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Barbara Horejs

Bio: Barbara Horejs is an academic researcher from Austrian Academy of Sciences. The author has contributed to research in topics: Bronze Age & Chalcolithic. The author has an hindex of 9, co-authored 36 publications receiving 651 citations.

Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This study demonstrates a direct genetic link between Mediterranean and Central European early farmers and those of Greece and Anatolia, extending the European Neolithic migratory chain all the way back to southwestern Asia.
Abstract: Farming and sedentism first appeared in southwestern Asia during the early Holocene and later spread to neighboring regions, including Europe, along multiple dispersal routes. Conspicuous uncertainties remain about the relative roles of migration, cultural diffusion, and admixture with local foragers in the early Neolithization of Europe. Here we present paleogenomic data for five Neolithic individuals from northern Greece and northwestern Turkey spanning the time and region of the earliest spread of farming into Europe. We use a novel approach to recalibrate raw reads and call genotypes from ancient DNA and observe striking genetic similarity both among Aegean early farmers and with those from across Europe. Our study demonstrates a direct genetic link between Mediterranean and Central European early farmers and those of Greece and Anatolia, extending the European Neolithic migratory chain all the way back to southwestern Asia.

377 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the results of geoarchaeological research in the area located along the southern flank of the Kucuk Menderes graben near Ephesus were presented.

66 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors demonstrate the existence of a remarkable coincidence between the exact entry and departure dates of the Neolithic into/from the Aegean ( ~ 6600/6050 calBC) with begin/end of RCC-conditions.
Abstract: In extension of the recently established ‘Rapid Climate Change (RCC) Neolithisation Model’ (Clare 2013), in the present paper we demonstrate the existence of a remarkable coincidence between the exact (decadel-scale) entry and departure dates of the Neolithic into/from the Aegean ( ~ 6600/6050 calBC) with begin/end of RCC-conditions.

66 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A maritime colonization in the 7th millennium via routes from the eastern Mediterranean to the eastern Aegean, based on previously developed sea networks is proposed, to identify traces of earlier PPN concepts still embedded in the social-cultural memories of the newcomers and incorporated in a new local and regional Neolithic identity.
Abstract: The process of Near Eastern neolithization and its westward expansion from the core zone in the Levant and upper Mesopotamia has been broadly discussed in recent decades, and many models have been developed to describe the spread of early farming in terms of its timing, structure, geography and sociocultural impact. Until now, based on recent intensive investigations in northwestern and western Anatolia, the discussion has mainly centred on the importance of Anatolian inland routes for the westward spread of neolithization. This contribution focuses on the potential impact of east Mediterranean and Aegean maritime networks on the spread of the Neolithic lifestyle to the western edge of the Anatolian subcontinent in the earliest phases of sedentism. Employing the longue duree model and the concept of ‘social memory’, we will discuss the arrival of new groups via established maritime routes. The existence of maritime networks prior to the spread of farming is already indicated by the high mobility of Epipalaeolithic/Mesolithic groups exploring the Aegean and east Mediterranean seas, and reaching, for example, the Cyclades and Cyprus. Successful navigation by these early mobile groups across the open sea is attested by the distribution of Melian obsidian. The potential existence of an additional Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) obsidian network that operated between Cappadocia/Cilicia and Cyprus further hints at the importance of maritime coastal trade. Since both the coastal and the high seas networks were apparently already well established in this early period, we may further assume appropriate knowledge of geographic routes, navigational technology and other aspects of successful seafaring. This Mesolithic/PPN maritime know-how package appears to have been used by later groups, in the early 7th millennium calBC, exploring the centre of the Anatolian Aegean coast, and in time establishing some of the first permanent settlements in that region. In the present paper, we link this background of newcomers to the western edge of Anatolia with new excavation results from Cukurici Hoyuk, which we have analysed in terms of subsistence strategies, materiality, technology and symbolism. Additionally, further detailed studies of nutrition and obsidian procurement shed light on the distinct maritime affinity of the early settlers in our case study, something that, in our view, can hardly be attributed to inland farming societies. We propose a maritime colonization in the 7th millennium via routes from the eastern Mediterranean to the eastern Aegean, based on previously developed sea networks. The pronounced maritime affinity of these farming and herding societies allows us to identify traces of earlier PPN concepts still embedded in the social-cultural memories of the newcomers and incorporated in a new local and regional Neolithic identity.

