u/Accurate-Ad2057

Between the Early Neolithic and the Bronze Age, the Levant and Egypt absorbed massive gene flow from the Caucasus and Iranian Highlands Lazaridis et al., 2016. When later Afroasiatic (Cushitic) or Nilotic herders expanded southward into the Rift Valley, they imported this "Zagros-enriched" northern signature, which the older Nderit lineages cleanly lacked.

The model is highly robust with a near-perfect p-value and low standard errors (under 5%) regardless of Kenya_PastoralN_Nderit’s low SNP coverage.This ~11% Turkey_C signature perfectly captures the deep West Eurasian-related gene flow that traveled down into Northeast/East Africa via the Levant and Horn of Africa, mixing with local herding cultures like the Nderit. It mirrors the exact genetic transition seen moving from the Pastoral Neolithic into the Pastoral Iron Age.
Has anyone else played around with the Kenya_PastoralN_Nderit source or gotten better fits swapping out Turkey_C for Levant_Neolithic? Let me know what you think!

This suggests the modern Egyptian sample shares a significant genetic signature with Early Pastoral Neolithic groups in Kenya, likely due to a shared ancient "Nilotic" or North-African-related component.

Comparing the accuracy of using pure Natufian vs. admixed PPNB (Levant_N) as a source population.