Ancient DNA analysis shows how Scandinavia’s first farmers wiped out hunter-gatherer population

A new study is shedding light on the violent history of Scandinavia which saw multiple waves of mass murder across Denmark in just a thousand years. 

A team of international researchers analyzed DNA samples from approximately 100 human remains found in southern Scandinavia through a process called shotgun sequencing. These remains span approximately 7,300 years, from the Mesolithic period, when hunter-gatherer lifestyles were warning, to the Neolithic period, when humans began settling and farming was ascendant, to the Early Bronze Age. 

The study, published in the journal Nature, found that rather than co-existing peacefully, the hunter-gatherers in what is now Denmark, were wiped out by farmer-settlers. 

“This transition has previously been presented as peaceful,” said Lund University paleoecologist Anne Birgitte Nielsen. “However, our study indicates the opposite. In addition to violent death, it is likely that new pathogens from livestock finished off many gatherers.”

Scientist examining DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) results on a screen during an experiment in the laboratory. (iStock)

The region on which the researchers focused their study has a climate suitable for foraging and farming and preserved human remains, enabling deep analysis of gene flows between populations as well as changes in vegetation. 

ANCIENT MAN MIGRATED TO DENMARK BEFORE BEING CLUBBED TO DEATH, NEW RESEARCH FINDS

The study found that around 5,900 years ago, farmers began settling the area and killed off hunters, foragers, and fishers in the process. 

It was previously thought that the two populations mixed, as past research indicated the first Scandinavians shared around 30% of their genomes from hunter-gatherers. But the latest research suggests that the hunter-gatherers’ DNA was almost entirely erased. 

These early farmers – known as the “Funnelbeaker culture,” and have zero genetic relation to modern-day Danes – lived for around 1,000 years before another wave of settlers moved in from the area of southern Russia. This new group, replaced the Funnelbeakers, giving rise to a new group called the “Single Grave Culture” and has an ancestry profile that is more similar to present-day Danes. 

“Vittrup Man” was first discovered in northern Denmark in 1915.  (University of Gothenburg)

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The researchers hope that such insights into ancient DNA can explain modern-day health patterns such as why multiple sclerosis is more pronounced among white, northern Europeans than those in the south.