Genome-wide analysis of a collective grave from Mentesh Tepe provides insight into the population structure of early neolithic population in the South Caucasus

• Published in: Communications biology 2023-03, Vol.6 (1), p.319-319, Article 319
• Main Authors: Guarino-Vignon, Perle, Lefeuvre, Maël, Chimènes, Amélie, Monnereau, Aurore, Guliyev, Farhad, Pecqueur, Laure, Jovenet, Elsa, Lyonnet, Bertille, Bon, Céline
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 45; 45/22; 631/181/27; 631/181/457; Archaeology - methods; Archaeology and Prehistory; Biodiversity; Biology; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Bronze Age; Gene flow; Genetic analysis; Genetics; Genome; Genomic analysis; Genomics; Human genetics; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Iran; Life Sciences; Male; Neolithic; Population structure; Populations and Evolution
• ISSN: 2399-3642; 2399-3642
• DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-04681-w

Despite the localisation of the southern Caucasus at the outskirt of the Fertile Crescent, the Neolithisation process started there only at the beginning of the sixth millennium with the Shomutepe-Shulaveri culture of yet unclear origins. We present here genomic data for three new individuals from Mentesh Tepe in Azerbaijan, dating back to the beginnings of the Shomutepe-Shulaveri culture. We evidence that two juveniles, buried embracing each other, were brothers. We show that the Mentesh Tepe Neolithic population is the product of a recent gene flow between the Anatolian farmer-related population and the Caucasus/Iranian population, demonstrating that population admixture was at the core of the development of agriculture in the South Caucasus. By comparing Bronze Age individuals from the South Caucasus with Neolithic individuals from the same region, including Mentesh Tepe, we evidence that gene flows between Pontic Steppe populations and Mentesh Tepe-related groups contributed to the makeup of the Late Bronze Age and modern Caucasian populations. Our results show that the high cultural diversity during the Neolithic period of the South Caucasus deserves close genetic analysis. Genomic analysis of three Neolithic individuals from Mentesh Tepe in Azerbaijan belonging to the beginnings of the Shomu-Shulaveri culture provides insight into the origin and population structure of the Shomu-Shulaveri community.