The Beaker phenomenon and the genomic transformation of northwest Europe

Abstract

From around 2750 to 2500 bc, Bell Beaker pottery became widespread across western and central Europe, before it disappeared between 2200 and 1800 bc. The forces that propelled its expansion are a matter of long-standing debate, and there is support for both cultural diffusion and migration having a role in this process. Here we present genome-wide data from 400 Neolithic, Copper Age and Bronze Age Europeans, including 226 individuals associated with Beaker-complex artefacts. We detected limited genetic affinity between Beaker-complex-associated individuals from Iberia and central Europe, and thus exclude migration as an important mechanism of spread between these two regions. However, migration had a key role in the further dissemination of the Beaker complex. We document this phenomenon most clearly in Britain, where the spread of the Beaker complex introduced high levels of steppe-related ancestry and was associated with the replacement of approximately 90% of Britain's gene pool within a few hundred years, continuing the east-to-west expansion that had brought steppe-related ancestry into central and northern Europe over the previous centuries.

Metadata

Item Type:	Article
Authors/Creators:	Olalde, Iñigo Brace, Selina Allentoft, Morten E. Armit, Ian (ian.armit@york.ac.uk) Kristiansen, Kristian Booth, Thomas Rohland, Nadin Mallick, Swapan Szécsényi-Nagy, Anna Mittnik, Alissa Altena, Eveline Lipson, Mark Lazaridis, Iosif Harper, Thomas K Patterson, Nick Broomandkhoshbacht, Nasreen Diekmann, Yoan Faltyskova, Zuzana Fernandes, Daniel Ferry, Matthew Harney, Eadaoin de Knijff, Peter Michel, Megan Oppenheimer, Jonas Stewardson, Kristin Barclay, Alistair Alt, Kurt Werner Liesau, Corina Blasco, Concepción Miguel, Jorge Vega García, Roberto Menduiña Fernández, Azucena Avilés Bánffy, Eszter Bernabò-Brea, Maria Billoin, David Bonsall, Clive Bonsall, Laura Allen, Tim Büster, Lindsey https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4121-9431 Carver, Sophie Navarro, Laura Castells (laura.castellsnavarro@york.ac.uk) Craig, Oliver Edward https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4296-8402 Cook, Gordon T Cunliffe, Barry Denaire, Anthony Dinwiddy, Kirsten Egging Dodwell, Natasha Ernée, Michal Evans, Christopher Kuchařík, Milan Farré, Joan Francès Fowler, Chris Gazenbeek, Michiel Pena, Rafael Garrido Haber-Uriarte, María Haduch, Elżbieta Hey, Gill Jowett, Nick Knowles, Timothy Massy, Ken Pfrengle, Saskia Lefranc, Philippe Lemercier, Olivier Lefebvre, Arnaud Martínez, César Heras Olmo, Virginia Galera Ramírez, Ana Bastida Maurandi, Joaquín Lomba Majó, Tona McKinley, Jacqueline I McSweeney, Kathleen Mende, Balázs Gusztáv Mod, Alessandra Kulcsár, Gabriella Kiss, Viktória Czene, András Patay, Róbert Endrődi, Anna Köhler, Kitti Hajdu, Tamás Szeniczey, Tamás Dani, János Bernert, Zsolt Hoole, Maya Cheronet, Olivia Keating, Denise Velemínský, Petr Dobeš, Miroslav Candilio, Francesca Brown, Fraser Fernández, Raúl Flores Herrero-Corral, Ana-Mercedes Tusa, Sebastiano Carnieri, Emiliano Lentini, Luigi Valenti, Antonella Zanini, Alessandro Waddington, Clive Delibes, Germán Guerra-Doce, Elisa Neil, Benjamin Brittain, Marcus Luke, Mike Mortimer, Richard Desideri, Jocelyne Besse, Marie Brücken, Günter Furmanek, Mirosław Hałuszko, Agata Mackiewicz, Maksym Rapiński, Artur Leach, Stephany Soriano, Ignacio Lillios, Katina T Cardoso, João Luís Pearson, Michael Parker Włodarczak, Piotr Price, T Douglas Prieto, Pilar Rey, Pierre Jérôme Risch, Roberto Rojo Guerra, Manuel A Schmitt, Aurore Serralongue, Joël Silva, Ana Maria Smrčka, Václav Vergnaud, Luc Zilhão, João Caramelli, David Higham, Thomas Thomas, Mark G. Kennett, Douglas J Fokkens, Harry Heyd, Volker Sheridan, Alison Sjögren, Karl-Göran Stockhammer, Philipp W Krause, Johannes Pinhasi, Ron Haak, Wolfgang Barnes, Ian Lalueza-Fox, Carles Reich, David
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information:	© 2018 Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature. All rights reserved. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details.
Keywords:	Journal Article,Haplotypes,Genetics, Population,History, Ancient,Europe,Gene Pool,Genomics,Humans,Chromosomes, Human, Y/genetics,Male,DNA, Ancient,Genome, Human/genetics,Human Migration/history,Spatio-Temporal Analysis,Cultural Evolution/history
Dates:	Published: 8 March 2018 Published (online): 21 February 2018 Accepted: 4 January 2018
Institution:	The University of York
Academic Units:	The University of York > Faculty of Arts and Humanities (York) > Archaeology (York)
Depositing User:	Pure (York)
Date Deposited:	17 Apr 2018 10:40
Last Modified:	07 Feb 2025 00:19
Published Version:	https://doi.org/10.1038/nature25738
Status:	Published
Refereed:	Yes
Identification Number:	10.1038/nature25738
Related URLs:	http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?... https://www.biorxiv.org/content/early/20...
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID):	oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:129642

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The Beaker phenomenon and the genomic transformation of northwest Europe

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