The Genomic History of the Bronze Age Southern Levant

Lily Agranat-Tamir; Shamam Waldman; Mario A.S. Martin; David Gokhman; Nadav Mishol; Tzilla Eshel; Olivia Cheronet; Nadin Rohland; Swapan Mallick; Nicole Adamski; Ann Marie Lawson; Matthew Mah; Megan Michel; Jonas Oppenheimer; Kristin Stewardson; Francesca Candilio; Denise Keating; Beatriz Gamarra; Shay Tzur; Mario Novak; Rachel Kalisher; Shlomit Bechar; Vered Eshed; Douglas J. Kennett; Marina Faerman; Naama Yahalom-Mack; Janet M. Monge; Yehuda Govrin; Yigal Erel; Benjamin Yakir; Ron Pinhasi; Shai Carmi; Israel Finkelstein; Liran Carmel; David Reich

doi:10.1016/j.cell.2020.04.024

The Genomic History of the Bronze Age Southern Levant

Lily Agranat-Tamir, Shamam Waldman, Mario A.S. Martin, David Gokhman, Nadav Mishol, Tzilla Eshel, Olivia Cheronet, Nadin Rohland, Swapan Mallick, Nicole Adamski, Ann Marie Lawson, Matthew Mah, Megan Michel, Jonas Oppenheimer, Kristin Stewardson, Francesca Candilio, Denise Keating, Beatriz Gamarra, Shay Tzur, Mario Novak^*Rachel Kalisher, Shlomit Bechar, Vered Eshed, Douglas J. Kennett, Marina Faerman, Naama Yahalom-Mack, Janet M. Monge, Yehuda Govrin, Yigal Erel, Benjamin Yakir, Ron Pinhasi, Shai Carmi, Israel Finkelstein, Liran Carmel, David Reich

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

30 Scopus citations

Abstract

We report genome-wide DNA data for 73 individuals from five archaeological sites across the Bronze and Iron Ages Southern Levant. These individuals, who share the “Canaanite” material culture, can be modeled as descending from two sources: (1) earlier local Neolithic populations and (2) populations related to the Chalcolithic Zagros or the Bronze Age Caucasus. The non-local contribution increased over time, as evinced by three outliers who can be modeled as descendants of recent migrants. We show evidence that different “Canaanite” groups genetically resemble each other more than other populations. We find that Levant-related modern populations typically have substantial ancestry coming from populations related to the Chalcolithic Zagros and the Bronze Age Southern Levant. These groups also harbor ancestry from sources we cannot fully model with the available data, highlighting the critical role of post-Bronze-Age migrations into the region over the past 3,000 years. Genome-wide data from Bronze Age individuals across nine sites in the Southern Levant show strong genetic resemblance, including a component from populations related to Chalcolithic Zagros and Early Bronze Age Caucasus introduced by gene flow lasting at least until the late Bronze Age and affecting modern Levantine population architecture.

Original language	American English
Pages (from-to)	1146-1157.e11
Journal	Cell
Volume	181
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2020.04.024
State	Published - 28 May 2020

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We thank Reuven Amitai, Menachem Ben-Sasson, Tom Booth, Pontus Skoglund, Philipp Stockhammer, Jason Ur, and several anonymous reviewers for critical comments. This study was funded by the Israel Science Foundation ISF grant 1009/17 to L.C. and B.Y. and ISF grant 407/17 to S.C. D.R. is an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and his ancient DNA laboratory work was supported by National Science Foundation HOMINID grant BCS-1032255, by National Institutes of Health grant GM100233, by an Allen Discovery Center grant, and by grant 61220 from the John Templeton Foundation. Work at Megiddo is supported by the Dan David Foundation, the Shmunis Family Foundation, Mark Weismann, and Vivian and Norman Belmonte. Conceptualization, L.A.-T. R.P. Y.E. B.Y. S.C. I.F. L.C. and D.R.; Methodology, L.A.-T. S.W. B.Y. S.C. L.C. and D.R.; Formal Analysis, L.A.-T. S.W. N.M. B.Y. S.C. L.C. and D.R.; Investigation, L.A.-T. S.W. M.A.S.M, D.G. T.E. O.C. N.R. S.M. N.A. A.M.L. M. Mah, M. Michel, J.O. K.S. F.C. D.K. B.G. S.T. R.K. S.B. V.E. D.J.K. M.F. N.Y.-M. J.M.M. Y.G. Y.E. B.Y. R.P. S.C. I.F. L.C. and D.R.; Resources, M.A.S.M, S.B. V.E. N.Y.-M. J.M.M. Y.G. R.P. and I.F.; Data Curation, S.M. and D.R.; Writing, L.A.-T. S.W. T.E. Y.E. B.Y. S.C. I.F. L.C. and D.R.; Supervision, Y.E. R.P. S.C. I.F. L.C. and D.R. The authors declare no competing interests.

