Post by UKarchaeology on Jan 25, 2016 0:05:30 GMT
IMAGE: A large part of results come from grave 6 in Kumtepe, excavated in 1994. Here the upper part of a skeleton. Photo provided by Project Troia, thanks to Peter Jablonka.
When farming spread throughout Europe some 8,000 years ago, Anatolia functioned as a hub, spreading genes and the new ideas westward. An international study coordinated from Stockholm and based on DNA from Anatolian remains indicates the importance of the role Anatolia played, and also in attracting attention both from the east and the west.
Human material from the Anatolian site Kumtepe was used in the study. The material was heavily degraded, but yielded enough DNA for the doctorate student Ayca Omrak to address questions concerning the demography connected to the spread of farming. She conducted her work at the Archaeological Research Laboratory.
"I have never worked with a more complicated material. But it was worth every hour in the laboratory. I could use the DNA from the Kumtepe material to trace the european farmers back to Anatolia. It is also fun to have worked with this material from the site Kumtepe, as this is the precursor to Troy", says doctorate student Ayca Omrak, at the Archaeological Research Laboratory Stockholm University.
Full story: www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-01/su-tfe010416.php