Scientists JUST Unearthed a 17,000-Year-Old CRO-MAGNON Mystery [18:00]

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0:00 · Who killed a crowagnan who lived in
0:02 · Italy 17,000 years ago? Let's find out.
0:08 · In the shadows of the southern alpine
0:10 · foothills of northern Italy, inside a
0:12 · shallow grave beneath a rock shelter
0:14 · known as Riparo Tagente, a man once lay
0:17 · undisturbed for nearly 17,000 years. His
0:21 · life, death, and rediscovery would come
0:24 · to reveal one of the most haunting and
0:26 · earliest known cases of violent
0:28 · intergroup conflict in prehistoric
0:30 · Europe. This man known today as
0:33 · Tagliente 1 or Tagliente man not only
0:36 · bore the genetic signature of a
0:38 · population that would later dominate the
0:40 · gene pool of post-glacial Europe, but he
0:43 · also carried in his bones the story of
0:45 · his untimely death at the hands of rival
0:49 · humans.
0:51 · Tagliente man's partial skeleton was
0:54 · unearthed in the Riparro Tagliente rock
0:56 · shelter. For decades, his remains sat in
1:00 · collections largely forgotten until a
1:02 · resurgence of interest in ancient DNA
1:04 · and trauma analysis led scientists to
1:06 · take a closer look. His preserved lower
1:09 · limbs, feur, and tibia showed peculiar
1:12 · incisions that would soon tell a much
1:14 · darker tale than anyone had previously
1:16 · imagined.
1:17 · Recent 3D microscopy and scanning
1:20 · electron microscopy analysis revealed
1:22 · that these incisions were projectile
1:24 · impact marks caused by flint tipped
1:27 · weapons thrown with considerable force.
1:30 · Some projectiles had struck him from
1:31 · behind, others from the front. One had
1:34 · landed perilously close to his femoral
1:36 · artery, the fatal blow. The absence of
1:39 · healing around the wounds confirms that
1:41 · he died shortly after the attack.
1:45 · Researchers concluded that Tagliente
1:47 · man's death was not the result of an
1:49 · accident or animal attack. It was
1:51 · targeted violence, a form of human
1:53 · onhuman conflict. What kind of accident
1:56 · does this? Asked bioarchchaeologist
1:58 · Vitali Sparello. It was probably some
2:00 · kind of an ambush. The lesions were not
2:03 · butchery marks, nor signs of ritual
2:05 · defleing, but consistent with the types
2:08 · of wounds inflicted by fastmoving
2:10 · projectiles used in intergroup conflict
2:13 · during the late upper Paleolithic.
2:16 · The multiple directions of the wounds
2:17 · indicate either more than one asalent or
2:20 · a coordinated ambush. This is among the
2:23 · earliest direct evidence of humans
2:24 · killing one another at a distance using
2:27 · weapons of war.
2:29 · The attackers were another group of
2:31 · hunter gatherers competing for
2:32 · territory. As the glacias receded, a new
2:35 · land opened after the last glacial
2:38 · maximum Europe.
2:41 · Tagleante man was a young adult male
2:44 · crow magnan between 22 and 30 years old
2:46 · when he died. Although initially
2:48 · considered distinct from a mandible
2:50 · found at the same site, advanced
2:52 · paleoggenomic analysis revealed that
2:54 · they were in fact the same individual.
2:57 · The differing radiocarbon dates between
2:59 · the two skeletal elements, one from the
3:02 · feur and the other from a merri to
3:05 · varying dietary signals and minor
3:07 · contamination from conservation
3:08 · treatments.
3:10 · Tagentim man's genome places him within
3:13 · the villa genetic cluster which arose in
3:16 · Italy shortly after the last glacial
3:18 · maximum. This cluster is distinct from
3:20 · the earlier Gravitian Vestoniche cluster
3:23 · and shows strong genetic affinities to
3:25 · the Balkans. His maternal Y chromosome
3:28 · belonged to Hapler group I2, a lineage
3:31 · that rose to prominence among European
3:33 · hunter gatherers and was especially
3:35 · common during the Mesolithic. His
3:37 · maternal mitochondrial DNA was assigned
3:39 · to Hapler group U2, a lineage that also
3:42 · proliferated during the Paleolithic and
3:45 · was common in upper Paleolithic Italy.
3:47 · He bore no relationship to Otie, the
3:50 · Iceman, who was also killed in the
3:52 · Italian Alps by the arrow some 12,000
3:54 · years later. The term Cro-Magnon remains
3:57 · a valid and scientifically useful
3:59 · designation because it refers
4:01 · specifically to a population of early
4:02 · modern humans in Ice Age Europe whose
4:06 · skeletal remains exhibit robust features
4:08 · that distinguish them from both
4:09 · Neanderthalss and later Homo sapiens
4:12 · populations. The decision by some
4:14 · anthropologists to abandon the term was
4:17 · rooted in an outdated belief in the
4:19 · strict replacement model that modern
4:21 · humans were entirely separate species
4:23 · that did not interbreed with
4:24 · Neanderthalss.
4:26 · This view has since been overturned by
4:28 · overwhelming genetic evidence showing
4:31 · that interbreeding did occur. By
4:34 · discarding the term Cro-Magnon,
4:36 · researchers erased a critical label for
4:38 · the distinctive early European upper
4:40 · Paleolithic population that helps us
4:42 · trace the hybridization and
4:44 · diversification of modern humans.
4:47 · Reinstating the term acknowledges both
4:49 · the historical significance of these
4:51 · fossils and the complex evolutionary
4:53 · tapestry that shaped modern human
4:56 · ancestry.
4:58 · The Villa Bruna cluster represents a
5:00 · significant demographic turnover in
5:02 · post-glacial Europe. After the coldest
5:05 · phase of the ice age around 21,000 years
5:08 · ago, southern and eastern populations
5:11 · carrying this ancestry moved into the
5:13 · Italian peninsula and replaced or
5:15 · absorbed previous Gravitian groups. The
5:18 · genetic trail indicates a corridor
5:20 · running from the Balkans into northern
5:22 · Italy and eventually across Western
5:24 · Europe. The arrival of this group likely
5:27 · coincided with profound cultural changes
5:29 · such as shifts in lithic technology and
5:32 · burial customs.
5:34 · Although low coverage genome data limits
5:37 · the certainty of specific phenotype
5:39 · reconstructions, individuals from the
5:41 · Villa Bruna cluster such as Tagentean
5:44 · typically carried a mix of ancestral and
5:46 · derived pigmentation traits. Based on
5:49 · related genomes from the same cluster
5:51 · and time period, it's highly probable
5:53 · that Tagli man had light colored eyes,
5:57 · possibly blue or green, and dark hair
5:59 · with skin pigmentation intermediate
6:02 · between that of earlier gravitian
6:04 · Europeans and lighter skinned meolithic
6:06 · populations. The SLC 24A5 and SLC 45 A2
6:12 · alles associated with light-kinn
6:15 · pigmentation were not yet widespread,
6:17 · although they begin to show up in
6:19 · epigetian individuals. His ancestry also
6:22 · suggests a reduced Neanderthal component
6:25 · compared to older European populations.
6:29 · Tagleimman's bones preserve evidence of
6:31 · his diet through stable isotope
6:33 · analysis. Compared to contemporaries, he
6:36 · consumed a substantial amount of aquatic
6:38 · protein from freshwater fish. This
6:40 · contrasts with the largely terrestrial
6:43 · diet of other epigetian individuals,
6:45 · including earlier upper paleolithic
6:47 · humans. His consumption of aquatic foods
6:50 · may have been due to seasonal or
6:52 · environmental factors or reflect
6:54 · specific subsistence strategies used by
6:57 · his group. Interestingly, this dietary
6:59 · signature also helped clarify apparent
7:02 · inconsistencies in radiocarbon dating.
