News Anthropology

Ancient European farmers and foragers hooked up big time

Genetic evidence shows interbreeding after agriculture arrived from what’s now Turkey

European skull

MIXED ANCESTRY  Tiny samples taken from ancient European skulls, in a process shown here, yielded enough DNA for researchers to determine that farmers and foragers interbred in three different regions from 8,000 to nearly 4,000 years ago.

Balázs G. Mende

By Bruce Bower

- More than 2 years ago

Thousands of years ago, hunter-gatherers native to Europe and incoming farmers from what’s now Turkey got up close and personal for a surprisingly long time, researchers say.