Ancient Mitochondrial Genomes Reveal the Absence of Maternal Kinship in the Burials of Çatalhöyük People and Their Genetic Affinities

Abstract

Çatalhöyük is one of the most widely recognized and extensively researched Neolithic settlements. The site has been used to discuss a wide range of aspects associated with the spread of the Neolithic lifestyle and the social organization of Neolithic societies. Here, we address both topics using newly generated mitochondrial genomes, obtained by direct sequencing and capture-based enrichment of genomic libraries, for a group of individuals buried under a cluster of neighboring houses from the classical layer of the site's occupation. Our data suggests a lack of maternal kinship between individuals interred under the floors of Çatalhöyük buildings. The findings could potentially be explained either by a high variability of maternal lineages within a larger kin group, or alternatively, an intentional selection of individuals for burial based on factors other than biological kinship. Our population analyses shows that Neolithic Central Anatolian groups, including Çatalhöyük, share the closest affinity with the population from the Marmara Region and are, in contrast, set further apart from the Levantine populations. Our findings support the hypothesis about the emergence and the direction of spread of the Neolithic within Anatolian Peninsula and beyond, emphasizing a significant role of Central Anatolia in this process.

Keywords: Neolithic; ancient DNA; kinship.

Figure 1

(A) The location of Çatalhöyük and other sites with complete mitochondrial genomes used as the reference for the study: (BNE) Bronze Age Near East, (CBA) Chalcolithic Balkans, (LBC) Late Bronze Age Caucasus, (LCL) Late Chalcolithic Levant, (MIC) Minoan Create, (NBA) Neolithic Balkans, (NBC) Neolithic to Bronze Age Caucasus, (NCA) Neolithic Central Anatolia, (NGM) Neolithic Greece and Macedonia, (NME) Neolithic Middle East, (NMR) Neolithic Marmara Region, (NNL) Natufian and Neolithic Levant. (B) Outline of the Çatalhöyük East mound with visible excavation areas. (C) Close-up of the excavation area and buildings targeted for the study with the locations and the obtained mitochondrial haplogroups of the individuals reported in the paper.

Figure 2

(A) Principal component analysis (PCA) plot with populations clustered according to k-means clustering (k = 7). (B,C) Plots of frequency based t-Distributed Stochastic Neighbor Embedding (t-SNE) with extended and reduced sets of populations clustered according to k-means clustering (k = 7 and k = 5, respectively). (BNE) Bronze Age Near East, (CBA) Chalcolithic Balkans, (LBC) Late Bronze Age Caucasus, (LCL) Late Chalcolithic Levant, (MIC) Minoan Create, (NBA) Neolithic Balkans, (NBC) Neolithic to Bronze Age Caucasus, (NCA) Neolithic Central Anatolia, (NGM) Neolithic Greece and Macedonia, (NME) Neolithic Middle East, (NMR) Neolithic Marmara Region, (NNL) Natufian and Neolithic Levant, (CIB) Chalcolithic Iberia, (NIB) Neolithic Iberia, (LBK) Linear Pottery Culture, (WYM) Western Yamnaya, (EYM) Eastern Yamnaya, (HGW) hunter Gatherers West, (HGE) Hunter Gatherers East, (HGB) Hunter Gatherers Balkans.

Figure 3

(A) Multidimensional scaling (MDS) plot of pairwise genetic distances (F_ST) values obtained for complete mitochondrial genomes, (B) Matrix of F_ST values, defined by color, statistical significance p < 0.05 (*), p < 0.005 (**), p < 0.0005 (***). (BNE) Bronze Age Near East, (CBA) Chalcolithic Balkans, (LBC) Late Bronze Age Caucasus, (LCL) Late Chalcolithic Levant, (MIC) Minoan Create, (NBA) Neolithic Balkans, (NBC) Neolithic to Bronze Age Caucasus, (NCA) Neolithic Central Anatolia, (NGM) Neolithic Greece and Macedonia, (NME) Neolithic Middle East, (NMR) Neolithic Marmara Region, (NNL) Natufian and Neolithic Levant, (CIB) Chalcolithic Iberia, (NIB) Neolithic Iberia, (LBK) Linear Pottery Culture.