Researchers at the University of Vienna combined DNA from rare human remains with genetic traces in cave sediment to study the Gravettian people, who lived in Europe 34,000 to 25,000 years ago. A woman from Isturitz Cave in France, about 30,000 years old, turned out to carry central and eastern European ancestry as well as western, pointing to mixing earlier than expected. At El Mirón Cave in Spain, human DNA was recovered from a layer with no bones or teeth at all.

The picture is of regional continuity combined with long-distance contact, and signs of mating patterns that limited inbreeding. It undercuts the image of isolated prehistoric tribes, and reminds us that human populations have always moved and mixed, a point worth remembering whenever someone claims a 'pure' origin.

Source: ScienceDaily (University of Vienna) (2026-11-02)

Summarised by the FTI newsdesk.