Palaeogenomics of Upper Palaeolithic to Neolithic European hunter-gatherers
Authors: Posth Cosimo , Yu He , Ghalichi Ayshin , Rougier Hélène , Crevecoeur Isabelle , Huang Yilei , Ringbauer Harald , Rohrlach Adam B. , Nägele Kathrin , Villalba-Mouco Vanessa , Radzeviciute Rita , Ferraz Tiago , Stoessel Alexander , Tukhbatova Rezeda , Drucker Dorothée G. , Lari Martina , Modi Alessandra , Vai Stefania , Saupe Tina , Scheib Christiana L. , Catalano Giulio , Pagani Luca , Talamo Sahra , Fewlass Helen , Klaric Laurent , Morala André , Rué Mathieu , Madelaine Stéphane , Crépin Laurent , Caverne Jean-Baptiste , Bocaege Emmy , Ricci Stefano , Boschin Francesco , Bayle Priscilla , Maureille Bruno , Le Brun-Ricalens Foni , Bordes Jean-Guillaume , Oxilia Gregorio , Bortolini Eugenio , Bignon-Lau Olivier , Debout Grégory , Orliac Michel , Zazzo Antoine , Sparacello Vitale , Starnini Elisabetta , Sineo Luca , van der Plicht Johannes , Pecqueur Laure , Merceron Gildas , Garcia Géraldine , Leuvrey Jean-Michel , Garcia Coralie Bay , Gómez-Olivencia Asier , Połtowicz-Bobak Marta , Bobak Dariusz , Le Luyer Mona , Storm Paul , Hoffmann Claudia , Kabaciński Jacek , Filimonova Tatiana , Shnaider Svetlana , Berezina Natalia , González-Rabanal Borja , González Morales Manuel R. , Marín-Arroyo Ana B. , López Belén , Alonso-Llamazares Carmen , Ronchitelli Annamaria , Polet Caroline , Jadin Ivan , Cauwe Nicolas , Soler Joaquim , Coromina Neus , Rufí Isaac , Cottiaux Richard , Clark Geoffrey , Straus Lawrence G. , Julien Marie-Anne , Renhart Silvia , Talaa Dorothea , Benazzi Stefano , Romandini Matteo , Amkreutz Luc , Bocherens Hervé , Wißing Christoph , Villotte Sébastien , de Pablo Javier Fernández-López , Gómez-Puche Magdalena , Esquembre-Bebia Marco Aurelio , Bodu Pierre , Smits Liesbeth , Souffi Bénédicte , Jankauskas Rimantas , Kozakaitė Justina , Cupillard Christophe , Benthien Hartmut , Wehrberger Kurt , Schmitz Ralf W. , Feine Susanne C. , Schüler Tim , Thevenet Corinne , Grigorescu Dan , Lüth Friedrich , Kotula Andreas , Piezonka Henny , Schopper Franz , Svoboda Jiří , Sázelová Sandra , Chizhevsky Andrey , Khokhlov Aleksandr , Conard Nicholas J. , Valentin Frédérique , Harvati Katerina , Semal Patrick , Jungklaus Bettina , Suvorov Alexander , Schulting Rick , Moiseyev Vyacheslav , Mannermaa Kristiina , Buzhilova Alexandra , Terberger Thomas , Caramelli David , Altena Eveline , Haak Wolfgang , Krause Johannes 
Published: March 2023

Modern humans have populated Europe for more than 45,000 years1,2. Our knowledge of the genetic relatedness and structure of ancient hunter-gatherers is however limited, owing to the scarceness and poor molecular preservation of human remains from that period3. Here we analyse 356 ancient hunter-gatherer genomes, including new genomic data for 116 individuals from 14 countries in western and central Eurasia, spanning between 35,000 and 5,000 years ago. We identify a genetic ancestry profile in individuals associated with Upper Palaeolithic Gravettian assemblages from western Europe that is distinct from contemporaneous groups related to this archaeological culture in central and southern Europe4, but resembles that of preceding individuals associated with the Aurignacian culture. This ancestry profile survived during the Last Glacial Maximum (25,000 to 19,000 years ago) in human populations from southwestern Europe associated with the Solutrean culture, and with the following Magdalenian culture that re-expanded northeastward after the Last Glacial Maximum. Conversely, we reveal a genetic turnover in southern Europe suggesting a local replacement of human groups around the time of the Last Glacial Maximum, accompanied by a north-to-south dispersal of populations associated with the Epigravettian culture. From at least 14,000 years ago, an ancestry related to this culture spread from the south across the rest of Europe, largely replacing the Magdalenian-associated gene pool. After a period of limited admixture that spanned the beginning of the Mesolithic, we find genetic interactions between western and eastern European hunter-gatherers, who were also characterized by marked differences in phenotypically relevant variants.