FARMERS from the Middle East carried civilisation with them into
Europe, 10,000 years ago. A genetic analysis reveals that modern
inhabitants of Paris, Athens and Berlin share an average of 50
per cent of their genes with people from Baghdad, Tehran, Ankara
and Damascus. That means farmers must have emigrated en masse
from the Middle East into Europe, mingling and interbreeding
with the hunter-gatherers of the day. It also helps settle the
long-running debate about whether immigrants brought agriculture
directly to Europe or if the idea simply spread west by word of
mouth. The development of agriculture is considered to have been
one of the most important steps leading to modern civilisation.
Archaeologists have shown that agriculture moved north-west
through Europe at about one kilometre a year, based on the
dating of clay pots and other tools. But how this happened has
been less clear. In the 1970s, scientists first ... To continue
reading this article, subscribe to receive access to all of
newscientist.com