Funding Information:
We thank Reuven Amitai, Menachem Ben-Sasson, Tom Booth, Pontus Skoglund, Philipp Stockhammer, Jason Ur, and several anonymous reviewers for critical comments. This study was funded by the Israel Science Foundation ISF grant 1009/17 to L.C. and B.Y. and ISF grant 407/17 to S.C. D.R. is an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and his ancient DNA laboratory work was supported by National Science Foundation HOMINID grant BCS-1032255 , by National Institutes of Health grant GM100233 , by an Allen Discovery Center grant, and by grant 61220 from the John Templeton Foundation . Work at Megiddo is supported by the Dan David Foundation , the Shmunis Family Foundation , Mark Weismann , and Vivian and Norman Belmonte .

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier Inc.

Keywords

Abel Beth Maacah
Baq‛ah
Tel Megiddo
Tel Shadud
Yehud
ancient DNA
archaeology
demographic inference
genetic ancestry
population genetics

Access to Document

10.1016/j.cell.2020.04.024

Cite this

Agranat-Tamir, L., Waldman, S., Martin, M. A. S., Gokhman, D., Mishol, N., Eshel, T., Cheronet, O., Rohland, N., Mallick, S., Adamski, N., Lawson, A. M., Mah, M., Michel, M., Oppenheimer, J., Stewardson, K., Candilio, F., Keating, D., Gamarra, B., Tzur, S., ... Reich, D. (2020). The Genomic History of the Bronze Age Southern Levant. Cell, 181(5), 1146-1157.e11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2020.04.024

@article{c195c9afbc7a4f189a50be40b7501687,

title = "The Genomic History of the Bronze Age Southern Levant",

abstract = "We report genome-wide DNA data for 73 individuals from five archaeological sites across the Bronze and Iron Ages Southern Levant. These individuals, who share the “Canaanite” material culture, can be modeled as descending from two sources: (1) earlier local Neolithic populations and (2) populations related to the Chalcolithic Zagros or the Bronze Age Caucasus. The non-local contribution increased over time, as evinced by three outliers who can be modeled as descendants of recent migrants. We show evidence that different “Canaanite” groups genetically resemble each other more than other populations. We find that Levant-related modern populations typically have substantial ancestry coming from populations related to the Chalcolithic Zagros and the Bronze Age Southern Levant. These groups also harbor ancestry from sources we cannot fully model with the available data, highlighting the critical role of post-Bronze-Age migrations into the region over the past 3,000 years. Genome-wide data from Bronze Age individuals across nine sites in the Southern Levant show strong genetic resemblance, including a component from populations related to Chalcolithic Zagros and Early Bronze Age Caucasus introduced by gene flow lasting at least until the late Bronze Age and affecting modern Levantine population architecture.",

keywords = "Abel Beth Maacah, Baq‛ah, Tel Megiddo, Tel Shadud, Yehud, ancient DNA, archaeology, demographic inference, genetic ancestry, population genetics",

author = "Lily Agranat-Tamir and Shamam Waldman and Martin, {Mario A.S.} and David Gokhman and Nadav Mishol and Tzilla Eshel and Olivia Cheronet and Nadin Rohland and Swapan Mallick and Nicole Adamski and Lawson, {Ann Marie} and Matthew Mah and Megan Michel and Jonas Oppenheimer and Kristin Stewardson and Francesca Candilio and Denise Keating and Beatriz Gamarra and Shay Tzur and Mario Novak and Rachel Kalisher and Shlomit Bechar and Vered Eshed and Kennett, {Douglas J.} and Marina Faerman and Naama Yahalom-Mack and Monge, {Janet M.} and Yehuda Govrin and Yigal Erel and Benjamin Yakir and Ron Pinhasi and Shai Carmi and Israel Finkelstein and Liran Carmel and David Reich",

