Agriculture was developed independently in five regions of the world, and all of them can be linked to the macro-haplogroup K, and even more specifically to haplogroup MP (except China which is NO).
- The Fertile Crescent (Levant + Mesopotamia) : haplogroups R1b and T (+ E1b1b, G2a and J)
- The Indus valley : haplogroups L and R2
- China : haplogroups N and O
- The Americas : haplogroup Q
- New Guinea : haplogroups M and S
The only major haplogroup under K that is not listed is R1a, which most likely represents the people who managed to domesticate of the horse.
It is noteworthy that all regions of the world that lacked descendants of macro-haplogroup K in their population failed to develop agriculture on their own. Here are some examples:
- Farming and animal husbandry did not develop independently anywhere else in Africa (hg A, B and E), but was brought by migrations of E1b1b, R1b-V88 and T people from the Levant. The only region that could be thought of as agricultural pioneers is the Horn of Africa (Ethiopia & Somalia), where camels where apparently first domesticated. This region has the world's highest frequency of haplogroup T.
- The Dravidian population (hg H) of South India failed to develop agriculture despite having a more propitious natural environment than Papuans or Incans.
- The Jomon Japanese (hg C and D) kept a lifestyle of hunters, fishers and gatherers later than nearly any other society in Eurasia (apart from isolated tribes in the jungles of South Asia or in the Arctic region) despite the fact that they lived in a temperate to subtropical region with some of the most fertile soil on Earth (thanks to the volcanoes).
- The most perplexing case is that of Mesolithic Europeans (hg I and possibly C and F), who lived in an environment highly favourable to both farming and herding, but failed to develop agriculture by themselves. Agriculture had to be brought by Near Eastern migrants and only reached western and northern Europe 5000 years after agriculture had been developed in the Fertile Crescent, the Indus, Valley and the Yellow River, and even 3000 years after Papuans developed agriculture in their jungle highlands of New Guinea, where it is much harder to cultivate anything than in Europe.
This makes me wonder whether the original carriers of Y-haplogroup K possessed some genetic qualities of predisposition that helped them domesticate plants and animals ?
Aboriginal Australians, who belong mostly to hg C but do have about 20% of hg K*, did manage to grow some plants (yams, bush onions, millet ), but failed to develop any form of widespread or sustainable agriculture - perhaps because they possessed only a tiny percentage of original Central/North Asian autosomal genes from their Y-DNA K ancestors.
It could also be argued that the E1b1b people who developed agriculture in the Fertile Crescent originated in the Horn of Africa, where they might have blended extensively with haplogroup T. Unless of course haplogroup T was not yet in Africa before the Neolithic, in which case E1b1b and G would have mixed with T and R1b in the Fertile Crescent itself. Either way, it is almost certain that agriculture in the Fertile Crescent arose from a mixture of these four haplogroups, two of which descend from macro-haplogroup K.
So far it remains unclear whether haplogroups J1 and J2 had anything to do with the early development of agriculture in the Fertile Crescent or if they were assimilated by the advance of Early farmers like haplogroup I in Europe. If J1 and J2 people had been part of the original Neolithic expansion, both haplogroups should be expected to be found in agricultural populations in various parts of Africa alongside E1b1b, G, R1b and T. But the only ethnic groups in Africa where haplogroup J is found are all Muslim and the presence of J can be solely attributed to the expansion of Islam since the 7th century. In Europe and South Asia, I believe that haplogroup J2 spread mostly during the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age rather than during the Neolithic (even if a small percentage of J1 and J2 could have infiltrated the population of early farmers and herders before they left the Middle East).
- The Fertile Crescent (Levant + Mesopotamia) : haplogroups R1b and T (+ E1b1b, G2a and J)
- The Indus valley : haplogroups L and R2
- China : haplogroups N and O
- The Americas : haplogroup Q
- New Guinea : haplogroups M and S
The only major haplogroup under K that is not listed is R1a, which most likely represents the people who managed to domesticate of the horse.
It is noteworthy that all regions of the world that lacked descendants of macro-haplogroup K in their population failed to develop agriculture on their own. Here are some examples:
- Farming and animal husbandry did not develop independently anywhere else in Africa (hg A, B and E), but was brought by migrations of E1b1b, R1b-V88 and T people from the Levant. The only region that could be thought of as agricultural pioneers is the Horn of Africa (Ethiopia & Somalia), where camels where apparently first domesticated. This region has the world's highest frequency of haplogroup T.
- The Dravidian population (hg H) of South India failed to develop agriculture despite having a more propitious natural environment than Papuans or Incans.
- The Jomon Japanese (hg C and D) kept a lifestyle of hunters, fishers and gatherers later than nearly any other society in Eurasia (apart from isolated tribes in the jungles of South Asia or in the Arctic region) despite the fact that they lived in a temperate to subtropical region with some of the most fertile soil on Earth (thanks to the volcanoes).
- The most perplexing case is that of Mesolithic Europeans (hg I and possibly C and F), who lived in an environment highly favourable to both farming and herding, but failed to develop agriculture by themselves. Agriculture had to be brought by Near Eastern migrants and only reached western and northern Europe 5000 years after agriculture had been developed in the Fertile Crescent, the Indus, Valley and the Yellow River, and even 3000 years after Papuans developed agriculture in their jungle highlands of New Guinea, where it is much harder to cultivate anything than in Europe.
This makes me wonder whether the original carriers of Y-haplogroup K possessed some genetic qualities of predisposition that helped them domesticate plants and animals ?
Aboriginal Australians, who belong mostly to hg C but do have about 20% of hg K*, did manage to grow some plants (yams, bush onions, millet ), but failed to develop any form of widespread or sustainable agriculture - perhaps because they possessed only a tiny percentage of original Central/North Asian autosomal genes from their Y-DNA K ancestors.
It could also be argued that the E1b1b people who developed agriculture in the Fertile Crescent originated in the Horn of Africa, where they might have blended extensively with haplogroup T. Unless of course haplogroup T was not yet in Africa before the Neolithic, in which case E1b1b and G would have mixed with T and R1b in the Fertile Crescent itself. Either way, it is almost certain that agriculture in the Fertile Crescent arose from a mixture of these four haplogroups, two of which descend from macro-haplogroup K.
So far it remains unclear whether haplogroups J1 and J2 had anything to do with the early development of agriculture in the Fertile Crescent or if they were assimilated by the advance of Early farmers like haplogroup I in Europe. If J1 and J2 people had been part of the original Neolithic expansion, both haplogroups should be expected to be found in agricultural populations in various parts of Africa alongside E1b1b, G, R1b and T. But the only ethnic groups in Africa where haplogroup J is found are all Muslim and the presence of J can be solely attributed to the expansion of Islam since the 7th century. In Europe and South Asia, I believe that haplogroup J2 spread mostly during the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age rather than during the Neolithic (even if a small percentage of J1 and J2 could have infiltrated the population of early farmers and herders before they left the Middle East).
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