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The Beaker phenomenon and the genomic transformation of northwest Europe

Author

Listed:
  • Iñigo Olalde

    (Harvard Medical School)

  • Selina Brace

    (Natural History Museum)

  • Morten E. Allentoft

    (Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum, University of Copenhagen)

  • Ian Armit

    (School of Archaeological and Forensic Sciences, University of Bradford)

  • Kristian Kristiansen

    (University of Gothenburg)

  • Thomas Booth

    (Natural History Museum)

  • Nadin Rohland

    (Harvard Medical School)

  • Swapan Mallick

    (Harvard Medical School
    Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
    Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School)

  • Anna Szécsényi-Nagy

    (Laboratory of Archaeogenetics, Institute of Archaeology, Research Centre for the Humanities, Hungarian Academy of Sciences)

  • Alissa Mittnik

    (Institute for Archaeological Sciences, Archaeo- and Palaeogenetics, University of Tübingen
    Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History)

  • Eveline Altena

    (Leiden University Medical Center)

  • Mark Lipson

    (Harvard Medical School)

  • Iosif Lazaridis

    (Harvard Medical School
    Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard)

  • Thomas K. Harper

    (The Pennsylvania State University, University Park)

  • Nick Patterson

    (Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard)

  • Nasreen Broomandkhoshbacht

    (Harvard Medical School
    Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School)

  • Yoan Diekmann

    (Evolution and Environment, University College London)

  • Zuzana Faltyskova

    (Evolution and Environment, University College London)

  • Daniel Fernandes

    (Earth Institute, University College Dublin
    University of Vienna
    Research Center for Anthropology and Health, University of Coimbra)

  • Matthew Ferry

    (Harvard Medical School
    Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School)

  • Eadaoin Harney

    (Harvard Medical School)

  • Peter de Knijff

    (Leiden University Medical Center)

  • Megan Michel

    (Harvard Medical School
    Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School)

  • Jonas Oppenheimer

    (Harvard Medical School
    Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School)

  • Kristin Stewardson

    (Harvard Medical School
    Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School)

  • Alistair Barclay

    (Wessex Archaeology)

  • Kurt Werner Alt

    (Center of Natural and Cultural History of Man, Danube Private University
    Basel University
    Integrative Prehistory and Archaeological Science, Basel University)

  • Corina Liesau

    (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid)

  • Patricia Ríos

    (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid)

  • Concepción Blasco

    (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid)

  • Jorge Vega Miguel

    (ARGEA S.L.)

  • Roberto Menduiña García

    (ARGEA S.L.)

  • Azucena Avilés Fernández

    (Área de Prehistoria, Universidad de Murcia)

  • Eszter Bánffy

    (Institute of Archaeology, Research Centre for the Humanities, Hungarian Academy of Sciences
    Romano-Germanic Commission, German Archaeological Institute)

  • Maria Bernabò-Brea

    (Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Parma)

  • David Billoin

    (INRAP, Institut National de Recherches Archéologiques Préventives)

  • Clive Bonsall

    (School of History, Classics and Archaeology, University of Edinburgh)

  • Laura Bonsall

    (10 Merchiston Gardens)

  • Tim Allen

    (Oxford Archaeology)

  • Lindsey Büster

    (School of Archaeological and Forensic Sciences, University of Bradford)

  • Sophie Carver

    (University of Bristol)

  • Laura Castells Navarro

    (School of Archaeological and Forensic Sciences, University of Bradford)

  • Oliver E. Craig

    (BioArCh, University of York)

  • Gordon T. Cook

    (Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, East Kilbride)

  • Barry Cunliffe

    (Institute of Archaeology, University of Oxford)

  • Anthony Denaire

    (University of Burgundy)

  • Kirsten Egging Dinwiddy

    (Wessex Archaeology)

  • Natasha Dodwell

    (Oxford Archaeology East)

  • Michal Ernée

    (Institute of Archaeology, Czech Academy of Sciences)

  • Christopher Evans

    (Cambridge Archaeological Unit, University of Cambridge)

  • Milan Kuchařík

    (Labrys o.p.s.)

  • Joan Francès Farré

    (Museu i Poblat Ibèric de Ca n'Oliver)

  • Chris Fowler

    (School of History, Classics & Archaeology, Newcastle University)

  • Michiel Gazenbeek

    (INRAP, Institut National de Recherches Archéologiques Préventives)

  • Rafael Garrido Pena

    (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid)

  • María Haber-Uriarte

    (Área de Prehistoria, Universidad de Murcia)

  • Elżbieta Haduch

    (Institute of Zoology and Biomedical Research, Jagiellonian University)

  • Gill Hey

    (Oxford Archaeology)

  • Nick Jowett

    (Great Orme Mines, Great Orme)

  • Timothy Knowles

    (Bristol Radiocarbon Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Facility, University of Bristol)

