Genomic History of Neolithic to Bronze Age Anatolia, N Levant, and S Caucasus 2020

[shadowhite]

Genomic History of Neolithic to Bronze Age Anatolia,
Northern Levant, and Southern Caucasus

https://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc...92867420305092

[snipped]

[shadowhite]

[Agamemnon]

Ebla_EMBA and Alalakh_MLBA overlap completely, they seem to be quite close to the LBA Ashkelonites in particular. As you can see, the Chalcolithic samples from Tell Kurdu are by and large quite similar to the Chalcolithic samples from Peqi'in, further increasing the odds that the Amuq valley PPNB might have something to do with what we're seeing here. I have also highlighted the Early Chalcolithic J1-L620 individual from Tell Kurdu, who happens to be the oldest J1 case in the region at our disposal.

[Helves]

Ebla_EMBA and Alalakh_MLBA overlap completely, they seem to be quite close to the LBA Ashkelonites in particular. As you can see, the Chalcolithic samples from Tell Kurdu are by and large quite similar to the Chalcolithic samples from Peqi'in, further increasing the odds that the Amuq valley PPNB might have something to do with what we're seeing here. I have also highlighted the Early Chalcolithic J1-L620 individual from Tell Kurdu, who happens to be the oldest J1 case in the region at our disposal.

Eblaites turned out as I expected, similar to early Canaanites but with a bit higher Anatolian farmer and IRN_N and CHG. I assume early Akkadians were identical to these Eblaites.
What would Alalakh samples represent here? Amorites?

Can't believe we got aDNA from Syria btw, maybe there's hope we'll get samples from Iraq soon aswell.

[Johnny ola]

Finally a wonderful day raining ancient DNA.I think Ebla samples represent East Semites in general.The samples from Arslantepe would probably be of Hattian-Hittite origins???

[Agamemnon]

Eblaites turned out as I expected, similar to early Canaanites but with a bit higher Anatolian farmer and IRN_N and CHG. I assume early Akkadians were identical to these Eblaites.
What would Alalakh samples represent here? Amorites?

Can't believe we got aDNA from Syria btw, maybe there's hope we'll get samples from Iraq soon aswell.

There are good reasons to assume that the Pre-Sargonic Akkadians were by and large near-identical to the Eblaites we're seeing here, who form a very compact cluster. The odds have always heavily been in favour of such a model, we can also expect the Sumerians to closely resemble Chalcolithic Iranians, with Akkadians and their Assyrian and Babylonian descendants forming a cline extending from the Sumerians to the Eblaites.

Alalakh here is certainly Amorite, this site had what has been called the "Amorite Cultural Assemblage" during the MB II-B/C period, and more than a few of the samples here fall within that time frame. There are more outliers here, which might be indicative of a non-local origin for some of the individuals (the few samples most distant from the Eblaites might well turn out to be Assyrians or Babylonians, they are consequently close to Mizrahim and Assyrians). Alalakh otherwise forms a compact cluster that largely overlaps with the Eblaites, the individual pulled towards the EBA Jordanians might embody a more pristine strand of early West Semitic ancestry (as I have long suspected the EBA Jordanians also were Amorites).

I don't think we'll have to wait too long for ancient data from Mesopotamia.

[Johnny ola]

There are good reasons to assume that the Pre-Sargonic Akkadians were by and large near-identical to the Eblaites we're seeing here, who form a very compact cluster. The odds have always heavily been in favour of such a model, we can also expect the Sumerians to closely resemble Chalcolithic Iranians, with Akkadians and their Assyrian and Babylonian descendants forming a cline extending from the Sumerians to the Eblaites.

Alalakh here is certainly Amorite, this site had what has been called the "Amorite Cultural Assemblage" during the MB II-B/C period, and more than a few of the samples here fall within that time frame. There are more outliers here, which might be indicative of a non-local origin for some of the individuals (the few samples most distant from the Eblaites might well turn out to be Assyrians or Babylonians, they are consequently close to Mizrahim and Assyrians). Alalakh otherwise forms a compact cluster that largely overlaps with the Eblaites, the individual pulled towards the EBA Jordanians might embody a more pristine strand of early West Semitic ancestry (as I have long suspected the EBA Jordanians also were Amorites).

I don't think we'll have to wait too long for ancient data from Mesopotamia.

Do you really believe EBA Jordanians were of Amorite origins?Hmm interesting.Isn't their Natufian admixture a little bit higher compared to other Cannanite samples or i am wrong?Thought some mixes with arab nomadic tribes would be a possible senario.Also what you think about the Arslantepe?A hurro-hittite cultural complex or something related?

[J Man]

Do you really believe EBA Jordanians were of Amorite origins?Hmm interesting.Isn't their Natufian admixture a little bit higher compared to other Cannanite samples or i am wrong?Thought some mixes with arab nomadic tribes would be a possible senario.Also what you think about the Arslantepe?A hurro-hittite cultural complex or something related?

Yes I am curious about the origins of the Arslantepe samples as well. There is a lot of J2a there.

[marcelkolar]

Yes I am curious about the origins of the Arslantepe samples as well. There is a lot of J2a there.

Only from the MLBA does Arslantepe become associated with the Hittites. Before that no one knows what the identity of the inhabitants was.

[J Man]

A description of Arslantepe from the paper.

''The site of Arslantepe provides another representative
example. At the beginning of EBA, archaeological evidence at
the site strongly suggests the presence of a disruptive sociopolitical conflict that led to the occupation of Arslantepe by
pastoral populations with a connection to the Caucasus. In
PCA and f4-statistics, two individuals dating to this period
show excess affinity with populations from the Caucasus and
the Pontic steppe compared to their peers, while later Arslantepe_EBA individuals do not share this Caucasian affinity (Table
S10). This implies that the postulated demic interaction must
have been transient and of small scale, although the small sample size from Arslantepe_EBA (n = 4) may not be sufficient to
detect it. Subtle gene flow is consistent with recent findings
from the site, suggesting that the EBA pastoralists occupying
the site were more likely well-established local groups moving
around the mountains rather than intrusive groups from the Caucasus (Frangipane, 2014). The genetic landscape of Arslantepe also has important implications with respect to the interactions with the Mesopotamian world. Archaeological evidence indicates that in the 4th
millennium BCE Mesopotamian populations established colonies in Southeastern Anatolia and Northern Syria (e.g., Habuba Kabira, Jebel Aruda, Hacinebi) during a period referred to
as the Uruk Expansion (Algaze, 2005). However, the Uruk expansion was also a very complex and deep process of socio-cultural transformation that reoriented the economic, political, and cultural interests of indigenous elites toward Southern Mesopotamia. Artifacts in Arslantepe reflect this complexity, and the genetic continuity shown here supports the notion that indigenous populations adopted these broader Uruk features and ideas without the transmission of genes.''