The construction of elaborate megalithic tombs was a defining feature of the European Neolithic, yet this practice appears to have ceased quite abruptly toward the close of the fourth millennium BCE. Numerous theories have been posited to account for this sudden transition, and a recent study suggests the catalyst might be linked to a large-scale demographic contraction known as the “Neolithic decline.” The investigation’s findings have been detailed in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution.
Prior genetic investigations in Scandinavia indicated that the cessation of megalith construction coincided with a swift population turnover, where Neolithic farmers were supplanted by an influx of migrants originating from the Eurasian steppe. To ascertain if a comparable event unfolded elsewhere in Europe, the researchers analyzed DNA extracted from 132 individuals interred within the Allée-Tomb in Bury, located near Paris.
The study’s outcomes reveal that the tomb served as a burial site across two distinct epochs. The initial span, roughly spanning from 3200 to 3100 BCE, is characterized by individuals of local ancestry. Conversely, the subsequent phase encompasses remains exhibiting Iberian and Southern French lineages, suggesting a population shift that commenced around 2900 BCE.
“We observe a distinct genetic divide between the two burial phases. The people utilizing the tomb before and after the collapse seem to represent two entirely different groups,” stated the study’s author, Frédérique Seysselhom. “This informs us that something substantial occurred—perhaps a major disruption—leading to the demise of one populace and the advent of another.”
According to the researchers, these discoveries align with evidence gathered from other Neolithic tombs across Germany, Denmark, and Sweden, which also reveal evidence of population replacement commencing early in the third millennium BCE. Taken together, this collective evidence points toward a widespread Neolithic decline, wherein the societies responsible for erecting megalithic tombs vanished, being subsequently replaced by immigrants arriving from either Southern Europe or the Eurasian steppe.
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