To find the ancestors of the founders of the first European civilizations, scientists analyzed the DNA of three thousand modern and ancient people.
The first civilization in Europe is considered the Minoan civilization, which arose in the III millennium BC in Crete. Minoan society was distinguished by a complex structure. The centers of economic and political activity were palaces - large complexes, during the construction of which many architectural and engineering technologies were used. The Minoans possessed a written language, were active in maritime trade, and maintained relations with Egypt and the small cultures of the Aegean islands. The decline of the Minoan civilization reached its peak at the end of the 2nd millennium BC. e. The Minoans were gradually replaced by representatives of the Mycenaean civilization (Achaeans). Mycenae on the Peloponnese became the single center of political influence. Unlike the Minoans, the Achaeans actively conquered new territories. In the place of their colonies, many Greek city-states subsequently grew.
The origin of both civilizations has been widely discussed since the early 20th century, when archaeologists discovered the remains of a Minoan palace at Knossos. According to the most widespread version, the founders of the early Minoan civilization came to Crete from the east - from Anatolia. Some scholars associate them with the population of the north of Mesopotamia. The origin of the Achaeans is traced back to the historical region of Thessaly on the coast of the Aegean Sea.
An international team of scientists analyzed the DNA of 19 people who lived during the Bronze Age in Crete, mainland Greece and the Aegean islands. 10 of them were Minoans, four were Mycenaeans, three lived in the south-west of Anatolia (modern territory of Turkey). One of the remaining specimens belonged to a Cretan man who died around the same time the Mycenaeans arrived on the island. The last DNA sample was found in the same region and is more than 7,000 years old. The DNA sequences of these people were compared with the already known genetic sequences of 332 ancient people and 2614 of our contemporaries.
The main populations whose DNA was studied in the work, Nature
Scientists concluded that the Minoans and Mycenaeans were genetically close to each other. At least three-quarters of their ancestors were expected to be Anatolian farmers. The remaining quarter was probably made up mainly of the population of the Caucasus and Iranian territory. The Mycenaeans also inherited a small fraction of their genes from the more ancient hunter-gatherers of eastern Europe. Probably, the Mycenaeans received these genes from the people who inhabited the territory of Armenia at the turn of the Copper and Bronze Ages.
According to scientists, further genetic research will help to find out exactly when the common ancestors of the Minoans and Mycenaeans came to the Aegean coast.
The research is published in the journal Nature.
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