Scientists have sequenced the genomes of three people who lived in Europe about 30,000 years ago, during the Late Stone Age Gravettian period. The results suggest that Western and Eastern European populations were more closely connected than previously thought, and that southwestern France may have been an important cultural and biological crossroads during the last ice age.
Genetic links across ice-age Europe
Neanderthals disappeared from Europe shortly before the Gravettian culture spread across the continent. The Gravettian period lasted from about 34,000 to 25,000 years ago and is known from archaeological finds including portable artworks such as Venus figurines.
Only 20 human bones from the Gravettian period have been recovered, leaving major questions about the ancestry and movements of the people who lived during this time.
Based on the small number of Gravettian genomes available, researchers had previously thought that Western European groups were largely separated from those in Eastern Europe. In a study published October 23 in Science Advances, researchers sequenced the genomes of three people who lived in what is now Spain, France and Italy during the Gravettian era.
The genomes revealed that at least one individual had mixed genetic ancestry, showing that people moved between or maintained contact with eastern and western parts of Europe at least 30,000 years ago.
“Our results show that Eastern and Western European populations were not as genetically isolated as previously assumed,” said study lead author Pere Gelabert, an evolutionary anthropologist at the University of Vienna, according to a university statement.
A woman from southwestern France
Evidence of this genetic mixing comes particularly from a woman who died about 30,000 years ago. Her bones were found in Istritz Cave in southwestern France, a site originally used by Neanderthals that was occupied intermittently from about 80,000 to 10,000 years ago.
The woman’s DNA most closely resembles the Western European genome identified so far, but it also contains notable connections to groups from Eastern and Central Europe.
This eastern genetic contribution is unusual for the Late Stone Age, also known as the Upper Paleolithic. The researchers said it “can be explained by the migration of people from Eastern Europe during the Gravettian period, which ultimately formed this ancestor of Istritz.” They dated this “pulse” of gene flow to about 31,500 to 32,500 years ago.
The genetic evidence supports the archaeological view that Istritz Cave was an important cultural and biological site for tens of thousands of years. Its location placed it along a major transit route between continental Europe and the Iberian Peninsula, the researchers wrote.
Complex population structure
All three newly sequenced Gravettian genomes showed a close biological relationship with the Western European group. Their genetic traits were consistent with dark skin, dark hair and dark eyes. In addition, the parents of all three individuals were not closely related, suggesting that these populations may have actively avoided inbreeding.
“Overall, our results suggest that population structure and gene flow in Western Europe during the Gravettian period was more complex and dynamic than previously assumed,” the researchers wrote.
The findings suggest that southwestern France was not an isolated refuge during the last ice age, but may instead have served as a long-lasting meeting point for populations moving across Europe.
Study
Gelabert, P., Sawyer, S., Villalba-Mouco, V., Cheronet, O., Oberreiter, V., Gárate, D., Normand, C., Straus, L. G., González-Morales, M. R., Gutiérrez-Zugasti, I., Cuenca-Solana, D., Darricau, J., de Lumley, H., Tejero, J.-M., Stahlschmidt, M., Higham, T., Giannì, M., van der Sluis, L. G., Gómez-Montes, C., … Pinhasi, R. (2026). Early Gravettian genome data from Western Europe reveal population migration before the LGM. Science Advances, 12(43).
Source: www.livescience.com