DNA Neolithic pigs in Europe
- From: "Peter Alaca" <p.alaca@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 27 Sep 2007 00:59:45 +0200
Larson et al. 2007
Ancient DNA, pig domestication, and the spread of the Neolithic into Europe
PNAS 104(39):15276-15281
http://www.pnas.org/cgi/reprint/0703411104v1.pdf
[6 pp, 611 kb]
Summary
"The Neolithic Revolution began 11,000 years ago in the
Near East and preceded a westward migration into
Europe of distinctive cultural groups and their agricultural
economies, including domesticated animals and plants.
Despite decades of research, no consensus has
emerged about the extent of admixture between the
indigenous and exotic populations or the degree to which
the appearance of specific components of the "Neolithic
cultural package" in Europe reflects truly independent
development. Here, through the use of mitochondrial DNA
from 323 modern and 221 ancient pig specimens
sampled across western Eurasia, we demonstrate that
domestic pigs of Near Eastern ancestry were definitely
introduced into Europe during the Neolithic (potentially
along two separate routes), reaching the Paris Basin by
at least the early 4th millennium B.C. Local European
wild boar were also domesticated by this time, possibly
as a direct consequence of the introduction of Near
Eastern domestic pigs. Once domesticated, European
pigs rapidly replaced the introduced domestic pigs of
Near Eastern origin throughout Europe. Domestic pigs
formed a key component of the Neolithic Revolution, and
this detailed genetic record of their origins reveals a
complex set of interactions and processes during the
spread of early farmers into Europe. "
--
p.a.
.
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