Greeks are undoubtedly descended from the Mycenaeans, who governed mainland Greece and the Aegean Sea from 1,600 BC to 1,200 BC, according to DNA evidence.
The proof comes from a widely reported 2017 study in which researchers examined the genomes from the teeth of 19 individuals found in different ancient sites around mainland Greece and Crete.
These included five individuals from other early farming or Bronze Age (5400 BCE to 1340 BCE) cultures in Greece and Turkey, as well as ten Minoans from Crete dating from 2900 BCE to 1700 BCE, four Mycenaeans from the archaeological site at Mycenae, and other cemeteries on the Greek mainland.
The researchers, who detailed their findings in the journal Nature, were able to determine the relationships between the people by comparing 1.2 million genetic code letters.
DNA similarities between current Greeks and Mycenaeans have been found.
Genetic similarities between the DNA of current Greeks and the ancient Mycenaeans have been found, suggesting that these Bronze Age civilizations set the genetic foundation for succeeding populations.
The Mycenaeans’ continuity with modern humans is “particularly striking given that the Aegean has been a crossroads of civilizations for thousands of years,” said co-author George Stamatoyannopoulos of the University of Washington in Seattle.
This suggests that the major components of the Greeks’ ancestry were already in place in the Bronze Age after the migration of the earliest farmers from Anatolia set the template for the genetic makeup of Greeks and, in fact, most Europeans.
“The spread of farming populations was the decisive moment when the major elements of the Greek population were already provided,” says archaeologist Colin Renfrew of the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, who was not involved in the work.
The continuity between the Mycenaeans and living people is “particularly striking given that the Aegean has been a crossroads of civilizations for thousands of years,” said co-author George Stamatoyannopoulos of the University of Washington in Seattle.
This suggests that the major components of the Greeks’ ancestry were already in place in the Bronze Age after the migration of the earliest farmers from Anatolia set the template for the genetic makeup of Greeks and, in fact, most Europeans.
“The spread of farming populations was the decisive moment when the major elements of the Greek population were already provided,” says archaeologist Colin Renfrew of the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, who was not involved in the work.
According to Harvard population geneticist Iosif Lazaridis, any difference between the two civilizations suggests that a second wave of people came to mainland Greece from Eastern Europe but were unable to reach the island of Crete. In time they became known as the Mycenaeans.
Swedish Archaeologist Kristian Kristiansen at the University of Gothenburg commented on the significance of the study recently, saying that “The results have now opened up the next chapter in the genetic history of western Eurasia—and that of the Bronze Age Mediterranean.”
