The Mesolithic-Neolithic Transition in Europe: A Perspective from Ancient Human DNA

Recent advances in DNA genotyping techniques have made it possible to recover a substantial body of ancient DNA data from Mesolithic and Neolithic skeletons, improving our understanding of the biological mechanisms involved in the transition to farming. Overall, both mitochondrial and nuclear ancient DNA evidence suggest that hunter-gatherer and Early Neolithic European groups had a different genetic makeup. This has been interpreted as a signature of genetic replacement by genetically distinct Neolithic groups of Near Eastern origin. However, the scarceness of genetic data from the Mesolithic background and also from key areas within Europe—like the core and interim regions in the Near East, Greece, Italy, France, and Southern and Western Iberia—greatly limits our understanding of the genetic implications linked to the expansion of the Neolithic techno-complex at a local scale. With this in mind, in this chapter we will revise and discuss the contribution of ancient DNA analysis to the understanding of the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition and the spread of the Neolithic in Europe, focusing on the areas with publicly available ancient DNA data from these periods.