Earliest Colonization of Europe: Aurignacian and Gravettian cultures, both with different Migration routes, and different Subclades of C1 Y-DNA

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref

I received this message, and it inspired this blog post:

“Hello Damien, I’m a Spanish follower of yours. I discovered your artistic work online some time ago, and recently, I found you on “X.” First of all, I want to thank you for your amazing work and art; they have helped me a lot in understanding humanity’s past. I would like to ask you a question I’ve had for a while, and I believe you are the right person to help me solve it. Here’s the thing: I don’t understand the origin of the WHG and its relationship with Cro-Magnon. Is the WHG the evolution of Cro-Magnon? What Y-haplogroup did Cro-Magnon have? If they are not related, what is the origin of the WHG? Thank you very much in advance. Keep up the great work; you’re doing an excellent job! Greetings from the other side of the Atlantic!” – Commemtor

My response, Well, I don’t use the term “Cromagdon.” It is an outdated language from when people were not sure all humanity came from Africa or had bigoted ideas that Europeans came from Europe, not Africa. Cro-Magnons, now stated as “European early modern humans,” were the first early modern humans (Homo sapiens) to settle in Europe. I mainly use the “cultures,” such as the “Aurignacian culture,” an archaeological industry of the Upper Paleolithic associated with early European modern humans lasting from around 45,000 to 25,000 years ago. Or the “Gravettian culture,” an archaeological industry of the Upper Paleolithic associated with early European modern humans lasting from around 35,000 to 20,000 years ago.

They were an early movement of mainly Haplogroup C male DNA. Aurignacian samples are the paternal male haplogroups C1a, C1b, and K2a and female mt-DNA haplogroup M, N, R, and U. It is much more involved, and I will get to it all. The Aurignacian people with male Haplogroup C came from the Middle East through Turkey and the Balkans into France and Germany from 50,000 to 40,000 years ago. Then, a different branch and different culture, now called Gravettian culture, came from the Middle East into Siberia, then turned into East Europe and then Germany 30,000 to 25,000 years ago, male Haplogroup C but different from the Aurignacian culture branch. This was all before Western Hunter-Gatherers, who had yet a different culture and somewhat different DNA.

Western hunter-gatherers (also known as West European hunter-gatherers) date to around 15,000~5,000 years ago and are a distinct ancestral component of modern Europeans. Before them was yet another culture of Europe, Magdalenian refers to a prehistoric European cultural period and toolmaking industry that lasted from around 17,000 to 12,000 years ago. The three samples of Y-DNA included two samples of haplogroup I and one sample of HIJK. All samples of mtDNA belonged to U, including five samples of U8b and one sample of U5b. Western hunter-gatherers came in a different wave of migrations.

WHG-associated remains belonged primarily to the human Y-chromosome haplogroups I-M170 with a lower frequency of C-F3393 (specifically the clade C-V20/C1a2), which has been found commonly among earlier Paleolithic European remains such as Kostenki-14 and Sungir. Kostenki is in Russia, somewhat near the Caucasus Mountains. Sungir is in Russia, somewhat near Moscow. So, migrations from Eastern Europe have DNA similar to that of Aurignacian culture.

ref, ref, ref

ref

ref

“Haplogroup C is a major Y-chromosome haplogroup, is one of two primary branches of Haplogroup CF alongside Haplogroup F. Haplogroup C is found in ancient populations on every continent except Africa and is the predominant Y-DNA haplogroup among males belonging to many peoples indigenous to East Asia, Central Asia, Siberia, North America, and Australia as well as a some populations in Europe, the Levant, and later Japan. In addition to the basal paragroup C*, this haplogroup now has two major branches: C1 (F3393/Z1426; previously CxC3, i.e. old C1, old C2, old C4, old C5 and old C6) and C2 (M217; the former C3). Basal C1a* (CTS11043) was found in the Upper Paleolithic European (Aurignacian), GoyetQ116-1. C1b was identified in prehistoric remains, dating from 34,000 years BP, found in Russia and known as “Kostenki 14.” C-V20 (C1a2; previously C6) is found at low frequencies amongst Europeans. In 2016, a 35,000-year-old remains of a hunter gatherer from the Goyet Caves (Namur, Belgium) and a 30,000-year-old remains of a hunter gatherer from Dolni Vestonice (Vestonice16, Moravia, Czech Republic) were found with this haplogroup.” ref

“Basal C1a* (CTS11043) was found in an Upper Paleolithic Europeans (Aurignacians), GoyetQ116-1 and Pestera Muerii2. C1a2 was present in the remains in Europe by the Upper Paleolithic, including the Vestonice cluster (Vestonice16) (i.e. remains found in the modern Czech Republic). It was also found in the 7,000-year-old (Mesolithic) remains of a WHG (Western Hunter-Gatherers) known as “La Braña 1”, found in La Braña-Arintero, León, Spain. La Braña 1 was part of the so-called Villabruna cluster, named after a site in northeast Italy. By the time of the Villabruna cluster, however, the dominant Y-DNA haplogroup in Western Europe was I2. (And the balance was again altered by the mass migrations into Europe of Neolithic Middle Eastern farmer and Bronze Age Indo-Europeans.) further: a male from the Great Hungarian Plain, approximately contemporaneous to the La Braña man also carried it, as did the 30,000-year-old remains of a Vestonice Cluster hunter-gatherer from the Pavlov-Dolní Věstonice area (Czech Republic), as well as a 34,000 years old Russian hunter gatherers from Sungir (Sunghir 1/2/3/4). Basal C1b* (F1370) has been identified in the remains of an individual known as Kostenki-14 who died circa 37,000 years BP (Upper Paleolithic) that was found at the Kostyonki archaeological site in western Russia. It has also been found in a small number of males from the Middle East.” ref

K2 Y-DNA

“Ust’-Ishim man“ – the name given to 45,000-year-old remains of one of the early modern humans to inhabit western Siberia. The fossil was named after the Ust’-Ishim District of Siberia, where it had been discovered. Until 2016, Ust’-Ishim man was classified as belonging to Haplogroup K2*. Likewise, “Oase-1“, the remains of an individual who lived approximately 37,800 years ago, in Eastern Europe (modern Romania). Research by Poznik et al. (2016) suggests that Oase 1 Y-DNA belongs to haplogroup K2a*. That is, Oase 1 possesses SNPS similar to Ust’-Ishim man (also K2a*), 45,000-year-old remains from Siberia. After “Oase 1”, the next closest genetic affinity for “Oase 2” among ancient DNA samples is the c. 40kya Tianyuan man from Northern China. Neither “Oase 2” nor “Oase 1″ are particularly close genetically to any modern human populations.” ref, ref, ref

Aurignacian

“The Aurignacians are part of the wave of anatomically modern humans thought to have spread from Africa through the Near East into Paleolithic Europe, and became known as European early modern humans, or Cro-Magnons. This wave of anatomically modern humans includes fossils of the Ahmarian, Bohunician, Aurignacian, Gravettian, Solutrean and Magdalenian cultures, extending throughout the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), covering the period of roughly 48,000 to 15,000 years ago. In terms of population, the Aurignacian cultural complex is chronologically associated with the human remains of Goyet Q116-1, while the subsequent eastern Gravettian is associated with the Vestonice cluster. Aurignacian figurines have been found depicting faunal representations of the time period associated with now-extinct mammals, including mammoths, rhinoceros, and tarpan, along with anthropomorphized depictions that may be interpreted as some of the earliest evidence of religion.” ref

“In a genetic study published in Nature in May 2016, the remains of an early Aurignacian individual, Goyet Q116-1 from modern-day Belgium, were examined. He belonged to the paternal haplogroup C1a and the maternal haplogroup M. Haplogroups identified in other Aurignacian samples are the paternal haplogroups C1b and K2a; and mt-DNA haplogroup N, R, and U. The Aurignacian material culture is associated with the expansion of ‘early West Eurasians’ during the Upper Paleolithic (UP), replacing or merging with previous Initial Upper Paleolithic (IUP) cultures to which possibly relates the European Châtelperronian. Evidence for at least some IUP legacy among later UP Europeans is the presence of Ancient East Eurasian ancestry (c. 23%) among the GoyetQ116-1 specimen, possibly represented by the preceding Bacho Kiro cave specimen, who, together with the Oase specimens, are closer to ancient and modern East Eurasian populations.” ref

“A 2023 study found that the Aurignacians are closely related to the Gravettians, Solutreans and later Magdalenians. Gravettian-producing peoples belonged to two genetically distinct clusters. Fournol in the west (France and Spain) and Věstonice in the east (Czech Republic, Poland, Austria, and Italy), both tracing their descent from producers of the earlier Aurignacian culture. The Aurignacian, Gravettian, and Solutrean cultures would merge and give rise to the Magdalenian culture. The genes of seven Magdalenians, the El Miron Cluster in Iberia, showed a close relationship to the Aurignacian population that lived in northern Europe some 20,000 years earlier. The analyses suggested that 70-80% of the ancestry of these individuals was from the population represented by Goyet Q116-1, associated with the Aurignacian culture.” ref

“The Upper Paleolithic Aurignacian, Gravettian, Solutrean and Magdalenian cultures, became subsequently absorbed by the Epigravettian wave from Western Asia (Anatolia). In a genetic study published in Nature in March 2023, the authors found that the ancestors of the Western Hunter-Gatherers (WHGs) were populations associated with the Epigravettian culture, which largely replaced populations associated with the Magdalenian culture about 14,000 years ago, and which were more closely related to ancient and modern peoples in the Middle East and the Caucasus than earlier European Cro-Magnons.” ref

ref, ref

Haplogroup IJ

“Haplogroup IJ (M429/P125) is a human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup, an immediate descendant of Haplogroup IJK (formerly known as Haplogroup F-L15). IJK is a branch of Haplogroup HIJK. The immediate descendants of IJ are Haplogroup I and Haplogroup J. Its sole sibling is K (which includes most of the world’s male population). Haplogroup IJ derived populations account for a significant proportion of the pre-modern populations of Europe (especially Scandinavia and the Balkans), Anatolia, the Caucasus, the Middle East (especially Arabia, Levant and Mesopotamia) and coastal North Africa. As a result of mass migrations during the modern era, they are now also significant in The Americas and Australasia.” ref

“Haplogroup I appears to have arisen in Europe, so far being found in Palaeolithic sites throughout Europe, but not outside it. It diverged from common ancestor IJ* about 43,000 years ago. Early evidence for haplogroup J has been found in the Caucasus and Iran. In addition, living examples of the precursor Haplogroup IJ* have been found only in ethnicities living in modern day Iran. This may indicate that IJ originated in West Asia. A 2008 estimate suggested that the most recent common ancestor of haplogroup IJ could have lived 30,500–46,200 years ago, while another estimate suggests 43,000–45,700 years. Both of the primary branches of haplogroup IJ – I-M170 and J-M304 – are found among modern populations of the Caucasus, Anatolia, and Southwest Asia. This tends to suggest that Haplogroup IJ branched from IJK in West Asia, Caucasus, and/or the Middle East.” ref

