Lasting Lower Rhine–Meuse forager ancestry shaped Bell Beaker expansion

AI interpretationAI-generated

A rare 3,000-year hunter-gatherer stronghold in the Rhine-Meuse delta shaped Bell Beaker expansion.

This study uses genomes from 112 people (8500–1700 BCE) to show that in the wetlands of the Netherlands, Belgium, and western Germany, a population with about 50% hunter-gatherer ancestry persisted 3,000 years longer than elsewhere in Europe. When Corded Ware pottery arrived, locals adopted the style but had almost no steppe ancestry. Later, Bell Beaker users formed by mixing locals (13–18%) with Corded Ware migrants, and their spread replaced 90–100% of British Neolithic ancestry.

• A distinct population with ~50% hunter-gatherer ancestry survived in the Lower Rhine-Meuse region until about 2500 BCE, 3,000 years later than in most of Europe.
• Corded Ware pottery was adopted by lowland groups with almost no steppe ancestry, despite a Corded Ware-associated Y-chromosome, showing ideas spread without large-scale gene flow.
• Lower Rhine-Meuse Bell Beaker users formed from local people (13–18%) and Corded Ware migrants of both sexes, and their expansion caused 90–100% ancestry replacement in Great Britain.

Sample interpretation

The 44 site samples include 24 with resolved Y-haplogroups, dominated by I-M423 (4) and I-CTS7023 (2), plus R-Y244169 (2). Mitochondrial DNA is diverse, with T2b, J1c5, H1q, and U5b2b each appearing twice. Cultures range from Mesolithic and Swifterbant to Bell Beaker and Early Bronze Age, with the largest site I13660.AG contributing 10 samples. This mix reflects a long-term local community with both hunter-gatherer and farmer roots.

For genealogy enthusiasts

For ancestry enthusiasts, this shows that regional pockets can preserve ancient ancestry far longer than the wider continent. If you have northwestern European roots, especially Dutch, Belgian, or British, you may carry traces of this persistent hunter-gatherer-rich population that later helped fuel the Bell Beaker expansion.