Settlement history of Europe

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QS Prehistory and Early History
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The settlement history of Europe between the 6th and 2nd millennium BC Based on DNA samples from Neolithic skeleton finds from the Middle Elbe-Saale region, there are indications of four major migration events . In 2013, an international team of researchers succeeded in deciphering Europe's population development. 364 skeletons from a total of 25 sites were examined. The Central German finds are well suited for genetic studies because of the favorable conservation conditions.

During the Neolithic period, Europe was populated by a multitude of cultures that can only be distinguished based on their material legacies. One of the key research questions was whether genetically different populations are represented behind the archaeologically tangible elements. The research group has succeeded in reconstructing the population dynamics of the Neolithic in Central Europe. The collaboration between archeology and the natural sciences made it possible to find an answer to the question of whether the cultural change during the Neolithic was triggered by migrating populations or the transfer of ideas between local populations. The researchers extracted DNA from the bones and teeth of prehistoric individuals and analyzed areas of mitochondrial DNA inherited from mother to offspring, thus allowing the reconstruction of maternal lineages. It was possible to establish a complete genetic chronology and the history between 5500 and 1500 BC. To understand the upheavals that occurred.

Four major migratory events took place in Central Europe during the Neolithic . The change from the way of life of Mesolithic societies to the subsistence economy of the Neolithic was connected with the first upheaval. The Neolithic developed around 10,000 BC. In the Middle East and reached around 5500 BC. With the linear ceramic culture of Central Europe. However, the immigrant farmers only replaced large parts of the local hunter-gatherer population . The neolithization of Europe was followed by a phase of genetic stability that lasted around 2500 years.

The around 3000 BC By contrast, the late phases of the Neolithic, beginning in the 3rd century BC, were characterized by several successive dynamic population shifts associated with the funnel beaker culture , the cord ceramic culture and the bell beaker culture . While the genetic signature of the first farmers was thinned out during this period, new genetic lines were added or the hunter-gatherer lines experienced a surprising return.

While earlier studies could not explain the genetic diversity of today's Europeans solely through Mesolithic hunters and gatherers or the early farming population, this study shows that later migratory events made a significant contribution to the genetic diversity of Europe. The results make it clear that the formation of recent genetic variability was a complex process and cannot be explained solely by the intermingling of local hunter-gatherers and immigrant farmers from the Middle East.

literature

  • Guido Brandt, Wolfgang Haak, Christina J. Adler, Christina Roth, Anna Szécsényi-Nagy, Sarah Karimnia, Sabine Möller-Rieker, Harald Meller, Robert Ganslmeier, Susanne Friederich, Veit Dresely, Nicole Nicklisch, Joseph K. Pickrell, Frank Sirocko, David Reich, Alan Cooper, Kurt W. Alt: Ancient DNA Reveals Key Stages in the Formation of Central European Mitochondrial Genetic Diversity. Science, October 2013: Vol. 342, Issue 6155, pp. 257-261, doi: 10.1126 / science.1241844

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