Agricultural production arrived in Croatia’s territory from the Middle East at around 6000 BC. The spread of agriculture in Europe, and thus also in Croatia, was spurred by the immigration of populations with the haplotypes Eu4, Eu9, Eu10 and Eu11 (nomenclature according to Semino et al., 2000). The shares (%) of today’s inhabitants with these haplotypes are the result of the high number of Neolithic immigrants and the relationship between immigrants and indigenous Palaeolithic inhabitants. The share of “Neolithic haplotypes” in Croatia is lower than in the countries (regions) through which agriculture expanded toward Croatia (Serbia, Kosovo, Albania, Greece, Turkey, Syria and Lebanon). Comparison of the share of “Neolithic haplotypes” in Croatia with the share of such haplotypes in countries north of Croatia (Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine, Belarus and Germany) has shown that the share of Neolithic haplotypes in Croatia does not differ statistically from these countries. This indicates a specific relationship between the indigenous Palaeolithic inhabitants and the Neolithic immigrants in Croatia’s historical territory.

first farmers; agricultural diffusion; Y chromosome haplotype

Published by University of Zagreb, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagreb, CROATIA
Sponsored by Ministry Science and Education of the Republic of Croatia