Northwest African Neolithic initiated by migrants from Iberia and Levant

The transition from foraging to food production in northwestern Africa around 7,400 years ago is investigated. Archaeological data present conflicting theories: either European Neolithic farmers introduced agriculture, or local hunter-gatherers adopted innovations. Genome sequencing of nine individuals from Epipalaeolithic to Middle Neolithic contexts reveals 8,000 years of population continuity and isolation in some Maghrebi Neolithic farming groups. However, the earliest Neolithic remains show primarily European Neolithic ancestry, suggesting farming was introduced by European migrants and rapidly adopted locally. Later, Levantine ancestry appears, coinciding with pastoralism. This highlights a heterogeneous economic and cultural landscape during the Neolithization process in northwestern Africa.

Luciana G. Simões, Torsten Günther, Rafael M. Martínez-Sánchez, Juan Carlos Vera-Rodríguez, Eneko Iriarte, Ricardo Rodríguez-Varela, Youssef Bokbot, Cristina Valdiosera, Mattias Jakobsson