65 citations

Posted ContentDOI
25 Nov 2015-bioRxiv
TL;DR: This study demonstrates a direct genetic link between Mediterranean and Central European early farmers and those of Greece and Anatolia, extending the European Neolithic migratory chain all the way back to southwestern Asia.
Abstract: Farming and sedentism first appear in southwest Asia during the early Holocene and later spread to neighboring regions, including Europe, along multiple dispersal routes. Conspicuous uncertainties remain about the relative roles of migration, cultural diffusion and admixture with local foragers in the early Neolithisation of Europe. Here we present paleogenomic data for five Neolithic individuals from northwestern Turkey and northern Greece, spanning the time and region of the earliest spread of farming into Europe. We observe striking genetic similarity both among Aegean early farmers and with those from across Europe. Our study demonstrates a direct genetic link between Mediterranean and Central European early farmers and those of Greece and Anatolia, extending the European Neolithic migratory chain all the way back to southwestern Asia.

34 citations


Cited by
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Journal ArticleDOI
24 Dec 2015-Nature
TL;DR: A genome-wide scan for selection using ancient DNA is reported, capitalizing on the largest ancient DNA data set yet assembled: 230 West Eurasians who lived between 6500 and 300 bc, including 163 with newly reported data.
Abstract: Ancient DNA makes it possible to observe natural selection directly by analysing samples from populations before, during and after adaptation events. Here we report a genome-wide scan for selection using ancient DNA, capitalizing on the largest ancient DNA data set yet assembled: 230 West Eurasians who lived between 6500 and 300 bc, including 163 with newly reported data. The new samples include, to our knowledge, the first genome-wide ancient DNA from Anatolian Neolithic farmers, whose genetic material we obtained by extracting from petrous bones, and who we show were members of the population that was the source of Europe's first farmers. We also report a transect of the steppe region in Samara between 5600 and 300 bc, which allows us to identify admixture into the steppe from at least two external sources. We detect selection at loci associated with diet, pigmentation and immunity, and two independent episodes of selection on height.

1,083 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
25 Aug 2016-Nature
TL;DR: This paper reported genome-wide ancient DNA from 44 ancient Near Easterners ranging in time between ~12,000 and 1,400 bc, from Natufian hunter-gatherers to Bronze Age farmers, showing that the earliest populations of the Near East derived around half their ancestry from a 'Basal Eurasian' lineage that had little if any Neanderthal admixture and that separated from other non-African lineages before their separation from each other.
Abstract: We report genome-wide ancient DNA from 44 ancient Near Easterners ranging in time between ~12,000 and 1,400 bc, from Natufian hunter–gatherers to Bronze Age farmers. We show that the earliest populations of the Near East derived around half their ancestry from a ‘Basal Eurasian’ lineage that had little if any Neanderthal admixture and that separated from other non-African lineages before their separation from each other. The first farmers of the southern Levant (Israel and Jordan) and Zagros Mountains (Iran) were strongly genetically differentiated, and each descended from local hunter–gatherers. By the time of the Bronze Age, these two populations and Anatolian-related farmers had mixed with each other and with the hunter–gatherers of Europe to greatly reduce genetic differentiation. The impact of the Near Eastern farmers extended beyond the Near East: farmers related to those of Anatolia spread westward into Europe; farmers related to those of the Levant spread southward into East Africa; farmers related to those of Iran spread northward into the Eurasian steppe; and people related to both the early farmers of Iran and to the pastoralists of the Eurasian steppe spread eastward into South Asia.