“Examples of the basal/paragroup Haplogroup IJ* (M429) were first reported in a 2012 study of genetic diversity in Iran, by Grugni et al. These individuals were reported to be positive for M429 and negative for the SNPs M170 and M304, which define haplogroup I and haplogroup J respectively. However, because the researchers filtered for relatively few SNPs, these individuals may have carried less well-known SNPs equivalent to M170 and M304. Given the limited scope of the testing – and the small number of haplogroup IJ samples that were discovered – few firm conclusions have yet been drawn.” ref

“An inference may also be made that both IJ (M429) and its sole sibling, Haplogroup K (M9) diverged from the parent Haplogroup IJK closer to the Caucasus and the Middle East than to East Asia, due to the evolutionary distance of IJK from its direct ancestor, haplogroup HIJK. IJ split in a typically disjunctive, almost mutually-exclusive geographical pattern, with J-M304 far more common in the Caucasus, and I-M170 far more common in Europe; the age of IJ and its subclades suggest that IJ probably entered Europe through the Balkans, some time before the last glacial maximum (about 26,500 years ago). I1 Typical of populations of Scandinavia and Northwest Europe, with a moderate distribution throughout Eastern Europe.” ref

Haplogroup I-M170

“Possible time of origin is ~42,900 Years ago. Haplogroup I (M170) is a Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup. It is a subgroup of haplogroup IJ, which itself is a derivative of the haplogroup IJK. Subclades I1 and I2 can be found in most present-day European populations, with peaks in some Northern European and Southeastern European countries. Haplogroup I most likely arose in Europe, with it so far found in Palaeolithic sites throughout Europe, but not outside it. It diverged from common ancestor IJ* about 43,000 years ago. Early evidence for haplogroup J has been found in the Caucasus and Iran. In addition, living examples of the precursor Haplogroup IJ* have been found only in Iran, among the Mazandarani and ethnic Persians from Fars. This may indicate that IJ originated in South West Asia.” ref

“The oldest example found was originally that of Paglicci133 from Italy, which is at least 31,000 years old, however, in a later study this was changed, and instead Dolní Věstonice (DV14) from the Czech Republic was reported as the oldest, being at least 30,800 years old. Haplogroup I has been found in multiple individuals belonging to the Gravettian culture. The Gravettians expanded westwards from the far corner of Eastern Europe, likely Russia, to Central Europe. They are associated with a genetic cluster that is normally called the Věstonice cluster.” ref

“Available evidence suggests that I-M170 was preceded into areas in which it would later become dominant by haplogroups K2a (K-M2308) and C1 (Haplogroup C-F3393). K2a and C1 have been found in the oldest sequenced male remains from Western Eurasia (dating from circa 45,000 to 35,000 years ago), such as: Ust’-Ishim man (modern west Siberia) K2a*, Oase 1 (Romania) K2a*, Kostenki 14 (south west Russia) C1b, and Goyet Q116-1 (Belgium) C1a. The oldest I-M170 found is that of an individual known as Krems WA3 (lower Austria), dating from circa 33,000-24,000 BP. At the same site, two twin boys were also found, both were assigned to haplogroup I*.” ref

“Haplogroup IJ was in the Middle East and/or Europe about 40,000 years ago. The TMRCA (time to most recent common ancestor) for I-M170 was estimated by Karafet and colleagues in 2008 to be 22,200 years ago, with a confidence interval between 15,300 and 30,000 years ago. This would make the founding event of I-M170 approximately contemporaneous with the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), which lasted from 26,500 years ago until approximately 19,500 years ago. TMRCA is an estimate of the time of subclade divergence. Rootsi and colleagues in 2004 also note two other dates for a clade, age of STR variation, and time since population divergence.” ref

“These last two dates are roughly associated, and occur somewhat after subclade divergence. For Haplogroup I-M170 they estimate time to STR variation as 24,000 ±7,100 years ago and time to population divergence as 23,000 ±7,700 years ago. These estimates are consistent with those of Karafet 2008 cited above. However, Underhill and his colleagues calculate the time to subclade divergence of I1 and I2 to be 28,400 ±5,100 years ago, although they calculate the STR variation age of I1 at only 8,100 ±1,500 years ago. Semino (2000) speculated that the initial dispersion of this population corresponds to the diffusion of the Gravettian culture. Later the haplogroup, along with two cases of Haplogroup C, was found in human remains belonging to the previously mentioned Gravettian culture and in individuals of the Magdalenian and Azilian cultures. Rootsi and colleagues in 2004 suggested that each of the ancestral populations now dominated by a particular subclade of Haplogroup I-M170 experienced an independent population expansion immediately after the Last Glacial Maximum.” ref

“The five known cases of Haplogroup I from Upper Paleolithic European human remains make it one of the most frequent haplogroup from that period. In 2016, the 31,210–34,580-year-old remains of a hunter-gatherer from Paglicci Cave, Apulia, Italy were found to carry I-M170. So far, only Haplogroup F* and Haplogroup C1b have been documented, once each, on older remains in Europe. I2 subclade of I-M170 is the main haplogroup found on male remains in Mesolithic Europe, until circa 6,000 BCE, when mass migration into Europe of Anatolian farmers carrying Y-DNA G2a happened. Due to the arrival of so-called Early European Farmers (EEFs), I-M170 is outnumbered by Haplogroup G among Neolithic European remains and by Haplogroup R in later remains.” ref

“It would seem to be that separate waves of population movement impacted Southeastern Europe. The role of the Balkans as a long-standing corridor to Europe from Anatolia and/or the Caucasus is shown by the common phylogenetic origins of both haplogroups I and J in the parent haplogroup IJ (M429). This common ancestry suggests that the subclades of IJ entered the Balkans from Anatolia or the Caucasus, some time before the Last Glacial Maximum. I and J were subsequently distributed in Asia and Europe in a disjunctive phylogeographic pattern typical of “sibling” haplogroups.” ref

“A natural geographical corridor like the Balkans is likely to have been used later by members of other subclades of IJ, as well as other haplogroups, including those associated with Early European Farmers. The existence of Haplogroup IJK – the ancestor of both haplogroups IJ and K (M9) – and its evolutionary distance from other subclades of Haplogroup F (M89), supports the inference that haplogroups IJ and K both arose in Southwestern Asia. Living carriers of F* and IJ* have been reported from the Iranian Plateau.” ref

ref

ref

“The Gravettian (30,000 to 20,000 years) is drawn in black and white; the subsequent Magdalenian (17,000 to 10,000 years) and Hamburgian (13,000-11,750 years) are in light blue and red. It is not known whether the spread of the Gravettian was a result of the diffusion of people or cultures. This figure illustrates the possible monocentric origins of the Gravettian, in which the Gravettian is hypothesized to have its origin in the Middle Danube Basin, first spreading west (solid lines) and later spreading east and southeast (dashed lines). This scenario is largely based on the chronology of sites. Thus far, genome-wide data has been collected from only three of the ten Gravettian regions indicated on the map. These regions are northern Austria (1 sample), the Czech Republic (6), southern Italy (3), and Belgium (3), indicating that they all share a genomic ancestry. However, it is unknown whether samples from the remaining regions also share a close genomic ancestry. Some skeletal remains associated with the Gravettian that could be investigated paleogenomically are from Sungir (Russia) 112; Laghar Velho (central Portugal) 113; Cussac Cave 114; Les Garennes, near Vilhonneur 115; and Level 2 at Abri Pataud 116 (western France). Light blue and light red regions represent the approximate distributions of the Magdalenian Culture and the Hamburgian Culture (13,000-11,750 years).” ref

Gravettian

“The Gravettian is an archaeological industry of the European Upper Paleolithic that succeeded the Aurignacian circa 33,000 years ago. It is archaeologically the last European culture many consider unified, and had mostly disappeared by c. 22,000 years ago, close to the Last Glacial Maximum, although some elements lasted until c. 17,000 years ago. In modern-day Portugal, Spain and France, it was succeeded by the Solutrean and by the Epigravettian in Italy, the Balkans, Ukraine, and Russia.” ref

“The Gravettian culture is known for their artistic works including the famous Venus figurines, which were typically carved from either ivory or limestone. The culture was first identified at the site of La Gravette in the southwestern French department of Dordogne. While historically assumed to represent a genetically homogenous group, recent analysis of ancient DNA sequences suggests that the Gravettian was produced by multiple genetically divergent groups of hunter-gatherers. Eastern Gravettian-producing groups belong to the Věstonice cluster, while western Gravettian-producing groups belong to the Fournol cluster, both of which have genetic continuity from producers of the earlier Aurignacian. Fournol cluster-related groups are thought to be the ancestors of the producers of the following Solutrean and Magdalenian cultures present in Western Europe after the Last Glacial Maximum, while the producers of the Epigravettian are genetically distinct from Gravettian-producing groups.” ref

“The Gravettians were hunter-gatherers who lived in a bitterly cold period of European prehistory, and the Gravettian lifestyle was shaped by the climate. Pleniglacial environmental changes forced them to adapt. West and Central Europe were extremely cold during this period. Archaeologists usually describe two regional variants: the western Gravettian, known mainly from cave sites in France, Spain and Britain, and the eastern Gravettian in Central Europe and Russia. The eastern Gravettians, which include the Pavlovian culture, were specialized mammoth hunters, whose remains are usually found not in caves but in open air sites. Gravettian culture extends across a large geographic region, as far as Estremadura in Portugal. but is relatively homogeneous until about 27,000 years ago. They developed burial rites, which included simple, purpose-built offerings and/or personal ornaments owned by the deceased, placed within the grave or tomb.” ref 

Surviving Gravettian art includes numerous cave paintings and small, portable Venus figurines made from clay or ivory, as well as jewelry objects. The fertility deities mostly date from the early period; there are over 100 known surviving examples. They conform to a very specific physical type, with large breasts, broad hips and prominent posteriors. The statuettes tend to lack facial details, and their limbs are often broken off. During the post glacial period, evidence of the culture begins to disappear from northern Europe but was continued in areas around the Mediterranean.” ref

“The Mal’ta Culture (c. 24,000 years ago) in Siberia is often considered as belonging to the Gravettian, due to its similar characteristics, particularly its Venus figurines, but any hypothetical connection would have to be cultural and not genetic: a 2016 genomic study showed that the Mal’ta people have no genetic connections with the people of the European Gravettian culture (the Vestonice Cluster).” ref

