An analysis of ancient human genomic data suggests that Copper Age farmers and steppe pastoralists may have interacted 1,000 years earlier than previously thought. The findings, published in Nature, may aid our understanding of the demise of the Copper Age and the expansion of pastoralist groups around 3,300 BC.
Previous analyses of ancient genomic data have suggested that two major genetic turnover events occurred in Western Eurasia; one associated with the spread of farming around 7,000-6,000 BC and a second resulting from the expansion of pastoralist groups from the Eurasian steppe starting around 3,300 BC. The period between these two events, the Copper Age, was characterized by a new economy based on metallurgy, wheel and wagon transportation, and horse domestication. However, what happened between the demise of Copper Age settlements (around 4,250 BC) and the expansion of pastoralists is not well understood.
According to the paper, the researchers analysed genetic data from 135 ancient individuals, dating to between 5,400 and 2,400 BC, from eight sites across southeastern Europe and the northwestern Black Sea region. While there was genetic continuity between the Neolithic and Copper Age groups, from around 4500 BC groups from the northwestern Black Sea region carried varying amounts of ancestry from Copper Age and steppe-zone populations, the authors write.