695 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
Iñigo Olalde1, Selina Brace2, Morten E. Allentoft3, Ian Armit4  +166 moreInstitutions (69)
08 Mar 2018-Nature
TL;DR: Genome-wide data from 400 Neolithic, Copper Age and Bronze Age Europeans is presented, finding limited genetic affinity between Beaker-complex-associated individuals from Iberia and central Europe, and excludes migration as an important mechanism of spread between these two regions.
Abstract: From around 2750 to 2500 bc, Bell Beaker pottery became widespread across western and central Europe, before it disappeared between 2200 and 1800 bc. The forces that propelled its expansion are a matter of long-standing debate, and there is support for both cultural diffusion and migration having a role in this process. Here we present genome-wide data from 400 Neolithic, Copper Age and Bronze Age Europeans, including 226 individuals associated with Beaker-complex artefacts. We detected limited genetic affinity between Beaker-complex-associated individuals from Iberia and central Europe, and thus exclude migration as an important mechanism of spread between these two regions. However, migration had a key role in the further dissemination of the Beaker complex. We document this phenomenon most clearly in Britain, where the spread of the Beaker complex introduced high levels of steppe-related ancestry and was associated with the replacement of approximately 90% of Britain's gene pool within a few hundred years, continuing the east-to-west expansion that had brought steppe-related ancestry into central and northern Europe over the previous centuries.

479 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
Iain Mathieson1, Songül Alpaslan-Roodenberg1, Cosimo Posth2, Cosimo Posth3, Anna Szécsényi-Nagy4, Nadin Rohland1, Swapan Mallick1, Swapan Mallick5, Iñigo Olalde1, Nasreen Broomandkhoshbacht1, Nasreen Broomandkhoshbacht5, Francesca Candilio6, Olivia Cheronet7, Olivia Cheronet6, Daniel Fernandes6, Daniel Fernandes8, Matthew Ferry1, Matthew Ferry5, Beatriz Gamarra6, Gloria G. Fortes9, Wolfgang Haak10, Wolfgang Haak3, Eadaoin Harney5, Eadaoin Harney1, Eppie R. Jones11, Eppie R. Jones12, Denise Keating6, Ben Krause-Kyora3, Isil Kucukkalipci2, Megan Michel5, Megan Michel1, Alissa Mittnik3, Alissa Mittnik2, Kathrin Nägele3, Mario Novak6, Jonas Oppenheimer5, Jonas Oppenheimer1, Nick Patterson13, Saskia Pfrengle2, Kendra Sirak6, Kendra Sirak14, Kristin Stewardson1, Kristin Stewardson5, Stefania Vai15, Stefan Alexandrov16, Kurt W. Alt17, Radian Andreescu, Dragana Antonović, Abigail Ash6, Nadezhda Atanassova16, Krum Bacvarov16, Mende Balázs Gusztáv4, Hervé Bocherens2, Michael Bolus2, Adina Boroneanţ18, Yavor Boyadzhiev16, Alicja Budnik, Josip Burmaz, Stefan Chohadzhiev, Nicholas J. Conard2, Richard Cottiaux, Maja Čuka, Christophe Cupillard19, Dorothée G. Drucker2, Nedko Elenski, Michael Francken2, Borislava Galabova, Georgi Ganetsovski, Bernard Gély, Tamás Hajdu20, Veneta Handzhyiska21, Katerina Harvati2, Thomas Higham22, Stanislav Iliev, Ivor Janković23, Ivor Karavanić24, Ivor Karavanić23, Douglas J. Kennett25, Darko Komšo, Alexandra Kozak26, Damian Labuda27, Martina Lari15, Cătălin Lazăr28, Maleen Leppek29, Krassimir Leshtakov21, Domenico Lo Vetro15, Dženi Los, Ivaylo Lozanov21, Maria Malina2, Fabio Martini15, Kath McSweeney30, Harald Meller, Marko Menđušić, Pavel Mirea, Vyacheslav Moiseyev, Vanya Petrova21, T. Douglas Price31, Angela Simalcsik18, Luca Sineo32, Mario Šlaus33, Vladimir Slavchev, Petar Stanev, Andrej Starović, Tamás Szeniczey20, Sahra Talamo3, Maria Teschler-Nicola34, Maria Teschler-Nicola7, Corinne Thevenet, Ivan Valchev21, Frédérique Valentin19, Sergey Vasilyev35, Fanica Veljanovska, Svetlana Venelinova, Elizaveta Veselovskaya35, Bence Viola36, Bence Viola35, Cristian Virag, Joško Zaninović, Steve Zäuner, Philipp W. Stockhammer3, Philipp W. Stockhammer29, Giulio Catalano32, Raiko Krauß2, David Caramelli15, Gunita Zariņa37, Bisserka Gaydarska38, Malcolm Lillie39, Alexey G. Nikitin40, Inna Potekhina26, Anastasia Papathanasiou, Dusan Boric41, Clive Bonsall30, Johannes Krause3, Johannes Krause2, Ron Pinhasi6, Ron Pinhasi7, David Reich5, David Reich1, David Reich13 
08 Mar 2018-Nature
TL;DR: It is shown that southeastern Europe continued to be a nexus between east and west after the arrival of farmers, with intermittent genetic contact with steppe populations occurring up to 2,000 years earlier than the migrations from the steppe that ultimately replaced much of the population of northern Europe.
Abstract: Farming was first introduced to Europe in the mid-seventh millennium bc, and was associated with migrants from Anatolia who settled in the southeast before spreading throughout Europe. Here, to und ...

