Social and genetic diversity in first farmers of central Europe

Abstract

The Linearbandkeramik (LBK) Neolithic communities were the first to spread farming across large parts of Europe. We report genome-wide data for 250 individuals: 178 individuals from whole-cemetery surveys of the Alföld Linearbankeramik Culture (ALPC) eastern LBK site of Polgár-Ferenci-hát, the western LBK site of Nitra Horné Krškany, and the western LBK settlement and massacre site of Schletz, as well as 48 LBK from 16 other sites and 24 earlier Körös and Starčevo from 17 more sites. Here we show a systematically higher percentage of western hunter-gatherer (WHG) ancestry in eastern than western LBK sites, showing these two distinct LBK groups had different genetic trajectories. We find evidence for patrilocality, with more structure across sites on the male than female lines and a higher rate of within-site relatives for males. At Schletz we find almost no relatives, showing that the massacred individuals were from a large population, not a small community.