Scientists have uncovered genetic evidence that Stone Age Europeans voyaged by sea to Africa, providing the strongest proof yet of prehistoric seafaring between Europe and North Africa.
A New Study published in Nature analyzed the DNA of Ancient Individuals from Present-Day Tunisia and Northeastern Algeria, showing Early Humans Crossed the Mediterranean Thousands of Years Ago, Long Before Written History.
The findings reveal that some populations in the region more than 8,000 years ago carried genetic traits linked to European hunter-gatherers. The discovery supports the idea that humans traveled across the Mediterranean long before written history.
Genetic clues to early migration
Researchers examined the remains of nine ancient individuals from archaeological sites in the eastern Maghreb, dating between 6,000 and over 10,000 years ago.
The study, led by Harvard Medical School geneticist David Reich and conducted in collaboration with researchers from Algeria, Tunisia and Europe, aimed to fill a gap in knowledge about early North African populations.
“There’s not been much of a North African story,” says David Reich, a population geneticist at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts, who co-led the study. “It was a huge hole.”
The DNA analysis found that local hunter-gatherers in the region carried genetic traits similar to ancient populations from Morocco.
However, unlike western North Africa—where European farmers arriving through the Strait of Gibraltar largely replaced local ancestry—Tunisia and Algeria maintained their indigenous genetic makeup long after the arrival of European and Middle Eastern farming communities.
A particularly striking discovery came from a man found at Djebba, Tunisia. Around 6% of his genetic material was linked to European hunter-gatherers, suggesting that his ancestors mixed with Europeans roughly 8,500 years ago.
A woman from the same site also showed traces of this genetic connection, pointing to early contact between populations on both sides of the Mediterranean.
Cultural exchange and seafaring evidence
Archaeological discoveries have long indicated that early humans in Europe and North Africa interacted. Tools and technologies, such as the pressure technique—a method of shaping stone tools with controlled force—spread across the region.
Additional evidence comes from the discovery of obsidian, a volcanic glass used for crafting tools, in Tunisia. The material was traced to Pantelleria, a small island in the Strait of Sicily, reinforcing the idea that trade and travel linked the northern and southern Mediterranean shores.
Although no boat remains from this era have been found in North Africa, dugout canoes of a similar age discovered in Italy’s Bracciano Lake suggest that early Mediterranean populations possessed the skills necessary for seafaring. While there is no direct link between these vessels and human migration, they provide evidence that early navigation was possible.
The study also revealed a second wave of migration several centuries after European farmers arrived. Around 6,800 years ago, people with genetic ties to the Levant—modern-day Southwest Asia—settled in the eastern Maghreb.
These early pastoralists likely introduced domesticated sheep and goats, marking the gradual shift from hunting and gathering to herding in the region.
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