447 citations

Iosif Lazaridis1, Iosif Lazaridis2, Nick Patterson2, Alissa Mittnik3, Gabriel Renaud4, Swapan Mallick2, Swapan Mallick1, Karola Kirsanow5, Peter H. Sudmant6, Joshua G. Schraiber6, Joshua G. Schraiber7, Sergi Castellano4, Mark Lipson8, Bonnie Berger2, Bonnie Berger8, Christos Economou9, Ruth Bollongino5, Qiaomei Fu4, Kirsten I. Bos3, Susanne Nordenfelt2, Susanne Nordenfelt1, Heng Li1, Heng Li2, Cesare de Filippo4, Kay Prüfer4, Susanna Sawyer4, Cosimo Posth3, Wolfgang Haak10, Fredrik Hallgren11, Elin Fornander11, Nadin Rohland1, Nadin Rohland2, Dominique Delsate12, Michael Francken3, Jean-Michel Guinet12, Joachim Wahl, George Ayodo, Hamza A. Babiker13, Hamza A. Babiker14, Graciela Bailliet, Elena Balanovska, Oleg Balanovsky, Ramiro Barrantes15, Gabriel Bedoya16, Haim Ben-Ami17, Judit Bene18, Fouad Berrada19, Claudio M. Bravi, Francesca Brisighelli20, George B.J. Busby21, Francesco Calì, Mikhail Churnosov22, David E. C. Cole23, Daniel Corach24, Larissa Damba, George van Driem25, Stanislav Dryomov26, Jean-Michel Dugoujon27, Sardana A. Fedorova28, Irene Gallego Romero29, Marina Gubina, Michael F. Hammer30, Brenna M. Henn31, Tor Hervig32, Ugur Hodoglugil33, Aashish R. Jha29, Sena Karachanak-Yankova34, Rita Khusainova35, Elza Khusnutdinova35, Rick A. Kittles30, Toomas Kivisild36, William Klitz7, Vaidutis Kučinskas37, Alena Kushniarevich38, Leila Laredj39, Sergey Litvinov38, Theologos Loukidis40, Theologos Loukidis41, Robert W. Mahley42, Béla Melegh18, Ene Metspalu43, Julio Molina, Joanna L. Mountain, Klemetti Näkkäläjärvi44, Desislava Nesheva34, Thomas B. Nyambo45, Ludmila P. Osipova, Jüri Parik43, Fedor Platonov28, Olga L. Posukh, Valentino Romano46, Francisco Rothhammer47, Francisco Rothhammer48, Igor Rudan14, Ruslan Ruizbakiev49, Hovhannes Sahakyan50, Hovhannes Sahakyan38, Antti Sajantila51, Antonio Salas52, Elena B. Starikovskaya26, Ayele Tarekegn, Draga Toncheva34, Shahlo Turdikulova49, Ingrida Uktveryte37, Olga Utevska53, René Vasquez54, Mercedes Villena54, Mikhail Voevoda55, Cheryl A. Winkler56, Levon Yepiskoposyan50, Pierre Zalloua57, Pierre Zalloua1, Tatijana Zemunik58, Alan Cooper10, Cristian Capelli21, Mark G. Thomas41, Andres Ruiz-Linares41, Sarah A. Tishkoff59, Lalji Singh60, Kumarasamy Thangaraj61, Richard Villems62, Richard Villems43, Richard Villems38, David Comas63, Rem I. Sukernik26, Mait Metspalu38, Matthias Meyer4, Evan E. Eichler6, Joachim Burger5, Montgomery Slatkin7, Svante Pääbo4, Janet Kelso4, David Reich2, David Reich64, David Reich1, Johannes Krause4, Johannes Krause3 
