Ancient genomes from North Africa evidence prehistoric migrations to the Maghreb from both the Levant and Europe

Abstract

The extent to which prehistoric migrations of farmers influenced the genetic pool of western North Africans remains unclear. Archaeological evidence suggests that the Neolithization process may have happened through the adoption of innovations by local Epipaleolithic communities or by demic diffusion from the Eastern Mediterranean shores or Iberia. Here, we present an analysis of individuals' genome sequences from Early and Late Neolithic sites in Morocco and from Early Neolithic individuals from southern Iberia. We show that Early Neolithic Moroccans (∼5,000 BCE) are similar to Later Stone Age individuals from the same region and possess an endemic element retained in present-day Maghrebi populations, confirming a long-term genetic continuity in the region. This scenario is consistent with Early Neolithic traditions in North Africa deriving from Epipaleolithic communities that adopted certain agricultural techniques from neighboring populations. Among Eurasian ancient populations, Early Neolithic Moroccans are distantly related to Levantine Natufian hunter-gatherers (∼9,000 BCE) and Pre-Pottery Neolithic farmers (∼6,500 BCE). Late Neolithic (∼3,000 BCE) Moroccans, in contrast, share an Iberian component, supporting theories of trans-Gibraltar gene flow and indicating that Neolithization of North Africa involved both the movement of ideas and people. Lastly, the southern Iberian Early Neolithic samples share the same genetic composition as the Cardial Mediterranean Neolithic culture that reached Iberia ∼5,500 BCE. The cultural and genetic similarities between Iberian and North African Neolithic traditions further reinforce the model of an Iberian migration into the Maghreb.

The genomic history of the Iberian Peninsula over the past 8000 years

“…2A and table S8). We replicate previous findings of the arrival of Anatolian Neolithic-associated ancestry in multiple regions of Iberia in the Early Neolithic (7, 8, 12); however, sampling from this period remains limited and studies of larger sample sizes and additional sites will be important in order to shed additional light on the interaction between the incoming farmers and indigenous hunter-gatherers. In the Middle Neolithic and Copper Age, we reproduce previous reports of an increase of hunter-gatherer-related ancestry after 4000 BCE (6, 7, 12, 13), with higher proportions in groups from the north and center.…”

“…1C and fig. S3), and like ~3000 BCE Moroccans (8) can be well modeled as having ancestry from both Late Pleistocene North Africans (15) and Early Neolithic Europeans (tables S9–10). His genome-wide ancestry and uniparental markers (tables S1 and S4) are unique among Copper Age Iberians, including individuals from sites with many analyzed individuals such as Sima del Ángel, and point to a North African origin.…”

Berbers and Arabs: Tracing the genetic diversity and history of Southern Tunisia through genome wide analysis

“…Although a clear-cut differentiation can also be appreciated for the European component, more frequent among Berbers than Arabs, this was found at a lower frequency than the other two mentioned previously. Sub-Saharan and Near Eastern ancestries, which are known to have been brought to North Africa through a variety of ancient (pre-neolithic and neolithic) and recent (Arab conquest) migratory waves (Newman, 1995;Appiah & Gates, 2010;Henn et al, 2012;van de Loosdrecht et al, 2018;Fregel et al, 2018;Elkamel, Boussetta, Khodjet-El-Khil, Benammar Elgaaied, & Cherni, 2018;D'Atanasio et al, 2018), were found not to vary substantially among the Southern Tunisia ethno-linguistic groups.…”

Population history and genetic adaptation of the Fulani nomads: inferences from genome-wide data and the lactase persistence trait

“…2c, Additional file 2: Figure S9- S11). These two genetic ancestries have been intertwined in the northwestern part of the African continent for at least the last 3000 years [55]. Fregel and colleagues (2018) linked the diffusion of people across Gibraltar to Neolithic migrations and the Neolithic development in North Africa [55].…”