Female and Male Perspectives on the Neolithic Transition in Europe: Clues from Ancient and Modern Genetic Data

The arrival of agriculture into Europe during the Neolithic transition brought a significant shift in human lifestyle and subsistence. However, the conditions under which the spread of the new culture and technologies occurred are still debated. Similarly, the roles played by women and men during the Neolithic transition are not well understood, probably due to the fact that mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and Y chromosome (NRY) data are usually studied independently rather than within the same statistical framework. Here, we applied an integrative approach, using different model-based inferential techniques, to analyse published datasets from contemporary and ancient European populations. By integrating mtDNA and NRY data into the same admixture approach, we show that both males and females underwent the same admixture history and both support the demic diffusion model of Ammerman and Cavalli-Sforza. Similarly, the patterns of genetic diversity found in extant and ancient populations demonstrate that both modern and ancient mtDNA support the demic diffusion model. They also show that population structure and differential growth between farmers and hunter-gatherers are necessary to explain both types of data. However, we also found some differences between male and female markers, suggesting that the female effective population size was larger than that of the males, probably due to different demographic histories. We argue that these differences are most probably related to the various shifts in cultural practices and lifestyles that followed the Neolithic Transition, such as sedentism, the shift from polygyny to monogamy or the increase of patrilocality.新石器时代转型期间农业传入欧洲，为人类生活方式与生计模式带来了显著转变。然而，这一新文化与技术传播的具体背景仍存在争议。同样，新石器时代转型过程中女性与男性所扮演的角色尚未得到充分认知，这可能是因为线粒体DNA（mtDNA）与Y染色体（NRY）数据通常被独立研究，而非置于同一统计框架内进行分析。本研究采用整合式研究方法，结合多种基于模型的推断技术，对已发表的当代与古代欧洲人群数据集展开分析。通过将mtDNA与NRY数据整合至同一基因混合分析框架中，我们发现男性与女性均经历了相同的混血历史，且二者均支持Ammerman与Cavalli-Sforza提出的人口扩散模型。同理，现存与古代人群的遗传多样性模式表明，现代与古代mtDNA数据均支持人口扩散模型。研究结果还显示，农业人群与狩猎采集人群之间的群体结构以及种群增长差异，是解释这两类遗传数据的必要条件。不过，我们也发现了男性与女性遗传标记之间的部分差异，这表明女性有效种群规模大于男性，这一现象可能源于不同的种群历史。我们认为，这些差异极有可能与新石器时代转型后出现的多种文化习俗与生活方式转变相关，比如定居生活、从一夫多妻制向一夫一妻制的转变，或是父居制的盛行。