“Fu et al. (2016) examined the remains of fourteen Gravettians. The eight males included three samples of Y-chromosomal haplogroup CT, one of I, one IJK, one BT, one C1a2, and one sample of F. Of the fourteen samples of mtDNA, there were thirteen samples of U and one sample of M. The majority of the sample of U belonged to the U5 and U2. Teschler et al. (2020) examined the remains of one adult male and two twin boys from a Gravettian site in Austria. All belonged to haplogroup Y-Haplogroup I. and all had the same mtDNA, U5. According to Scorrano et al. (2022), “the genome of an early European individual from Kostenki 14, dated to around 37,000 years ago, demonstrated that the ancestral European gene pool was already established by that time.” ref

“A 2023 study found that Gravettian-producing peoples belonged to two genetically distinct clusters. Fournol in the west (France and Spain) and Věstonice in the east (Czech Republic, Poland, Austria, and Italy) both of whom traced their descent from producers of the earlier Aurignacian culture. Some individuals showed mixed ancestry from both clusters where the range of the two clusters bordered. The study found that members of the western Fournol cluster were ancestral to later Western European Cro-Magnon groups that existed after the Last Glacial Maximum, the producers of the Solutrean and Magdalenian cultures. All Gravettian-producing peoples are strongly genetically distinct from the producers of the later Epigravettian, who are genetically referred to as the Villabruna cluster, who show a greater affinity to ancient and modern peoples in West Asia than other Palaeolithic European hunter-gatherer groups. There is evidence of some genetic affinity between the Villabruna and Věstonice clusters, which may reflect shared common ancestry from the Balkans region.” ref

Sungir (Russian: Сунгирь, sometimes spelled Sunghir) is an Upper Paleolithic archaeological site in Russia and one of the earliest records of modern Homo sapiens in Eurasia. It is situated about 200 kilometers (120 mi) east of Moscow, on the outskirts of Vladimir, near the Klyazma River. It is dated by calibrated carbon analysis to between 32,050 and 28,550 BCE. Additional pollen finds suggest the relative warm spell of the “Greenland interstadial (GI) 5” between the 30,500 and 30,000 BCE as most probable dates. The settlement area was found to have four burials: the remains of an older man and two adolescent children are particularly well-preserved, and the nature of the rich and extensive burial goods suggests they belonged to the same class. In addition, a skull and two fragments of human femur were also found at the settlement area, and two human skeletons outside the settlement area without cultural remains.” ref

“The site is one of the earliest examples of ritual burials and constitutes important evidence of the antiquity of human religious practices. The extraordinary collection of grave goods, the position of the bodies, and other factors all indicate it was a burial of high importance. Two other remains at the site are partial skeletons. In 2017, researchers successfully sequenced the DNA of multiple individuals from Sungir (c. 34,000 years ago), including one from Burial 1 (Sunghir I) and three from Burial 2: the two adolescent burials (Sunghir II and Sunghir III) and the adult femur accompanying the burial (Sunghir IV). The younger adolescent from Burial 2, Sunghir III, yielded high coverage genomes. Sungir III was previously thought to be female; however, genetic analysis shows that all four of the tested individuals at Sungir were male. Contrary to previous interpretations of the burials, genetic analysis shows that none of the individuals are closely related (none of the individuals were third-degree relatives or closer).” ref

“However, when compared against other populations, the individuals at Sungir are genetically closest to each other. The individuals at Sungir show closest genetic affinity to the individuals from Kostenki, with closer affinity to the individual from Kostenki 12 than to the individual from Kostenki 14. The closer affinity between Kostenki 12 and Sungir individuals was mutual, with Kostenki 12 being closer to the Sungir remains than to Kostenki 14. The Sungir individuals are inferred to have descended from a lineage that was forming a sister branch to Kostenki 14. The Sungir individuals also show close genetic affinity to various individuals belonging to Vestonice Cluster buried in a Gravettian context, such as those excavated from Dolní Věstonice. In terms of their Y-chromosome, they all belonged to a subclade of haplogroup C1 (C1a2), which was common among early West Eurasian specimens, such as the ones in Kostenki (C1b*), but today rare among Europeans. The maternal haplogroups of S I belonged to U8c, while S II, S III, and S IV belonged to a subclade of U2, which is close to the ones observed among the Kostenki specimens.” ref 

“Dolní Věstonice (often without diacritics as Dolni Vestonice) is an Upper Paleolithic archaeological site near the village of Dolní Věstonice in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic, at the base of Mount Děvín, 550 metres (1,800 ft). It dates to approximately 26,000 years ago, as supported by radiocarbon dating. The site is unique in that it has been a particularly abundant source of prehistoric artifacts (especially art) dating from the Gravettian period, which spanned roughly from 27,000 to 20,000 BCE. In addition to the abundance of art, this site also includes carved representations of men, women, and animals, along with personal ornaments, human burials, and enigmatic engravings.” ref 

“The Dolní Věstonice artifacts also include some of the earliest examples of fired clay sculptures, including the Venus of Dolní Věstonice, and date back to 26,000 years ago. The female figurine is a ceramic statuette depiction of a wide-hipped, nude female. This figurine is similar to other figurines found throughout the area at nearby archaeological sites such as Willendorf and the Caves of Grimaldi (see Grimaldi Man). A carved ivory figure in the shape of a female head was discovered near the huts. The left side of the figure’s face was distorted.” ref

“One of the burials, located near the huts, revealed a human female skeleton aged to 40+ years old, ritualistically placed beneath a pair of mammoth scapulae, one leaning against the other. Surprisingly, the left side of the skull was disfigured in the same manner as the aforementioned carved ivory figure, indicating that the figure was an intentional depiction of this specific individual. The bones and the earth surrounding the body contained traces of red ochre, a flint spearhead had been placed near the skull, and one hand held the body of a fox. This evidence suggests that this was the burial site of a shaman. This is the oldest site not only of ceramic figurines and artistic portraiture, but also of evidence of female shamans.” ref

“The remains of three male individuals were found. It was initially believed that the middle of the three bodies was a female, but recent DNA evidence has proved the body was a male. The bodies were lying in an extended lengthwise position, covered by burnt spruce logs and branches. The body in the middle was placed first, being partially covered by the other two. The other two were in different positions. One was faced down and the other on his side with hands reaching the pubic region of the middle body. The heads of all three were covered with red ochre, the central body also having red ochre around his pubis. All three individuals are theorized to be related based on three rare traits: unilateral absence of the frontal sinus, specific auditory exostoses, and impaction of the upper wisdom teeth. Each individual is believed to be about 16–25 years old at the time of death. The central body suffers from a genetic pathology resulting in the curved form of his legs. Red ochre, a pigment commonly used for rituals, was found over the pelvis.” ref

“Three inhabitants of Dolní Věstonice, lived 31,155 years ago (calibrated date) and were found to have mitochondrial haplogroup U, and one inhabitant mitochondrial haplogroup U8. The Věstonice individuals form a distinct genetic cluster which is the result of an admixture between ‘Western’ and ‘Eastern’ lineages, represented by the genomes of the c. 35,000 year-old Goyet Q116-1 individual from Belgium and the c. 34,000 year-old Sunghir individuals from Western Russia, respectively. The Věstonice individuals show greater affinity to the Sunghir individuals than to the Goyet Q116-1 individual, and can be modelled as approximately 64% Sunghir-related and 36% Goyet-Q116-related ancestry. The Y-chromosome observed among Vestonice 16 belonged to haplogroup C1a2 (V20+, V86+). In the Vestonice 13 sample, the Y chromosomal haplogroup CT (not IJK-L16) (CTS109+, CTS5318+, CTS6327+, CTS8243+, CTS9556+, Z17718+, Y1571+, M5831+) was determined, for the Vestonice 14 sample, the Y chromosome haplogroup I (L758+), for the Vestonice 15 sample, the Y chromosome haplogroup BT (PF1178+), and for the Vestonice 43 sample, the Y chromosome haplogroup F (not I) (P145+, P158+).” ref

Kostyonki

“The Kostyonki–Borshchyovo archaeological complex is an area where numerous Upper Paleolithic archaeological sites have been found, located around the villages of Kostyonki (also Kostenki) and Borshchyovo (also Borshchevo). The area is found on the western (right) bank of the Don River in Khokholsky District, Voronezh Oblast, Russia, some 25 km south of the city of Voronezh. The 26 Paleolithic sites of the area are numbered Kostenki 1–21 and Borshchevo 1–5. It is known for its high concentration of cultural remains of anatomically modern humans from the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic era, before 40,000 years ago. Finds are on exhibit in situ, at the State Archaeological Museum–Reserve Kostyonki built atop the mammoth bone circle Kostenki 11. Kostyonki is considered as belonging to the Aurignacian culture. A layer of Campanian volcanic ash, earlier dated to about 45,000 years ago, has been found above some of the finds, showing that humans inhabited the site before this.” ref

“Kostenki 1/1, Kostenki 4/2, Kostyonki 8/2 and Kostenki 21/3 belong to the eastern Gravettian (24 to 22 ka). Kostenki 2, Kostenki 3, Kostenki 11-1a and Kostenki-19 belong to the Zamyatino culture (22 to 17 ka). Kostenki 8/2 (Telmanskaya) is eponymous of “Telman culture”. In 2009, DNA was extracted from the remains of a male hunter-gatherer from Kostenki-12 who lived circa 30,000 years ago and died aged 20–25. His maternal lineage was found to be mtDNA haplogroup U2. He was buried in an oval pit in a crouched position and covered with red ochre. Kostenki 12 was later found to belong to the patrilineal Y-DNA haplogroup C1* (C-F3393). A male from Kostenki-14 (Markina Gora), who lived approximately 38,700–36,200 years ago, was also found to belong to mtDNA haplogroup U2. His Y-DNA haplogroup was C1b* (F1370).” ref

“The Kostenki-14 genome represents early evidence for the separation of Europeans and East Asian lineages. He was found to have a close relationship to both Paleolithic European and Siberian hunter-gatherers, such as the Sungir specimens from western Russia, the Peștera Muierii woman (34,000 years ago) in Romania, or the “Mal’ta boy” (24,000 years ago) of south-east Siberia (Ancient North Eurasian) and to the later Mesolithic hunter-gatherers of Europe (Western Hunter-Gatherer) and western Siberia, as well as with a basal population ancestral to Early European Farmers, but not to East Asians. Kostenki-14 showed that the main ancestral components of contemporary Europeans were likely already genetically differentiated and related at least 36,200 years ago, with the modern European genomic structure dating back to the Upper Paleolithic. Kostenki-14 had some level of ancient Neanderthal admixture, which has been dated as going back to circa 54,000 years ago.” ref

“The Goyet Caves (French: Grottes de Goyet) are a series of connected caves located in Belgium in a limestone cliff about 15 m (50 ft) above the river Samson near the village of Mozet in the Gesves municipality of the Namur province. The site is a significant locality of regional Neanderthal and European early modern human occupation, as thousands of fossils and artifacts were discovered that are all attributed to a long and contiguous stratigraphic sequence from 120,000 years ago, the Middle Paleolithic to less than 5,000 years ago, the late Neolithic.” ref

