Two new papers in Science: Anatolian life, female lineages, and travelling ideas
Two new Science papers, co-authored by researchers at Stockholm University, shed light on life in early agricultural Anatolia, Turkey. The studies indicate matriarchal elements in the society and show that personal choices didn’t always require long-distance migration.
One study analyses the genetics of more than 130 individuals from the world-famous Neolithic site of Çatalhöyük in central Turkey. The findings are striking: beneath the houses lie generations of buried individuals – but it’s mainly women and girls who are genetically related. The men, in contrast, appear to come from other lineages. Furthermore, mitochondrial DNA (passed on through the mother) shows little variation, while Y-chromosome variation is high. This suggests that the society in Çatalhöyük may have been matrilineal – women stayed in the house, men moved in.
Symbolic and social value associated with women
And it seems to have paid off to be female. Girls received, on average, five times more grave goods than boys. While this doesn’t indicate a full matriarchy, it clearly points to symbolic and social value being associated with women.
“It’s exciting,” says Anders Götherström, professor of molecular archaeology at the Department of Archaeology and Classical Studies and active at the Centre for Palaeogenetics (a joint centre between Stockholm University and the Swedish Museum of Natural History).
“Similar studies on European Neolithic societies have revealed patrilineal patterns – this is clearly something else.”
Ideas move, not always people
The second paper follows the spread of agriculture in Anatolia and then into Europe, about 9,000 years ago. By combining ancient DNA with pottery style analysis, the researchers show that it wasn’t always people who moved – sometimes it was ideas. In western Anatolia, pottery suddenly appears in a “European style”, but the local genetic profile remains unchanged. In other words, not all cultural shifts came with new populations – sometimes they came with new ways of thinking, cooking, and living.
Two studies in Science
Both studies are published in Science.
Female lineages and changing kinship patterns in Neolithic Çatalhöyük, DOI: 10.1126/science.adr2915
Out-of-Anatolia: cultural and genetic interactions during the Neolithic expansion in the Aegean, DOI: 10.1126/science.adr3326
Last updated: June 26, 2025
Source: Communications Office