Scandinavia's first farmers slaughtered hunter-gatherer population, DNA suggests

Ancient DNA shows Scandinavia's first farmers replaced hunter-gatherers within a few generations about 5,900 years ago.

A Lund University-led team published Nature papers based on ancient DNA from Danish skeletons and teeth. The study reports two near-total population turnovers in Denmark over 7,300 years: farmers arriving about 5,900 years ago largely replaced hunter-gatherers, and Yamnaya-related herders about 4,850 years ago replaced those farmers. Researchers say violence and new livestock pathogens may have contributed. Today's Danish genetic profile largely reflects the later Yamnaya and Eastern European Neolithic mix.