“Homo sapiens occupation began around 35,000 years ago. Goyet accounts for fossils of European populations from different junctures, including fossils that are among the earliest branch of modern Europeans (ca. 35,000 years ago). Their damaged but readable DNA has been used in studies of the origin and migration of European ice age populations. Based on mitochondrial DNA of five local fossils it was concluded that the first modern Europeans arrived directly from Africa without a detour via Asia. The 35,000 year old humerus of a man from Goyet has been associated with the Aurignacian culture. Shortly thereafter, the population associated with this culture was ousted by a genetically distinct Gravettian rural population (from 34,000 years ago), but around 25,000 years ago, descendants reappear in Spain in the context of Magdalenian culture. After 19,000 years ago, the population begins to spread all over Europe. The extent to which Neanderthals and Homo sapiens have lived together at Goyet is still under investigation.” ref

“In 2016, researchers successfully extracted DNA from several ancient human fossils at Goyet (with direct dates): GoyetQ116-1 (35,160-34,430 years ago) and GoyetQ376-3 (33,940-33,140 years ago) from the Aurignacian; GoyetQ376-19 (27,720-27,310 years ago), GoyetQ53-1 (28,230-27,720 years ago), GoyetQ55-2 (27,730-27,310 years ago), GoyetQ56-16 (26,600-26,040 years ago) and Goyet2878-21 (27,060-26,270 years ago) from the Gravettian; and GoyetQ-2 (15,230-14,780 years ago) from the Magdalenian. GoyetQ376-19, Goyet53-1 and Goyet56-16 were found to cluster genetically with several other Gravettian individuals from Europe in the Věstonice Cluster, while GoyetQ-2 was found to cluster genetically with several other Magdalenian individuals from Europe in the El Mirón Cluster.” ref

“All later Europeans after GoyetQ116-1 show some genetic affinity for this individual. GoyetQ116-1 also exhibits more genetic affinity for the Tianyuan man than any other ancient individual from West Eurasia. GoyetQ116-1 received geneflow from an Ancient East Eurasian population (c. 23%), possibly represented by the preceding Bacho Kiro cave specimen, who, together with the Oase specimens, are closer to ancient and modern East Eurasian populations, and were part of the Initial Upper Paleolithic (IUP) wave. The IUP groups in Europe were largely absorbed by the later Upper Paleolithic wave (Ancient West Eurasians) at more than 38,000 years ago, resulting in the formation of Upper Paleolithic Europeans such as GoyetQ116-1. Culturally, the Aurignacian cultural complex is chronologically associated with the human remains of Goyet Q116-1, while the subsequent Gravettian is associated with the Vestonice cluster.” ref

Burial evidence of Neanderthals and Homo sapiens sharing culture between 120,000 and 100,000 years ago?

• “67,000 to 40,000 years ago: Neanderthal admixture to Eurasians
• 50,000 years ago: the earliest sewing needle found. Made and used by Denisovans.
• 50,000–30,000 years ago: Mousterian Pluvial in North Africa. The Sahara desert region is wet and fertile. Later Stone Age begins in Africa.
• 45,000–43,000 years ago: European early modern humans.
• 45,000–40,000 years ago: Châtelperronian culture in France.
• 42,000 years ago: Paleolithic flutes in Germany.
• 42,000 years ago: earliest evidence of advanced deep sea fishing technology at the Jerimalai cave site in East Timor—demonstrates high-level maritime skills and by implication the technology needed to make ocean crossings to reach Australia and other islands, as they were catching and consuming large numbers of big deep sea fish such as tuna.
• 41,000 years ago: Denisova hominin lives in the Altai Mountains.
• 40,000 years ago: Aurignacian culture begins in Europe.
• 40,000 years ago: oldest known figurative art the zoomorphic Löwenmensch figurine.
• 40,000–30,000 years ago: human settlement (Aboriginal Australians) in Sydney, Perth, and Melbourne.
• 40,000–20,000 years ago: oldest known ritual cremation, the Mungo Lady, in Lake Mungo, Australia.
• 35,000 years ago: one of the oldest known figurative art of a human figure as opposed to a zoomorphic figure (Venus of Hohle Fels).” ref

ref

Male Y-DNA and Female Mt-DNA haplogroups from the earliest beginnings in Africa, then their early spreading or migrations to the large haplogroups we see dominating today

I have posts on all my ideas with support for my reasoned speculations from the evidence: Understanding Religion Evolution

Quick Evolution of Religion?

Pre-Animism (at least 300,000 years ago) pre-religion is a beginning that evolves into later Animism. So, Religion as we think of it, to me, all starts in a general way with Animism (Africa: 100,000 years ago) (theoretical belief in supernatural powers/spirits), then this is physically expressed in or with Totemism (Europe: 50,000 years ago) (theoretical belief in mythical relationship with powers/spirits through a totem item), which then enlists a full-time specific person to do this worship and believed interacting Shamanism (Siberia/Russia: 30,000 years ago) (theoretical belief in access and influence with spirits through ritual), and then there is the further employment of myths and gods added to all the above giving you Paganism (Turkey: 12,000 years ago) (often a lot more nature-based than most current top world religions, thus hinting to their close link to more ancient religious thinking it stems from). My hypothesis is expressed with an explanation of the building of a theatrical house (modern religions development). Progressed organized religion (Egypt: 5,000 years ago)  with CURRENT “World” RELIGIONS (after 4,000 years ago).

My thoughts on the Evolution of Religion from Animism 100,000 years ago to Paganism 12,000 years ago

Animism (at least 100,000 years ago) possibly Southern Africa or maybe Central Africa

Animism: an approximately 100,000-year-old belief system?

Recent African origin of modern humans leaving Africa:

“Practically all of these early waves seem to have gone extinct or retreated back, and present-day humans outside Africa descend mainly from a single expansion about 70,000–50,000 years ago, via the so-called “Southern Route“. These humans spread rapidly along the coast of Asia and reached Australia by around 65,000–50,000 years ago.” ref

“Around 54,000 years ago, a group of anatomically modern humans forayed into southern France, intruding deep into the stamping ground of Neanderthals. And they came prepared, bearing the first bow and arrow technology to reach Europe, that had started in Southern Africa 80,000 to 60,000 years ago.” ref, ref

Totemism (at least 50,000/45,000 years ago) possibly around Germany, France, or somewhere in West Europe

Totemism: an approximately 50,000-year-old belief system?

Shamanism (at least 30,000/35,000 years ago) possibly West Siberia or East Russia

Shamanism: an approximately 30,000-year-old belief system

Paganism (at least 12,000/13,000 years ago) Turkey And/or Levant: “Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria”

Paganism: an approximately 12,000-year-old belief system

“Religion is an Evolved Product” and Yes, Religion is Like Fear Given Wings…

Atheists talk about gods and religions for the same reason doctors talk about cancer, they are looking for a cure, or a firefighter talks about fires because they burn people and they care to stop them. We atheists too often feel a need to help the victims of mental slavery, held in the bondage that is the false beliefs of gods and the conspiracy theories of reality found in religions.

“Understanding Religion Evolution: Animism, Totemism, Shamanism, Paganism & Progressed organized religion”

Understanding Religion Evolution:

• Pre-Animism (at least 300,000 years ago)
• Animism (Africa: 100,000 years ago)
• Totemism (Europe: 50,000 years ago)
• Shamanism (Siberia: 30,000 years ago)
• Paganism (Turkey: 12,000 years ago)
• Progressed organized religion (Egypt: 5,000 years ago), (Egypt, the First Dynasty 5,150 years ago)
• CURRENT “World” RELIGIONS (after 4,000 years ago)
• Early Atheistic Doubting (at least by 2,600 years ago)

“An Archaeological/Anthropological Understanding of Religion Evolution”

It seems ancient peoples had to survived amazing threats in a “dangerous universe (by superstition perceived as good and evil),” and human “immorality or imperfection of the soul” which was thought to affect the still living, leading to ancestor worship. This ancestor worship presumably led to the belief in supernatural beings, and then some of these were turned into the belief in gods. This feeble myth called gods were just a human conceived “made from nothing into something over and over, changing, again and again, taking on more as they evolve, all the while they are thought to be special,” but it is just supernatural animistic spirit-belief perceived as sacred.

Animism (simplified to me as a belief in a perceived spirit world) passably by at least 100,000 years ago “the primal stage of early religion” To me, Animistic Somethingism: You just feel/think there has to be something supernatural/spirit-world or feel/think things are supernatural/spirit-filled.

Totemism (simplified to me, as a belief that these perceived spirits could be managed or related with by created physical expressions) passably by at least 50,000 years ago “progressed stage of early religion” A totem is a representational spirit being, a sacred object, or symbol of a group of people, clan, or tribe.

Shamanism (simplified to me as a belief that some special person can commune with these perceived spirits on the behalf of others by way of rituals) passably by at least 30,000 years ago Shamanism is an otherworld connection belief thought to heal the sick, communicate with spirits/deities, and escort souls of the dead.

Animism (such as that seen in Africa: 100,000 years ago)

Did Neanderthals teach us “Primal Religion (Pre-Animism/Animism?)” 120,000 Years Ago? Homo sapiens – is known to have reached the Levant between 120,000 and 90,000 years ago, but that exit from Africa evidently went extinct. 100,000 years ago, in Qafzeh, Israel, the oldest intentional burial had 15 African individuals covered in red ocher was from a group who visited and returned back to Africa. 100,000 to 74,000 years ago, at Border Cave in Africa, an intentional burial of an infant with red ochre and a shell ornament, which may have possible connections to the Africans buried in Qafzeh.

Animism is approximately a 100,000-year-old belief system and believe in spirit-filled life and/or afterlife. If you believe like this, regardless of your faith, you are a hidden animist.

