Delving thanks to DNA in the history of the cradle of civilization

Thanks to technological advances, more and more information is being obtained from ancient DNA with increasing ease and reliability. DNA analyzes of the mortal remains of people who died many centuries ago make it possible to corroborate conclusions, refute them and, sometimes, open up entirely new perspectives.

Three recently published studies have delved into the history of the so-called “Southern Arc”, a region that encompasses southeastern Europe and Western Asia and has long been considered the “cradle of Western civilization”.

Analysis of recently sequenced ancient DNA from more than 700 individuals from across the region suggests a complex population history from early agricultural cultures to post-medieval times. Until relatively recently, much of the ancient history of the Southern Arc has been told through archaeological data and thousands of years of historical accounts and texts from the region. However, innovations in ancient DNA sequencing have provided a new source of historical information.

On this occasion, the ancient DNA of the mortal remains of 777 humans has allowed us to glimpse the main population changes in the Southern Arc, from the Neolithic (about 10,000 years before Christ) to the Ottoman period (about 300 years ago). The work has been divided into three separate studies. Its authors are from Harvard University in the United States, the University of Vienna in Austria, the University of North Carolina in the United States, and other institutions.

General view of the Karashamb necropolis. In one of the three studies, the DNA of the mortal remains of 26 individuals from this necropolis, from the late Bronze and early Iron ages, has been analysed. (Photo: Pavel Avetsiyan, Varduhi. CC BY)

The findings made by the authors of these studies explain the complex population migrations and interactions that have shaped the region for thousands of years and suggest that earlier reliance on modern population history and ancient writings and art has provided an inaccurate picture of early Indo-European cultures.

In the first of these three studies, the new dataset and an analysis of the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age (approximately 5,000 to 1,000 BC) are presented. This analysis has revealed extensive genetic exchanges between the Eurasian steppe and the Southern Arc and provides new insights into the formation of pastoralist communities in the Yamnaya steppe and the origin of Indo-European languages.

The second study presents the first ancient DNA from pre-pottery Neolithic Mesopotamia from the epicenter of the region’s Neolithic revolution. The findings suggest that the transition between the Pre-Pottery and Neolithic Pottery phases of Neolithic Anatolia was associated with two distinct peaks of migration from the heart of the region known as the Crescent of Fertile Lands.

The third study is a genetic investigation of the ancient and medieval history of Southern Europe and Western Asia. It focuses on the analysis of ancient DNA during a period of recorded history in the Southern Arc, elucidating the demographics and poorly understood geographic origins of groups such as the Mycenaean civilization, the Urartians, and the Romans.

The studies are entitled, respectively: “The genetic history of the Southern Arc: a bridge between West Asia and Europe”, “Ancient DNA from Mesopotamia suggests distinct Pre-Pottery and Pottery Neolithic migrations into Anatolia”, and “A genetic probe into the Ancient and medieval history of Southern Europe and West Asia”. (Source: AAAS)