Harvard University1, Broad Institute2, University of Tübingen3, Max Planck Society4, University of Mainz5, University of Washington6, University of California, Berkeley7, Massachusetts Institute of Technology8, Stockholm University9, University of Adelaide10, The Heritage Foundation11, National Museum of Natural History12, Sultan Qaboos University13, University of Edinburgh14, University of Costa Rica15, University of Antioquia16, Rambam Health Care Campus17, University of Pécs18, Al Akhawayn University19, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart20, University of Oxford21, Belgorod State University22, University of Toronto23, University of Buenos Aires24, University of Bern25, Russian Academy of Sciences26, Paul Sabatier University27, North-Eastern Federal University28, University of Chicago29, University of Arizona30, Stony Brook University31, University of Bergen32, Illumina33, Sofia Medical University34, Bashkir State University35, University of Cambridge36, Vilnius University37, Estonian Biocentre38, University of Strasbourg39, Amgen40, University College London41, Gladstone Institutes42, University of Tartu43, University of Oulu44, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences45, University of Palermo46, University of Chile47, University of Tarapacá48, Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan49, Armenian National Academy of Sciences50, University of North Texas51, University of Santiago de Compostela52, University of Kharkiv53, Higher University of San Andrés54, Novosibirsk State University55, Leidos56, Lebanese American University57, University of Split58, University of Pennsylvania59, Banaras Hindu University60, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology61, Estonian Academy of Sciences62, Pompeu Fabra University63, Howard Hughes Medical Institute64
01 Sep 2014
TL;DR: The authors showed that most present-day Europeans derive from at least three highly differentiated populations: west European hunter-gatherers, ancient north Eurasians related to Upper Palaeolithic Siberians, who contributed to both Europeans and Near Easterners; and early European farmers, who were mainly of Near Eastern origin but also harboured west European hunters-gatherer related ancestry.
Abstract: We sequenced the genomes of a ∼7,000-year-old farmer from Germany and eight ∼8,000-year-old hunter-gatherers from Luxembourg and Sweden. We analysed these and other ancient genomes with 2,345 contemporary humans to show that most present-day Europeans derive from at least three highly differentiated populations: west European hunter-gatherers, who contributed ancestry to all Europeans but not to Near Easterners; ancient north Eurasians related to Upper Palaeolithic Siberians, who contributed to both Europeans and Near Easterners; and early European farmers, who were mainly of Near Eastern origin but also harboured west European hunter-gatherer related ancestry. We model these populations' deep relationships and show that early European farmers had ∼44% ancestry from a 'basal Eurasian' population that split before the diversification of other non-African lineages.

442 citations