  • Ken Massy

    (Institut für Vor- und Frühgeschichtliche Archäologie und Provinzialrömische Archäologie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München)

  • Saskia Pfrengle

    (Institute for Archaeological Sciences, Archaeo- and Palaeogenetics, University of Tübingen)

  • Philippe Lefranc

    (INRAP, Institut National de Recherches Archéologiques Préventives)

  • Olivier Lemercier

    (Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3, UMR 5140 ASM)

  • Arnaud Lefebvre

    (INRAP, Institut National de Recherches Archéologiques Préventives
    UMR 5199, Pacea, équipe A3P, Université de Bordeaux)

  • César Heras Martínez

    (TRÉBEDE, Patrimonio y Cultura SL, Torres de la Alameda
    Universidad de Alcalá
    Instituto Universitario de Investigación en Ciencias Policiales (IUICP))

  • Virginia Galera Olmo

    (Universidad de Alcalá
    Instituto Universitario de Investigación en Ciencias Policiales (IUICP))

  • Ana Bastida Ramírez

    (TRÉBEDE, Patrimonio y Cultura SL, Torres de la Alameda)

  • Joaquín Lomba Maurandi

    (Área de Prehistoria, Universidad de Murcia)

  • Tona Majó

    (Archaeom, Departament de Prehistòria, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)

  • Jacqueline I. McKinley

    (Wessex Archaeology)

  • Kathleen McSweeney

    (School of History, Classics and Archaeology, University of Edinburgh)

  • Balázs Gusztáv Mende

    (Laboratory of Archaeogenetics, Institute of Archaeology, Research Centre for the Humanities, Hungarian Academy of Sciences)

  • Alessandra Modi

    (University of Florence)

  • Gabriella Kulcsár

    (Institute of Archaeology, Research Centre for the Humanities, Hungarian Academy of Sciences)

  • Viktória Kiss

    (Institute of Archaeology, Research Centre for the Humanities, Hungarian Academy of Sciences)

  • András Czene

    (Salisbury Ltd)

  • Róbert Patay

    (Ferenczy Museum Center)

  • Anna Endrődi

    (Budapest History Museum)

  • Kitti Köhler

    (Institute of Archaeology, Research Centre for the Humanities, Hungarian Academy of Sciences)

  • Tamás Hajdu

    (Eötvös Loránd University
    Hungarian Natural History Museum)

  • Tamás Szeniczey

    (Eötvös Loránd University)

  • János Dani

    (Déri Museum)

  • Zsolt Bernert

    (Hungarian Natural History Museum)

  • Maya Hoole

    (Historic Environment Scotland)

  • Olivia Cheronet

    (Earth Institute, University College Dublin
    University of Vienna)

  • Denise Keating

    (Humanities Institute, University College Dublin)

  • Petr Velemínský

    (National Museum)

  • Miroslav Dobeš

    (Institute of Archaeology, Czech Academy of Sciences)

  • Francesca Candilio

    (Soprintendenza Archeologia belle arti e paesaggio per la città metropolitana di Cagliari e per le province di Oristano e Sud Sardegna
    Physical Anthropology Section, University of Philadelphia Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
    Sapienza University of Rome)

  • Fraser Brown

    (Oxford Archaeology)

  • Raúl Flores Fernández

    (46 Cuidad Real Street)

  • Ana-Mercedes Herrero-Corral

    (Universidad Complutense de Madrid)

  • Sebastiano Tusa

    (Soprintendenza del Mare)

  • Emiliano Carnieri

    (Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia, Università di Palermo)

  • Luigi Lentini

    (Soprintendenza per i beni culturali e ambientali di Trapani)

  • Antonella Valenti

    (Prima Archeologia del Mediterraneo)

  • Alessandro Zanini

    (Università degli Studi di Palermo)

  • Clive Waddington

    (Archaeological Research Services Ltd)

  • Germán Delibes

    (Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad de Valladolid)

  • Elisa Guerra-Doce

    (Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad de Valladolid)

  • Benjamin Neil

    (Cambridge Archaeological Unit, University of Cambridge)

  • Marcus Brittain

    (Cambridge Archaeological Unit, University of Cambridge)

  • Mike Luke

    (Albion Archaeology)

  • Richard Mortimer

    (Oxford Archaeology East)

  • Jocelyne Desideri

    (Laboratory of Prehistoric Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Geneva)

  • Marie Besse

    (Laboratory of Prehistoric Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Geneva)

  • Günter Brücken

    (General Department of Cultural Heritage Rhineland Palatinate, Department of Archaeology)

  • Mirosław Furmanek

    (Institute of Archaeology, University of Wroclaw)

  • Agata Hałuszko

    (Institute of Archaeology, University of Wroclaw)

  • Maksym Mackiewicz

    (Institute of Archaeology, University of Wroclaw)

  • Artur Rapiński

    (Institute of Archaeology, Silesian University in Opava)