note = "Funding Information: We thank Reuven Amitai, Menachem Ben-Sasson, Tom Booth, Pontus Skoglund, Philipp Stockhammer, Jason Ur, and several anonymous reviewers for critical comments. This study was funded by the Israel Science Foundation ISF grant 1009/17 to L.C. and B.Y. and ISF grant 407/17 to S.C. D.R. is an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and his ancient DNA laboratory work was supported by National Science Foundation HOMINID grant BCS-1032255, by National Institutes of Health grant GM100233, by an Allen Discovery Center grant, and by grant 61220 from the John Templeton Foundation. Work at Megiddo is supported by the Dan David Foundation, the Shmunis Family Foundation, Mark Weismann, and Vivian and Norman Belmonte. Conceptualization, L.A.-T. R.P. Y.E. B.Y. S.C. I.F. L.C. and D.R.; Methodology, L.A.-T. S.W. B.Y. S.C. L.C. and D.R.; Formal Analysis, L.A.-T. S.W. N.M. B.Y. S.C. L.C. and D.R.; Investigation, L.A.-T. S.W. M.A.S.M, D.G. T.E. O.C. N.R. S.M. N.A. A.M.L. M. Mah, M. Michel, J.O. K.S. F.C. D.K. B.G. S.T. R.K. S.B. V.E. D.J.K. M.F. N.Y.-M. J.M.M. Y.G. Y.E. B.Y. R.P. S.C. I.F. L.C. and D.R.; Resources, M.A.S.M, S.B. V.E. N.Y.-M. J.M.M. Y.G. R.P. and I.F.; Data Curation, S.M. and D.R.; Writing, L.A.-T. S.W. T.E. Y.E. B.Y. S.C. I.F. L.C. and D.R.; Supervision, Y.E. R.P. S.C. I.F. L.C. and D.R. The authors declare no competing interests. Funding Information: We thank Reuven Amitai, Menachem Ben-Sasson, Tom Booth, Pontus Skoglund, Philipp Stockhammer, Jason Ur, and several anonymous reviewers for critical comments. This study was funded by the Israel Science Foundation ISF grant 1009/17 to L.C. and B.Y. and ISF grant 407/17 to S.C. D.R. is an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and his ancient DNA laboratory work was supported by National Science Foundation HOMINID grant BCS-1032255 , by National Institutes of Health grant GM100233 , by an Allen Discovery Center grant, and by grant 61220 from the John Templeton Foundation . Work at Megiddo is supported by the Dan David Foundation , the Shmunis Family Foundation , Mark Weismann , and Vivian and Norman Belmonte . Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020 Elsevier Inc.",

year = "2020",

month = may,

day = "28",

doi = "10.1016/j.cell.2020.04.024",

language = "American English",

volume = "181",

pages = "1146--1157.e11",

journal = "Cell",

issn = "0092-8674",

publisher = "Cell Press",

number = "5",

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Agranat-Tamir, L, Waldman, S, Martin, MAS, Gokhman, D, Mishol, N, Eshel, T, Cheronet, O, Rohland, N, Mallick, S, Adamski, N, Lawson, AM, Mah, M, Michel, M, Oppenheimer, J, Stewardson, K, Candilio, F, Keating, D, Gamarra, B, Tzur, S, Novak, M, Kalisher, R, Bechar, S, Eshed, V, Kennett, DJ, Faerman, M, Yahalom-Mack, N, Monge, JM, Govrin, Y, Erel, Y , Yakir, B, Pinhasi, R, Carmi, S, Finkelstein, I, Carmel, L & Reich, D 2020, 'The Genomic History of the Bronze Age Southern Levant', Cell, vol. 181, no. 5, pp. 1146-1157.e11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2020.04.024

TY - JOUR

T1 - The Genomic History of the Bronze Age Southern Levant

AU - Agranat-Tamir, Lily

AU - Waldman, Shamam

AU - Martin, Mario A.S.

AU - Gokhman, David

AU - Mishol, Nadav

AU - Eshel, Tzilla

AU - Cheronet, Olivia

AU - Rohland, Nadin

AU - Mallick, Swapan

AU - Adamski, Nicole

AU - Lawson, Ann Marie

AU - Mah, Matthew

AU - Michel, Megan

AU - Oppenheimer, Jonas

AU - Stewardson, Kristin

AU - Candilio, Francesca

AU - Keating, Denise

AU - Gamarra, Beatriz

AU - Tzur, Shay

AU - Novak, Mario

AU - Kalisher, Rachel

AU - Bechar, Shlomit

AU - Eshed, Vered

AU - Kennett, Douglas J.

AU - Faerman, Marina

AU - Yahalom-Mack, Naama

AU - Monge, Janet M.

