For decades, archaeologists described European prehistory as a sequence of large migrations and rapid genetic change. A new ancient DNA study shows a different pattern in the Low Countries. Communities living in what is now the Netherlands, Belgium, and northwestern Germany followed their own path for thousands of years. The results appear in Nature.
Researchers examined genome-wide data from 112 individuals who lived between about 8500 and 1700 BCE in the Rhine Meuse region. Across much of Europe, the spread of farming between 6500 and 4000 BCE led to major ancestry turnover. Descendants of western Anatolian farmers mixed with local hunter gatherers, and in many areas farmer ancestry rose to 70 to 100 percent within a few centuries. In the wetlands and river plains of the Low Countries, this shift moved at a different pace.
Hunter gatherer ancestry remained high until around 3000 BCE. In several individuals, about half of their genetic profile still traced to local foragers. Archaeological work had already shown the late adoption of large scale farming in this region. The genetic data match those findings.
Small groups of farmers settled in what is now Zuid Limburg around 5500 BCE. These farmers descended from communities with roots in Anatolia who had moved through Central Europe over nearly 2,000 years. Contact between these southern settlements and northern foragers remained limited. Most communities in the delta continued to hunt, fish, and gather wild plants for a long period.
The landscape shaped these choices. The Rhine Meuse delta offered fish, waterfowl, large game, fruits, and seeds within a compact area. Rivers and coastal routes supported exchange between groups. People shared tools and pottery styles while keeping local ancestry. The early Neolithic farming system linked to the Linearbandkeramik culture did not replace older lifeways in these lowlands.
Maternal ancestry reveals another pattern. Early farmer DNA in the northern delta entered mainly through women. Female individuals with Early European Farmer ancestry joined local communities. Male hunter gatherer lines remained dominant for centuries. Social ties appear to have formed without large scale population replacement.
Around 3000 BCE, the Corded Ware complex spread across wide parts of Europe. Archaeologists link this expansion to groups with steppe ancestry moving west between 3000 and 2500 BCE. In many regions, steppe ancestry rose sharply. In the western Rhine Meuse area, the picture differs. People adopted Corded Ware pottery and single burial customs. Genetic data from lowland settlements show little steppe ancestry overall. Some men carried Y chromosomes typical of early Corded Ware groups, yet most of their genome reflected local roots. Cultural change spread faster than genes.
A stronger genetic shift appears after 2500 BCE with the rise of the Bell Beaker culture. In the Lower Rhine Meuse region, new communities formed through mixing between local people, who contributed about 13 to 18 percent of the ancestry, and migrants linked to Corded Ware groups of both sexes. This blended population expanded across northwestern Europe.
In Great Britain, groups connected to the Rhine Meuse Bell Beaker network became the main source of a 90 to 100 percent replacement of earlier Neolithic ancestry. A region that long maintained continuity later played a central role in reshaping the genetic landscape of northwestern Europe.
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