  • Stephany Leach

    (University of Exeter)

  • Ignacio Soriano

    (Departament de Prehistòria, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)

  • Katina T. Lillios

    (University of Iowa)

  • João Luís Cardoso

    (Centro de Arqueologia, Universidade de Lisboa
    Universidade Aberta)

  • Michael Parker Pearson

    (Institute of Archaeology, University College London)

  • Piotr Włodarczak

    (Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, Polish Academy of Sciences)

  • T. Douglas Price

    (Laboratory for Archaeological Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison)

  • Pilar Prieto

    (University of Santiago de Compostela)

  • Pierre-Jérôme Rey

    (UMR 5204 Laboratoire Edytem, Université Savoie Mont Blanc)

  • Roberto Risch

    (Departament de Prehistòria, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)

  • Manuel A. Rojo Guerra

    (Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, Valladolid University)

  • Aurore Schmitt

    (UMR 7268 ADES, CNRS, Aix-Marseille Univ, EFS, Faculté de médecine Nord)

  • Joël Serralongue

    (Service archéologique, Conseil Général de la Haute-Savoie)

  • Ana Maria Silva

    (Laboratory of Prehistory, Research Center for Anthropology and Health, University of Coimbra)

  • Václav Smrčka

    (Institute for History of Medicine and Foreign Languages, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University)

  • Luc Vergnaud

    (ANTEA Bureau d'étude en Archéologie)

  • João Zilhão

    (Centro de Arqueologia, Universidade de Lisboa
    Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats
    Departament d'Història i Arqueologia, Universitat de Barcelona)

  • David Caramelli

    (University of Florence)

  • Thomas Higham

    (Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, RLAHA, University of Oxford)

  • Mark G. Thomas

    (Evolution and Environment, University College London)

  • Douglas J. Kennett

    (The Pennsylvania State University, University Park)

  • Harry Fokkens

    (Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University)

  • Volker Heyd

    (University of Bristol
    History, Culture and Art Studies, Section of Archaeology, University of Helsinki)

  • Alison Sheridan

    (National Museums Scotland)

  • Karl-Göran Sjögren

    (University of Gothenburg)

  • Philipp W. Stockhammer

    (Institut für Vor- und Frühgeschichtliche Archäologie und Provinzialrömische Archäologie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
    Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History)

  • Johannes Krause

    (Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History)

  • Ron Pinhasi

    (Earth Institute, University College Dublin
    University of Vienna)

  • Wolfgang Haak

    (Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History
    Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide)

  • Ian Barnes

    (Natural History Museum)

  • Carles Lalueza-Fox

    (Institute of Evolutionary Biology, CSIC-Universitat Pompeu Fabra)

  • David Reich

    (Harvard Medical School
    Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
    Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School)

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Iñigo Olalde & Selina Brace & Morten E. Allentoft & Ian Armit & Kristian Kristiansen & Thomas Booth & Nadin Rohland & Swapan Mallick & Anna Szécsényi-Nagy & Alissa Mittnik & Eveline Altena & Mark Lips, 2018. "The Beaker phenomenon and the genomic transformation of northwest Europe," Nature, Nature, vol. 555(7695), pages 190-196, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:555:y:2018:i:7695:d:10.1038_nature25738
    DOI: 10.1038/nature25738
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    Cited by:

    1. Devansh Pandey & Mariana Harris & Nandita R. Garud & Vagheesh M. Narasimhan, 2024. "Leveraging ancient DNA to uncover signals of natural selection in Europe lost due to admixture or drift," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, December.
    2. Isabel Alves & Joanna Giemza & Michael G. B. Blum & Carolina Bernhardsson & Stéphanie Chatel & Matilde Karakachoff & Aude Pierre & Anthony F. Herzig & Robert Olaso & Martial Monteil & Véronique Gallie, 2024. "Human genetic structure in Northwest France provides new insights into West European historical demography," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-18, December.
    3. Pooja Swali & Rick Schulting & Alexandre Gilardet & Monica Kelly & Kyriaki Anastasiadou & Isabelle Glocke & Jesse McCabe & Mia Williams & Tony Audsley & Louise Loe & Teresa Fernández-Crespo & Javier O, 2023. "Yersinia pestis genomes reveal plague in Britain 4000 years ago," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-9, December.
    4. Johannes Marzian & Julian Laabs & Johannes Müller & Tilman Requate, 2024. "Inequality in relational wealth within the upper societal segment: evidence from prehistoric Central Europe," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-12, December.
    5. Maciej Chyleński & Przemysław Makarowicz & Anna Juras & Maja Krzewińska & Łukasz Pospieszny & Edvard Ehler & Agnieszka Breszka & Jacek Górski & Halina Taras & Anita Szczepanek & Marta Polańska & Piotr, 2023. "Patrilocality and hunter-gatherer-related ancestry of populations in East-Central Europe during the Middle Bronze Age," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, December.

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