# n-socsci: a mix and match model at dawn of agriculture

<< Genetic analyses reveal a collection of highly distinct groups in the Near East and Europe at the dawn of agriculture. These groups mixed and migrated to form the relatively homogeneous populations seen in the region today. >>

<< They now appear to have descended from four major groups: hunter-gatherers in what is now western Europe, hunter-gatherers in eastern Europe and the Russian steppe, the Iran farming group and the Levant farming group. >>

<< The findings (..) also suggest that agriculture spread in the Near East at least in part because existing groups invented or adopted farming technologies, rather than because one population replaced another. >>

Stephanie Dutchen. Meet  the  First  Farmers. Ancient  DNA reveals  complex genetic history  of  Near  East  at  dawn of  agriculture. July  25, 2016.

http://hms.harvard.edu/news/meet-first-farmers

Iosif Lazaridis, Dani Nadel, et al. Genomic insights into the origin of farming in the ancient Near East. Nature (2016). doi:10.1038/nature19310. Published online 25 July 2016

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaap/ncurrent/full/nature19310.html