Recent Historical Genetic Evidence

Map showing the distribution of mitochondrial Haplogroup H among modern populations which is the main marker for Neolithic farmer migrations.
Map showing the distribution of mitochondrial Haplogroup H among modern populations which is the main marker for Neolithic farmer migrations. This genetic mutation originated in modern day Syria around 23,000 BCE. Not well shown on the map is that the Basques in Spain have a high percentage (28%) of this haplogroup meaning that their unique language should be a direct descendent of Akkadian.
from Wikipedia Commons via Alvarez and all (2009) at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Spatial_frequency_distribution_of_different_sub-lineages_of_mtDNA_haplogroup_H.png
Mitochondrial genealogy of the main haplogroups.
Mitochondrial genealogy of the main haplogroups. Since language would have been mostly transmitted to the next generation by the mothers, this haplogroup genealogy is also likely the genealogy of ancient language. from Wikipedia at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haplogroup_H_(mtDNA)

Neolithic Farmer Genetics

(August 20, 2022) The main genetic marker for the Neolithic farmers is the female side mitochondrial DNA haplogroup H. A mitochondria is an organelle in the cell body which generates energy for the cell. Thus it only exists in the egg and from there it is transmitted to future offspring only by the mother.

Haplogroup H had frequency of 19% among Neolithic Early European Farmers and is virtually absent among Mesolithic European hunter gatherers. (Brotherton and all 2013)

Haplogroup H was also present in the Cucuteni–Trypillia culture. Nikitin and all (2017)

The clade has been observed among ancient Egyptian mummies excavated at the Abusir el-Meleq archaeological site in Middle Egypt, which date from the pre-Ptolemaic/late New Kingdom and Ptolemaic periods. Schuenemann and all (2017)

Additionally, haplogroup H has been found among specimens at the mainland cemetery in Kulubnarti, Sudan, which date from the Early Christian period (AD 550–800). Sirak (2016)

References

Álvarez-Iglesias V, Mosquera-Miguel A, Cerezo M, Quintáns B, Zarrabeitia MT, Cuscó I, et al. (2009) New Population and Phylogenetic Features of the Internal Variation within Mitochondrial DNA Macro-Haplogroup R0. PLoS ONE 4(4): e5112. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0005112 http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0005112
Brotherton P, Haak W, Templeton J, Brandt G, Soubrier J, Jane Adler C, et al. (2013). "Neolithic mitochondrial haplogroup H genomes and the genetic origins of Europeans". Nature Communications. 4: 1764. Bibcode:2013NatCo...4.1764.. doi:10.1038/ncomms2656. PMC 3978205. PMID 23612305.
Nikitin AG, Potekhina I, Rohland N, Mallick S, Reich D, Lillie M (2017). "Mitochondrial DNA analysis of eneolithic trypillians from Ukraine reveals neolithic farming genetic roots". PLOS ONE. 12 (2): e0172952. Bibcode:2017PLoSO..1272952N. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0172952. PMC 5325568. PMID 28235025.
Schuenemann VJ, Peltzer A, Welte B, van Pelt WP, Molak M, Wang CC, et al. (May 2017). "Ancient Egyptian mummy genomes suggest an increase of Sub-Saharan African ancestry in post-Roman periods". Nature Communications. 8: 15694. Bibcode:2017NatCo...815694S. doi:10.1038/ncomms15694. PMC 5459999. PMID 28556824.
Sirak K, Frenandes D, Novak M, Van Gerven D, Pinhasi R (2016). "Abstract Book of the IUAES Inter-Congress 2016 – A community divided? Revealing the community genome(s) of Medieval Kulubnarti using next- generation sequencing". Abstract Book of the Iuaes Inter-Congress 2016. IUAES: 115.
Wikipedia (2022) at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haplogroup_H_(mtDNA)

The Migration of Farmers into Europe

Great video by David Reich on historical genetics on the migration patterns into Europe. He is one of the leading researchers in the field.

Interaction Between Indo-Europeans and Neolithic Farmers

As more research is done the resolution of historical genetic findings increases. This recent report from geneticists led by David Reich and Iosif Lazaridis of Harvard University presents DNA from more than 700 individuals who lived and died in the Near East and Eastern Europe over a span of 10,000 years.
The Akkadian speaking Neolithic farmers of Anatolia who entered Europe were a mixture of two earlier sources dating between 10,000 to 6500 BCE. One source came from today’s Iraq and Syria while the other source came from the Levant.
The Indo-European speakers also came in two waves. The first group arrived in Anatolia starting about 5000 BCE. They were followed around 3000 BCE by the Yamnaya from the steppes north of the Black Sea. They added to the genetic picture without really changing the percentages.
Image from Iosif Lazaridis. Online at: https://twitter.com/iosif_lazaridis/status/1562867952692899840/photo/1

Dr. David W. Anthony: “How ancient DNA revived ancient migrations in archaeology” (2021)

(Jan 7, 2023) One of the leading experts on the Indo-European invasion gives his insight into the process in light of the new genetic evidence. I was not aware that the Indo-Europeans also seem to have been carriers for an early version of what would later be called the Black Death. This may have killed off many of the Neolithic farmers without warfare.

While he still claims the horse and cart were the main cause of their population increase I am skeptical. While they were important to their new more intensive way of farming they were just one component of this new more intensive farming culture, a culture to which most Neolithic farmers did not adopt.