The following is evidence of Animism: 100,000 years ago, in Qafzeh, Israel, the oldest intentional burial had 15 African individuals covered in red ocher was from a group who visited and returned back to Africa. 100,000 to 74,000 years ago, at Border Cave in Africa, an intentional burial of an infant with red ochre and a shell ornament, which may have possible connections to the Africans buried in Qafzeh, Israel. 120,000 years ago, did Neanderthals teach us Primal Religion (Pre-Animism/Animism) as they too used red ocher and burials? ref, ref

It seems to me, it may be the Neanderthals who may have transmitted a “Primal Religion (Animism)” or at least burial and thoughts of an afterlife. The Neanderthals seem to express what could be perceived as a Primal “type of” Religion, which could have come first and is supported in how 250,000 years ago, the Neanderthals used red ochre and 230,000 years ago shows evidence of Neanderthal burial with grave goods and possibly a belief in the afterlife. ref

Do you think it is crazy that the Neanderthals may have transmitted a “Primal Religion”? Consider this, it appears that 175,000 years ago, the Neanderthals built mysterious underground circles with broken off stalactites. This evidence suggests that the Neanderthals were the first humans to intentionally bury the dead, doing so in shallow graves along with stone tools and animal bones. Exemplary sites include Shanidar in Iraq, Kebara Cave in Israel and Krapina in Croatia. Other evidence may suggest the  Neanderthals had it transmitted to them by Homo heidelbergensis, 350,000 years ago, by their earliest burial in a shaft pit grave in a cave that had a pink stone axe on the top of 27 Homo heidelbergensis individuals and 250,000 years ago, Homo naledi had an intentional cemetery in South Africa cave.  ref, ref, ref, ref, ref

Totemism (Europe: 50,000 years ago)

Did Neanderthals Help Inspire Totemism? Because there is Art Dating to Around 65,000 Years Ago in Spain? Totemism as seen in Europe: 50,000 years ago, mainly the Aurignacian culture. Pre-Aurignacian “Châtelperronian” (Western Europe, mainly Spain and France, possible transitional/cultural diffusion between Neanderthals and Humans around 50,000-40,000 years ago). Archaic–Aurignacian/Proto-Aurignacian Humans (Europe around 46,000-35,000). And Aurignacian “classical/early to late” Humans (Europe and other areas around 38,000 – 26,000 years ago).

Totemism is approximately a 50,000-year-old belief system and believe in spirit-filled life and/or afterlife that can be attached to or be expressed in things or objects. If you believe like this, regardless of your faith, you are a hidden totemist.

Toetmism may be older as there is evidence of what looks like a Stone Snake in South Africa, which may be the “first human worship” dating to around 70,000 years ago. Many archaeologists propose that societies from 70,000 to 50,000 years ago such as that of the Neanderthals may also have practiced the earliest form of totemism or animal worship in addition to their presumably religious burial of the dead. Did Neanderthals help inspire Totemism? There is Neanderthals art dating to around 65,000 years ago in Spain. ref, ref

Shamanism (beginning around 30,000 years ago)

Shamanism (such as that seen in Siberia Gravettian culture: 30,000 years ago). Gravettian culture (34,000–24,000 years ago; Western Gravettian, mainly France, Spain, and Britain, as well as Eastern Gravettian in Central Europe and Russia. The eastern Gravettians, which include the Pavlovian culture). And, the Pavlovian culture (31,000 – 25,000 years ago such as in Austria and Poland). 31,000 – 20,000 years ago Oldest Shaman was Female, Buried with the Oldest Portrait Carving.

Shamanism is approximately a 30,000-year-old belief system and believe in spirit-filled life and/or afterlife that can be attached to or be expressed in things or objects and these objects can be used by special persons or in special rituals that can connect to spirit-filled life and/or afterlife. If you believe like this, regardless of your faith, you are a hidden shamanist.

Around 29,000 to 25,000 years ago in Dolní Vestonice, Czech Republic, the oldest human face representation is a carved ivory female head that was found nearby a female burial and belong to the Pavlovian culture, a variant of the Gravettian culture. The left side of the figure’s face was a distorted image and is believed to be a portrait of an elder female, who was around 40 years old. She was ritualistically placed beneath a pair of mammoth scapulae, one leaning against the other. Surprisingly, the left side of the skull was disfigured in the same manner as the aforementioned carved ivory figure, indicating that the figure was an intentional depiction of this specific individual. The bones and the earth surrounding the body contained traces of red ocher, a flint spearhead had been placed near the skull, and one hand held the body of a fox. This evidence suggests that this was the burial site of a shaman. This is the oldest site not only of ceramic figurines and artistic portraiture but also of evidence of early female shamans. Before 5,500 years ago, women were much more prominent in religion.

Archaeologists usually describe two regional variants: the western Gravettian, known namely from cave sites in France, Spain, and Britain, and the eastern Gravettian in Central Europe and Russia. The eastern Gravettians include the Pavlovian culture, which were specialized mammoth hunters and whose remains are usually found not in caves but in open air sites. The origins of the Gravettian people are not clear, they seem to appear simultaneously all over Europe. Though they carried distinct genetic signatures, the Gravettians and Aurignacians before them were descended from the same ancient founder population. According to genetic data, 37,000 years ago, all Europeans can be traced back to a single ‘founding population’ that made it through the last ice age. Furthermore, the so-called founding fathers were part of the Aurignacian culture, which was displaced by another group of early humans members of the Gravettian culture. Between 37,000 years ago and 14,000 years ago, different groups of Europeans were descended from a single founder population. To a greater extent than their Aurignacian predecessors, they are known for their Venus figurines. ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, & ref

Paganism (beginning around 12,000 years ago)

Paganism (such as that seen in Turkey: 12,000 years ago). Gobekli Tepe: “first human-made temple” around 12,000 years ago. Sedentism and the Creation of goddesses around 12,000 years ago as well as male gods after 7,000 years ago. Pagan-Shaman burial in Israel 12,000 years ago and 12,000 – 10,000 years old Paganistic-Shamanistic Art in a Remote Cave in Egypt. Skull Cult around 11,500 to 8,400 Years Ago and Catal Huyuk “first religious designed city” around 10,000 years ago.

Paganism is approximately a 12,000-year-old belief system and believe in spirit-filled life and/or afterlife that can be attached to or be expressed in things or objects and these objects can be used by special persons or in special rituals that can connect to spirit-filled life and/or afterlife and who are guided/supported by a goddess/god, goddesses/gods, magical beings, or supreme spirits. If you believe like this, regardless of your faith, you are a hidden paganist.

Around 12,000 years ago, in Turkey, the first evidence of paganism is Gobekli Tepe: “first human-made temple” and around 9,500 years ago, in Turkey, the second evidence of paganism is Catal Huyuk “first religious designed city”. In addition, early paganism is connected to Proto-Indo-European language and religion. Proto-Indo-European religion can be reconstructed with confidence that the gods and goddesses, myths, festivals, and form of rituals with invocations, prayers, and songs of praise make up the spoken element of religion. Much of this activity is connected to the natural and agricultural year or at least those are the easiest elements to reconstruct because nature does not change and because farmers are the most conservative members of society and are best able to keep the old ways.

The reconstruction of goddesses/gods characteristics may be different than what we think of and only evolved later to the characteristics we know of today. One such characteristic is how a deity’s gender may not be fixed, since they are often deified forces of nature, which tend to not have genders. There are at least 40 deities and the Goddesses that have been reconstructed are: *Pria, *Pleto, *Devi, *Perkunos, *Aeusos, and *Yama.

The reconstruction of myths can be connected to Proto-Indo-European culture/language and by additional research, many of these myths have since been confirmed including some areas that were not accessible to the early writers such as Latvian folk songs and Hittite hieroglyphic tablets. There are at least 28 myths and one of the most widely recognized myths of the Indo-Europeans is the myth, “Yama is killed by his brother Manu” and “the world is made from his body”. Some of the forms of this myth in various Indo-European languages are about the Creation Myth of the Indo-Europeans.

The reconstruction of rituals can be connected to Proto-Indo-European culture/language and is estimated to have been spoken as a single language from around 6,500 years ago. One of the earliest ritual is the construction of kurgans or mound graves as a part of a death ritual. kurgans were inspired by common ritual-mythological ideas. Kurgans are complex structures with internal chambers. Within the burial chamber at the heart of the kurgan, elite individuals were buried with grave goods and sacrificial offerings, sometimes including horses and chariots.

The speakers of Pre-Proto-Indo-European lived in Turkey and it associates the distribution of historical Indo-European languages with the expansion around 9,000 years ago, with a proposed homeland of Proto-Indo-European proper in the Balkans around 7,000 years ago. The Proto-Indo-European Religion seemingly stretches at least back around 6,000 years ago or likely much further back and I believe Paganism is possibly an approximately 12,000-year-old belief system.

The earliest kurgans date to 6,000 years ago and are connected to the Proto-Indo-European in the Caucasus. In fact, around 7,000 years ago, there appears to be pre-kurgan in Siberia. Around 7,000 to 2,500 years ago and beyond, kurgans were built with ancient traditions still active in Southern Siberia and Central Asia, which display the continuity of the archaic forming methods. Kurgan cultures are divided archaeologically into different sub-cultures such as Timber Grave, Pit Grave, Scythian, Sarmatian, Hunnish, and Kuman–Kipchak. Kurgans have been found from the Altay Mountains to the Caucasus, Ukraine, Romania, and Bulgaria. Around 5,000 years ago, kurgans were used in the Ukrainian and Russian flat unforested grasslands and their use spread with migration into eastern, central, northern Europe, Turkey, and beyond. ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, & ref

ref

ref

ref

“Protoaurignacian artifact patterns date to ca. 40,000 years ago, with the oldest solidly documented sites at ca. 42,000 years ago. The Protoaurignacian and Protoaurignacian-like technological systems are found from the Levant (where it’s known as the Early Ahmarian technocomplex; from the Kostenki XIV site in central Russia; from Bulgaria and Romania; and northern Italy. Protoaurignacian-like artifact assemblages from northern France, Germany, and Iran may not stretch as far back as 42,000 years ago, but they do date to around 40,000 years ago, and they underscore the geographic extent to which the technological phenomenon spread. However, the Protoaurignacian emerged along side diverse Early Upper Paleolithic technological systems, which vary in the ways that blades and flakes were produced, shaped as tools and points, and resharpened. But especially in the Levant, it is not clear if these named technocomplexes have discrete geographic and temporal boundaries that might reflect corresponding biocultural systems, constituted by socially bounded populations. Thus, in the Levant, an artifact pattern known as the Initial Upper Paleolithic dominates layers that predate 42,000 years ago at several sites. It is important to note that use of the Levallois technique alongside blade production on narrow-fronted cores at the Mughr el-Hamamah site (marked by the red star) likely occurred before 42,000 years ago. This information is based on just-published radiocarbon dates. Thus, IUP and Early Ahmarian technological features may represent alternative stone tool management strategies used by the same social networks of hunter-gatherers in the Levant, from around 45,000-40,000 years ago … and possibly after. It is important to note that the human remains that have either been carefully directly dated or associated with well-dated deposits (anatomically modern human teeth from Uluzzian and Protoaurignacian layers) comprise a mix of diagnostic Neandertals and anatomically modern humans. Moreover, the Protoaurignacian is simply neither the first nor the only technological system that existed in Europe between 45,000-40,000 years ago.” ref 

ref

ref

ref

Aurignacian Venus 36000-27000 BCE

Aurignacian Period female ‘Venus’ carvings start at 35,000 years ago, then Transfer on to Other Cultures?

