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Late Neolithic ‘decline’ is a grave question

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Were there catastrophic population collapses across Europe in the late Neolithic and, if so, what factors were responsible? Ancient DNA from 133 people whose remains were interred in a megalithic gallery grave may shed light on this question.

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Fig. 1: Neolithic tombs made of large slabs of stone are built across Europe, particularly the Atlantic façade regions from the fifth millennium bc.

RIEGER Bertrand/Hemis/Alamy Stock Photo

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Archaeology, University College London, London, UK

    Tom Booth

  2. Ancient Genomics Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, UK

    Tom Booth

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  1. Tom Booth
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Tom Booth.

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Booth, T. Late Neolithic ‘decline’ is a grave question.
Nat Ecol Evol (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-026-03007-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-026-03007-3

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