Ancient DNA analysis has revealed strong Corinthian ancestry among the earliest inhabitants of Amvrakia, a Greek colony founded more than 2,600 years ago in northwestern Greece. The findings offer new evidence of migration from Corinth while raising questions about the genetic contribution of local communities to the ancient settlement.
The research, published in Genome Biology, adds genetic evidence to accounts long based on archaeology and historical records. Corinth founded Amvrakia in the second half of the seventh century B.C. beside the Arachthos River in what is now Arta, northwestern Greece.
Researchers sequenced 26 genomes from ancient remains: 15 from Amvrakia, nine from Tenea, a settlement in Corinthian territory, and two from Ammotopos, a nearby Bronze Age site. The remains included bones and teeth from different periods.
Tenea was used to represent Corinth’s population because no genomes from ancient Corinth were available. This comparison tested whether settlers or neighboring communities shaped the city’s earliest genetic profile.
Ancient DNA links Corinthian ancestry in Amvrakia to its founding
Among people buried during the Archaic period, two of three Amvrakia individuals shared inherited DNA segments with both Tenea individuals. Those segments pointed to common ancestors roughly 110 to 170 years earlier, aligning with the colony’s founding in the seventh century B.C.
The finding supports accounts of people moving from Corinth’s region to populate Amvrakia. In the paper, researchers described the colony’s beginnings as showing the “major genetic contribution of the metropolis.”
They also examined whether local populations contributed to the early colony. They compared Amvrakia’s DNA with two people buried at Ammotopos, about 10 miles north of Arta, in the Late Bronze Age. No direct ancestry from that community was identified among the earliest Amvrakia residents.
Local participation remains possible. The Ammotopos burials were hundreds of years older, and researchers had no comparable genomes from Iron Age western Greece. Similarities among neighboring populations could also make their contributions difficult to distinguish.
Amvrakia kept genetic continuity as its political ties changed
More broadly, the data linked Amvrakia and Tenea to earlier populations across Greece, indicating regional ancestry despite the lack of a proven Ammotopos link to the founders.
Across the Classical and Hellenistic periods, Amvrakia’s genetic profile remained broadly consistent with its Archaic population. The Hellenistic sample showed somewhat greater diversity, while still retaining ties to earlier residents.
The shift accompanied political change. Amvrakia came under Macedonian rule in 338 B.C. and became the capital of the Kingdom of Epirus under Pyrrhus in 294 B.C. By the Hellenistic period, researchers found no shared inherited DNA stretches between Amvrakia and Tenea.
Together, the DNA evidence traces Corinthian ancestry through Amvrakia’s history, even as its political ties changed.
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