Researchers examined fossil DNA from a site in southern Spain, with findings shared by the Press Service of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. The Iberian Peninsula offers crucial clues for understanding human history. Geographically it can act as a cul-de-sac with extreme temperature swings that would have sheltered communities during the last ice age, yet it also stands as a possible origin point for the post-glacial repopulation of much of Europe.
In this study, Vanessa Villalba-Muco and collaborators analyzed a 23,000-year-old DNA sample recovered from two human teeth discovered during excavations in Cueva del Malalmuerzo, a cave in Andalusia. The teeth belong to a single individual who lived at the peak of the last glacial period, around 26,500 to 19,000 years ago, providing a rare glimpse into a moment of human life during difficult 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, meanwhile, remained less well understood due to sparse ancient DNA data from key epochs. The new research shows 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 of the data allows the detection of traces from one of the earliest genetic lineages that settled Eurasia about 45,000 years ago. They emphasize a genetic link with a man dating to roughly 35,000 years ago from Belgium, underscoring long-distance connections that crossed regions and timeframes. This connection enriches the story of how early populations dispersed across Europe and how lineages persisted through shifting climates.
The Malalmuerzo individual is associated not only with earlier settlement events but also with hunter-gatherer communities in southern and western Europe who persisted 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 ice sheets receded, people moved out northward and eastward, contributing to the broader pattern of Europe’s repopulation.
These results imply that hunter-gatherer groups in southern Europe faced northward movement driven by the emergence of farming communities from Anatolia, adding nuance to the narrative 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 pivotal role in shaping the demographic map of ancient Europe. The reunion of genetic signals across distant sites illustrates a web of connections that persisted long after individual lifespans and climate cycles had faded from living memory. [Citation: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology]