Bordeaux – Liguria is emerging as a true treasure trove for the study of ancient populations. The region’s exceptional concentration of human remains from archaeological contexts - particularly caves - now largely preserved in museums, allows researchers to conduct analyses on statistically significant samples without the need for new excavations.
An international study published in Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences focuses precisely on Liguria, examining human remains from several sites in the Finalese area, in the province of Savona, both along the coast and inland. The research centers on the spread of agriculture in the Italian peninsula beginning around 6000 BCE, when farming communities from the Near East - especially Anatolia - reached Europe and came into contact with local hunter-gatherer populations.
The findings suggest that interactions between these groups did not follow a single pattern. Instead, they involved a combination of dynamics—assimilation and, to some extent, replacement, varying across time and space. The study employed a morphometric approach, analyzing cranial features of 27 individuals and comparing them with broader European samples from different periods.
Using multivariate statistical techniques, researchers reconstructed relationships between populations based on cranial morphology as an indicator of biological affinity. The results reveal a complex picture: early Neolithic phases show signs consistent with assimilation, with incoming farmers mixing with local hunter-gatherers. In later phases, however, the population appears more homogeneous—not necessarily due to complete replacement, but rather to a stabilization following initial admixture, with limited incorporation of new local individuals.
The study involved researchers from the Universities of Cagliari, Florence, and Palermo, alongside France’s CNRS and the University of Bordeaux.