The origins of the Megalithic cultures in Europe remains controversial, but it appears to have emerged as a fusion of cultures from Mesolithic West Europeans with Near Eastern farmers who had migrated along Mediterranean coasts. DNA testing of remains from Megalithic burials showed that paternal ancestry was overwhelmingly Mesolithic European, while maternal ancestry was predominantly East Mediterranean.
The oldest megalith in Europe is the Cromlech of the Almendres in central Portugal, built in the 6th millennium BCE. It was followed by the constructions of the Cairn of Barnenez (c. 4800 BCE) in Brittany, the Tumulus of Bougon (c. 4700 BCE) in central-western France, and the Dolmen de Alberite (c. 4300 BCE) in southern Andalusia. It is only from 4000 BCE that megaliths start appearing more widely around Western Europe. From 3500~3400 BCE, megaliths builders start moving into the Low Countries, Germany and Scandinavia, where they would integrate the Funnel-beaker culture.
Megalithic structures include the stone circle, the dolmen (portal tomb), the passage grave, the gallery grave (aka wedge tomb), and standing stones (known as menhirs in France).
The most famous megaliths include the stone circles of Stonehenge and Avebury in Wiltshire, England, the passage graves of Brú na Bóinne (Knowth, Newgrange and Dowth) and Carrowmore in Ireland, Maes Howe in Orkney, and Gavrinis in France, and the Carnac stones in Brittany, France.
Their Neolithic agricultural economy was based primarily on the cultivation of crops from the Fertile Crescent, especially as wheat and barley. Megalithic farmers bred livestock, mostly cattle and sheep, but to a lower extent also goats and pigs.
Like in other Neolithic cultures, most tools were made of stone, bones or antlers. Flints and quarzes were used to make blades, cutters, scrapers and drills. Large jade alpine axes were very common in France, Belgium, and the Rhineland, and were found more sporadically in northern Spain, Britain, Ireland and Denmark.
The last centuries of the Megalithic cultures were contemporaneous with the Bell Beaker trade network, which connected the Atlantic economies to those of Central Europe. It is during this period that Steppe people carrying Y-haplogroup R1b migrated to western Europe, replacing most of the Neolithic lineages in the region (except in Iberia where their impact was more limited at first).
Ancient DNA tests have shown that Atlantic Megalithic people had a variety of skin tones ranging from pale-intermediate to dark. Almost all had brown or black hair. The majority had brown eyes. They were lactose intolerant.
Extent of the Megalithic cultures (c. 4000-2000 BCE)
Historical context of the Megalithic cultures circa 3000 to 2500 BCE
Historical context of the Late Megalithic cultures circa 2500 to 2000 BCE
Genetic Analysis
Y-DNA
Atlantic Megalithic Culture (c. 6,000 to 4,000 ybp ; Western Europe):
Megalithic Ireland (c. 6,700 to 5,350 ybp): H2a (x2), I (x4), I2a1a2 (x4), I2a1a2-S21825 (x7), I2a2 (x4), I2a2a-L1195 (x21) => Sanchez-Quinto (2019) & Cassidy et al. (2020)
Sánchez-Quinto et al. (2019) tested the genomes of 24 individuals buried in five megaliths in Ireland, Scotland, Sweden and Czechia. The Czech samples from Kolin are the oldest, dating from 4910 to 4460 BCE. The Irish samples from Primrose Grange date from 3800-3350 BCE, those from Midhowe in Scotland from 3600-3100 BCE, the one from Knowe of Lairo in Scotland from 3360-3100 BCE, and those from Ansarve in Sweden, from 3500-3100 BCE. Two other samples were tested by Olalde et al. (2019), I5428 from Portugal (3300–2900 BCE) and I8048 from Andalusia (2200–2000 BCE).
