Rosa Rubicondior: Refuting Creationism - Population Collapse And Migration in Neolithic Europe

The researchers have conducted DNA analyses of the skeletons from a burial site like this one in France and found traces of several different diseases.

Photo: Getty Images / Michal Boubin

Stone age population collapse revealed by DNA study in France – University of Copenhagen

A paper published in Nature Ecology & Evolution by a large international team led by researchers at the University of Copenhagen, reports evidence that simply should not exist if the Bible creation myth, and its later global genocidal flood myth, had any basis in reality. The evidence shows a significant population collapse among Neolithic farming communities in what is now northern France about 5,000 years ago, followed by migration into the depopulated area by people with strong genetic links to southern France and the Iberian Peninsula.

The study is based on ancient DNA from 132 individuals buried in the allée sépulcrale at Bury, a large megalithic tomb about 50 kilometres north of Paris. The site was used during two distinct burial phases, separated by a hiatus associated with the wider Neolithic decline around 3000 BC. The researchers found that the people buried before and after this decline were not simply later descendants of the same local population, but belonged to largely discontinuous genetic groups. In other words, this was not merely a change in burial custom; it was a major population turnover.

The problems this presents for creationism are multiple. First, there is the evidence of established farming populations in northern Europe at a time when, according to Young Earth Creationist chronology, the world had only recently been magicked into existence. Secondly, there is the embarrassing survival of archaeological and genetic evidence which, under the same mythology, should either have been destroyed in a global flood a few centuries later, or buried beneath a distinctive, worldwide layer of fossil-bearing flood silt — a layer which is conspicuous by its absence. Thirdly, there is the evidence that the human population of Europe had already diversified into regionally distinct genetic populations by about 3000 BC, with enough structure for ancient DNA to distinguish northern French and German-like Neolithic farmers from later migrants with strong southern French and Iberian affinities.

None of this, of course, will cause creationists to reconsider the mythology. We can confidently predict that it will instead be treated as another test of faith: one more opportunity to demonstrate the strength of their determination never to let evidence change their minds. In creationist apologetics, refusal to learn is often mistaken for intellectual victory. The more compelling the evidence, the greater the achievement in ignoring it.

The reason for the population decline is not yet clear. The human remains contained genetic traces of pathogens, including the plague bacterium, Yersinia pestis, and the louse-borne relapsing fever bacterium, Borrelia recurrentis, but the evidence does not support plague as the sole cause of the collapse. The more likely explanation is a combination of disease, environmental stress, demographic disruption and social breakdown. Earlier burials contained multiple generations from the same extended families, suggesting stable, kin-based communities. Later burials were more selective and were dominated by a single male lineage, indicating a marked change in social organisation after the population turnover.

This adds to the growing picture of the so-called Neolithic decline as a widespread phenomenon affecting much of northern and western Europe, not just Scandinavia and northern Germany. It also offers a plausible explanation for the abrupt disappearance of megalithic tomb-building and other monumental traditions across parts of Europe at about the same time. The people who built those monuments did not merely change their minds about architecture; in places such as the Paris Basin, the population itself appears to have collapsed and been replaced.

The Neolithic Decline and Ancient DNA. The “Neolithic decline” refers to a widespread population downturn that affected parts of Europe around 3000 BC, after several millennia in which farming communities had expanded, cleared land, built settlements and, in many regions, constructed megalithic tombs and monuments. Archaeologists had already recognised signs of disruption in settlement patterns, land use and burial traditions, but ancient DNA has now made it possible to test whether these changes reflected cultural change within the same populations, or the disappearance and replacement of populations.

The study of the megalithic tomb at Bury, about 50 kilometres north of Paris, provides a striking example. Researchers analysed ancient DNA from 132 individuals buried there during two distinct phases of use, separated by a period of decline around 3000 BC. The results showed that the people buried before and after the decline were not simply members of the same local community continuing through time. They belonged to genetically different groups, indicating a major population turnover in the Paris Basin.

This is where ancient DNA is especially powerful. Bones and teeth can preserve fragments of DNA for thousands of years. When carefully extracted and sequenced, those fragments can reveal biological sex, close kinship, ancestry, genetic continuity or discontinuity between groups, and sometimes traces of ancient pathogens. In this case, the DNA showed that the earlier burials included extended kin groups from the local Neolithic farming population, while the later burials were associated with people who had stronger genetic links to southern France and the Iberian Peninsula.

