How did Anatolian farmers migrate to Europe?

Ancient DNA has revealed that agriculture spread from the Middle East into Europe largely via the migration of Anatolian Neolithic Farmers, known in archaeogenetics as Early European Farmers. Beginning around 7,000 BC, these farming populations moved through Southeast Europe and gradually expanded north and westwards through demic diffusion. Over millennia, they transformed European societies, replacing or mingling with indigenous hunter-gatherer groups.

What we know

• Early European Farmers moved into Europe from Anatolia through Southeast Europe starting around 7,000 BC, and ancient DNA confirms agriculture spread largely via migration. [1, 2]
• The migration of Anatolian farmers into Europe occurred via demic diffusion, eventually reaching Northwest Africa via the Iberian Peninsula. [1, 2]
• The earliest farmers in Anatolia derived most of their ancestry from local hunter-gatherers, while later European farmers also show minor contributions from Western Hunter-Gatherers. [2, 4]

Still open

• While evidence shows European farmers and hunter-gatherers coexisted and traded in some locales, the exact nature of their relationships and whether it was consistently peaceful remains unclear.

Where to go next

• how we knowWhat was the genetic makeup of Anatolian hunter-gatherers?
• compared withWho were the Western Steppe Herders?
• what followedHow did the Yamnaya culture impact European populations?
• the bigger pictureWhat are the competing theories for the Proto-Indo-European homeland?
• whenTimeline of Neolithic farmer expansion into Europe
• an unexpected connectionHow do modern Sardinians relate to ancient Anatolian farmers?Sardinians carry the highest level of Early European Farmer ancestry of any present-day population, preserving a profound genetic link to the ancient agriculturalists of Anatolia.

Sources

• [1]Early European Farmers (Wikidata Q85758238) · CC0 1.0
• [2]Early European Farmers · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]Proto-Indo-European homeland · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]Anatolian hunter-gatherers · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]Proto-Indo-Europeans · CC BY-SA 4.0