Members of the BioMuse group coordinated the scientific study that was published on the esteemed scientific journal CELL.
The paper, using population genomic methods, examines the demographic history of the emblematic civilizations of the Bronze Age in the Aegean, i.e. the Cycladic, the Minoan and the Helladic (Mycenaean).
The analysis of ancient genomes showed that the Aegean populations were genetically homogeneous despite their cultural distinction (Cycladic, Minoan, Helladic), particularly during the Early Bronze Age (5,300-4,000 years ago), and had genetic continuity with the earlier Neolithic populations. However, they were also influenced by a relatively small-scale migration from the East of the Aegean, which coincides with cultural innovations that appeared during the same period in the Aegean and verify previous archaeological theories.
The same study indicates that the populations of the Middle Bronze Age (4,600-4,000 years ago) differ from their ancestors, in showing ~ 50% genetic similarity with populations from regions north and east of the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. Migration from the Eurasian steppes into Central Europe expands geographically, influencing the Aegean populations. The mobility that took place during the Middle Bronze Age contributed to the formation of modern Greeks’ genome. Present-day Greeks share 90% of their ancestry with the populations that lived in Northern Greece 4,000 years ago.
