Just released: A European population in Minoan Bronze Age Crete, by Hughey et al.
Abstract
The first advanced Bronze Age civilization of Europe was established by the Minoans about 5,000 years before present. Since Sir Arthur Evans exposed the Minoan civic centre of Knossos, archaeologists have speculated on the origin of the founders of the civilization. Evans proposed a North African origin; Cycladic, Balkan, Anatolian and Middle Eastern origins have also been proposed. Here we address the question of the origin of the Minoans by analysing mitochondrial DNA from Minoan osseous remains from a cave ossuary in the Lassithi plateau of Crete dated 4,400–3,700 years before present. Shared haplotypes, principal component and pairwise distance analyses refute the Evans North African hypothesis. Minoans show the strongest relationships with Neolithic and modern European populations and with the modern inhabitants of the Lassithi plateau. Our data are compatible with the hypothesis of an autochthonous development of the Minoan civilization by the descendants of the Neolithic settlers of the island.
Here is the haplogroups breakdown for the 37 samples.
- H : 32.4% (12 samples*, including one H5, one H7, one H13a1a)
- T : 18.9% (7 samples, including one T1, three T2, one T3 and one T5)
- K : 16.2% (6 sample)
- HV : 8.1% (3 samples)
- I : 8.1% (3 sample, all I5)
- U : 5.4% (2 samples, including one U5a)
- J : 5.4% (2 samples, including a J2)
- R0 : 2.7% (1 sample)
- W : 2.7% (1 sample)
- X : 2.7% (1 sample, most probably X2)
* among the 9 unidentified subclades of H, there could be one H1k, one H5 or H1k, and one H1a3c or H1t1aa.
From the paper:
This affinity of Minoan maternal lineages with the modern populations of Northern and Western Europe are interesting because the shared mt-haplogroups happen to be exactly those I have identified as Indo-European mtDNA. I have linked H5a, H7, T, U3, U5a1 and X2 with the spread of R1b in the Bronze Age, and I, U2, U4 and W with that of R1a.
Modern Crete has a relatively high frequency of R1b (15%) and R1a (9%), and the highest local percentage of R1b ever observed in Greece justly happens to be in the Lasithi Plateau (36.6% R1b according to Martinez et al. 2007), where these 37 ancient samples are from. Apart from U3 (probably, since there is still one unidentified U) all the mt-haplogroups corresponding to R1b were found.
The association with R1a is more shaky as it relies solely on two rare haplogroups : I and W. I5 has been found in such places as northern Germany, Italy, Bulgaria, North Ossetia (actually a R1b hotspot, not a R1a one) and the Arabian peninsula. But how else could the presence of nearly 10% of R1a in Crete be explained, if not by the Indo-Europeans ? Ultimately all R1a is thought to be of Indo-European origin. In this case it is hard to attribute its presence in Crete to the Slavic migrations. That was limited to continental Greece, mostly in the north. R1a must have arrived earlier in Greece, during the Bronze Age, along with R1b.
R1b almost certainly arrived in the early Bronze Age, around the time the Minoan civilisation appeared. If we follow the diffusion of the Bronze Age, R1b is thought to have started invading the Balkans from 4200 BCE, reaching Bulgaria circa 3300 BCE (Ezero Culture), and Greece circa 3000 BCE. The Bronze Age started c. 2700 BCE in Crete. Although there was already an early Minoan culture there before (since 3650 BCE), the beginning of the true Minoan civilization is usually associated with the start of the Bronze Age c. 2700 BCE. Chronologically, it all fits. R1b people brought bronze working with them to Crete and took over the existing Minoan culture, blending with the local people.
What I find surprising with this new link between the Indo-Europeans and Minoan Crete is that Minoan people were usually depicted as having black curly haired and half of the time as being very darked skinned - the opposite of what is expected of the fair-haired, fair-skinned Indo-European people. This is why some people have suggested that the Minoan came from North Africa, along with the bulk of Greek Y-DNA E1b1b. This study didn't find any African mtDNA, but it isn't really surprising since there is very little African mtDNA in modern Greece and even E1b1b is rather sparse in modern Crete, especially in the Lasithi Plateau (5%).
I believe that the dark pigmentation came with the J2 people from the Fertile Crescent, although it is too early to say whether they came before or after R1a and R1b Indo-Europeans. J2 could have come in the (late) Neolithic just as it could have arrived in the late Bronze Age, following the collapse of the Minoan civilisation and the rise of the Sea Peoples. The latter is not impossible considering the strong association of J2 with seafaring civilisations (Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Venetians, Portuguese).
However, since Neolithic samples were limited to G2a, I2a and E1b1b samples, and that regions with high frequencies of these haplogroups (e.g. Sardinia, which may be the best reference population to compare with Neolithic Europeans) have fairer skin and less curly hair than people in the Fertile Crescent, I would suppose that J2 was already part of the Minoan admixture. My original assumption was that the Minoan were mostly a hybrid of R1b and J2 male lineages. The mitochondrial lineages in this study that could correspond to the maternal side of J2 are R0, HV, K, and some subclades of H, J and T.
Minoan language remains a mystery since Linear A has not yet be deciphered. So we have no clue as to whether it was Indo-European or not. Either alternative is equally possible. The Minoans could have inherited their language either from R1b+R1a Indo-Europeans or from J2 non-IE.
