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

Here, we report genome-wide data analyses from 110 ancient Near Eastern individuals spanning the Late Neolithic to Late Bronze Age, a period characterized by intense interregional interactions for the Near East. We find that 6th millennium BCE populations of North/Central Anatolia and the Southern Caucasus shared mixed ancestry on a genetic cline that formed during the Neolithic between Western Anatolia and regions in today’s Southern Caucasus/Zagros. During the Late Chalcolithic and/or the Early Bronze Age, more than half of the Northern Levantine gene pool was replaced, while in the rest of Anatolia and the Southern Caucasus, we document genetic continuity with only transient gene flow. Additionally, we reveal a genetically distinct individual within the Late Bronze Age Northern Levant. Overall, our study uncovers multiple scales of population dynamics through time, from extensive admixture during the Neolithic period to long-distance mobility within the globalized societies of the Late Bronze Age. [Display omitted] [Display omitted] •Genome-wide analysis of 110 ancient individuals from the Near East•Gene pools of Anatolia and Caucasus were biologically connected ∼6500 BCE•Gene flow from neighboring populations in Northern Levant during 3rd millennium BCE•One individual of likely Central Asian origin in 2nd millennium BCE Northern Levant Reconstruction of genomic history of the Near East in a time transect spanning from the Neolithic through the globalization events of the Middle and Late Bronze Ages.