Age: ~20KYA to 14KYA (Palaeolithic) |
Associated Populations: West Eurasian Core, Dzudzuana |
Associated Cultures: Epigravettian, Solutrean, Magdelanian |
Associated Maternal Haplogroups: Villabruna cluster- U5b1d, U2'3'4'7'8'9, U5b1; GoyetQ2 cluster- U8a, U2'3'4'7'8'9; El Miron cluster- U2'3'4'7'8'9, U5a2a, U5b, U5b1, U5b1d1, U5b2a, U5b2c1 |
Associated Sites: Villabruna cluster: Veneto Villabruna, Pradis, Riparo Tagliente, San Teodoro, Arene Candide; Goyet Q2 cluster- Brillenhohle, Bukhardtshohle, Hohle Fels, La Marche, Maszycka, Pincevent, Rigney; El Miron cluster- Balma Guilanya, El Miron, Carihuela Cave, Moitado Sebastiao, Cingle Mas Nou, La Brana |
Associated Paternal Haplogroups: Villabruna cluster- 12a1a, 12a1b, I, I2a2, I2a2a2a, R1b1a; GoyetQ2 cluster- CF, CT, I2a1a, I2a1b, I2, C; El Miron cluster- C1a1a, C1a2, I, I1 |
In Europe, the Last Glacial Maximum was marked by a demographic decline, with populations likely moving south due to changes in the climate.1 During this period, West and Southwest Europe served as refugia in which humans survived.2 Additionally, the era was marked by the appearance and later expansion of a new genetic signal.3
A New Signal
By as early as 17KYA, a new genetic signal associated with Epigravettian archaeology appeared in Southern Europe, known as the Villabruna cluster.4 However, the Villabruna population had existed somewhere in a relatively unmixed form since before its physical appearance via the remains of unadmixed individuals, as the Villabruna cluster contributed to both the Vestonice and El Miron clusters.5 It is unlikely that the Villabruna population had previously resided in Europe, given that its presence in Europe was only noted by ~14KYA and given the population's contribution to other populations in West Asia.6 Epigravettians, who spread throughout South and Southeast Europe post-LGM, were homogeneously Villabruna, with primarily geographic distribution determining these individuals' intra-group structure.7 The appearance of the Villabruna lineage in Europe represented the re-settlement of the main pre-agricultural European group during later periods,8 with the circumstances associated with the dissemination of Villabruna ancestry indicating that this genetic shift was connected to the Last Glacial Maximum and not the Bolling-Allerod warming period.9
During the Last Glacial Maximum in Western and Central Europe, 19-14KY old individuals forming the Goyet Q2 cluster10 and individuals forming the ~20KY old El Miron cluster11 comprised the Magdelanian populations of the region. These Magdelanian individuals carry a component primarily related to the Fournol cluster but also related to the Goyet Q116-1 individual whilst also possessing Villabruna ancestry.12 The Goyet Q2 cluster, on average, possessed more Fournol ancestry, whereas the El Miron/Iberian hunter-gatherer cluster possessed more Villabruna ancestry.13
The Solutrean culture, primarily in Western and Southeast Europe, also represented a refuge during the LGM between the Gravettian and Magdelanian eras. Solutrean samples showed affinity with the Fournol and Goyet Q2 clusters and possessed an intermediate position between the Fournol and El Miron clusters. These individuals exemplify continuity throughout various refugia during the Last Glacial Maximum.14
Post-LGM Genetic Shift
By the end of the LGM, Epigravettian Villabruna-associated ancestry spread throughout Europe from Southern Europe and interacted with other populations (initially the Fournol cluster, creating the Western Hunter Gatherer population (WHGs)/Oberkassel Cluster), resulting in yet another shift in the genetic landscape of Europe.15
Villabruna ancestry would also be subsequently spread throughout all of West Eurasia due to population interactions driven by a population descended from the Villabruna cluster and Basal Eurasians.16
Sources
1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15 Posth, C., Yu, H., Ghalichi, A. et al. Palaeogenomics of Upper Palaeolithic to Neolithic European hunter-gatherers. Nature 615, 117-126 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-05726-0