Date

2020-1-12

Author

Yaka, Reyhan

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The Neolithic way of life first emerged in the Fertile Crescent (c.10thand early 9thmillennium cal BCE) and quickly spread to neighbouring regionssuch as Central Anatoliaand Cyprus,and eventually further westwards. This transition involved to fundamental changes in human lifestyle,with the first emergence of villages during the early Neolithicandthe later the growing reliance on farming and herdingduring the late Neolithic periods. Changes in the social organization of sedentary communitiesare also hypothesized to have occurred during this period, includingchanges between early and late Neolithicperiods. Central Anatolia was one of the major regions where these developments took place. Like other regions of early Neolithization, it shows distinctive traditionsin the early and late Neolithic settlementsin the region. Earlier studies based on small sample sizes from Central Anatoliaanalyzed genetic relationships amongtheNeolithic populations in the region. In this study, for the first time, we investigatedancient genomes from Aşıklı Höyük and Çatalhöyük from Central Anatolia, representing early (Aceramic)and late (Ceramic) Neolithic, respectively. We vigenerateda total of 22 genomesfromAşıklı (n=8) and Çatalhöyük (n=14), and combined these with published genomesfrom other Anatolian Neolithic sites(Boncuklu, Barcın and Tepecik-Çiftlik). We first investigatedgenetic relationships among Anatolian Neolithic groups at both individual-and population-level. We found strong genetic affinity between Aceramic Aşıklı and Boncuklu, supporting the notion thatthese early Neolithic populationsfrom Central Anatoliamay have been part of the same gene pool.Likewise, we observed genetic affinity between Çatalhöyük and other Anatolian CeramicNeolithic populations (Barcın and Tepecik-Çiftlik). In addition, we identifiedhigher within-population genetic diversityin the Anatolian Ceramic Neolithicpopulations (Çatalhöyük, Barcın and Tepecik-Çiftlik) compared to those of Aceramic Neolithic (Boncuklu and Aşıklı).Further, our findingsbased on a larger sample sizesupportedthe notion of a possible gene flow from Levant and Iran to Anatoliaduring the transition from Aceramic to Ceramic Neolithic period, after c.7,500BCE.Next, we studiedgenetic kinship among individuals co-buried within the same structures withinAceramic and Ceramic Neolithic settlements from bothCentral and Northwest Anatolia,to understand social structuresof Neolithicsocieties inthe earlier and later period of Neolithic lifein Anatolia. In the two AceramicNeolithic societies from Central Anatolia, Aşıklı and Boncuklu,we identified close genetic kin-relationships (e.g., first-degree) among co-burials at a high frequency,while the frequency of genetically close relatives was lower among co-buried individuals in Çatalhöyük and Barcın, which representCeramicNeolithic societies fromCentral and Northwest Anatolia, respectively. Our findings supported the notionthat genetickinship patterns among co-buried individuals,who could represent households,might have changed over time during the transition from Aceramic to Ceramic Neolithic in Anatolia.

Subject Keywords

Ancient Genome, Genetic Characterization, Kinship, Central Anatolia, Neolithic

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/89697

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Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Thesis