The cause of the decline was probably not a single event. The Bury remains contained traces of pathogens, including Yersinia pestis, the bacterium that causes plague, and Borrelia recurrentis, which causes louse-borne relapsing fever. However, the evidence does not support a simple “plague wiped them out” explanation. Disease may have been one factor among several, including environmental stress, demographic decline, forest regrowth, disruption of farming systems and the breakdown of existing social structures.

The significance is that ancient DNA turns what might once have looked like a vague archaeological pattern into direct evidence of human population history. The people who built and used these monuments were not mythical figures from a recent creation story, nor were their remains part of a single, global flood deposit. They were real, regionally distinct Neolithic communities, living, dying, declining and being replaced in ways that can be reconstructed from their own DNA.

The paper in Nature Ecology & Evolution was accompanied by a press release from the University of Copenhagen's Globe Institute:

Stone age population collapse revealed by DNA study in France
DNA analyses of ancient skeletons show that a Stone Age population in present-day France collapsed around 5,000 years ago and was replaced by people migrating from southern Europe, according to a new international study.

About the study

132 individuals analysed
Burial site: Bury, France
Dating: c. 3200–2450 BC
Read the full study here

An international research team led by the University of Copenhagen has revealed that one of France's largest Stone Age burial sites contains traces of a significant population collapse – and subsequent immigration from southern Europe. The find redefines the understanding of the so-called 'Neolithic decline', a period when large parts of Northern Europe's population suddenly declined.

The research is based on genetic analyses of 132 individuals buried in a large megalithic tomb near Bury, about 50 kilometres north of Paris. The site was used during two distinct periods separated by a population decline around 3000 BC.

Researchers found that the two groups buried before and after the decline were not genetically related, pointing to a major population turnover.

We see a clear genetic break between the two periods. The earlier group resembles Stone Age farming populations from northern France and Germany, while the later group shows strong genetic links to southern France and the Iberian Peninsula.

Assistant professor Frederik Valeur Seersholm, co-lead author
Section for GeoGenetics
Globe Institute
University of Copenhagen
Copenhagen, Denmark.

The findings suggest a sharp reduction in the local population followed by the arrival of new groups from the south.

Disease and high mortality

Using a DNA method that analyses all genetic material preserved in bone, the researchers detected traces of ancient pathogens, including the plague bacterium Yersinia pestis and louse-bourne relapsing fever caused by Borrelia recurrentis.

We can confirm that plague was present, but the evidence does not support it as the sole cause of the population collapse. The decline was likely driven by a combination of disease, environmental stress and other disruptive events.

Associate professor Martin Sikora, co-senior author
Globe Institute
University of Copenhagen
Copenhagen, Denmark.

Archaeological analysis of the skeletal remains shows unusually high mortality in the earlier burial phase, particularly among children and young people.

The demographic pattern is a strong indicator of crisis.

Laure Salanova, co-author
Centre national de recherche scientifique(CNRS)
France.

Shift in social organisation

The DNA data also reaffirm a marked change in social structure.

In the earlier phase, multiple generations from the same extended families were buried together, suggesting tightly knit communities. In the later phase, burials were more selective and dominated by a single male lineage, pointing to a different form of organisation.

This indicates that the population change was accompanied by a shift in how society was structured.

Assistant professor Frederik Valeur Seersholm.

A wider European pattern

The findings add to growing evidence that the so-called Neolithic decline affected much of northern and western Europe, not only Scandinavia and northern Germany. The study also offers a possible explanation for why the construction of megalithic tombs and other large stone monuments ended across Europe around the same time.
We now see that end of these monumental constructions coincides with the disappearance of the population that built them.

Assistant professor Frederik Valeur Seersholm.

Publication:
Seersholm, F.V., Ramsøe, A., Cao, J. et al.
Population discontinuity in the Paris Basin linked to evidence of the Neolithic decline.
Nat Ecol Evol 10, 677–688 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-026-03027-z

