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 nearby parts of Germany resisted a transformation that was sweeping across the rest of Europe. While farming reshaped diets, settlements, and family life elsewhere, people in these water-rich lowlands continued to fish, hunt, and gather long after crops and livestock had taken hold in neighboring regions.
Now, a large ancient DNA study published in Nature shows just how gradual that shift was, and who helped drive it. By analyzing genomes from human remains, researchers found that farming took root here up to 3,000 years later than in much of Europe. And when it did spread, it appears to have arrived largely through women.
“This study has also brought to light the crucial role played by women in the transmission of knowledge from the incoming farming communities to the local hunter-gatherers. Thanks to 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 shaping human evolution,” said coauthor Maria Pala in a press release.
Read More: By Taming South American Floodwaters, Neolithic Farmers Engineered 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 crops and livestock westward, and later herders who expanded from the Eurasian steppe. In much of Europe, farming went hand in hand with major genetic change as incoming agricultural communities reshaped local populations.
To see whether that happened in the lowlands of present-day Belgium, the Netherlands, and nearby parts of Germany, researchers analyzed DNA from dozens of individuals buried between 8500 and 1700 B.C.E. in the Meuse and Lower Rhine regions. Those genomes were compared with previously published ancient DNA from across Europe.
They found that even after farming reached the region around 4500 B.C.E., 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 farming groups appear to have joined hunter-gatherer communities, bringing agricultural knowledge with them. Farming spread here through close social ties rather than sweeping migration.
How Rivers Slowed Farming in Europe
The landscape may explain why. Rivers, marshes, and coastal areas offered steady access to fish, birds, and edible plants. In places where wild food was plentiful, farming may not have been urgent.
“We expected a clear change between the older hunter-gatherer populations and the newer agriculturalists, but apparently in the lowlands and along the rivers of the Netherlands and Belgium, the change was less immediate. It’s like a Waterworld where time stood still,” said coauthor John Stewart in a press release.
Archaeological evidence indicates that fishing, foraging, and small-scale farming coexisted for generations. Communities appear to have added crops and livestock to their diets without abandoning older ways of living.
Bell Beaker Migration Changed Europe’s DNA
That stability ended around 2500 B.C.E. with the spread of people associated with the Bell Beaker culture — a network of communities known for their distinctive bell-shaped pottery and wide trade connections across Europe. These groups carried ancestry linked to steppe herders and had a much stronger genetic impact on the region.
Earlier lineages declined as steppe ancestry increased. The shift reached beyond continental Europe. In Britain, Early Bronze Age populations traced more than 90 percent of their ancestry to these continental newcomers, largely replacing earlier inhabitants, including those connected to monuments such as Stonehenge.
Read More: What Did the Transition From Hunter-Gatherer to Farming Really Look Like?
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