The Interlocking Trap of the Neolithic Bottleneck: A Three-Phase Model of Primate Auto-Attrition, Female Tactical Intervention, and Demographic Rebound

The late Neolithic to early Bronze Age Y-chromosome bottleneck (approx. 7,000–5,000 BP) represents a severe, sex-specific collapse in human genetic diversity, with reproductive male-to-female ratios tilting to roughly 1:17. Traditional anthropology attributes this solely to intense, destructive patrilineal clan warfare. This paper proposes a novel, alternative multi-phase framework inspired by extant great ape behaviors (specifically Pan troglodytes and Pan paniscus). We argue that the 95% male lineage collapse was driven by a three-phase dynamic: (1) Primary Male Auto-Attrition, wherein patriarchal cohorts organically devastated their own lineages through competitive warfare; (2) Targeted Matriarchal Intervention, where coordinated female alliances executed strategic defensive victories to suppress surviving aggressive elements; and (3) The Demographic Rebound Trap. We model how the structural laws of population biology allowed physical male numbers to fully recover within two to three generations under stabilized, female-maintained agricultural resource zones, inadvertently providing the demographic baseline for a subsequent patriarchal counter-revolution.