A study by the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) and the University of Murcia (UM) challenges the theory that warrior groups with a ‘Steppe’ genetic component originating from Eastern Europe violently replaced the male population of the Iberian Peninsula some 4,200 years ago and presents a different scenario, in which groups with ‘Steppe’ ancestry mixed with other demographically weakened locals.

In the paper, published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, the research team explored how society and populations changed in southeast Spain 4,200 years ago, during the transition from the Copper to the Bronze Age. To this end, they focused on one of the best known aspects of this transition: the shift from communal burials in the Copper Age to the single and double tombs of the Bronze Age El Argar society. The team looked at a large sample of radiocarbon (C14) dates from human bones discovered in these different types of graves.