Neolithic pots and potters in Europe: the end of ‘demic diffusion’ migratory model

Abstract

In this paper we discuss the inventions and re-inventions of ceramic technology and pot- tery dispersals in foraging and farming contexts in Eurasia. We focus on narratives that operate with- in interpretative paradigms that suggest movements of unidirectional colonisation and ‘demic’ diffusion, and a correlation between pottery and human DNA haplogroup distributions in Europe in the Initial Neolithic. In addition, we present the results of ancient, Mesolithic and Neolithic mitochon- drial DNA analyses, which suggest variations in population trajectories in prehistoric Europe. We comment on a hypothesis presented recently on the correlation between the distribution of the lactase (LCT) gene –13 910*T in the modern population of Europe, which has been shown to be associated with lactase persistence and dairying, and the Neolithic transition to farming in Central Europe.

Keywords

• Eurasia
• neolithisation
• demic diffusion
• pottery
• human DNA and aDNA