May
07
/ 2021
A landmark study of ancient DNA has shed new light on the genetic characteristics of people who built the great Bronze Age Aegean civilizations. A team of researchers from Greece and Switzerland performed a genetic analysis of DNA samples collected from the skeletal remains of 17 individuals found at different Aegean civilizations’ archaeological sites in the region. These men and women mostly lived during the Early Bronze Age, or approximately 5,000 years ago. They were members of three highly advanced Early Bronze Age Aegean civilizations: the Minoan civilization of Crete, the Cycladic civilization that occupied the Cyclades islands, and the Helladic civilization that formed on the Greek mainland. It had previously been assumed that these three great civilizations consisted of