AU - Govrin, Yehuda

AU - Erel, Yigal

AU - Yakir, Benjamin

AU - Pinhasi, Ron

AU - Carmi, Shai

AU - Finkelstein, Israel

AU - Carmel, Liran

AU - Reich, David

N1 - Funding Information: We thank Reuven Amitai, Menachem Ben-Sasson, Tom Booth, Pontus Skoglund, Philipp Stockhammer, Jason Ur, and several anonymous reviewers for critical comments. This study was funded by the Israel Science Foundation ISF grant 1009/17 to L.C. and B.Y. and ISF grant 407/17 to S.C. D.R. is an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and his ancient DNA laboratory work was supported by National Science Foundation HOMINID grant BCS-1032255, by National Institutes of Health grant GM100233, by an Allen Discovery Center grant, and by grant 61220 from the John Templeton Foundation. Work at Megiddo is supported by the Dan David Foundation, the Shmunis Family Foundation, Mark Weismann, and Vivian and Norman Belmonte. Conceptualization, L.A.-T. R.P. Y.E. B.Y. S.C. I.F. L.C. and D.R.; Methodology, L.A.-T. S.W. B.Y. S.C. L.C. and D.R.; Formal Analysis, L.A.-T. S.W. N.M. B.Y. S.C. L.C. and D.R.; Investigation, L.A.-T. S.W. M.A.S.M, D.G. T.E. O.C. N.R. S.M. N.A. A.M.L. M. Mah, M. Michel, J.O. K.S. F.C. D.K. B.G. S.T. R.K. S.B. V.E. D.J.K. M.F. N.Y.-M. J.M.M. Y.G. Y.E. B.Y. R.P. S.C. I.F. L.C. and D.R.; Resources, M.A.S.M, S.B. V.E. N.Y.-M. J.M.M. Y.G. R.P. and I.F.; Data Curation, S.M. and D.R.; Writing, L.A.-T. S.W. T.E. Y.E. B.Y. S.C. I.F. L.C. and D.R.; Supervision, Y.E. R.P. S.C. I.F. L.C. and D.R. The authors declare no competing interests. Funding Information: We thank Reuven Amitai, Menachem Ben-Sasson, Tom Booth, Pontus Skoglund, Philipp Stockhammer, Jason Ur, and several anonymous reviewers for critical comments. This study was funded by the Israel Science Foundation ISF grant 1009/17 to L.C. and B.Y. and ISF grant 407/17 to S.C. D.R. is an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and his ancient DNA laboratory work was supported by National Science Foundation HOMINID grant BCS-1032255 , by National Institutes of Health grant GM100233 , by an Allen Discovery Center grant, and by grant 61220 from the John Templeton Foundation . Work at Megiddo is supported by the Dan David Foundation , the Shmunis Family Foundation , Mark Weismann , and Vivian and Norman Belmonte . Publisher Copyright: © 2020 Elsevier Inc.

PY - 2020/5/28

Y1 - 2020/5/28

N2 - We report genome-wide DNA data for 73 individuals from five archaeological sites across the Bronze and Iron Ages Southern Levant. These individuals, who share the “Canaanite” material culture, can be modeled as descending from two sources: (1) earlier local Neolithic populations and (2) populations related to the Chalcolithic Zagros or the Bronze Age Caucasus. The non-local contribution increased over time, as evinced by three outliers who can be modeled as descendants of recent migrants. We show evidence that different “Canaanite” groups genetically resemble each other more than other populations. We find that Levant-related modern populations typically have substantial ancestry coming from populations related to the Chalcolithic Zagros and the Bronze Age Southern Levant. These groups also harbor ancestry from sources we cannot fully model with the available data, highlighting the critical role of post-Bronze-Age migrations into the region over the past 3,000 years. Genome-wide data from Bronze Age individuals across nine sites in the Southern Levant show strong genetic resemblance, including a component from populations related to Chalcolithic Zagros and Early Bronze Age Caucasus introduced by gene flow lasting at least until the late Bronze Age and affecting modern Levantine population architecture.

AB - We report genome-wide DNA data for 73 individuals from five archaeological sites across the Bronze and Iron Ages Southern Levant. These individuals, who share the “Canaanite” material culture, can be modeled as descending from two sources: (1) earlier local Neolithic populations and (2) populations related to the Chalcolithic Zagros or the Bronze Age Caucasus. The non-local contribution increased over time, as evinced by three outliers who can be modeled as descendants of recent migrants. We show evidence that different “Canaanite” groups genetically resemble each other more than other populations. We find that Levant-related modern populations typically have substantial ancestry coming from populations related to the Chalcolithic Zagros and the Bronze Age Southern Levant. These groups also harbor ancestry from sources we cannot fully model with the available data, highlighting the critical role of post-Bronze-Age migrations into the region over the past 3,000 years. Genome-wide data from Bronze Age individuals across nine sites in the Southern Levant show strong genetic resemblance, including a component from populations related to Chalcolithic Zagros and Early Bronze Age Caucasus introduced by gene flow lasting at least until the late Bronze Age and affecting modern Levantine population architecture.

KW - Abel Beth Maacah

KW - Baq‛ah

KW - Tel Megiddo

KW - Tel Shadud

KW - Yehud

KW - ancient DNA

KW - archaeology

KW - demographic inference

KW - genetic ancestry

KW - population genetics

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85085253224&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.cell.2020.04.024

DO - 10.1016/j.cell.2020.04.024

M3 - Article

C2 - 32470400

AN - SCOPUS:85085253224

SN - 0092-8674

VL - 181

SP - 1146-1157.e11

JO - Cell

JF - Cell

IS - 5

ER -

The Genomic History of the Bronze Age Southern Levant

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Bibliographical note

Keywords

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