Greeks Are Descendants of the Mycenaeans, DNA Study Confirms

Lion’s Gate, Mycenae. Credit: Andreas Trepte/CC-BY-SA-2.5

DNA grounds proves that Greeks are so descendants of the Mycenaeans, who ruled mainland Greece and the Aegean Sea from 1,600 BC to 1,200 BC.

The grounds comes from a well-publicized 2017 survey successful which scientists analyzed the genes from the teeth of nineteen radical crossed assorted archaeological sites wrong mainland Greece and Crete.

Those included 10 Minoans from Crete dating from 2900 BC to 1700 BC, 4 Mycenaeans from the archaeological site astatine Mycenae and different cemeteries connected the Greek mainland dating from 1700 BC to 1200 BC., and 5 radical from different aboriginal farming oregon Bronze Age (5400 BC. to 1340 BC) cultures successful Greece and Turkey.

The landmark survey demonstrated that astir 75-80 percent of the DNA of Mycenaeans is shared with the earlier Minoans, and that modern Greeks transportation 70-80 percent of the aforesaid DNA arsenic Mycenaeans.

By comparing 1.2 cardinal letters of familial code, the researchers, who published their survey successful the journal, Nature, were capable to crippled however the individuals were related to each other.

While the main familial ancestry of modern Greeks is linked to the Mycenaeans, determination person besides been contributions from different populations passim history, specified arsenic during the Roman, Byzantine, Slavic, and Ottoman periods. However, these influences bash not look to person dramatically altered the superior familial signature inherited from the Mycenaean ancestors.

DNA overlap was discovered betwixt modern Greeks and Mycenaeans

After comparing the DNA of modern Greeks to past Mycenaeans, a familial overlap was discovered that suggests that these past Bronze Age civilizations laid the familial groundwork for aboriginal peoples.

The continuity betwixt the Mycenaeans and surviving radical is “particularly striking fixed that the Aegean has been a crossroads of civilizations for thousands of years,” said co-author George Stamatoyannopoulos of the University of Washington successful Seattle.

This suggests that the large components of the Greeks’ ancestry were already successful spot successful the Bronze Age aft the migration of the earliest farmers from Anatolia acceptable the template for the familial constitution of Greeks and, successful fact, astir Europeans.

“The dispersed of farming populations was the decisive infinitesimal erstwhile the large elements of the Greek colonisation were already provided,” says archaeologist Colin Renfrew of the University of Cambridge successful the United Kingdom, who was not progressive successful the work.

Mycenaean fresco depicting a woman. Credit: Wikimedia Commons/ Public Domain

Links betwixt Minoans and Mycenaeans besides found

One facet that was revealed successful the survey was however the Mycenaeans themselves were intimately related to the Minoan civilization, which flourished connected the land of Crete from 2,000 BC to 1,400 BC.

Both cultures were shown to transportation genes for brownish hairsbreadth and brownish eyes, characteristics that are reflected connected their frescoes and pottery contempt having antithetic languages.

The past Mycenaeans and Minoans were astir intimately related to each other, and they some got three-quarters of their DNA from aboriginal farmers who lived successful Greece and southwestern Anatolia, which is present portion of Turkey, the squad reports contiguous successful Nature.

Both cultures additionally inherited DNA from radical from the eastbound Caucasus adjacent modern-day Iran, suggesting an aboriginal migration of radical from the eastbound aft the aboriginal farmers settled determination but earlier Mycenaeans divided from Minoans.

The Mycenaeans did person an important difference: They had immoderate DNA—4 percent to 16 percent—from bluish ancestors who came from Eastern Europe oregon Siberia.

According to Harvard colonisation geneticist Iosif Lazaridis, immoderate quality betwixt the 2 civilizations suggests that a 2nd question of radical came to mainland Greece from Eastern Europe but were incapable to scope the land of Crete. In clip they became known arsenic the Mycenaeans.

Swedish Archaeologist Kristian Kristiansen astatine the University of Gothenburg commented connected the value of the survey recently, saying that “The results person present opened up the adjacent section successful the familial past of occidental Eurasia—and that of the Bronze Age Mediterranean.”