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A mix of bloodlines -

Today's Europeans, regardless of the country/region they live in, are a mix of several ancient bloodlines. Their first ancestors arrived on the continent from Africa, the Middle East, and Russia.

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DNA sequencing -

Paleogenetics has made it possible to study the DNA sequencing of an entire genome of humans, by analyzing ancient teeth and bones.

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DNA testing -

This genome analysis provides the amount of information that's given by home DNA sequencing tests.

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Genetic information -

We can learn everything from eye and hair color, to lactose tolerance. Similar to home testing kits, these genome tests reveal clues about the identities of ancient ancestors, and their migrations around the world.

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Three major movements -

Three major movements of people seem to have shaped the course of European prehistory, with settlers bringing art, farming, domesticated horses, and the wheel with them. They also introduced the Indo-European languages spoken across much of the continent today.

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Some 5,000 years ago -

The last of the first three waves of settlers arrived from the Russian steppe around 5,000 years ago, at the same time Stonehenge was being built.

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Africa: the first wave of settlers -

About 45,000 years ago, the first wave of settlers migrated from Africa, arriving to Europe through the Middle East. DNA suggests they had dark skin and light eyes.

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River settlements -

These arrivals lived as hunters and gatherers. They were nomadic, traveling in small groups. They made settlements next to the banks of rivers, in particular along the Danube from the Black Sea towards Eastern and Central Europe.

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The Neanderthals -

The Neanderthals, whose ancestors migrated from Africa to Europe thousands of years before, had already adapted to the harsh cold conditions. DNA indicates the first wave of African settlers (Homo sapiens) mixed with the Neanderthals, who disappeared within 5,000 years.

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Ice Age Europe -

Europe was in the midst of the Ice Age, with mile-thick sheets of ice covering much of the continent. These first modern humans stayed in ice-free southern Europe, where they adapted to the cold.

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Food sources -

These settlers would have eaten large mammals such as mammoths, reindeer, horses, and aurochs (the ancestors of modern cattle).

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Cave paintings -

In the caves where they found shelter from the harsh conditions outside, they left spectacular paintings and engravings of their prey, such as this one in the Cave of Altamira, in Northern Spain.

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Northwards migration -

Around 14,500 years ago, Europe began to warm. As conditions began to change, people followed the retreating glaciers, heading northwards.

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Anatolia: the second wave -

The Konya Plain is a fertile expanse of land in modern-day Turkey. People have practiced farming here since farming first existed.

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Neolithic farming methods -

For years, it was thought that Europeans acquired farming methods from the Levant, but it was unclear how. DNA evidence is helping to show that migration had a lot to do with it.

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Petrous bone -

In 2014, researchers found the petrous bone—a tiny part of the inner ear, not much bigger than a pinkie tip—preserves information long after other testable DNA has left the body. Sample remains taken from the Konya Plain showed the DNA was a match for farmers who lived and died hundreds of miles northwest.

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Migration -

This meant the Anatolians had migrated, bringing their lifestyle (as well as their genes) with them. The Anatolian genetic signature is found wherever farming first appears in Europe.

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Descendants -

Their descendants migrated further west and south over the centuries, colonizing Sardinia and Sicily, and settling in modern-day Portugal.

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Characteristics -

These settlers had light skin and dark eyes, the opposite of many of the characteristics of the earlier wave of hunter-gatherers. The groups didn't tend to mix, and intermarriage was rare.

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The Corded Ware -

Centuries later, around 5,400 years ago, a brand new culture popped up. It was called Corded Ware for its distinctive pottery, decorated by pressing string into wet clay.

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The Corded Ware -

When researchers began examining the DNA of the Corded Ware people, they expected it to be similar to that of the Neolithic farmers. Instead, they contained distinctive genes, new to Europe at the time.

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The Corded Ware -

Corded Ware people turned out to be closely related to Native Americans, rather than Neolithic European people. This added to their mystery.

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Steppe: the third wave -

Around 5,000 years ago, on what are now the steppes of southern Russia and eastern Ukraine, a group of nomads called the Yamnaya began to migrate towards Europe.

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The Yamnaya -

The Yamnaya were the first people in the world to ride horses and master the wheel, and they were even building wagons. But they didn't build many permanent settlements.

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The Corded Ware connection -

Based on genetic evidence, many Corded Ware people were descendants of the Yamnaya. The Yamnaya also shared distant kinship with Native Americans, whose ancestors hailed from Siberia.

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Yamnaya impact -

The Yamnaya brought domesticated horses, a mobile lifestyle with wagons, new tools, and craft pottery to Europe, perhaps helping to nudge it towards the Bronze Age.

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A plague? -

Geneticists also found Yersinia pestis, the plague microbe, in the DNA of some Yamnaya samples. The Yamnaya would have been accustomed to the disease, developing immunity, while bringing it to an unprepared population when they migrated. This could explain why Yamnaya expansion across the continent occurred so rapidly.

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Indo-European languages -

The Yamnaya arrival in Europe also coincides with a time that's been pinpointed as the initial spread of Indo-European languages. All are thought to originate from a single language, but it's unclear whether it was brought by the Yamnaya or Neolithic farmers.

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A blend of people from the beginning -

Today, the genetic impact of these groups in European DNA would look different according to regional variations. Overall, the genetic legacy would be roughly equal parts Yamnaya and Anatolian farmer, with a much smaller amount of African hunter-gatherer.  

Sources: (National Geographic) (The New York Times) (Smithsonian Magazine)

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