European face-off for early farmers.A new analysis of modern and ancient human skulls supports the idea that early farmers in the Middle East spread into Europe between 11,000 and 6,500 years ago, intermarried with people there, and passed on their agricultural way of life to the native Europeans. C. Loring Brace C. Loring Brace (born 1930) is an anthropologist at the University of Michigan. He considers the attempt "to introduce a Darwinian outlook into biological anthropology" to be his greatest contribution to the field of anthropology. of the University of Michigan (body, education) University of Michigan - A large cosmopolitan university in the Midwest USA. Over 50000 students are enrolled at the University of Michigan's three campuses. The students come from 50 states and over 100 foreign countries. in Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, city (1990 pop. 109,592), seat of Washtenaw co., S Mich., on the Huron River; inc. 1851. It is a research and educational center, with a large number of government and industrial research and development firms, many in high-technology fields such as and his colleagues compared 24 measurements for each of l,282 skulls from current and prehistoric populations in Europe, the Middle East, and sub-Saharan Africa. The sample included 201 skulls from early farmers and 219 skulls from Bronze Age people, who lived between 4,300 and 2,700 years ago. Modern populations from Scandinavia to the Middle East display close genetic links, reflected in skull similarities, Brace's team reports in an upcoming Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, usually referred to as PNAS, is the official journal of the United States National Academy of Sciences. . Ancient farmers and their Bronze Age successors share many skull features but display a considerably weaker anatomical link to modern Europeans, especially in northern regions, the researchers say. These results fit a scenario in which farming spread into Europe via population mixing rather than by natives simply adopting agriculture (SN: 12/3/05, p. 358), the investigators propose. They say that facial traits of early immigrants have become diluted . through intermarriage in·ter·mar·ry intr.v. in·ter·mar·ried, in·ter·mar·ry·ing, in·ter·mar·ries 1. To marry a member of another group. 2. To be bound together by the marriages of members. 3. .--B.B. |
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