This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: More than 30,000 years ago, people associated with one of Europe's major Paleolithic cultures (the Gravettian) were more interconnected than previously thought. An international research team led by the University of Vienna has uncovered new genetic evidence of long-distance connections between these populations.
Published in Science Advances, the study combines genomic data from rare human remains with human DNA preserved in cave sediments. The Gravettian culture was widespread across Europe around 34,000 to 25,000 years ago. While archaeological finds have long suggested extensive contacts across the continent, genetic data pointed to relatively stable eastern and western ancestry groups.
By analyzing new and previously published genomic data alongside human DNA from cave sediments, the researchers found evidence of east-west genetic exchange and long-term population continuity in southwestern Europe. The remains of a woman from Isturitz Cave in southwestern France, who lived around 30,000 years ago, yielded the oldest genome-wide data set to date of a modern human from southwestern Europe. Her genetic data provide key evidence of east-west exchange: most of her ancestry was related to the western European lineage, but she also carried ancestry related to populations from central and eastern Europe.
Genetic modeling dates this gene flow to around 32,500 to 31,500 years ago. "Our results show that eastern and western European populations were not as genetically isolated as previously assumed," says first author Pere Gelabert, Department of Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Vienna. "Gene flow across such large distances adds a new dimension to our understanding of how Gravettian populations were connected." A similar signal was found in a previously studied individual from Ormesson, France.
Together with archaeological evidence, the new findings also support the idea that Isturitz may have been a meeting place for different groups. At the same time, the researchers found evidence for long-term population continuity in southwestern Europe. Genomic data from Chufín Cave in northern Spain indicate that western European ancestry persisted in the region over thousands of years.
The team also analyzed ancient human DNA preserved directly in cave sediment. At El Mirón Cave in Cantabria, they recovered enough human nuclear DNA from a 22,000-year-old layer to determine its genetic ancestry—despite the absence of human bones or teeth. "Sedimentary DNA allows us to recover genetic information from periods where human remains are missing," says senior author Ron Pinhasi, Department of Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Vienna, whose team led this study.
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