Ancient DNA Reveals Migrant Women Helped Some European Hunter-Gatherers Adopt Farming
For thousands of years, communities living along the rivers and wetlands of what is now Belgium, the Netherlands and neighboring parts of Germany resisted a transformation sweeping across the rest of Europe. While agriculture changed diets, human settlements, and family life elsewhere, people in these water-rich lowlands continued to fish, hunt, and gather long after crops and livestock moved to neighboring areas.
Today, a large study of ancient DNA published in Nature shows how gradual this change was and who contributed to this change. By analyzing the genomes of human remains, researchers found that agriculture took root there up to 3,000 years later than in much of Europe. And when it did spread, it seems to have arrived largely through women.
“This study also shed light on the crucial role women played in passing on knowledge from new farming communities to local hunter-gatherers. Through 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 human evolution,” co-author Maria Pala said in a press release.
Learn more: By taming South America’s floodwaters, Neolithic farmers created a stable community
Ancient DNA shows hunter-gatherers resisted farming
Before Europe had borders, people moved widely across the continent. Over time, three major groups shaped its population: long-established hunter-gatherers, early farmers who brought their crops and livestock west, and later herders who expanded from the Eurasian steppe. Across much of Europe, agriculture was accompanied by major genetic changes as new farming communities reshaped local populations.
To see if this occurred on the plains of modern-day Belgium, the Netherlands, and neighboring areas of Germany, the researchers analyzed the DNA of dozens of individuals buried between 8,500 and 1,700 BCE in the Meuse and Lower Rhine regions. These genomes were compared to previously published ancient DNA from across Europe.
They found that even after agriculture reached the region around 4,500 BCE, local hunter-gatherer ancestry remained strong for thousands of years. Instead of large groups moving in and replacing existing communities, the data points to intermarriage. Women from agricultural groups appear to have joined hunter-gatherer communities, bringing their agricultural knowledge with them. Agriculture spread here through close social ties rather than mass migration.
How rivers slowed down agriculture in Europe
The landscape may explain why. Rivers, marshes and coastal areas provided constant access to fish, birds and edible plants. In places where wild food was plentiful, agriculture may not have been urgent.
“We expected an obvious shift from ancient hunter-gatherer populations to new farmers, but apparently in the lowlands and along the rivers of the Netherlands and Belgium the change was less immediate. It’s like a water world where time has stood still,” co-author John Stewart said in a press release.
Archaeological evidence indicates that fishing, foraging, and small-scale agriculture coexisted for generations. Communities appear to have added crops and livestock to their diet without abandoning their old ways of life.
Bluebell migration changed Europe’s DNA
This stability ended around 2500 BCE with the spread of people associated with the Bell Beaker culture – a network of communities known for their distinctive bell-shaped pottery and extensive trade relationships across Europe. These groups had ancestry linked to steppe herders and had a much stronger genetic impact on the region.
Earlier lineages declined as steppe ancestry increased. The change extended beyond continental Europe. In Britain, Early Bronze Age populations traced more than 90% of their ancestry to these continental newcomers, largely replacing earlier inhabitants, including those linked to monuments such as Stonehenge.
Learn more: What was the transition from hunter-gatherer to agriculture really like?
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