Overview
- The Nature paper analyzes 112 genomes dated 8500 BC–1700 BC from the Netherlands, Belgium and western Germany, identifying the Low Countries as the main source for Britain’s Early Bronze Age arrivals.
- In the river‑delta’s waterlogged landscapes, hunter‑gatherer ancestry persisted for millennia after neighboring regions adopted farming.
- Sex‑chromosome signals show that farmer ancestry entered these communities primarily through women joining local hunter‑gatherer groups.
- Around 3000–2500 BC, mixing between these wetland descendants and people with steppe‑related ancestry formed the Bell Beaker gene pool that later expanded across northwest Europe.
- Upon reaching Britain about 2400 BC, Bell Beaker–associated groups caused a rapid 90–100% replacement of Neolithic ancestry; researchers discuss disease as a possible driver, though it remains unproven.