Genetic history of Europe

The genetic history of Europe tells us about people who lived there long ago by looking at their DNA. It helps us learn how different groups of people mixed together over thousands of years. By studying DNA, scientists can find out about the ancestors of people living in Europe today and how they moved and changed over time.

Long ago, between 40 and 26 thousand years ago, early humans in Europe were part of a bigger group that also included people from parts of Asia. As the climate changed during the Last Glacial Maximum, people in different areas began to develop unique genetic traits.

After the ice age ended, around 20 thousand years ago, a group called west European hunter-gatherer (WHG) appeared in Western Europe. Later, during the Neolithic Revolution, farmers from places like Anatolia and the Caucasus moved into Europe, bringing new ways of living. During the European Bronze Age, people from the steppes of Pontic–Caspian steppes also arrived, mixing with local groups.

Today, people in Europe have different amounts of ancestry from these ancient groups. For example, farmers in Hungary had less WHG ancestry than those in Germany or Iberia. The genetic mix changed depending on where you lived. Over time, big movements like the Migration period and the decline of the Roman Empire helped shape the modern ethnic groups of Europe.

Scientists have only been able to study this genetic history since the late 20th century. It wasn’t until the 1990s and especially the 2000s that they could look at whole genomes from ancient people, giving us much clearer pictures of Europe’s past.

Prehistory

Neanderthals lived in Europe and western Asia for about 130,000 years. They disappeared around 30,000 years ago. Modern humans arrived in Europe about 40,000 years ago. We now know that many Eurasians have a small amount of Neanderthal DNA.

Paleolithic

Modern humans began living in Europe during the Upper Paleolithic about 40,000 years ago. Some signs show the spread of the Aurignacian culture. The oldest known sample of a common European DNA group, called Haplogroup I, comes from Austria and is about 30,000–31,000 years old. At this time, a culture called the Gravettian also appeared.

Upper Paleolithic

It is thought that modern humans began to live in Europe during the Upper Paleolithic about 40,000 years ago. Some evidence shows the spread of the Aurignacian culture.

Last Glacial Maximum

The Last Glacial Maximum started around 30,000 years ago. This made Northern Europe empty of people. People sheltered in safe places called refugia, such as in Northern Iberia, Southwest France, the Balkans, Ukraine, and Italy. As glaciers melted around 16,000–13,000 years ago, people moved back into Europe from these refugia.

Mesolithic

Mesolithic populations changed a lot. This was because they were isolated for thousands of years, faced harsh conditions during the Last Glacial Maximum, and then spread quickly from refugia. By the end of the Last Glacial Maximum, familiar Eurasian looks had appeared.

Neolithic

The Neolithic started with farming. It began in Southeast Europe about 10,000–3000 BCE and spread into Northwest Europe between 4500 and 1700 BCE. Farming brought big changes to Europe and affected its genetic mix, especially with new genes coming from the Middle East into the Balkans.

Bronze Age

The Bronze Age brought long-distance trading networks, especially along the Atlantic Coast and Danube valley. There was migration from Norway to Orkney and Shetland, and from Germany to eastern England. About 4% of mitochondrial DNA in Europe came from migrations during the Bronze Age.

Recent history

Expansions of the Roman Empire do not seem to have left clear genetic signs in Europe. Romance-speaking groups in the Balkans, such as Romanians, Aromanians, and Moldovans, genetically resemble nearby Greek and South Slavic peoples rather than modern Italians.

Genetics of modern European populations

Further information: Ethnic groups in Europe

Patrilineal studies

There are four main Y-chromosome DNA haplogroups that are most common in Europe.

• Haplogroup R1b is common in Western Europe. It is most common among Western Europeans and becomes less common as you move away from the Atlantic Ocean.
• Haplogroup R1a is common in much of Eastern and Central Europe. It becomes more common as you move east from Germany to Poland.
• Haplogroup I is found all over Europe, but is most common in the Nordic countries and the Balkan Peninsula.
• Haplogroup E1b1b came to Europe from farmers in the Middle East. It is most common in the southern Balkan region.

There are also some less common haplogroups found in certain parts of Europe.

Matrilineal studies

Studies of mitochondrial DNA haplogroups in Europe show less clear patterns than Y DNA haplogroups. All Europeans mainly have haplogroups H, U and T. Genetic studies suggest some mothers came to eastern Europe from eastern Asia or southern Siberia thousands of years ago. Mothers from sub-Saharan Africa came to Europe as early as 11,000 years ago.

European population sub-structure

Europe is genetically quite similar, but there are some different patterns, especially from southeast to northwest. Studies have found five main patterns of genes across Europe.

1. A pattern of genes most common in the Middle East, and least common in the northwest.
2. A pattern of genes most common among Finnish and Sami people in the far northeast.
3. A pattern of genes most common near the lower Don and Volga rivers in southern Russia.
4. A pattern of genes most common in the Balkans and Southern Italy.
5. A pattern of genes most common in the Basque country.

Studies have also found some areas in Europe that are genetically different from others. Finland is the farthest from most Europeans. The Baltic region, Central and Western Europe, and Italy also have their own genetic patterns.

Autosomal DNA

Some Europeans have a small amount of East Asian ancestry. Finns and Northeastern Russians have more than 12% East Asian ancestry. Studies show a clear difference between 'northern' and 'southern' European population groups. Most southern Europeans and most northern, western, central, and eastern Europeans are clearly different groups.

Two whole-genome studies of Eastern European groups showed genetic diversity not seen in earlier studies. In Russia, some groups have genetic diversity that is different from other groups.

According to geneticist David Reich, Europeans come from a mix of four West-Eurasian ancestral groups.

Siberian genes are found in some Uralic-speaking European groups. This Siberian part is linked to the spread of Uralic languages.

Like other Eurasian groups, European ancestries are not the same everywhere. WHG-related ancestries are highest in people from the Baltic States, Belarus, Poland and Russia whilst EHG-related ancestries are highest in Finland and Estonia. Steppe-related ancestries are found in high levels in northern Europe.

Autosomal genetic distances (Fst) based on SNPs (2009)

The genetic distance between groups is often measured by Fixation index (Fst), based on genetic data. Fst values range from 0 to 1, with higher values meaning more genetic distance. These low Fst values show that most genetic differences are within the same population group.

CEU – Utah residents with ancestry from Northern and Western Europe.

History of research

Further information: Population genetics

Classical genetic markers (by proxy)

One of the first scientists to study genes was Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza. He looked at tiny differences in blood proteins, like ABO blood groups, to learn about DNA. This helped him see how different groups of people are related. He made charts to show these relationships.

Direct DNA analysis

Further information: Genetic drift, Founder effect, and Population bottleneck

Today, scientists study DNA directly. They look at special parts of DNA passed from mothers or fathers. This helps them learn about family history. However, these studies can be tricky. Different scientists sometimes get different results, and it can be hard to know exactly when certain gene changes happened.

Studies of other parts of DNA give more information about a person’s genes, but they are harder to use for tracing long histories. All genetic studies have some limits.