Abstract
The first advanced Bronze Age civilization of Europe was established by the Minoans about 5,000 years before present. Since Sir Arthur Evans exposed the Minoan civic centre of Knossos, archaeologists have speculated on the origin of the founders of the civilization. Evans proposed a North African origin; Cycladic, Balkan, Anatolian and Middle Eastern origins have also been proposed. Here we address the question of the origin of the Minoans by analysing mitochondrial DNA from Minoan osseous remains from a cave ossuary in the Lassithi plateau of Crete dated 4,400–3,700 years before present. Shared haplotypes, principal component and pairwise distance analyses refute the Evans North African hypothesis. Minoans show the strongest relationships with Neolithic and modern European populations and with the modern inhabitants of the Lassithi plateau. Our data are compatible with the hypothesis of an autochthonous development of the Minoan civilization by the descendants of the Neolithic settlers of the island.
Here is the haplogroups breakdown for the 37 samples.
- H : 32.4% (12 samples*, including one H5, one H7, one H13a1a)
- T : 18.9% (7 samples, including one T1, three T2, one T3 and one T5)
- K : 16.2% (6 sample)
- HV : 8.1% (3 samples)
- I : 8.1% (3 sample, all I5)
- U : 5.4% (2 samples, including one U5a)
- J : 5.4% (2 samples, including a J2)
- R0 : 2.7% (1 sample)
- W : 2.7% (1 sample)
- X : 2.7% (1 sample, most probably X2)
* among the 9 unidentified subclades of H, there could be one H1k, one H5 or H1k, and one H1a3c or H1t1aa.
From the paper:
Hughey et al. said:
This affinity of Minoan maternal lineages with the modern populations of Northern and Western Europe are interesting because the shared mt-haplogroups happen to be exactly those I have identified as Indo-European mtDNA. I have linked H5a, H7, T, U3, U5a1 and X2 with the spread of R1b in the Bronze Age, and I, U2, U4 and W with that of R1a.
Modern Crete has a relatively high frequency of R1b (15%) and R1a (9%), and the highest local percentage of R1b ever observed in Greece justly happens to be in the Lasithi Plateau (36.6% R1b according to Martinez et al. 2007), where these 37 ancient samples are from. Apart from U3 (probably, since there is still one unidentified U) all the mt-haplogroups corresponding to R1b were found.
The association with R1a is more shaky as it relies solely on two rare haplogroups : I and W. I5 has been found in such places as northern Germany, Italy, Bulgaria, North Ossetia (actually a R1b hotspot, not a R1a one) and the Arabian peninsula. But how else could the presence of nearly 10% of R1a in Crete be explained, if not by the Indo-Europeans ? Ultimately all R1a is thought to be of Indo-European origin. In this case it is hard to attribute its presence in Crete to the Slavic migrations. That was limited to continental Greece, mostly in the north. R1a must have arrived earlier in Greece, during the Bronze Age, along with R1b.
R1b almost certainly arrived in the early Bronze Age, around the time the Minoan civilisation appeared. If we follow the diffusion of the Bronze Age, R1b is thought to have started invading the Balkans from 4200 BCE, reaching Bulgaria circa 3300 BCE (Ezero Culture), and Greece circa 3000 BCE. The Bronze Age started c. 2700 BCE in Crete. Although there was already an early Minoan culture there before (since 3650 BCE), the beginning of the true Minoan civilization is usually associated with the start of the Bronze Age c. 2700 BCE. Chronologically, it all fits. R1b people brought bronze working with them to Crete and took over the existing Minoan culture, blending with the local people.
What I find surprising with this new link between the Indo-Europeans and Minoan Crete is that Minoan people were usually depicted as having black curly haired and half of the time as being very darked skinned - the opposite of what is expected of the fair-haired, fair-skinned Indo-European people. This is why some people have suggested that the Minoan came from North Africa, along with the bulk of Greek Y-DNA E1b1b. This study didn't find any African mtDNA, but it isn't really surprising since there is very little African mtDNA in modern Greece and even E1b1b is rather sparse in modern Crete, especially in the Lasithi Plateau (5%).
I believe that the dark pigmentation came with the J2 people from the Fertile Crescent, although it is too early to say whether they came before or after R1a and R1b Indo-Europeans. J2 could have come in the (late) Neolithic just as it could have arrived in the late Bronze Age, following the collapse of the Minoan civilisation and the rise of the Sea Peoples. The latter is not impossible considering the strong association of J2 with seafaring civilisations (Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Venetians, Portuguese).
However, since Neolithic samples were limited to G2a, I2a and E1b1b samples, and that regions with high frequencies of these haplogroups (e.g. Sardinia, which may be the best reference population to compare with Neolithic Europeans) have fairer skin and less curly hair than people in the Fertile Crescent, I would suppose that J2 was already part of the Minoan admixture. My original assumption was that the Minoan were mostly a hybrid of R1b and J2 male lineages. The mitochondrial lineages in this study that could correspond to the maternal side of J2 are R0, HV, K, and some subclades of H, J and T.
Minoan language remains a mystery since Linear A has not yet be deciphered. So we have no clue as to whether it was Indo-European or not. Either alternative is equally possible. The Minoans could have inherited their language either from R1b+R1a Indo-Europeans or from J2 non-IE.
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