Population Replacement in Early Neolithic Britain

Abstract

2The roles of migration, admixture and acculturation in the European transition to farming have been debated for over 100 years. Genome-wide ancient DNA studies indicate predominantly Anatolian ancestry for continental Neolithic farmers, but also variable admixture with local Mesolithic hunter-gatherers 1-9 . Neolithic cultures first appear in Britain c. 6000 years ago (kBP), a millennium after they appear in adjacent areas of northwestern continental Europe. However, the pattern and process of the British Neolithic transition remains unclear 10-15 . We assembled genome-wide data from six Mesolithic and 67 Neolithic individuals found in Britain, dating from 10.5-4.5 kBP, a dataset that includes 22 newly reported individuals and the first genomic data from British Mesolithic hunter-gatherers. Our analyses reveals persistent genetic affinities between Mesolithic British and Western European hunter-gatherers over a period spanning Britain's separation from continental Europe. We find overwhelming support for agriculture being introduced by incoming continental farmers, with small and geographically structured levels of additional hunter-gatherer introgression. We find genetic affinity between British and Iberian Neolithic populations indicating that British Neolithic people derived much of their ancestry from Anatolian farmers who originally followed the Mediterranean route of dispersal and likely entered Britain from northwestern mainland Europe.The transition to farming marks one of the most important shifts in human evolution, impacting on subsistence, social organisation, health and disease vulnerabilities, economy, and material culture. The processes by which this transition occurred have been a matter of intense debate for over a century [10][11][12][13][14][15] , although across continental Europe recent ancient DNA studies indicate a predominant role for expanding Neolithic farmer populations of mostly Anatolian ancestry (Anatolian farmers -ANF) 1-9 . Anatolian farmer-derived populations dispersed throughout Europe via two major routes -one along the Mediterranean and the other through Central and into Northern Europe 3-7 . Both dispersals involved repeated, but mostly subsequent introgressions with local Mesolithic foragers, producing distinct cultural and genetic trajectories.The nature of the Neolithic transition in Britain remains a puzzle because of the millenniumlong delay in its appearance after the establishment of farming in adjacent regions of continental northwestern Europe 10-15 , and the lack of genome-wide data from British Mesolithic hunter-gatherers. Whilst there is universal agreement amongst archaeologists that there was a dramatic change in material culture in Britain after 6 kBP, there are divergent views regarding the extent to which this change was influenced by cultural or demographic processes 1-15 . One interpretation of the archaeological evidence is that British Mesolithic hunter-gatherers adopted Neolithic cultural practices abruptly at c.6 kBP without substantial immigration foll...

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