Were the big cultural transitions in Europe during the Stone Age and the Bronze Age simply a result of ideas spreading across the continent or were migrating people taking over the land? By using new improved ancient DNA technology European research has investigated these key events in human prehistory.
The NEOLITHISATION (Population replacement or continuity? A genomic contribution to the Neolithisation debate) project has studied ancient DNA from over 600 people from ancient European and Central Asian populations. By improving the recovery of DNA from ancient teeth, the genomes of more than 100 individuals were analysed. This work has resulted in groundbreaking new insights into the formation of the European gene pool.
Further details: How the European genome was formed