The Origin of the Bell Beaker Culture That Transformed Europe Around 2500 BC Discovered

Description

An international team of geneticists and archaeologists has published in the journal Nature the results of an ancient DNA study that rethinks the chronology and nature of the Neolithic transition in the heart of Europe.

The research, led by Íñigo Olande and developed at the University of Huddersfield by researchers Alessandro Fichera and Francesca Gandini under the supervision of Maria Pala, Martin B. Richards, and Ceiridwen Edwards, analyzed complete genomes of individuals who lived between 8500 and 1700 before our era in the region now occupied by Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands.

Subject

Dr. Maria Pala, principal investigator of the Huddersfield Archaeogenetics group, emphasized the relevance of these findings precisely because they occur in what is usually considered the central axis of European prehistory. Pala noted that ancient DNA studies have the ability to reveal unexpected layers in our past and that, even when intensively studied regions are analyzed, genetic evidence can challenge established models.

Pala also highlighted that this research has made it possible to make visible the role of women in the transmission of knowledge between culturally distinct communities. The incorporation of farming women into hunter-gatherer groups acted as a vector for technological diffusion and, at the same time, as a factor of demographic stability that prevented the disappearance of indigenous populations.