7:05 · While one sample dated him slightly
7:07 · younger than another, the discrepancy
7:10 · was not due to the presence of two
7:11 · individuals, but rather to variations in
7:14 · the parts of the skeleton sampled and
7:16 · their collagen turnover rates.
7:19 · The identity of Taglante man's attackers
7:21 · remains a mystery, but given the genomic
7:24 · and archaeological context, researchers
7:26 · believe the violence stemmed from
7:28 · intergroup conflict during a period of
7:30 · territorial expansion and migration. As
7:33 · glacias retreated and fertile valleys
7:35 · reopened, human groups began
7:37 · recolonizing the Alps and competing for
7:39 · access to game, water sources, and
7:41 · shelter. The technology used flint
7:44 · tipped projectile weapons strongly
7:46 · suggests organized violence and possibly
7:49 · planned raiding or ambush scenarios.
7:51 · Given the genetic homogeneity of
7:53 · epigettian groups across Italy, the
7:56 · attackers may have belonged to a similar
7:57 · gene pool, but a different band.
8:00 · Differences in territory, access to
8:02 · highland hunting grounds, or personal
8:04 · disputes could have escalated into
8:06 · violence.
8:08 · Alternatively, remnants of Gravitian
8:10 · groups possibly pushed to marginal areas
8:12 · by the incoming epigitian wave may have
8:15 · resisted displacement. While there's
8:17 · limited genetic evidence of coexistence,
8:20 · archaeological layers suggest that some
8:23 · Gravettian technologies lingered. This
8:25 · could mean the attack was part of a
8:27 · larger pattern of demographic
8:29 · replacement and conflict, a clash
8:31 · between new and old inhabitants of the
8:33 · Italian peninsula. While the attacker's
8:36 · genetic identity cannot be directly
8:37 · known, the context of projectile trauma,
8:40 · the lack of healing, and the targeting
8:43 · of major arteries all point to
8:45 · deliberate practiced violence, a warning
8:47 · of the darker side of prehistoric human
8:49 · expansion.
8:52 · Tagliente man's burial was careful, even
8:54 · ceremonial. He was laid supine in a
8:57 · shallow pit with his arms outstretched
8:59 · and his legs covered by slabs of stone.
9:01 · One of the stones bore a carved image.
9:04 · What appears to be a lion and an orox's
9:06 · horn. Red ochre and a pierced shell were
9:09 · also found near the body. Despite the
9:11 · violent nature of his death, his
9:13 · community ensured a respectful burial.
9:16 · This suggests that Tagalente man held a
9:19 · valued role, possibly as a hunter or
9:20 · warrior. The presence of animal
9:23 · symbolism might hint at social or
9:25 · spiritual beliefs, perhaps a connection
9:27 · to toemic animals or clan identity.
9:31 · Tagliente man lived during a period of
9:33 · profound transformation ecologically,
9:35 · genetically and socially. As the ice age
9:38 · waned, new groups poured into the
9:40 · Italian peninsula from the Balkans,
9:42 · bearing fresh genetic lineages and new
9:44 · cultural traditions. He belonged to one
9:47 · of these groups, the Villa Bruna
9:48 · cluster, whose genes would later become
9:51 · dominant across Europe. But his death,
9:53 · swift, bloody, and territorial, reveals
9:56 · the cost of human migration, and the
9:58 · tensions that brewed in the tight
10:00 · corridors of Europe's rebounding
10:02 · wilderness. In death, Tagliente man
10:05 · became more than an individual. He
10:07 · became a witness, his wounds a record,
10:10 · his DNA a signature, his bones a
10:12 · testimony. His is the earliest murder on
10:15 · Italian soil we can now reconstruct in
10:17 · detail. a man shaped by his lineage, his
10:20 · environment, and ultimately by the blade
10:23 · of another.
