Ganj Dareh
| تپه گنج دره | |
The early village site of Ganj Darreh near Kermanshah
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 Location in Iran
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| Location | Kermanshah Province, Iran |
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| Region | Gamas-Ab Valley |
| Coordinates | 34°16′20″N 47°28′33″E / 34.2721°N 47.4758°ECoordinates: 34°16′20″N 47°28′33″E / 34.2721°N 47.4758°E |
| Altitude | 1,400 m (4,593 ft) |
| Type | mound settlement |
| History | |
| Founded | ca. 10,000 |
| Periods | Neolithic |
| Associated with | pastoralists |
| Site notes | |
| Excavation dates | 1967-1974 |
Ganj Dareh (Persian: تپه گنج دره; "Treasure Valley" in Persian, or "Treasure Valley Hill" if tepe/tappeh (hill) is appended to the name) is a Neolithic settlement in the Iranian Kurdistan portion of Iran. It is located to the east of Kermanshah, in the central Zagros Mountains.
First discovered in 1965, it was excavated by Canadian archaeologist, Philip Smith during the 1960s and 1970s, for four field seasons.
The oldest settlement remains on the site date back to ca. 10,000 years ago, and have yielded the earliest evidence for goat domestication in the world. The only evidence for domesticated crops found at the site so far is the presence of two-row barley.
The remains have been classified into five occupation levels, from A, at the top, to E.
Researchers sequenced the genome from the petrous bone of a 30-50 woman from Ganj Dareh, GD13a. mtDNA analysis shows that she belonged to Haplogroup X. She phenotypically similar to the Anatolian early farmers and Caucasus Hunter-Gatherers. Her DNA revealed that she had black hair, brown eyes and was lactose intolerant. The derived SLC45A2 variant associated with light skin was not observed in GD13a, but the derived SLC24A5 variant which is also associated with the same trait was observed.
GD13a is genetically closest to the ancient Caucasus Hunter-Gatherers identified from human remains from Georgia (Satsurblia Cave and Kotias Klde), while also sharing genetic affinities with the people of the Yamna culture and the Afanasevo culture. She belonged to a population that was genetically distinct from the Neolithic Anatolian farmers. In terms of modern populations, she shows some genetic affinity with the Baloch people, Makrani caste and Brahui people. Her population did not contribute very much genetically to modern Europeans.
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