ref

“Macro-haplogroup M mtDNA is found mostly in Asia and the Americas. Its descendants are haplogroup M, haplogroup C, haplogroup Z, haplogroup D, haplogroup E, haplogroup G and haplogroup Q. Macro-haplogroup N mtDNA is found mostly in Australia, the Americas and parts of Asia. Its descendants are haplogroup N, haplogroup O, haplogroup A, haplogroup S, haplogroup I, haplogroup W, haplogroup X and haplogroup Y, as well as macro-haplogroup R. Macro-haplogroup R mtDNA is found mostly in Europe, Northern Africa, the Pacific and parts of Asia and the Americas. Its descendants are haplogroup R, haplogroup B, haplogroup F, haplogroup H, haplogroup V, haplogroup J, haplogroup T, haplogroup U and haplogroup K.” ref

Haplogroup U

“Haplogroup U is a human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup (mtDNA). The clade arose from haplogroup R, likely during the early Upper Paleolithic. Its various subclades (labeled U1–U9, diverging over the course of the Upper Paleolithic). Haplogroup U descends from the haplogroup R mtDNA branch of the phylogenetic tree. The defining mutations (A11467G, A12308G, G12372A) are estimated to have arisen between 43,000 and 50,000 years ago, in the early Upper Paleolithic (around 46,530 ± 3,290 years before present, with a 95% confidence interval per Behar et al., 2012). Ancient DNA classified as belonging to the U* mitochondrial haplogroup has been recovered from human skeletal remains found in Western Siberia, which have been dated to c. 45,000 years ago. The mitogenome (33-fold coverage) of the Peştera Muierii 1 individual (PM1) from Romania (35,000 years ago) has been identified as the basal haplogroup U6* not previously found in any ancient or present-day humans.” ref

“Haplogroup U is found in approximately 11% of native Europeans and is held as the oldest maternal haplogroup found in that region. In a 2013 study, all but one of the ancient modern human sequences from Europe belonged to maternal haplogroup U, thus confirming previous findings that haplogroup U was the dominant type of Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in Europe before the spread of agriculture into Europe from the Near East. Subclades are labelled U1–U9; Haplogroup K is a subclade of U8. Basal U was found in the 26,000 years old remains of Ancient North Eurasian, Mal’ta boy (MA1). Haplogroup U1 estimated to have arisen between 26,000 and 37,000 years ago. It is found at very low frequency throughout Europe. It is more often observed in eastern Europe, Anatolia, and the Near East.” ref 

“Haplogroup U1 estimated to have arisen between 26,000 and 37,000 years ago. It is found at very low frequency throughout Europe. It is more often observed in eastern Europe, Anatolia and the Near East. It is also found at low frequencies in India. U1 is found in the Svanetia region of Georgia at 4.2%. Subclade U1a is found from India to Europe, but is extremely rare among the northern and Atlantic fringes of Europe including the British Isles and Scandinavia. In India, U1a has been found in the Kerala region. U1b has a similar spread but is rarer than U1a.” ref 

“Haplogroup U2 is an extremely old lineage, going back at least 40,000 years, when Homo sapiens first expanded from the Middle East into South Asia and Central Asia, and before they even set foot in Europe. Two of the oldest Homo sapiens DNA samples from Europe tested to date, a 37,000 and a 33,000-year old Cro-Magnons from the Kostenki site on the Don River in the Russia, both belonged to haplogroup U2. Their paternal lineages were identified as Y-haplogroups C1b and CT, two Paleolithic lineages that are now believed to be extinct in Europe. Y-haplogroup C was the first to leave Africa and colonise Eurasia 70,000 years ago. C1b still exists today in the Arabian peninsula, in India and in Polynesia (Hawaii, Micronesia, New Zealand). The extremely wide dispersal of Y-DNA haplogroup C and mtDNA haplogroup U2 attest to their antiquity.” ref

“More U2 samples were identified among other Paleolithic and Mesolithic European hunter-gatherers, including four Gravettian U2* individuals from Goyet Cave in Belgium dating from 22,000 to 24,000 years ago, a 11,000 year-old U2e from Blätterhöhle in Germany, two 9,500 year-old U2e individuals from Karelia in Russia, and two 8,000 year-old U2e1 individuals from Motala in Sweden. Based on these ancient DNA results from Europe and the presence of all basal subclades of U2 in Central Asia, it is likely that U2 people roamed between Central Europe and Central Asia during the Paleolithic and Mesolithic, and perhaps already in other parts of Europe and in South Asia. The steppes of eastern Europe and Central Asia are probably the original geographic location from which such a dispersal was made possible during the Stone Age, and again during the Bronze Age.” ref

“Haplogroup U3 originated over 30,000 years ago, in all likelihood among Middle Eastern nomadic hunter-gatherers. The U3a subclade is thought to have arisen some time between 18,000 and 26,000 years ago, a period corresponding to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM).” ref

“Haplogroup U4 originated approximately 25,000 years ago, during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). U4 appears to have been a relatively common lineage among Mesolithic European hunter-gatherers. It was identified in skeletons from Mesolithic Russia (including some U4a1 samples), Lithuania, Sweden and Germany. Based on the small number of Mesolithic samples tested to date, U4 seems to have been much more common in Northeast Europe than elsewhere. This would make sense since it correlates strongly with Y-haplogroup R1a nowadays.” ref

“The age of U5 is estimated at between 25,000 and 35,000 years old, roughly corresponding to the Gravettian culture. Approximately 11% of Europeans (10% of European-Americans) have some variant of haplogroup U5. The haplogroup most likely originated in Europe. U5 was the predominant mtDNA of mesolithic Western Hunter Gatherers (WHG). U5 has been found in human remains dating from the Mesolithic in England, Germany, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Sweden, France and Spain. Haplogroup U5 and its subclades U5a and U5b today form the highest population concentrations in the far north, among Sami, Finns, and Estonians. However, it is spread widely at lower levels throughout Europe. This distribution, and the age of the haplogroup, indicate individuals belonging to this clade were part of the initial expansion tracking the retreat of ice sheets from Europe around 10,000 years ago.” ref

“Additionally, haplogroup U5 is found in small frequencies and at much lower diversity in the Near East and parts of northern Africa (areas with sizable U6 concentrations), suggesting back-migration of people from Europe toward the south. U5 was the main haplogroup of Mesolithic European hunter gatherers. U haplogroups were present at 83% in European hunter gatherers before influx of Middle Eastern farmer and steppe Indo-European ancestry decreased its frequency to less than 21%. U5a1 arose between 14,000 and 20,000 years ago. Found in an Etruscan individual (700-600 BCE) from southern Etruria, Italy. U5b arose between 19,000 and 26,000 years ago and has polymorphisms in 150 7768 14182 ( + U5 polymorphisms). Found among Siwa Berbers of the Siwa Oasis in Egypt. U5b1 arose between 11,000 and 20,000 years ago. The Cheddar Man from Great Britain is a well-known specimen.” ref

“U5b2 arose between 17,000 and 23,000 years ago and has polymorphisms in 1721 13637( + U5b polymorphisms). The clade has been found in remains dating from prehistoric times in Europe, such as the subclade U5b2c1 of La Braña man (found at the La Braña site in Spain). U5b2 is rare among French Basques (2.5%) and more frequent in the Spanish Basques. U5b2a between 12,000 and 19,000 years ago, prevalent in Central Europe.” ref

“Haplogroup U6 was dated to between 31,000 and 43,000 years ago. Basal U6* was found in a Romanian specimen of ancient DNA (Peștera Muierilor) dated to 35,000 years ago. Evidence for Paleolithic back-migration of Homo sapiens from Eurasia into Africa. The discovery of basal U6* in ancient DNA contributed to setting back the estimated age of U6 to around 46,000 years ago. Usually U6 genetic history is envisioned as a migration from southwest Asia through North Africa. This hypothesis is based on the general origin of haplogroup U sub-clades in Southwest Asia, which is also the center of the geographical distribution of U sub-clades: Europe, India, Central Asia, East Africa and North Africa. Two possible scenarios for the first U6 haplotype (bearing mutations 3348 and 16172) can be advanced: i) these mutations aroused in the founder region but did not leave any genetic legacy in current human populations there; ii) they originated probably somewhere in North Africa, after the arrival of the U6 founder haplotype.” ref

“Within North Africa U6 is only significantly frequent at its western edge (as well as in South-western Europe). More importantly, all the most basal branches are virtually restricted to that region (U6b, U6c and U6d), what could indicate its western origin. Nevertheless, it cannot be excluded the major sub-clade U6a, which shows a richness of sub-clades in Northwest Africa although a few of derivative branches also include sequences from East African and the Middle Eastern populations (e.g. U6a2). Haplogroup U6 is common (with a prevalence of around 10%) in Northwest Africa (with a maximum of 29% in an Algerian Mozabites) and the Canary Islands (18% on average with a peak frequency of 50.1% in La Gomera). It is also found in the Iberian peninsula, where it has the highest diversity (10 out of 19 sublineages are only found in this region and not in Africa), Northeast Africa and occasionally in other locations. U6 is also found at low frequencies in the Chad Basin, including the rare Canarian branch. This suggests that the ancient U6 clade bearers may have inhabited or passed through the Chad Basin on their way westward toward the Canary Islands.” ref

“U6 is thought to have entered North Africa from the Near East around 30,000 years ago. It has been found among Iberomaurusian specimens dating from the Epipaleolithic at the Taforalt prehistoric site. In spite of the highest diversity of Iberian U6, Maca-Meyer argues for a Near East origin of this clade based on the highest diversity of subclade U6a in that region, where it would have arrived from West Asia, with the Iberian incidence primarily representing migration from the Maghreb and not the persistence of a European root population. According to Hernández et al. 2015 “the estimated entrance of the North African U6 lineages into Iberia at 10,000 years ago correlates well with other L African clades, indicating that U6 and some L lineages moved together from Africa to Iberia in the Early Holocene.” ref

“Haplogroup U7 is considered a West Eurasian–specific mtDNA haplogroup, believed to have originated in the Black Sea area approximately 30,000 years ago. In modern populations, U7 occurs at low frequency in the Caucasus, the western Siberian tribes, West Asia (about 4% in the Near East, while peaking with 10% in Iranians), South Asia (about 12% in Gujarat, the westernmost state of India, while for the whole of India its frequency stays around 2%, and 5% in Pakistan), and the Vedda people of Sri Lanka where it reaches it highest frequency of 13.33% (subclade U7a). One third of the West Eurasian-specific mtDNAs found in India are in haplogroups U7, R2, and W.” ref

“The haplogroup U8b’s most common subclade is haplogroup K, which is estimated to date to between 30,000 and 22,000 years ago. Haplogroup K makes up a sizeable fraction of European and West Asian mtDNA lineages. Haplogroup U8a: The Basques mt-DNA has the most ancestral phylogeny in Europe for the mitochondrial haplogroup U8a. This is a rare subgroup of U8, placing the Basque origin of this lineage in the Upper Palaeolithic. The lack of U8a lineages in Africa suggests that their ancestors may have originated from West Asia.” ref

ref

Venus of Willendorf: Shamanism Headdresses that Cover the Eyes?