10:27 · As the last glacial maximum began to
10:29 · ease around 20,000 years ago, the icy
10:32 · grip that had covered vast swaths of
10:34 · Europe started to release its hold. This
10:37 · environmental shift triggered one of the
10:39 · most transformative periods in
10:41 · prehistoric human history, a time marked
10:44 · by the recolonization of deglaciated
10:46 · lands, the rise of new cultural
10:48 · traditions, and the spread of novel
10:50 · genetic lineages.
10:52 · At the heart of this transition stood
10:54 · the epigetian culture and its genetic
10:57 · counterpart, the VA Bruna cluster, which
11:00 · together helped define the human
11:02 · landscape of Europe in the millennia
11:04 · that followed. The epigetian tradition
11:07 · emerged as a successor to the Gravettian
11:09 · culture around 24,000 years ago and
11:13 · persisted across southern and eastern
11:15 · Europe well into the early hollesene. It
11:18 · flourished in regions such as the
11:19 · Italian peninsula, the Balkans, and
11:21 · Eastern Europe, often occupying rock
11:24 · shelters and river valleys that had
11:25 · become accessible as glacias retreated.
11:28 · Rather than a singular unified culture,
11:31 · the epigetian represents a flexible
11:33 · evolving toolkit and symbolic tradition
11:36 · adopted by scattered bands of hunter
11:38 · gatherers navigating a rapidly changing
11:41 · ice age world.
11:44 · These groups were expert hunters,
11:46 · particularly of red deer, ibex, and
11:48 · reindeer, and were adept at exploiting a
11:50 · wide range of resources. Their toolkit
11:52 · reveals continuity with gravitian blade
11:54 · and backed point technology, but also a
11:57 · move towards smaller, more adaptable
11:59 · microlithic tools. Flint projectile
12:02 · points, often finally retouched,
12:04 · indicate a growing reliance on distance
12:05 · weapons such as spears and perhaps even
12:08 · bows. The use of bone and antler for
12:11 · barbed points and harpoons also suggests
12:14 · a diversification of hunting methods.
12:17 · Epigravetian burials reflect the
12:19 · symbolic complexity of these societies.
12:22 · Individuals were often interred with
12:23 · grave goods such as ochre, decorated
12:26 · stones, flint tools, and personal
12:28 · ornaments made of shells and animal
12:30 · teeth. Engraved art, sometimes depicting
12:33 · animals or abstract figures, suggests
12:36 · continuity with earlier upper
12:37 · Paleolithic spiritual and aesthetic
12:40 · traditions, but also localized
12:42 · expressions unique to this period.
12:45 · Sites like Riparo Tagliente in northern
12:48 · Italy, Grotto Paglichi in the south, and
12:51 · Sante Theodoro in Sicily demonstrate the
12:53 · wide geographic range of the epigetian
12:56 · and its adaptability to alpine, coastal
12:59 · and inland environments. These
13:02 · archaeological finds reveal that even in
13:04 · the cold and unstable world of the late
13:06 · pleaene, human culture was thriving,
13:09 · dynamic, and deeply embedded in both
13:12 · landscape and memory.
