A large-scale international study published in February in the journal Nature and conducted by nearly fifty researchers, entitled Lasting Lower Rhine–Meuse forager ancestry shaped Bell Beaker expansion, adds nuance to the genetic history of prehistoric European populations. Among the 47 researchers involved, three scientists from ULiège contributed to the project: Damien Flas, Rebecca Miller, and Pierre Noiret, the latter two posthumously. The ULiège researchers participated in this study by providing access to various bones found at archaeological sites in Liège and preserved in university collections, as well as through their expertise on the archaeological and cultural context of the remains analyzed.
B
y analyzing ancient DNA from 112 individuals who lived between 8500 and 1700 BCE, the researchers traced the major demographic transformations that marked prehistoric Europe. It was already known that between 6500 and 4000 BCE, the first farmers from Anatolia had largely replaced Mesolithic hunter-gatherers in Western and Central Europe, with little mixing between the two groups. Later, around 3000-2500 BCE, new populations from the steppes of Eastern Europe spread across the continent.
But the new study reveals a major exception: in the wetlands and deltas of the lower Meuse and Rhine basins (now the Netherlands, Belgium, and western Germany), the genetic heritage of hunter-gatherers persisted much longer than elsewhere. Some Neolithic populations in the region still retained around 50% of their ancestry from hunter-gatherers, nearly three millennia after their disappearance in most other European regions.
Why this difference? Researchers put forward an environmental hypothesis. The Meuse-Rhine delta was a landscape of wetlands, rivers, and coastlines that was not conducive to agriculture as practiced by the first Neolithic farmers. This context may have slowed the spread of their way of life and fostered unique dynamics: the adoption of certain cultural innovations, but with more limited genetic exchange.
Around 6000-5000 BCE, across Western and Central Europe, the last hunter-gatherer populations (the Mesolithic) were replaced by new populations of farmers and herders (the Neolithic), with very little mixing between the two populations. Later, at the end of the Neolithic period, around 3000-2500 BCE, a new population from the steppes of Eastern Europe replaced a large part of the previous populations. This study shows that this scenario was different and more complex in the lower Meuse and Rhine basins. It also shows that it was the population present in this region at the end of the Neolithic period that was responsible for the new colonization of Great Britain.
The Prehistoric Archaeology Department at ULiège participated in this research by providing access to Neolithic human remains preserved in its collections. These bones come from three sites in the province of Liège: Trou Al'Wesse, Abri Sandron, and Grotte du Mont Falhise. They were excavated in the late19th and early20th centuries and sampled for DNA extraction by the paleogenetics laboratory at the University of Huddersfield.
Archaeologists from Liège also contributed their expertise on the archaeological and cultural context of the remains analyzed, helping to integrate the genetic data into a coherent historical interpretation.
Beyond the technical details, this study reminds us that human history is never linear. Even on a European scale, regional trajectories could diverge significantly depending on the environment and interactions between groups.
By shedding light on these complex dynamics, the research responds to a deeply human need: to understand where we come from. It also invites us to contemplate, over the long term, the multiple bifurcations that have shaped today's European populations.
Olalde, I., Altena, E., Bourgeois, Q. et al. Lasting Lower Rhine–Meuse forager ancestry shaped Bell Beaker expansion. Nature, february 2026. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10111-8
On September 21, ULiège welcomed its international students to an evening of socializing and getting to know one another, marking the start of their new university life.
Every year, the University of Liège's Heritage Foundations award more than 80 prizes and grants to ULiège students and alumni. Several calls have just been launched, so don't hesitate to consult them! (only in French)
SCOPE, dedicated to developing more sustainable IT infrastructure, and ShuttleToBrain, which explores new approaches to improving the delivery of drugs to the brain. Two new IMR projects at ULiège.