ref

“How did our species, Homo sapiens, arrive in Western Europe? Published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, our new study analyses two skull fragments dating back between 37,000 and 36,000 years to conclude that our ancestors came from Eastern Europe and migrated westwards. These two individuals interbred with Neanderthals and with the very first European Homo sapiens, who arrived around 45,000 years ago and were thought to have become extinct following a major climatic catastrophe. Together with lithic tools and pierced mammoth ivory beads, small skull fragments of the two skulls found in 2009 at an archaeological site in the Crimea, Buran Kaya III, bear witness to the presence of anatomically modern humans in Eastern Europe. Working with French and Ukrainian archaeologists, we were able to put in place a sampling protocol that took special precautions to prevent the fragments from being contaminated by modern human DNA and identify their ancient DNA. The resulting analysis enabled us to generate a broad, up-to-date model of population movements, interactions, and replacements as they settled in Europe during the Upper Palaeolithic, the period from around -40,000 to -12,000 years ago characterized by the expansion of anatomically modern humans around the world. These individuals are the oldest representatives of Western Europeans to have established themselves permanently in Europe and to have left traces in the genomes of present-day Europeans.” ref

“It is estimated they settled in the region after the ice age that took place from 40,000 to 38,000 years ago. In addition to extremely low temperatures, the latter period was also marked by the eruption of a super-volcano in the Phlegrean Fields region near Naples, which left south-eastern and eastern Europe covered in ash. Up to this day, researchers believe that the ensuing ecological crisis wiped out both the last Neanderthal populations and the first populations of sapiens humans of the early Upper Palaeolithic. The latter were the descendants of the Homo sapiens populations that came from Africa around 60,000 years ago and left archaeological remains in Europe from around 45,000 years ago, possibly even earlier. Archaeologically, this was the period of transition between the Middle Palaeolithic (250,000 to 30,000 years ago) and the Upper Palaeolithic (about 50,000–40,000 years ago until about 10,000 years ago), as the lithic industry of the last Neanderthals was replaced by that of the first Homo sapiens. Their skeletal remains are rare, but the few that were found in archaeological sites in the Czech Republic, Romania and Bulgaria have had their genomes partially deciphered. Present-day Europeans bear no trace of the genomes of these first sapiens Europeans, unlike the human populations that lived in Europe after the ecological crisis of 40,000 years ago, some of whose genomes have been sequenced.” ref

34,000 years old Russan “Sungir” Early Totemistic-Shamanism

ref

Gravettian Venus 27000 – 20000 BCE

ref

ref

“a) Palaeogeographic map of Europe during the Late Glacial, centered 17,000 years ago. Sea level drop at – 110 m⁷. Scandinavian and British Islands ice sheets (pale blue) are shown at 17,000 years ago. Alpine glacier extent (dashed outline) was modeled 17,000 years ago. The modeled extension is generally underestimated in the northwestern Alps and overestimated in the eastern and southwestern Alps. Colored areas refer to the distribution of Epigravettian and Magdalenian material culture 17,000 years ago.” ref

ref

“Epigravettian female figurine from Piatra Neamț 1.” ref

ref

Magdalénien Venus 15000 – 10000 BCE

ref

Magdalenian

“Magdalenian cultures (also Madelenian; French: Magdalénien) are later cultures of the Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic in western Europe. They date from around 17,000 to 12,000 years ago. It is named after the type site of La Madeleine, a rock shelter located in the Vézère valley, commune of Tursac, in France’s Dordogne department. The Magdalenian is associated with reindeer hunters, although Magdalenian sites contain extensive evidence for the hunting of red deer, horses, and other large mammals present in Europe toward the end of the last glacial period. The culture was geographically widespread, and later Magdalenian sites stretched from Portugal in the west to Poland in the east, and as far north as France, the Channel Islands, England, and Wales. Besides La Madeleine, the chief stations of the Magdalenian are Les Eyzies, Laugerie-Basse, and Gorges d’Enfer in the Dordogne; Grotte du Placard in Charente and others in south-west France.” ref

“Magdalenian peoples produced a wide variety of art, including figurines and cave paintings. Evidence has been found suggesting that Magdalenian peoples regularly engaged in (probably ritualistic) cannibalism along with producing skull cups. Genetic studies indicate that the Magdalenian peoples were largely descended from earlier Western European Cro-Magnon groups like the Gravettians that were present in Western Europe over 30,000 years ago prior to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), who had retreated to southwestern Europe during the LGM. Madgalenian peoples were largely replaced and in some areas absorbed by Epigravettian-related groups of Villabruna/Western Hunter Gatherer ancestry at the end of the Pleistocene.” ref

“The genes of seven Magdalenians, the El Miron Cluster in Iberia, have shown close relationship to a population who had lived in Northern Europe some 20,000 years previously. The analyses suggested that 70-80% of the ancestry of these individuals was from the population represented by Goyet Q116-1, associated with the Aurignacian culture of about 35,000 BP, from the Goyet Caves in modern Belgium. It has been found that Magdalenians are closely related to Solutreans. It has also been found that Magdalenians are closely related to western Gravettians who inhabited France and Spain prior to the Last Glacial Maximum. The 15,000 year old GoyetQ2 individual from Goyet Caves is often used as a proxy for Magdalenian ancestry. Analysis of genomes of GoyetQ2-related Magdalenians suggest that like earlier Cro-Magnon groups, they probably had a relatively dark skin tone compared to modern Europeans.” ref

“A 2023 study proposed that relative to earlier Western European Cro-Magnon related groups like Goyet Q116-1-related Aurignacian and the Western Gravettian associated Fournol cluster, the Goyet-Q2-related Magdalenians appear to have carried significant (~30% ancestry) from the Villabruna cluster (thought to be of southeastern European origin, and sharing affinities to West Asian peoples not found in earlier European hunter-gatherers) associated with the Epigravettian. The three samples of Y-DNA included two samples of haplogroup I and one sample of HIJK. All samples of mtDNA belonged to U, including five samples of U8b and one sample of U5b. Around 14-12,000 years ago, the Western Hunter-Gatherer cluster (which predominantly descended from the Villabruna cluster, with possible ancestry related to the Goyet-Q2 cluster), expanded northwards across the Alps, largely replacing the Goyet-Q2 cluster associated Magdalenian groups in Western Europe. In France and Spain, significant GoyetQ2-related ancestry persisted into the Mesolithic and Neolithic, with some Neolithic individuals in France and Spain largely of Early European Farmer descent showing significant GoyetQ2 ancestry.” ref

“Debate continues about the nature of the earliest Magdalenian assemblages, and it remains questionable whether the Badegoulian culture is the earliest phase of Magdalenian culture. Similarly, finds from the forest of Beauregard near Paris have been suggested as belonging to the earliest Magdalenian. The earliest Magdalenian sites are in France. The Epigravettian is a similar culture appearing at the same time. Its known range extends from southeast France to the western shores of the Volga River, Russia, with many sites in Italy.” ref

“By the end of the Magdalenian, lithic technology shows a pronounced trend toward increased microlithisation. The bone harpoons and points have the most distinctive chronological markers within the typological sequence. As well as flint tools, Magdalenians are known for their elaborate worked bone, antler and ivory that served both functional and aesthetic purposes, including perforated batons. The sea shells and fossils found in Magdalenian sites may be sourced to relatively precise areas and have been used to support hypotheses of Magdalenian hunter-gatherer seasonal ranges, and perhaps trade routes. In northern Spain and south-west France this tool culture was superseded by the Azilian culture. In northern Europe it was followed by variants of the Tjongerian techno-complex. It has been suggested that key Late-glacial sites in south-western Britain may be attributed to Magdalenian culture, including Kent’s Cavern.” ref

“Some skulls were cleaned of soft tissues, then had the facial regions removed, with the remaining brain case retouched, possibly to make the broken edges more regular. This manipulation suggests the shaping of skulls to produce skull cups. Finds of defleshed (as evidenced by cut marks) and cracked bones with human chewing marks at Gough’s Cave, England suggests that the Magdalenian peoples there engaged in cannibalism. Cannibalism has been suggested at a dozen other Magadelian sites across the culture’s geographic range, representing 25% of all Magdalenian sites, far more than any other European Paleolithic culture.” ref 

“It has been suggested that Magdalenian peoples practiced a form of funerary endocannibalism, where upon the death of a member of the community, they were ritually dismembered and consumed by other members of the group, with their skulls being used to create skull cups. At other Magdalenian sites primary burial with no evidence of cannibalism is observed, with a handful of sites showing alternating evidence of cannibalism and primary burial at different occupation layers. At sites with primary burial, genetic analysis of these individuals indicate that they are more closely related to the people of the Epigravettian culture/Villabruna cluster than to the Magdalenians that practiced cannibalism (who belong to the GoyetQ2 cluster).” ref

ref

Europe:

• Bohunician (48–40 ka)
• Châtelperronian (44.5–36 ka)
• Lincombian-Ranisian-Jerzmanowician (43–32 ka)
• Aurignacian (43–26 ka)
• Szeletian (41,000-37,000)
• Périgordian (35–20 ka)
• Gravettian (33–24 ka)
• Pavlovian (29–25 ka)
• Solutrean (22–17 ka)
• Epigravettian (20–10 ka)
• Magdalenian (17–12 ka)
• Hamburg (15.5–13.1 ka)
• Federmesser (14–12.8 ka)
• Azilian (14–10 ka)
• Ahrensburg (13–12 ka)
• Swiderian (11–8 ka)

ref

Western Hunter-Gatherer

“In archaeogenetics, western hunter-gatherer (WHG, also known as west European hunter-gatherer, western European hunter-gatherer or Oberkassel cluster) (c. 15,000~5,000 years ago) is a distinct ancestral component of modern Europeans, representing descent from a population of Mesolithic hunter-gatherers who scattered over western, southern and central Europe, from the British Isles in the west to the Carpathians in the east, following the retreat of the ice sheet of the Last Glacial Maximum. It is closely associated and sometimes considered synonymous with the concept of the Villabruna cluster, named after the Ripari Villabruna cave specimen in Italy, known from the terminal Pleistocene of Europe, which is largely ancestral to later WHG populations.” ref

“WHGs share a closer genetic relationship to ancient and modern peoples in the Middle East and the Caucasus than earlier European hunter-gatherers. Their precise relationships to other groups are somewhat obscure, with the origin of the Villabruna cluster likely somewhere in the vicinity of the Balkans. The Villabruna cluster (which is associated with the Epigravettian and other related archaeological cultures) had expanded into the Italian and Iberian Peninsulas by approximately 19,000 years ago, with the WHG cluster subsequently expanding across Western Europe at the end of the Pleistocene around 14-12,000 years ago, largely replacing the Magdalenian peoples who previously dominated the region. These Magdalenian peoples largely descended from earlier Western European Cro-Magnon groups that had arrived in the region over 30,000 years ago, prior to the Last Glacial Maximum.” ref