13:15 · The most profound transformation
13:17 · associated with the epigetian period
13:19 · came not just from technology or art but
13:22 · from a sweeping genetic shift. Around
13:25 · 17,000 years ago a new genetic lineage
13:28 · appears in the Italian peninsula. The
13:30 · Villa Bruna cluster named after the
13:33 · Villa Bruna one skeleton found in
13:34 · northern Italy and dated to about 14,000
13:37 · years ago. This lineage quickly spread
13:40 · across much of Europe, replacing or
13:42 · mixing with the earlier Gravettian
13:44 · derived populations like the Vestonichi
13:46 · cluster. Individuals such as Tagente 2
13:50 · from Riparo Tagliente in Venetto
13:52 · represent the earliest known instances
13:54 · of the Villa Bruna genetic profile in
13:56 · southern Europe. His genome dated to
14:00 · around 17,000 years ago exhibited strong
14:02 · affinities with populations from the
14:04 · Balkans. This suggests that the Villa
14:07 · Bruna cluster entered Europe from the
14:09 · southeast following a corridor along the
14:11 · Adriatic coast or south of the Alps as
14:14 · the glacias retreated and new ecological
14:16 · zones opened. The spread of Villa Bruna
14:19 · ancestry was not gradual and local. It
14:22 · was rapid and expansive. Within just a
14:25 · few thousand years, this lineage would
14:26 · become the dominant genetic profile
14:28 · among European hunter gatherers. Its
14:31 · characteristics included mitochondrial
14:33 · Hapler groups such as U5 and the Y
14:36 · chromosome Hapler group I2 both of which
14:39 · became prominent in meolithic and even
14:41 · some early Neolithic populations across
14:43 · Europe. The Villa Bruner genome also
14:46 · shows signs of reduced Neanderthal
14:48 · ancestry suggesting either demographic
14:51 · dilution through interbreeding with
14:52 · newer modern human populations or
14:54 · selective pressures that purged archaic
14:57 · genes.
14:58 · Furthermore, this cluster marks one of
15:00 · the first appearances of certain
15:02 · pigmentation genes associated with
15:04 · lighter skin and eye color. Though these
15:06 · traits were still variable and not yet
15:08 · fixed in the population,
15:11 · the convergence of the epigetian
15:13 · cultural tradition and the Villa Bruna
15:16 · genetic lineage was not coincidental. It
15:19 · represents the fusion of migration,
15:21 · adaptation, and environmental
15:23 · opportunity. As new groups moved into
15:26 · the Italian peninsula and beyond, they
15:28 · brought not only their DNA, but also
15:30 · their knowledge, tools, and symbolic
15:33 · systems. While they inherited aspects of
15:36 · local Gravettian traditions, the
15:38 · innovations they introduced, especially
15:39 · in projectile technology and regional
15:41 · adaptation, reflect a distinct cultural
15:44 · identity. Moreover, the spread of Villa
15:46 · Brununa ancestry coincided with the
15:48 · emergence of major cultural and symbolic
15:50 · transitions in Western and Southern
15:52 · Europe. It is during this period that we
15:55 · see increasing evidence of artistic
15:56 · expression, complex burial rituals, and
15:59 · the domestication of the dog, a sign of
16:01 · changing human animal relationships and
16:04 · possibly social structures. The Italian
16:07 · peninsula served as a crucial staging
16:09 · ground for this transformation.
16:11 · Northeastern Italy in particular appears
16:13 · to have been the entry point for the
16:15 · Villa Bruna genetic pulse which then
16:17 · radiated westward into France, northward
16:20 · into the Alps and eastward along the
16:22 · Danube.
16:23 · This migration not only reshaped the
16:25 · genetic makeup of Europe, but also
16:28 · helped knit together previously isolated
16:30 · populations into a more interconnected
16:32 · web of huntergatherer societies.
16:36 · By the time the Mesolithic dawned around
16:38 · 12,000 years ago, the Villa Bruna
16:40 · cluster had left a profound mark on the
16:43 · continent. Its descendants would
16:45 · interact with western huntergatherer
16:47 · groups like the Obercastle cluster,
16:50 · blending their lineages and forming the
16:52 · basis of Europe's post ice age
16:54 · populations.
16:56 · When Neolithic farmers eventually
16:57 · arrived from the near east, it was these
17:00 · Villa Bruner descended hunter gatherers
17:02 · who formed the genetic and cultural
17:04 · substrate of prehistoric Europe. The
17:07 · epigetian culture, meanwhile, serves as
17:10 · a vivid illustration of how human
17:12 · adaptability is expressed not only
17:14 · through tools and survival strategies,
17:16 · but also through art, burial, and
17:18 · belief. Together, the Epigravetian and
17:22 · Villa Bruna cluster offer a window into
17:25 · a continent in transition from cold to
17:28 · warmth, from isolation to expansion, and
17:31 · from one human population to another.