Abstract
At the transition between the third and the fourth millennium BC, there is evidence for a population decline concurrent with the end of megalith building across continental northwestern Europe. In Scandinavia this ‘Neolithic decline’ is followed by a massive population turnover, as farming communities disappeared and were replaced by people with steppe ancestry. In western Europe, however, ancestry associated with Neolithic farmers persisted beyond the Neolithic decline, and it remains unclear whether a similar demographic replacement occurred. To investigate the population dynamics around the Neolithic decline in present-day France, we sequenced 132 ancient genomes from the allée sépulcrale at Bury. Located in the Paris area, Bury spans two burial phases separated by a hiatus with no burial activity: one phase directly preceding the Neolithic decline in the late fourth millennium BC, ending around 3000 BC, and a later phase some time after the Neolithic decline in the early- to mid-third millennium BC. Our analysis revealed that the two burial phases at Bury represented largely discontinuous genetic groups of a markedly different social organization as inferred from three large pedigrees. We show that the difference between the two burial phases can be linked to a northwards movement of Neolithic ancestry from the south, which only spread into the Paris Basin after the Neolithic decline, at around 2900 BC. Together with genetic evidence of various infectious diseases in the dataset, such as Yersinia pestis and Borrelia recurrentis, as well as evidence for forest regrowth between the two phases, these findings detail a population turnover at the end of the fourth millennium BC, offering a possible explanation for the cessation of megalith building.

Fig. 1: Overview of the Bury grave.

a, Location of Bury and similar sites with genetic data available, with the geographical extent of the Paris Basin highlighted. b, Schematic overview of the Bury grave during Phase 1. p.slab, porthole slab. c, Schematic overview of the Bury grave during Phase 2 (adapted from ref. ¹², De Gruyter). Basemap data from Natural Earth (https://www.naturalearthdata.com/).

Fig. 2: Genetic results from Bury.

a, Kernel density calibration curves for all radiocarbon-dated individuals included in the genetic program in Phase 1 (brown) and Phase 2 (teal). The stippled line represents the median of the group. b, Number of males and females buried in the different use phases with coverage >×0.01. NA represents individuals where sex could not be reliably determined. c, PCA showing the genetic ancestry of the samples from Bury with coverage >×0.01 (in colour) in relation to published west Eurasian ancient genomes (grey).

Fig. 3: The spread of Neolithic ancestry from Iberia.

Map of genomes from western Europe coloured by the major modelled ancestry group in each individual, split by time period. Grey (‘no major ancestry’) represents individuals where no ancestry group makes up over 60% of the total ancestry. Shaded areas represent our interpretation of the geographical spread of steppe ancestry and Neolithic Iberians. Basemap data from Natural Earth (https://www.naturalearthdata.com/).

Fig. 4: Familial relations in Phases 1 and 2.

a, Pedigree 1.A and 1.B from Phase 1. Double black lines indicate mating between related individuals. The stippled lines in a and b represent unknown second degree relationships (avuncular: relationship between uncle/aunt and nephew/niece). b, Pedigree 2.A from Phase 2. c, Bar plot depicting the number of individuals within each pedigree group compared to unrelated individuals, stratified into phases. For visual clarity, each pedigree group is abbreviated with a single letter (A, B, C and so on), where, for example, ‘A’ in Phase 1 corresponds to ‘pedigree 1.A’, while ‘B’ in Phase 2 represents ‘pedigree 2.B’, and so on (Supplementary Note 2.2, Extended Data Figs. 6 and 7 and Supplementary Table 2).

Once again, a careful scientific study has revealed a coherent and evidence-based account of real human history: populations expanding, declining, fragmenting, migrating and replacing one another across a changing European landscape. There is no need for magic, no need for a mythical ancestral couple, no need for a global flood, and no sign of the thick, universal layer of flood debris that such a catastrophe would inevitably have left behind. Instead, there are datable burials, recoverable DNA, identifiable kinship groups, regional ancestry, pathogens, migration and social change.

The picture that emerges is not of a world newly created a few thousand years ago, populated by the immediate descendants of a single family who had recently survived a genocidal flood. It is of deep, complex human history, in which Neolithic farming communities had already spread across Europe, developed regional identities, built monumental tombs, suffered demographic decline and, in some regions, were replaced by incoming populations from elsewhere. That is history written not in sacred mythology, but in bones, teeth, genomes and archaeology.

Creationism has no explanatory role here. It predicts none of this, explains none of it, and can accommodate it only by denial, misrepresentation or the familiar retreat into unfalsifiable claims about divine mystery. Science, by contrast, can take a megalithic tomb in northern France and reconstruct, in outline, the lives and relationships of people who died five thousand years ago. It can show when continuity ended, when new people arrived, and how those events fit into a wider pattern across Europe.

That is why studies such as this are so damaging to creationism. They do not merely contradict a detail in Genesis; they reveal an entire human story that Genesis knows nothing about. The evidence is exactly what we should expect if humans have a long, natural, evolutionary and cultural history — and nothing like what we should expect if the Bible’s creation and flood myths were true.

Advertisement

Amazon