New Study (BBC): Ancient Tribes From Armenian Highlands and North Eurasia Gave Birth To Modern Europeans

Ancient human genomes suggest three ancestral populations for present-day Europeans

 
Findings based on analysis of genomes from ancient Europeans (Nature journal reports) revealed that modern European gene pool was formed when three ancient populations mixed within the last 7,000 years. Blue-eyed swarthy hunter-gatherers, mingled with brown-eyed pale skinned farmers as well as northern Eurasians have been instrumental in the emergence of modern Europeans (BBC reports). Two of the 3 tribes are said to have migrated from the Armenian Plateau into Europe at different times in history.

Swarthy skinned yet blue-eyed hunter-gatherers have migrated into Europe from the Armenian Plateau about 45.000 years ago. These hunters arrived in Europe thousands of years before the advent of agriculture, hunkered down in southern refuges during the Ice Age and then expanded during a period called the Mesolithic, after the ice sheets had retreated from central and northern Europe. 7.000 years ago yet another group has migrated westwards from the Armenian Highlands into Europe. These people were a tribe of farmers with pale skin and brown eyes, who share genetic affinity with modern day Near Eastern people. These tribes along with a northern Eurasian tribe mixed giving birth to modern Europeans, the study reports.
 

The agricultural transition was a period of momentous cultural and demographic change

This reconstruction shows the dark skin and blue eyes of a 7,000-year-old hunter from northern Spain

 

Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-29213892