Genomic evidence has revealed that hunter-gatherer communities in parts of present-day Belgium and the Netherlands persisted for thousands of years longer than elsewhere in Europe, even after farming spread across the continent.
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Ancient DNA shows that hunter-gatherers in northwestern Europe endured for millennia, with women driving a gradual cultural shift toward farming.
Researchers at the University of Huddersfield have analyzed ancient DNA to show that hunter-gatherer communities in one region of Europe endured for thousands of years longer than elsewhere on the continent. Their findings also highlight the central role women played during this extended transition.
The project formed part of a broader international collaboration of geneticists and archaeologists led by David Reich at Harvard University. The results have been published in the journal Nature.
At Huddersfield, the research was conducted by doctoral researcher Alessandro Fichera and postdoctoral fellow Dr. Francesca Gandini, working under the supervision of Dr. Maria Pala, Professor Martin B. Richards, and Dr. Ceiridwen Edwards from the Archaeogenetics Research Group in the School of Applied Sciences.
Funding came through a Doctoral Scholarship awarded by the Leverhulme Trust to Professor Richards and Dr. Pala. The team also worked closely with paleoecologist Professor John Stewart at Bournemouth University and archaeologists from the Université de Liège in Belgium, who were responsible for excavating and curating the ancient human remains used in the study.
Ancient DNA redraws Europe’s prehistory
To reconstruct this chapter of Europe’s past, the researchers sequenced complete human genomes from individuals who lived between 8500 and 1700 BCE in a region that today includes Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands.
Credit: University of Huddersfield
This period marked a transformative era in European prehistory, defined by sweeping population movements and cultural change. Long before modern borders existed, communities traveled widely across the continent. As new groups arrived, they mixed with local populations, reshaping the genetic landscape and introducing new languages, traditions, and lifeways that would leave a lasting imprint on modern European ancestry.
This period marked a transformative era in European prehistory, defined by sweeping population movements and cultural change. Long before modern borders existed, communities traveled widely across the continent. As new groups arrived, they mixed with local populations, reshaping the genetic landscape and introducing new languages, traditions, and lifeways that would leave a lasting imprint on modern European ancestry.
Dr. Maria Pala, Senior Lecturer in Molecular Biology, Department of Physical and Life Sciences, School of Applied Sciences.
Credit: University of Huddersfield
The impact of these changes was so profound and expansive that virtually all modern-day European populations carry evidence of three ancestral components: a hunter-gatherer component, a Neolithic component brought by the first farmers from the Near East, and a third component associated with pastoralists from Russia.
The impact of these changes was so profound and expansive that virtually all modern-day European populations carry evidence of three ancestral components: a hunter-gatherer component, a Neolithic component brought by the first farmers from the Near East, and a third component associated with pastoralists from Russia.
Farming arrived without genetic turnover
This latest research reveals that the arrival of farming in the area in question, around ~4500 BCE, did not result in anything like the major shift in genetic composition that took place across the rest of Europe. Instead, it involved the uneven acquisition of farming-related practices by local hunter-gatherer communities with only minimal genetic input from the incoming farmers.
Strikingly, genomic data from the study suggest that this farmer influx was mostly from women marrying into the local hunter-gatherer communities, bringing with them their know-how as well as their genes. This pattern was limited to the riverine wetlands and coastal areas across the region. The wealth of natural resources seems to have allowed the local people to selectively embrace some aspects of farming while also preserving many hunter-gatherer practices, and therefore genes.
The high levels of hunter-gatherer ancestry persisted across the region (modern-day Belgium and the Netherlands) until the end of the Neolithic, around 2500 BCE, when new people spread across Europe. The new incomers this time arrived and mixed fully with local communities, so that the genomic trajectory of the area finally realigned with the neighboring regions.
This latest research reveals that the arrival of farming in the area in question, around ~4500 BCE, did not result in anything like the major shift in genetic composition that took place across the rest of Europe. Instead, it involved the uneven acquisition of farming-related practices by local hunter-gatherer communities with only minimal genetic input from the incoming farmers.
Strikingly, genomic data from the study suggest that this farmer influx was mostly from women marrying into the local hunter-gatherer communities, bringing with them their know-how as well as their genes. This pattern was limited to the riverine wetlands and coastal areas across the region. The wealth of natural resources seems to have allowed the local people to selectively embrace some aspects of farming while also preserving many hunter-gatherer practices, and therefore genes.
The high levels of hunter-gatherer ancestry persisted across the region (modern-day Belgium and the Netherlands) until the end of the Neolithic, around 2500 BCE, when new people spread across Europe. The new incomers this time arrived and mixed fully with local communities, so that the genomic trajectory of the area finally realigned with the neighboring regions.
Credit: University of Huddersfield
Women drove knowledge transfer
Professor Stewart commented: “We expected a clear change between the older hunter-gatherer populations and the newer agriculturalists, but apparently in the lowlands and along the rivers of the Netherlands and Belgium, the change was less immediate. It’s like a Waterworld where time stood still.”
Dr. Pala said, “Ancient DNA studies often bring to light unexpected pages of our past. We might anticipate finding the unexpected when analyzing samples from unexplored or peripheral regions of the globe. But here we are looking at the heartland of Europe, making these results even more striking. It’s a testament to the power of ancient DNA studies that findings like these can still surprise us.”
She added: “This study has also brought to light the crucial role played by women in the transmission of knowledge from the incoming farming communities to the local hunter-gatherers. Thanks to ancient DNA studies, we can not only uncover the past but also give voice to the invaluable but often overlooked role played by women in shaping human evolution.”
Women drove knowledge transfer
Professor Stewart commented: “We expected a clear change between the older hunter-gatherer populations and the newer agriculturalists, but apparently in the lowlands and along the rivers of the Netherlands and Belgium, the change was less immediate. It’s like a Waterworld where time stood still.”
Dr. Pala said, “Ancient DNA studies often bring to light unexpected pages of our past. We might anticipate finding the unexpected when analyzing samples from unexplored or peripheral regions of the globe. But here we are looking at the heartland of Europe, making these results even more striking. It’s a testament to the power of ancient DNA studies that findings like these can still surprise us.”
She added: “This study has also brought to light the crucial role played by women in the transmission of knowledge from the incoming farming communities to the local hunter-gatherers. Thanks to ancient DNA studies, we can not only uncover the past but also give voice to the invaluable but often overlooked role played by women in shaping human evolution.”
The birth of modern Man
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