Ice Age DNA reveals Gravettian links between eastern and western Europe
A University of Vienna-led team found evidence that Gravettian populations exchanged genes across Europe more than 30,000 years ago, alongside long-term ancestry continuity in the southwest. In Science Advances, the researchers report that a woman from southwestern France carried mostly western European ancestry, with some linked to central and eastern Europe; cave sediment DNA also traced ancestry in Spain through the Last Glacial Maximum.
Bottom line — DNA from a 22,000-year-old layer at El Mirón Cave revealed ancestry even though no human bones or teeth were present.
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The Gravettian culture spread across Europe roughly 34,000 to 25,000 years ago.
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The Isturitz Cave woman lived around 30,000 years ago; researchers date her east-west gene flow to about 32,500–31,500 years ago.
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A similar genetic signal appeared in an individual previously studied at Ormesson, France.
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The University of Vienna team says archaeological evidence and the genetic findings support Isturitz as a possible meeting place for groups.
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Genomic data from Chufín Cave in northern Spain indicate western European ancestry persisted locally over thousands of years.
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The team says El Mirón Cave's sedimentary DNA supports the Iberian Peninsula's role as an Ice Age refuge.
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In southern Italy, Ostuni1b, a male fetus likely to be the son of Ostuni1, had parents who were not closely related, researchers report.