Pig domestication and human-mediated dispersal in western Eurasia revealed through ancient DNA and geometric morphometrics

Ottoni, C.; Girdland Flink, L.; Evin, A.; Geörgi, C.; De Cupere, E.; Van Neer, W.; Bartosiewicz, L.; Linderholm, A.; Barnett, R.; Peters, J.; Decorte, R.; Waelkens, M.; Vanderheyden, N.; Ricaut, F.-X.; Çakırlar, C.; Çevik, Ö; Hoelzel, A.R.; Mashkour, M.; Karimlu, A.F.M.; Seno, S.S.; Daujat, J.; Brock, F.; Pinhasi, R.; Hongo, H.; Perez-Enciso, M.; Rasumssen, M.; Frantz, L.; Megens, H.-J.; Crooijmans, R.; Groenen, M.; Arbuckle, B.; Benecke, N.; Strand Vidarsdottir, U.; Burger, J.; Cucchi, T.; Dobney, K.; Larson, G.

doi:10.1093/molbev/mss261

Pig domestication and human-mediated dispersal in western Eurasia revealed through ancient DNA and geometric morphometrics

Ottoni, C.; Girdland Flink, L.; Evin, A.; Geörgi, C.; De Cupere, E.; Van Neer, W.; Bartosiewicz, L.; Linderholm, A.; Barnett, R.; Peters, J.; Decorte, R.; Waelkens, M.; Vanderheyden, N.; Ricaut, F.-X.; Çakırlar, C.; Çevik, Ö; Hoelzel, A.R.; Mashkour, M.; Karimlu, A.F.M.; Seno, S.S.; Daujat, J.; Brock, F.; Pinhasi, R.; Hongo, H.; Perez-Enciso, M.; Rasumssen, M.; Frantz, L.; Megens, H.-J.; Crooijmans, R.; Groenen, M.; Arbuckle, B.; Benecke, N.; Strand Vidarsdottir, U.; Burger, J.; Cucchi, T.; Dobney, K.; Larson, G.

Authors

C. Ottoni

L. Girdland Flink

A. Evin

C. Geörgi

E. De Cupere

W. Van Neer

L. Bartosiewicz

A. Linderholm

R. Barnett

J. Peters

R. Decorte

M. Waelkens

N. Vanderheyden

F.-X. Ricaut

C. Çakırlar

Ö Çevik

A.R. Hoelzel

M. Mashkour

A.F.M. Karimlu

S.S. Seno

J. Daujat

F. Brock

R. Pinhasi

H. Hongo

M. Perez-Enciso

M. Rasumssen

L. Frantz

H.-J. Megens

R. Crooijmans

M. Groenen

B. Arbuckle

N. Benecke

U. Strand Vidarsdottir

J. Burger

T. Cucchi

K. Dobney

G. Larson

Abstract

Zooarcheological evidence suggests that pigs were domesticated in Southwest Asia ∼8,500 BC. They then spread across the Middle and Near East and westward into Europe alongside early agriculturalists. European pigs were either domesticated independently or more likely appeared so as a result of admixture between introduced pigs and European wild boar. As a result, European wild boar mtDNA lineages replaced Near Eastern/Anatolian mtDNA signatures in Europe and subsequently replaced indigenous domestic pig lineages in Anatolia. The specific details of these processes, however, remain unknown. To address questions related to early pig domestication, dispersal, and turnover in the Near East, we analyzed ancient mitochondrial DNA and dental geometric morphometric variation in 393 ancient pig specimens representing 48 archeological sites (from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic to the Medieval period) from Armenia, Cyprus, Georgia, Iran, Syria, and Turkey. Our results reveal the first genetic signatures of early domestic pigs in the Near Eastern Neolithic core zone. We also demonstrate that these early pigs differed genetically from those in western Anatolia that were introduced to Europe during the Neolithic expansion. In addition, we present a significantly more refined chronology for the introduction of European domestic pigs into Asia Minor that took place during the Bronze Age, at least 900 years earlier than previously detected. By the 5th century AD, European signatures completely replaced the endemic lineages possibly coinciding with the widespread demographic and societal changes that occurred during the Anatolian Bronze and Iron Ages.

Citation

Ottoni, C., Girdland Flink, L., Evin, A., Geörgi, C., De Cupere, E., Van Neer, W., …Larson, G. (2013). Pig domestication and human-mediated dispersal in western Eurasia revealed through ancient DNA and geometric morphometrics. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 30(4), 824-832. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/mss261

Journal Article Type	Article
Publication Date	Jan 1, 2013
Deposit Date	Nov 28, 2012
Publicly Available Date	Aug 13, 2013
Journal	Molecular Biology and Evolution
Print ISSN	0737-4038
Electronic ISSN	1537-1719
Publisher	Oxford University Press
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	30
Issue	4
Pages	824-832
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/mss261
Keywords	Pig domestication, Wild boar, Neolithic.

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© The Author 2012. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution.

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