对古代DNA的一项分析提示，在新时器时代男性比女性更多地迁徙。
Marie Lacan及其同事从西班牙东北部一个古代墓葬洞穴Avellaner洞穴中发掘出的人类标本中提取了DNA。这组作者分析了存在于男性身上的Y染色体和通过母亲传给子女的线粒体DNA。
在该洞穴中发现的7个人中，6人被发现是男性，只有1人是女性。
尽管在这些人中间没有发现直接的家族关系，其中5名男性似乎属于同一个父系，这提示只有一个群体使用这个洞穴作为墓葬地点。
这些发现进一步提示了在这个时期的母系的前新石器时代的起源。这些男性的至少两个单倍型类群G2a和E1b1b1a1b在今天的西欧人群中相当独特而且罕见，这提示这些父系是从其他地方引入到欧洲的。
这组作者因此得出结论说，在新石器过渡时期人口从狩猎采集的生活方式转换到建立在农业基础上的文化的时候，男性而非女性的群体进行了迁徙。这些结果符合此前关于来自晚新时期时代法国的个体的研究，表明了那时候这两个人群之间令人惊奇的遗传相似性。(生物谷 Bioon.com)
doi:10.1073/pnas.1113061108
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Ancient DNA suggests the leading role played by men in the Neolithic dissemination
Marie Lacan, Christine Keyser, Fran?ois-Xavier Ricaut, Nicolas Brucato, Josep Tarrús, Angel Bosch, Jean Guilaine, Eric Crubézy, and Bertrand Ludes
The impact of the Neolithic dispersal on the western European populations is subject to continuing debate. To trace and date genetic lineages potentially brought during this transition and so understand the origin of the gene pool of current populations, we studied DNA extracted from human remains excavated in a Spanish funeral cave dating from the beginning of the fifth millennium B.C. Thanks to a “multimarkers” approach based on the analysis of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA (autosomes and Y-chromosome), we obtained information on the early Neolithic funeral practices and on the biogeographical origin of the inhumed individuals. No close kinship was detected. Maternal haplogroups found are consistent with pre-Neolithic settlement, whereas the Y-chromosomal analyses permitted confirmation of the existence in Spain approximately 7,000 y ago of two haplogroups previously associated with the Neolithic transition: G2a and E1b1b1a1b. These results are highly consistent with those previously found in Neolithic individuals from French Late Neolithic individuals, indicating a surprising temporal genetic homogeneity in these groups. The high frequency of G2a in Neolithic samples in western Europe could suggest, furthermore, that the role of men during Neolithic dispersal could be greater than currently estimated.