“WHGs constituted one of the main genetic groups in the postglacial period of early Holocene Europe, along with eastern hunter-gatherers (EHG) in Eastern Europe. The border between WHGs and EHGs ran roughly from the lower Danube, northward along the western forests of the Dnieper towards the western Baltic Sea. EHGs primarily consisted of a mixture of WHG-related and Ancient North Eurasian (ANE) ancestry. Scandinavia was inhabited by Scandinavian hunter-gatherers (SHGs), which were a mixture between WHG and EHG. In the Iberian Peninsula, early Holocene hunter-gathers consisted of a mixture of WHG and Magdalenian Cro-Magnon (GoyetQ2) ancestry. Once the main population throughout Europe, the WHGs were largely replaced by successive expansions of Early European Farmers (EEFs) of Anatolian origin during the early Neolithic, who generally carried a minor amount of WHG ancestry due to admixture with WHG groups during their European expansion. Among modern-day populations, WHG ancestry is most common among populations of the eastern Baltic region. WHGs lacked the light skin genes found in modern Europeans, and it has been suggested they were dark-skinned and had light-coloured eyes.” ref

“WHGs represent a major population shift within Europe at the end of the Ice Age, probably a population expansion into continental Europe, from Southeastern European or West Asian refugia. It is thought that their ancestors separated from eastern Eurasians around 40,000 years ago, and from Ancient North Eurasians (ANE) prior to 24,000 years ago (the estimated age date of the Mal’ta boy). This date was subsequently put further back in time by the findings of the Yana Rhinoceros Horn Site to around 38,000 years ago, shortly after the divergence of West-Eurasian and East-Eurasian lineages. Vallini et al. 2022 argues that the dispersal and split patterns of West Eurasian lineages was not earlier than c. 38,000 years ago, with older Initial Upper Paleolithic European specimens, such as those found in the Zlaty Kun, Peștera cu Oase, and Bacho Kiro caves, being unrelated to Western hunter-gatherers but closer to Ancient East Eurasians or basal to both.” ref

“The relationships of the WHG/Villabruna cluster to other Paleolithic human groups in Europe and West Asia are obscure and subject to conflicting interpretations. A 2022 study proposed that the WHG/Villabruna population genetically diverged from hunter-gatherers in the Middle East and the Caucasus around 26,000 years ago, during the Last Glacial Maximum. WHG genomes display higher affinity for ancient and modern Middle Eastern populations when compared against earlier Paleolithic Europeans such as Gravettians. The affinity for ancient Middle Eastern populations in Europe increased after the Last Glacial Maximum, correlating with the expansion of WHG (Villabruna or Oberkassel) ancestry. There is also evidence for bi-directional geneflow between WHG and Middle Eastern populations as early as 15,000 years ago. WHG associated remains belonged primarily to the human Y-chromosome haplogroups I-M170 with a lower frequency of C-F3393 (specifically the clade C-V20/C1a2), which has been found commonly among earlier Paleolithic European remains such as Kostenki-14 and Sungir.” ref

“The paternal haplogroup C-V20 can still be found in men living in modern Spain, attesting to this lineage’s longstanding presence in Western Europe. The Villabruna cluster also carried the Y-haplogroup R1b (R1b-L754), derived from the Ancient North Eurasian haplogroup R*, indicating “an early link between Europe and the western edge of the Steppe Belt of Eurasia.” Their mitochondrial chromosomes belonged primarily to haplogroup U5. A 2023 study proposed that the Villabruna cluster emerged from the mixing in roughly equal proportions of a divergent West Eurasian ancestry with a West Eurasian ancestry closely related to the 35,000-year-old BK1653 individual from Bacho Kiro Cave in Bulgaria, with this BK1653-related ancestry also significantly (~59%) ancestral to the Věstonice cluster characteristic of eastern Gravettian producing Cro-Magnon groups (which have additional ancestry precluding them from being the direct ancestors of the Villabruna cluster), which may reflect shared ancestry in the Balkan region. Another genetic study models them as a mix of Upper Paleolithic hunter-gatherers from the Caucasus, Europe, and Siberia.” ref

“The earliest known individuals of predominantly WHG/Villabruna ancestry in Europe are known from Italy, dating to around 17,000 years ago, though an individual from El Mirón cave in northern Spain with 43% Villabruna ancestry is known from 19,000 years ago. While not confirmed, the Villabruna cluster was probably present earlier than in the Balkans region than elsewhere in Southern Europe. Early WHG/Villabruna populations are associated with the Epigravettian archaeological culture, which largely replaced populations associated with the Magdalenian culture about 14,000 years ago (the ancestry of Magdalenian-associated Goyet-Q2 cluster primarily descended from the earlier Solutrean, and western Gravettian-producing groups in France and Spain).” ref 

“A 2023 study found that relative to earlier Western European Cro-Magnon populations like the Gravettians, that Magdalenian-associated Goyet-Q2 cluster carried significant (~30%) Villabruna ancestry even prior to the major expansion of WHG-related groups north of the Alps. This study also found that relative to earlier members of the Villabruna cluster from Italy, WHG-related groups that appeared north of the Alps beginning around 14,000 years ago carried around 25% ancestry from the Goyet-Q2 cluster (or alternatively 10% from the western Gravettian-associated Fournol cluster). This paper proposed that WHG should be named the Oberkassel cluster, after one of the oldest WHG individuals found north of the Alps.” ref 

“The study suggests that Oberkassel ancestry was mostly already formed before expanding, possibly around the west side of the Alps, to Western and Central Europe and Britain, where sampled WHG individuals are genetically homogeneous. This is in contrast to the arrival of Villabruna and Oberkassel ancestry to Iberia, which seems to have involved repeated admixture events with local populations carrying high levels of Goyet-Q2 ancestry. This, and the survival of specific Y-DNA haplogroup C1 clades previously observed among early European hunter-gatherers, suggests relatively higher genetic continuity in southwest Europe during this period.” ref

“The WHG were also found to have contributed ancestry to populations on the borders of Europe such as early Anatolian farmers and Ancient Northwestern Africans, as well as other European groups such as eastern hunter-gatherers. The relationship of WHGs to the EHGs remains inconclusive. EHGs are modeled to derive varying degrees of ancestry from a WHG-related lineage, ranging from merely 25% to up to 91%, with the remainder being linked to geneflow from Paleolithic Siberians (ANE) and perhaps Caucasus hunter-gatherers. Another lineage known as the Scandinavian hunter-gatherers (SHGs) were found to be a mix of EHGs and WHGs.” ref

“In the Iberian Peninsula early Holocene hunter-gathers consisted of populations with a mixture of WHG and Magdalenian Cro-Magnon (GoyetQ2) ancestry. People of the Mesolithic Kunda culture and the Narva culture of the eastern Baltic were a mix of WHG and EHG, showing the closest affinity with WHG. Samples from the Ukrainian Mesolithic and Neolithic were found to cluster tightly together between WHG and EHG, suggesting genetic continuity in the Dnieper Rapids for a period of 4,000 years. The Ukrainian samples belonged exclusively to the maternal haplogroup U, which is found in around 80% of all European hunter-gatherer samples. People of the Pit–Comb Ware culture (CCC) of the eastern Baltic were closely related to EHG. Unlike most WHGs, the WHGs of the eastern Baltic did not receive European farmer admixture during the Neolithic.” ref

“Modern populations of the eastern Baltic thus harbor a larger amount of WHG ancestry than any other population in Europe. SHGs have been found to contain a mix of WHG components who had likely migrated into Scandinavia from the south, and EHGs who had later migrated into Scandinavia from the northeast along the Norwegian coast. This hypothesis is supported by evidence that SHGs from western and northern Scandinavia had less WHG ancestry (ca 51%) than individuals from eastern Scandinavia (ca. 62%). The WHGs who entered Scandinavia are believed to have belonged to the Ahrensburg culture. EHGs and WHGs displayed lower allele frequencies of SLC45A2 and SLC24A5, which cause depigmentation, and OCA/Herc2, which causes light eye color, than SHGs.” ref

“The DNA of eleven WHGs from the Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic in Western Europe, Central Europe and the Balkans was analyzed, with regards to their Y-DNA haplogroups and mtDNA haplogroups. The analysis suggested that WHGs were once widely distributed from the Atlantic coast in the West, to Sicily in the South, to the Balkans in the Southeast, for more than six thousand years. The study also included an analysis of a large number of individuals of prehistoric Eastern Europe. Thirty-seven samples were collected from Mesolithic and Neolithic Ukraine (9500-6000 BCE or around 11,500 to 8,000 years ago). These were determined to be an intermediate between EHG and SHG, although WHG ancestry in this population increased during the Neolithic. Samples of Y-DNA extracted from these individuals belonged exclusively to R haplotypes (particularly subclades of R1b1) and I haplotypes (particularly subclades of I2). mtDNA belonged almost exclusively to U (particularly subclades of U5 and U4).” ref

“A large number of individuals from the Zvejnieki burial ground, which mostly belonged to the Kunda culture and Narva culture in the eastern Baltic, were analyzed. These individuals were mostly of WHG descent in the earlier phases, but over time EHG ancestry became predominant. The Y-DNA of this site belonged almost exclusively to haplotypes of haplogroup R1b1a1a and I2a1. The mtDNA belonged exclusively to haplogroup U (particularly subclades of U2, U4 and U5). Forty individuals from three sites of the Iron Gates Mesolithic in the Balkans were also analyzed. These individuals were estimated to be of 85% WHG and 15% EHG descent. The males at these sites carried exclusively haplogroup R1b1a and I (mostly subclades of I2a) haplotypes. mtDNA belonged mostly to U (particularly subclades of U5 and U4). People of the Balkan Neolithic were found to harbor 98% Anatolian ancestry and 2% WHG ancestry. By the Chalcolithic, people of the Cucuteni–Trypillia culture were found to harbor about 20% hunter-gatherer ancestry, which was intermediate between EHG and WHG. People of the Globular Amphora culture were found to harbor ca. 25% WHG ancestry, which is significantly higher than Middle Neolithic groups of Central Europe.” ref

“Haplogroup I2a was the most frequent Y-DNA among Mesolithic Western European hunter-gatherers (WHG) belonging to Villabruna Cluster. A 2015 study found haplogroup I2a in 13,500 year old remains from the Azilian culture (from Grotte du Bichon, modern Switzerland). Subclades of I2a1 (I-P37.2), namely I-M423 and I-M26, have been found in remains of WHGs dating from 10,000 to 8,000 years.” ref