Europe's last hunter-gatherers had sophisticated societies that helped them avoid inbreeding
High-tech DNA analysis of skeletons buried 8,000 years ago in France reveals that the last hunter-gatherer groups in Europe likely developed cultural strategies to avoid inbreeding, a new study suggests. An investigation into the genomes of 10 people who lived between 6350 and 4810 B.C. revealed few biological links among these small communities, according to a study published Feb. 26 in the journal PNAS . Most of the individuals the researchers tested were buried at Téviec and Hoedic (also spelled Hœdic), two coastal archaeological sites in northwestern France that are notable for two reasons: They contain a large number of well-preserved human skeletons, and they date to the period when Western Europe was transitioning from foraging to farming. Related: Largest-ever genetic family tree reconstructed for Neolithic people in France using ancient DNA In the Brittany region of France, the "Neolithic transition" occurred around 4900 B.C., resulting in major changes to se...