities among settlements with their genetic and spatial proximities. This showed that genetic history had no explanatory impact on material culture similarities after controlling for spatial similarity. This supports the notion that material culture similarity patterns are shaped by background mobility rather than migration processes.

Related article (pre-press):

Koptekin, D., Aydoğan, A., Karamurat, C., Altınışık, N. E., Vural, K. B., Kazancı, D. D., … & Somel, M. (2024). Out-of-Anatolia: cultural and genetic interactions during the Neolithic expansion in the Aegean. bioRxiv, 2024-06. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.06.23.599747v1.full

Mehmet Somel is a professor of biology at the Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey, and the Human Past Senior Fellow 2024-25. He will deliver the ToP seminar on his current research project.

You can read about the fellowships and other research projects here.