Nobel Prize winner Svante Pääbo discusses his work in paleogenetics, including sequencing the Neanderthal genome, discovering the Denisovans, and his theories on why Homo sapiens survived while Neanderthals went extinct, attributing it to our larger population size.
This article details how recent advancements in ancient DNA (aDNA) research are challenging long-held beliefs in archaeology and potentially rehabilitating a previously discredited historical model. For much of the 20th century, archaeological interpretations favored gradual cultural shifts driven by trade and intermingling, downplaying the role of large-scale migrations and distinct ethnic groups. This was partly a reaction against the work of Gustaf Kossinna, a 19th/20th-century archaeologist whose “culture-history” model – linking archaeological cultures directly to specific peoples and their movements – became tainted by association with Nazi ideology.
However, the aDNA revolution, beginning in the late 2000s, has revealed a more dynamic and often disruptive picture of prehistory. Genetic analysis confirms that significant population movements did occur, particularly with the spread of Indo-European languages across Europe and into India. This supports Kossinna’s core idea that cultural changes often accompanied the movement of peoples, though it doesn’t endorse his problematic racial theories.
However, the aDNA revolution, beginning in the late 2000s, has revealed a more dynamic and often disruptive picture of prehistory. Genetic analysis confirms that significant population movements did occur, particularly with the spread of Indo-European languages across Europe and into India. This supports Kossinna’s core idea that cultural changes often accompanied the movement of peoples, though it doesn’t endorse his problematic racial theories.
