Researchers studied ancient DNA from a site in southern Spain, with results shared by the Press Service of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. The Iberian Peninsula holds essential clues about human history. Geographically, it can act as a refuge with dramatic temperature swings that would have sheltered communities during the last ice age, yet it also stands as a potential origin point for the post-glacial repopulation of much of Europe.
In this study, Vanessa Villalba-Muco and collaborators examined a 23,000-year-old DNA sample recovered from two human teeth found during excavations at Cueva del Malalmuerzo, a cave in Andalusia. The teeth belong to a single person who lived near the peak of the last glacial period, roughly 26,500 to 19,000 years ago, offering a rare window into life during harsh climatic conditions.
The genetic profile of people from Central and Southern Europe before the Last Glacial Maximum differs from that of groups who later recolonized the continent. Western Europe remains less understood due to limited ancient DNA data from key moments. The new research reveals that some inhabitants of southern Iberia were related to members of the Aurignacian cultural sphere, a lineage previously identified in Belgium around 35,000 years ago.
According to the researchers, the high-quality data allow traces from one of the earliest genetic lineages that settled Eurasia about 45,000 years ago to be detected. They highlight a genetic link with a man dating to roughly 35,000 years ago from Belgium, underscoring long-distance connections that spanned regions and eras. This connection enriches the narrative of how early populations dispersed across Europe and how lineages persisted through shifting climates.
The Malalmuerzo individual is tied not only to earlier settlement events but also to hunter-gatherer communities across southern and western Europe that endured well after the last ice age. The findings reinforce the idea that the Iberian Peninsula served as a sanctuary during the coldest periods, and as soon as the ice sheets receded, people moved outward northward and eastward, contributing to Europe’s broader repopulation pattern.
These results imply that hunter-gatherer groups in southern Europe faced movement toward the north driven by the emergence of farming communities from Anatolia, adding nuance to the story of how agriculture spread and how populations shifted in later prehistoric times. The evidence from the Iberian Peninsula helps fill gaps in the record for a region that played a central role in shaping the demographic map of ancient Europe. The reunion of genetic signals across distant sites reveals a web of connections that endured long after individual lifespans and climate cycles faded from living memory. Attribution: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.