Archaeogenetic insights into the demographic history of Late Neanderthals

The demographic history of Neanderthals is only partially understood. In Europe, some degree of genetic continuity has been shown from 120 thousand years ago (ka) onward despite the occurrence of multiple subsequent diversification events. While it has been proposed that a population turnover preceded the emergence of Late Neanderthals in Europe, the extent, timing, and geographic location of this event are currently unknown. Here, we report ten mitochondrial DNA sequences (mtDNAs) of Neanderthal individuals from six archaeological sites in Belgium, France, Germany and Serbia, and analyze them alongside 49 published mtDNAs. The integration of phylogenetic and molecular dating analyses with an extensive archaeological dataset enabled us to reconstruct temporal and spatial patterns in Neanderthal distribution. Remarkably, nearly all Late Neanderthal individuals across Europe belong to a single mtDNA lineage that diversified recently, confirming a large-scale genetic replacement. Our analyses date this diversification event to approximately 65 ka and suggest that it likely originated from a population refugium in southwestern France from which Neanderthals appear to have undergone a major range dispersal across Europe. In addition, we detect a sharp decline in the Neanderthal mtDNA effective population size beginning ~45 ka and reaching a minimum ~42 ka, shortly before their extinction. This study demonstrates that integrating molecular and archaeological datasets provides a more detailed understanding of the Late Neanderthal population's history, and highlights the critical role of climate-driven refugia and subsequent range expansions in shaping the genetic landscape of Neanderthals through time.

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Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Published
2026-03-23
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2520565123
Primary Topic
Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology
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article
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article

Archaeogenetic insights into the demographic history of Late Neanderthals

Maria A. Spyrou, Hélène Rougier, Jesper Pedersen, Kathrin Nägele et al.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology
article

Archaeogenetic insights into the demographic history of Late Neanderthals

Maria A. Spyrou, Hélène Rougier, Jesper Pedersen, Kathrin Nägele, Ricardo Miguel Godinho, Miriam Noël Haidle, Patrick Semal, Thorsten Uthmeier, Flora Schilt, Luc Doyon, Alvise Barbieri, J. Krause, Hervé Bocherens, Ella Reiter, Timo Patrick Streicher, Isabelle Crevecoeur, Charoula M. Fotiadou, Dušan Mihailović, Mirjana Roksandic, Andrew W. Kandel, Nicholas J. Conard, Cosimo Posth
article en

Abstract

The demographic history of Neanderthals is only partially understood. In Europe, some degree of genetic continuity has been shown from 120 thousand years ago (ka) onward despite the occurrence of multiple subsequent diversification events. While it has been proposed that a population turnover preceded the emergence of Late Neanderthals in Europe, the extent, timing, and geographic location of this event are currently unknown. Here, we report ten mitochondrial DNA sequences (mtDNAs) of Neanderthal individuals from six archaeological sites in Belgium, France, Germany and Serbia, and analyze them alongside 49 published mtDNAs. The integration of phylogenetic and molecular dating analyses with an extensive archaeological dataset enabled us to reconstruct temporal and spatial patterns in Neanderthal distribution. Remarkably, nearly all Late Neanderthal individuals across Europe belong to a single mtDNA lineage that diversified recently, confirming a large-scale genetic replacement. Our analyses date this diversification event to approximately 65 ka and suggest that it likely originated from a population refugium in southwestern France from which Neanderthals appear to have undergone a major range dispersal across Europe. In addition, we detect a sharp decline in the Neanderthal mtDNA effective population size beginning ~45 ka and reaching a minimum ~42 ka, shortly before their extinction. This study demonstrates that integrating molecular and archaeological datasets provides a more detailed understanding of the Late Neanderthal population's history, and highlights the critical role of climate-driven refugia and subsequent range expansions in shaping the genetic landscape of Neanderthals through time.

Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesVol. 123(13)
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (CA), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Université de Bordeaux (FR), California State University, Northridge (US), Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (DE), Institute of Natural Sciences (BE), University of Belgrade (RS), Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment (DE), Excellence Cluster Origins (DE), Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (DE), De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel : Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie (FR), Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (DE), Ministère de la Culture (DZ), University of Tübingen (DE), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (NL), Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (CA)
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