Ancient DNA reveals that hunter-gatherers in what is now Belgium and the Netherlands survived until 2500 BC, when other European countries were already practicing agriculture.

For thousands of years after agriculture spread to Europe, hunter-gatherers quietly endured in the lowlands of what is now the Netherlands and Belgium. A new ancient DNA study reveals that in these wet, cross-river areas, about 50% of hunter-gatherer villages survived until about 2500 BCE.

They did so when most of the continent had already been transformed by farmers and pastoralists.

Ancient DNA studies follow a rare genetic exception in Europe

In some parts of Europe between about 6500 and 4000 BCE, the descendants of the early farmers of western Anatolia mixed with the local hunters and replaced 70% to 100% of the earlier generations.

In this new work, an international team led by geneticist David Reich at Harvard University and archaeologists at the University of Huddersfield analyzed extensive genome data from 112 people who lived between 8500 and 1700 BCE in modern Belgium, West Germany and the Netherlands.

Their findings have revived a part of Europe’s deep history and linked human genes directly to a very specific environment.

Why wetlands slowed the spread of Neolithic agriculture

So what kept these villages intact when others had adopted agriculture early? The answer lies in the wetlands themselves. The study focuses on riverine, coastal and wetland areas along the Lower Rhine and the Meuse.

This “water world” was rich in fish, waterfowl and wild plants, but it was not suitable for the intensive plow agriculture that preceded the Neolithic farmers. According to archaeologist John Stewart of Bournemouth University, change in these lowlands was slower than expected and felt “like a Water World where time stood still.”

In the context of spontaneous migration, genetic data show uneven adoption of agricultural practices by local hunter-gatherers. Agriculture arrived around 4500 BCE, but the people taking on the elements of this new way of life were still descendants of the old forager groups.

The researchers only saw genes from future farmers, which is a stark contrast to the large ancestral changes reported in many other places. For a working life, that meant that the community could continue to fish, hunt and gather, while adding small livestock, gardens or seasonal crops when appropriate.

It is possible that women helped pass on the knowledge of early agriculture

Another striking pattern stands out. The farming lineage that arose in these lowlands was mostly descended from women who married into hunter-gatherer communities. Their mitochondrial DNA, inherited through the maternal lineage, bears the signature of Europe’s first farmers, while most male lineages are rooted in ancient forage lineages.

In everyday terms, women seem to have brought new seeds, skills, and perhaps new ideas about land use to the families along the river that were still heavily dependent on land resources. As archaeologist Maria Pala says, this highlights “the important role played by women in the transmission of knowledge” during this long transition.

The expansion of Corded Ware and Bell Beaker reshaped the area

The story of cultural adoption without large-scale gene flow continues with the arrival of the Corded Ware complex, which is often associated with migrants carrying descendants of the Pontic Caspian steppe in what is now Russia. Throughout much of Europe, Corded Ware cemeteries show a large concentration of this lineage associated with deserts.

However, in the western part of the Netherlands, people from settlements using Corded Ware pottery show no descendants at all, even though their Y chromosomes are similar to those of early Corded Ware groups. In fact, it seems that people in wetlands have adopted habits and ideas from new neighbors but have remained genetically different for a long time.

Eventually, that genetic stability was lost. This study finds that the users of the Bell Beaker culture package in the Lower Rhine Meuse region were formed by the intermingling of local people, about 13% to 18% of their descendants, and Corded Ware related to migrants of both sexes.

These Bell Beaker groups expanded throughout northwestern Europe and the United Kingdom, where they contributed to the complete transmission of the early Neolithic lineage. The quiet refuge of the wetlands, genetically speaking, finally joined the story of the wider continent and its unfolding narrative of Europe’s deep history.

What this discovery suggests about the environment and human environment

For environmental scientists, this work is not just the story of ancient family trees. It shows how a certain environment can slow down, redirect or change even the strongest cultural currents.

In an area with abundant wild food and fertile soil, there was little pressure to overturn existing lifestyles in favor of intensive agriculture. People did not just force a new model in the country. To a large extent, the land determined which species could survive.

There is a modern sound here. Today many river basins and coastal wetlands are at the forefront of climate change, from sea level rise to flooding and salt water intrusion. The story of the Lower Rhine Meuse reminds us that communities living in complex watersheds have relied on flexible, mixed systems that integrate different food sources and land uses rather than a single, rigid system.

That’s an important lesson as planners weigh how to protect wetlands, secure food supplies and avoid pushing fragile ecosystems beyond their limits.

At the end of the day, this study shows that the genetic map of Europe was not created in one way. It was stitched together piece by piece, and other places such as the “water world” of the North Sea follow their own timeline.

The lesson was published in Nature.