17:34 · This dynamic interplay of genetics and
17:37 · culture in the epigetian villa Bruna
17:39 · nexus stands as one of the most
17:41 · important chapters in the story of how
17:43 · modern Europe came to be. Not merely as
17:46 · a place but as a tapestry of people,
17:48 · memory and legacy.

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--> YouTube-Generated Transcript <--
0:00	·	Who killed a crowagnan who lived in
0:02	·	Italy 17,000 years ago? Let's find out.
0:08	·	In the shadows of the southern alpine
0:10	·	foothills of northern Italy, inside a
0:12	·	shallow grave beneath a rock shelter
0:14	·	known as Riparo Tagente, a man once lay
0:17	·	undisturbed for nearly 17,000 years. His
0:21	·	life, death, and rediscovery would come
0:24	·	to reveal one of the most haunting and
0:26	·	earliest known cases of violent
0:28	·	intergroup conflict in prehistoric
0:30	·	Europe. This man known today as
0:33	·	Tagliente 1 or Tagliente man not only
0:36	·	bore the genetic signature of a
0:38	·	population that would later dominate the
0:40	·	gene pool of post-glacial Europe, but he
0:43	·	also carried in his bones the story of
0:45	·	his untimely death at the hands of rival
0:49	·	humans.
0:51	·	Tagliente man's partial skeleton was
0:54	·	unearthed in the Riparro Tagliente rock
0:56	·	shelter. For decades, his remains sat in
1:00	·	collections largely forgotten until a
1:02	·	resurgence of interest in ancient DNA
1:04	·	and trauma analysis led scientists to
1:06	·	take a closer look. His preserved lower
1:09	·	limbs, feur, and tibia showed peculiar
1:12	·	incisions that would soon tell a much
1:14	·	darker tale than anyone had previously
1:16	·	imagined.
1:17	·	Recent 3D microscopy and scanning
1:20	·	electron microscopy analysis revealed
1:22	·	that these incisions were projectile
1:24	·	impact marks caused by flint tipped
1:27	·	weapons thrown with considerable force.
1:30	·	Some projectiles had struck him from
1:31	·	behind, others from the front. One had
1:34	·	landed perilously close to his femoral
1:36	·	artery, the fatal blow. The absence of
1:39	·	healing around the wounds confirms that
1:41	·	he died shortly after the attack.
1:45	·	Researchers concluded that Tagliente
1:47	·	man's death was not the result of an
1:49	·	accident or animal attack. It was
1:51	·	targeted violence, a form of human
1:53	·	onhuman conflict. What kind of accident
1:56	·	does this? Asked bioarchchaeologist
1:58	·	Vitali Sparello. It was probably some
2:00	·	kind of an ambush. The lesions were not
2:03	·	butchery marks, nor signs of ritual
2:05	·	defleing, but consistent with the types
2:08	·	of wounds inflicted by fastmoving
2:10	·	projectiles used in intergroup conflict
2:13	·	during the late upper Paleolithic.
2:16	·	The multiple directions of the wounds
2:17	·	indicate either more than one asalent or
2:20	·	a coordinated ambush. This is among the
2:23	·	earliest direct evidence of humans
2:24	·	killing one another at a distance using
2:27	·	weapons of war.
2:29	·	The attackers were another group of
2:31	·	hunter gatherers competing for
2:32	·	territory. As the glacias receded, a new
2:35	·	land opened after the last glacial
2:38	·	maximum Europe.
2:41	·	Tagleante man was a young adult male
2:44	·	crow magnan between 22 and 30 years old
2:46	·	when he died. Although initially
2:48	·	considered distinct from a mandible
2:50	·	found at the same site, advanced
2:52	·	paleoggenomic analysis revealed that
2:54	·	they were in fact the same individual.
