Tuesday, May 7, 2024

The First Farmers Of Cyprus Were Mostly Anatolian

Neolithic Cyprus was settled from Turkey, not Greece, by a sister population to the first farmers of Europe, very early in the Fertile Crescent derived Neolithic era. 
Archaeological evidence supports sporadic seafaring visits to the Eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus by Epipaleolithic hunter-gatherers over 12,000 years ago, followed by permanent settlements during the early Neolithic. The geographical origins of these early seafarers have so far remained elusive. 
By systematically analysing all available genomes from the late Pleistocene to early Holocene Near East (c. 14,000–7000 cal BCE), we provide a comprehensive overview of the genetic landscape of the early Neolithic Fertile Crescent and Anatolia and infer the likely origins of three recently published genomes from Kissonerga-Mylouthkia (Cypriot Late Pre-Pottery Neolithic B, c. 7600–6800 cal BCE). These appear to derive roughly 80% of their ancestry from Aceramic Neolithic Central Anatolians residing in or near the Konya plain, and the remainder from a genetically basal Levantine population. 
Based on genome-wide weighted ancestry covariance analysis, we infer that this admixture event took place roughly between 14,000 and 10,000 BCE, coinciding with the transition from the Cypriot late Epipaleolithic to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA). Additionally, we identify strong genetic affinities between the examined Cypro-LPPNB individuals and later northwestern Anatolians and the earliest European Neolithic farmers
Our results inform archaeological evidence on prehistoric demographic processes in the Eastern Mediterranean, providing important insights into early seafaring, maritime connections, and insular settlement.
Alexandros Heraclides, et al., "Palaeogenomic insights into the origins of early settlers on the island of Cyprus" 14 Scientific Reports 9632 (April 26, 2024) (open access).

Some comments about early pottery

Pottery appears to have been an East Asian innovation, that arose prior to farming and herding in sedentary fishing based communities like the Jomon and people with similar lifestyles in what is now China and Korea, that gradually migrated to the West across North Asia, mostly arriving in West Asia and Europe after herding and farming had been developed there.

Also, it is worth noting that Western anthropologists use the term "Neolithic" to refer to the commencement of widespread use of domesticated plants and animals, while Soviet and post-Soviet anthropologists use the term "Neolithic" to refer to the commencement of widespread use of pottery.

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