Ancient DNA Reveals Dramatic Population Change in Europe

Analyses of ancient DNA from the ancestry of modern Europeans has now painted a picture of dramatic population change in Europe from 45,000 to 7,000 years ago. The study is now helping to unlock the secrets of Europe’s Ice Age inhabitants.

The genetic data was analyzed from 51 individuals. The results indicated that there were two big changes in prehistoric human populations that are closely linked to the end of the last Ice Age about 19,000 years ago.

It showed that Europe was repopulated from southwest Europe, as the ice sheet was retreating. However, there was a second event somewhere around 14,000 years ago, where populations from the southeast had spread into Europe, which caused the displacement of the first group of humans.

Although it was already known that modern humans had flowed into Europe around 45,000 years ago, causing the demise of the Neanderthals, there had only been four samples of prehistoric European modern humans 45,000 to 7,000 years old where genomic data was available.

To read more go to Vision Times