30,000-year-old DNA reveals Ice Age Europeans were far more connected than we thought
Scientists have uncovered surprising DNA evidence that Europeans living more than 30,000 years ago were connected across vast distances, challenging the idea that ancient populations remained largely isolated. Genetic clues from human remains and cave sediments reveal prehistoric migration, long-lasting communities, and survival through the harshest conditions of the Ice Age.
Key points
- DNA from a woman who lived about 30,000 years ago in southwestern France shows mixed western and eastern European ancestry.
- Researchers estimate the mixing happened roughly 32,500 to 31,500 years ago, earlier than previously established.
- Human DNA from cave sediments at El Mirón in Spain shows western European ancestry persisted through the Last Glacial Maximum.
An international team led by the University of Vienna has found that Ice Age Europeans were more genetically connected than previously thought, according to findings published in Science Advances. The study analyzed ancient DNA from rare human remains and from genetic material preserved in cave sediments, challenging the idea that eastern and western European groups were largely isolated.
The research focuses on people of the Gravettian culture, which spread across Europe roughly 34,000 to 25,000 years ago. Earlier genetic evidence had pointed to relatively distinct eastern and western ancestry groups.
A woman from Isturitz Cave
The remains of a woman who lived about 30,000 years ago in what is now southwestern France, found at Isturitz Cave, provided the oldest genome-wide dataset yet obtained from a modern human in southwestern Europe. Most of her ancestry was western European, but she also carried ancestry linked to central and eastern Europe. Researchers estimated the mixing occurred approximately 32,500 to 31,500 years ago.
A similar genetic signature was found in another ancient individual previously studied at Ormesson, France. Combined with archaeological evidence, the researchers said this strengthens the possibility that Isturitz Cave was a gathering place for different prehistoric groups.
Our results show that eastern and western European populations were not as genetically isolated as previously assumed
— Pere Gelabert
DNA from cave sediments
At El Mirón Cave in Cantabria, Spain, the team recovered human nuclear DNA from a sediment layer dating back about 22,000 years, despite finding no human bones or teeth there. Evidence from Chufín Cave in northern Spain suggests western European ancestry persisted in southwestern Europe over a long period, including through the Last Glacial Maximum. The results support the idea that the Iberian Peninsula was an important refuge during the coldest conditions of the Ice Age.
In southern Italy, analysis of Ostuni1b, a male fetus believed to be the son of a previously studied woman known as Ostuni1, suggested his father belonged to the same ancestral population as his mother, though the parents were not closely related.