Sample ID
Gedrosia
Siberia
NW Africa
SE Asia
Atlantic Med
North Europe
South Asia
East Africa
SW Asia
East Asia
Caucasus
Sub-Saharan Africa
kol6
0.00
0.07
4.99
0.00
53.36
4.69
0.00
0.00
11.85
0.00
23.65
1.39
kol2BE
0.00
0.00
4.41
0.00
54.81
0.00
0.00
2.22
9.55
0.00
28.04
0.97
prs002
0.00
0.00
3.97
0.28
63.33
12.48
0.00
0.44
7.21
0.00
12.23
0.06
prs017
0.00
0.00
1.56
0.00
64.22
17.26
0.00
0.88
9.25
0.00
6.83
0.00
prs018
0.00
0.25
6.04
1.01
58.90
11.32
0.00
0.00
7.90
1.28
13.29
0.00
prs003
0.00
0.00
5.00
0.00
64.58
11.49
0.00
0.45
11.20
0.00
7.28
0.00
prs012
0.00
0.00
3.56
0.00
66.70
10.70
0.08
0.00
5.23
0.32
13.42
0.00
prs016
0.00
0.00
3.96
0.00
63.82
9.62
0.00
0.21
8.23
0.00
14.05
0.11
prs010
0.00
0.00
0.59
0.00
63.56
16.50
0.00
0.00
11.56
0.00
6.65
1.13
prs006
0.00
0.00
3.81
0.00
66.75
10.96
0.00
0.31
5.87
1.46
10.61
0.23
mid001
0.00
0.00
1.62
0.00
66.49
15.82
0.00
0.00
10.08
0.62
4.91
0.46
prs013
0.00
0.00
4.79
0.00
65.55
9.89
0.00
0.88
7.71
0.69
9.87
0.62
prs009
0.00
0.00
5.36
0.75
65.88
10.26
0.00
0.00
7.66
0.02
9.52
0.54
ans003
0.00
0.00
0.77
0.00
57.92
17.28
0.00
0.00
7.28
0.89
13.97
1.89
ans005
0.00
0.00
4.93
0.59
62.75
18.86
0.51
0.00
2.80
0.00
9.04
0.52
ans008
0.00
0.00
0.78
0.00
58.11
20.40
0.00
1.29
6.25
1.36
9.95
1.86
ans014
0.00
0.00
3.40
0.00
57.15
20.57
0.00
0.00
7.58
0.47
9.35
1.49
ans016
0.00
0.00
4.02
0.16
61.04
22.38
0.21
0.05
8.28
0.00
3.86
0.00
ans017
0.00
0.00
3.62
1.03
56.02
23.26
0.00
0.13
8.00
0.00
6.23
1.69
bal004
0.00
0.00
4.93
0.81
63.50
13.80
0.00
0.00
6.65
0.00
9.86
0.45
lai001
0.00
0.00
3.74
0.00
66.27
11.21
0.00
0.45
6.61
0.44
11.27
0.00
mid002
0.00
0.00
5.15
0.03
63.04
15.72
0.00
1.23
3.97
0.00
10.85
0.00
I5428
0.00
0.21
2.52
1.26
68.96
10.78
0.38
0.00
4.93
0.00
10.26
0.70
I8048
0.00
0.00
7.02
0.00
64.27
20.09
0.00
1.68
0.00
1.22
5.72
0.00
Megalithic Europe
0.00
0.02
3.77
0.25
62.37
13.97
0.05
0.43
7.32
0.37
10.86
0.59
Comparison with modern populations
Using the average values for each era above and comparing it with the Dodecad K12b averages for modern populations on Vahaduo, the genetic distance between populations can be compared. The smaller the value for the genetic distance, the most similar the population (1 being a perfect match). Under 5 is considered very close, 5 to 10 moderately similar, while over 10 is not genetically similar. The genetic landscape of Europe has changed drastically since the Neolithic and hardly any modern population resembles Early farmers anymore. The only exception are the Sardinians, who have lived in relative isolation for the last 4000 years. Sardinians get a genetic distance score of 14.4 with Megalithic people. The second closest population are the Spanish Basques at 15.7, followed by other regions of Spain.
Follow-up
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