New DNA research confirmed that modern Greeks — direct descendants of the Mycenaeanswho ruled mainland Greece and the Aegean Sea during the Bronze Age.
Genetic study published in journal Natureconfirmed: The Greeks are indeed descendants of the Mycenaeansa civilization that ruled mainland Greece and the Aegean region from 1600 to 1200 BC. e.
Scientists have studied dental DNA from nineteen people from archaeological sites in Greece and Crete, including ten Minoans (2900–1700 BC), four Mycenaeans (1700–1200 BC) and five representatives of earlier Bronze and Neolithic cultures.
Genetic connection over thousands of years
The results of the study showed that about 75–80% of the Mycenaean DNA is the same as the Minoansand modern Greeks carry within themselves 70–80% of the same genetic code. This means that the genetic basis of the Greek people was formed in the Bronze Age.
According to a geneticist George Stamatoyanopoulos from the University of Washington, “the continuity between the Mycenaeans and modern Greeks is especially striking given that the Aegean region has been a crossroads of civilizations for thousands of years.”
Scientists noted that the migration of the first farmers from Anatolia determined the genetic “skeleton” of not only the Greeks, but also most Europeans. Archaeologist Colin Renfrew from Cambridge explained: “It was the spread of agricultural crops that became the decisive moment in the formation of the Greek people.”
Minoans and Mycenaeans: two branches of one civilization
Mycenaean fresco depicting a woman. Source: Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain
The study also confirmed that The Mycenaeans were closely related to the Minoansdespite differences in language and culture. Both civilizations inherited genes brown eyes and dark hair and were descended from the early farmers of Greece and southwestern Anatolia.
Scientists also found in the DNA of the Mycenaeans an admixture of genes from the regions of the eastern Caucasus and Iran, which indicates ancient migrations from the East. However, the main difference between the Mycenaeans was proportion of northern blood (4–16%)who came from Eastern Europe or Siberia – these migrants did not reach Crete, but settled on the mainland, becoming the founders of the Mycenaean elite.
Continuity of the Greek gene
The study found that historical influences – Roman, Byzantine, Slavic and Ottoman – did not change the basic genetic code Greeks The basic DNA structure passed down from the Mycenaeans has remained almost unchanged.
Swedish archaeologist Christian Christiansen from the University of Gothenburg noted: “These results open a new chapter in the genetic history of western Eurasia and the entire Bronze Age Mediterranean.”
Thus, genetics confirmed what the Greeks always knew intuitively: modern Hellenes are direct descendants of the Mycenaeansthe people who built the first palaces, legends and identity of Europe.
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