National Geographic 08.2019

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Hunter-gatherers

from Africa

ca 2200 B.C.

ca 2200 B.C.

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Agriculture begins,
circa 9500 B.C.
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DNA MAKEUP OFTYPICAL EUROPEAN
MESOLITHIC PERIOD NEOLITHIC PERIOD BRONZE AGE
Belarusian
Sardinian
French
Norwegian
English
Neolithic
farmer
Hunter-
gatherer
Yamnaya
Modern DNA Profile
MAP SHOWS MODERN COASTLINES AND DRAINAGE. SCALE VARIES IN THIS PERSPECTIVE.
MATTHEW W. CHWASTYK AND MANUEL CANALES, NGM STAFF; SHELLEY SPERRY. SOURCES: IOSIF LAZARIDIS, IÑIGO OLALDE, AND
DAVID REICH, HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL; DAVID ANTHONY, HARTWICK COLLEGE; WOLFGANG HAAK AND OTHERS, NATURE, 2015
PREHISTORIC
MELTING POT
Hunter-gatherers, modern humans whose ancestors evolved in Africa,
reached Europe some 45,000 years ago. By 6000 B.C. Neolithic farmers
from present-day Turkey had joined them in southern Europe before
pushing deeper into the continent. The Yamnaya then swept in from
Russia. Most Europeans today have DNA from all three groups.
DNA LEGACY
Before the arrival of the Yamnaya, Neolithic farmer DNA had largely replaced that
of hunter-gatherers. By 1000 B.C. Yamnaya DNA could be found all across Europe.
Hunter-gatherers
The early settlers were widely
scattered. They kept their distance
when Neolithic farmers first arrived.
Yamnaya
Their mastery of horses and
wagons introduced a new mobile
lifestyle to Europe.
Neolithic farmers
Neolithic farmers brought wheat,
sheep, cattle—and their own DNA—
to most of Europe by 4000 B.C.
Modern Europeans
Yamnaya bloodlines
are strongest in the
north, those of Neolithic
farmers in the south.
NEOLITHIC FARMERS’
DNA became slightly less domi-
nant by 4500 B.C. as they began
to mix with hunter-gatherers.
HUNTER-GATHERERS
SOME YAMNAYA
carried an early form
of plague to which they
may have been resistant.
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