Archaeologists and genetic specialists have uncovered disturbing truths about the origins of European peoples. They trace back to one of the most ruthless tribes in history, with the foundation of their formation being the most horrific and systematic genocide in European history. Genetic and archaeological studies over the past decade reveal a shocking and unsettling reality regarding the genetic origins of modern European peoples and how they came into existence on the continent. Increasingly, experts argue that the peoples of Europe genetically emerged from the largest genocide in the continent’s history, with a genetic legacy dominated by the most violent tribe in ancient Europe. Initially, it was believed that this tribe peacefully settled among the neolithic peoples of ancient Europe, but recent research indicates a violent population shift occurred. A world of agrarian civilizations and megalithic constructions 5000 years ago, Europe was inhabited by neolithic and eneolithic tribes spread from the Balkans to the British Isles and the Scandinavian Peninsula. They were the creators of fascinating Danubian agrarian cultures or megalithic cultures in western Europe, with Stonehenge being their most famous creation. It was an era of mega-settlements of farmers and shepherds, some resembling proto-cities built of clay houses and mysterious mega-structures, located near rivers and on elevated terrains protected by ditches and sometimes palisades. These civilizations were dominated by earthly deities of fertility and fecundity, where shamans and chieftains played essential roles. Stone was still the primary material used for tools and weapons. According to archaeological research, these neolithic and eneolithic cultures did not appear to be very warlike, possessing a limited arsenal of stone-tipped spears, arrows, and daggers or axes. What fascinated about these shepherd and farmer tribes at the dawn of civilization was their exceptionally rich spiritual and artistic world, evidenced by numerous idols and spectacular ceramics. Genetically, these populations were a mix of indigenous west European hunter-gatherer tribes overlaid by populations of the first European farmers mainly coming from Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) or the Aegean region. Their knowledge of metallurgy was very limited, restricted in the Chalcolithic period to the use of copper but not on a large scale. However, 5000 years ago, these civilizations vanished in flames. Archaeological research in many sites reveals a violent cessation of habitation, marked by intense fires. Death brought by tall, fair-skinned, violent, and predatory warriors Besides an epidemic that had plagued the overcrowded and unsanitary neolithic mega-settlements, the destruction of the great European agrarian civilizations is linked to the appearance at Europe’s frontiers of extremely violent and highly skilled warriors. They were carriers of the Yamnaya culture, originating somewhere in the Caucasus region, southern Russia, spreading across the North Pontic steppes and northern Iran. The people of the Yamnaya culture were nomadic herders who, as Martin Trautmann shows in his work “First bioanthropological evidence for Yamnaya horsemanship,” managed to domesticate the horse. Additionally, they were knowledgeable in metallurgy, particularly in crafting bronze weapons. They moved swiftly, documented to use ox-drawn wagons, both two-wheeled and four-wheeled. They buried their dead in pits. In fact, Yamnaya means precisely that, “the culture of pits.” For important figures of the tribe, renowned warriors or chieftains, mounds called kurgans were erected above the pits. They rarely practiced agriculture, settling on riverbanks when spending extended periods in one place, fortifying their settlements. Otherwise, they led a nomadic lifestyle. Artisans held a special status in the Yamnaya world, with metal objects found in large quantities in elite graves. Based on discovered male skeletons, Yamnaya warriors were tall, fair-skinned, likely with blond or reddish hair. Primarily, the Yamnaya were highly martial peoples, possessing numerous military advantages, from their bronze axes to mounted combat and physical strength. In contrast, neolithic European populations were shorter, darker-skinned, with brown hair. Moreover, they lacked a culture of war and did not excel in metallurgy, relying on stone weapons. Yamnaya probably also relied on their diet. Unlike European neolithic tribes, they were lactose tolerant and consumed a diet primarily based on milk, meat, and other dairy products. “It seems they mostly ate meat and dairy products,” says specialist Kristian Kristiansen from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. This Yamnaya tribes were extremely violent, as evidenced by archaeological and genetic findings, likely being the most brutal population ever to reach Europe. A continental genocide Once set in motion towards European territories, the Yamnaya warriors could not be stopped. Agricultural communities were easy prey. Weakened by epidemics and lacking advanced military technology compared to the Yamnaya, the shorter old European farmers succumbed to the invaders. More and more specialists attribute the devastating destruction of the majority of great neolithic settlements, from the Danubian region to even the neolithic tribes of Britain, including the builders of Stonehenge, to this invasive warfare. Genetic and archaeological studies reveal a true extermination war. Effectively, the genes of neolithic European men vanished. Most likely, the Yamnaya warriors exterminated the men of each community and retained some of the women. Danish specialists were shocked to find nearly nothing of the genetic structure of the Danish people today from their neolithic ancestors but mostly from the Yamnaya culture. “It was such a rapid population change, essentially without descendants of the predecessors,” noted paleoecologist Anne Birgitte Nielsen from Lund University. Interestingly, genetic and anatomical studies on discovered Yamnaya skeletons show that those moving westward were exclusively men. It was a full-fledged military invasion, the first in European history on such a scale. They likely roamed the continent in search of new pastures, but they undeniably traversed it from end to end, leaving fire and bronze axes in their wake, riding their small steppe horses. As results from several interdisciplinary studies emerge, Kristian Kristinsen concludes that it was a continental genocide, with Yamnaya populations exterminating at least the male part of the old European farming tribes. “I have become increasingly convinced that it was a kind of genocide,” says the Swedish researcher. Indeed, as shown by the genetic characteristics of western and northern European peoples, with fair skin, light-colored hair, and eyes, typical of the Yamnaya culture, it appears that the ‘brunette’ genes of the early European farmers were almost lost in central-western and northern Europe. The forebears of European peoples Specialists argue that this Yamnaya invasion actually laid the genetic foundations of European peoples, even up to today. “We have shown that the Bronze Age was a very dynamic period, involving massive migrations of populations largely responsible for shaping the demographic structure of today’s Europe and Asia,” as stated in the article “Population genomics of Bronze Age Eurasia” in the journal “Nature.” Genetic analyses on the Y chromosome of present-day European peoples show that haplogroups R1a/R1b brought by the Yamnaya culture dominate over half of the modern European population. These analyses reveal two things: the near extermination of neolithic farmer populations and that the Yamnaya tribes are, in fact, the primary ancestors of today’s Europeans. Maria Gimbutas identified the Yamnaya culture with Proto-Indo-Europeans, and David Anthony pointed out that, linguistically, carriers of the Yamnaya culture were the ancestors of European languages. In conclusion, all of Europe’s genetics were altered and shaped by this devastating invasion of Yamnaya warriors, who through genocide gave rise to European peoples.
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