DNA from Ancient Skeletons Reveal Genetic Origins of Modern Europeans

Thousands of years ago, our ancestors walked across Europe. Now, scientists have recovered ancient DNA from a series of skeletons in Germany spanning 4,000 years. With this new evidence, the researchers have been able to reconstruct the first detailed genetic history of modern-day Europeans, revealing new details about population changes and prehistoric migration.

In order to get a better sense of the genetic time series of Europe, the researchers extracted mitochondrial DNA (maternally inherited DNA) from bone and teeth samples from 364 prehistoric human skeletons. That's ten times more than previous DNA studies. The skeletons were all from the same small but important geographic region. This allowed scientists to directly observe genetic changes in "real-time" from 7,500 to 3,500 years ago. That's a time that spans from when the earliest farmers were present in the area to the early Bronze Age.

"Our study shows that a simple mix of indigenous hunter-gatherers and the incoming Near Eastern farmers cannot explain the modern-day diversity alone," said Guido Grandt, one of the researchers, in a news release. "The genetic results are much more complex than that. Instead, we found that two particular cultures at the brink of the Bronze Age 4,200 years ago had a marked role in the formation of Central Europe's genetic makeup."

The scientists also saw genetic changes that could be directly compared to the changes in material culture seen in the archaeological record. More specifically, they saw the genetic changes when certain cultures expanded vastly, revealing interactions across large distances. These included migrations from both Western and Eastern Europe toward the end of the Stone Age.

In addition, the findings found a wealth of genetic history about the history of modern Europeans. They discovered a period of stasis after farming became established and suitable areas were settled. There were also sudden turnovers when economic factors changed, such as the increasing importance of metal ores and secondary farming products.

"None of the dynamic changes we observed could have been inferred from modern-day genetic data alone, highlighting the potential power of combining ancient DNA studies with archaeology to reconstruct human evolutionary history," said Wolfgang Haak, one of the researchers, in a news release.

The findings show a little bit more about the genetic history of Europeans. Using both DNA and archaeological evidence can reveal new insight into the past of our ancient ancestors.

The findings are published in the journal Science.