2:57	·	The differing radiocarbon dates between
2:59	·	the two skeletal elements, one from the
3:02	·	feur and the other from a merri to
3:05	·	varying dietary signals and minor
3:07	·	contamination from conservation
3:08	·	treatments.
3:10	·	Tagentim man's genome places him within
3:13	·	the villa genetic cluster which arose in
3:16	·	Italy shortly after the last glacial
3:18	·	maximum. This cluster is distinct from
3:20	·	the earlier Gravitian Vestoniche cluster
3:23	·	and shows strong genetic affinities to
3:25	·	the Balkans. His maternal Y chromosome
3:28	·	belonged to Hapler group I2, a lineage
3:31	·	that rose to prominence among European
3:33	·	hunter gatherers and was especially
3:35	·	common during the Mesolithic. His
3:37	·	maternal mitochondrial DNA was assigned
3:39	·	to Hapler group U2, a lineage that also
3:42	·	proliferated during the Paleolithic and
3:45	·	was common in upper Paleolithic Italy.
3:47	·	He bore no relationship to Otie, the
3:50	·	Iceman, who was also killed in the
3:52	·	Italian Alps by the arrow some 12,000
3:54	·	years later. The term Cro-Magnon remains
3:57	·	a valid and scientifically useful
3:59	·	designation because it refers
4:01	·	specifically to a population of early
4:02	·	modern humans in Ice Age Europe whose
4:06	·	skeletal remains exhibit robust features
4:08	·	that distinguish them from both
4:09	·	Neanderthalss and later Homo sapiens
4:12	·	populations. The decision by some
4:14	·	anthropologists to abandon the term was
4:17	·	rooted in an outdated belief in the
4:19	·	strict replacement model that modern
4:21	·	humans were entirely separate species
4:23	·	that did not interbreed with
4:24	·	Neanderthalss.
4:26	·	This view has since been overturned by
4:28	·	overwhelming genetic evidence showing
4:31	·	that interbreeding did occur. By
4:34	·	discarding the term Cro-Magnon,
4:36	·	researchers erased a critical label for
4:38	·	the distinctive early European upper
4:40	·	Paleolithic population that helps us
4:42	·	trace the hybridization and
4:44	·	diversification of modern humans.
4:47	·	Reinstating the term acknowledges both
4:49	·	the historical significance of these
4:51	·	fossils and the complex evolutionary
4:53	·	tapestry that shaped modern human
4:56	·	ancestry.
4:58	·	The Villa Bruna cluster represents a
5:00	·	significant demographic turnover in
5:02	·	post-glacial Europe. After the coldest
5:05	·	phase of the ice age around 21,000 years
5:08	·	ago, southern and eastern populations
5:11	·	carrying this ancestry moved into the
5:13	·	Italian peninsula and replaced or
5:15	·	absorbed previous Gravitian groups. The
5:18	·	genetic trail indicates a corridor
5:20	·	running from the Balkans into northern
5:22	·	Italy and eventually across Western
5:24	·	Europe. The arrival of this group likely
5:27	·	coincided with profound cultural changes
5:29	·	such as shifts in lithic technology and
5:32	·	burial customs.
5:34	·	Although low coverage genome data limits
5:37	·	the certainty of specific phenotype
5:39	·	reconstructions, individuals from the
5:41	·	Villa Bruna cluster such as Tagentean
5:44	·	typically carried a mix of ancestral and
5:46	·	derived pigmentation traits. Based on
5:49	·	related genomes from the same cluster
5:51	·	and time period, it's highly probable
5:53	·	that Tagli man had light colored eyes,
5:57	·	possibly blue or green, and dark hair
5:59	·	with skin pigmentation intermediate
6:02	·	between that of earlier gravitian
6:04	·	Europeans and lighter skinned meolithic
6:06	·	populations. The SLC 24A5 and SLC 45 A2
6:12	·	alles associated with light-kinn
6:15	·	pigmentation were not yet widespread,
6:17	·	although they begin to show up in
6:19	·	epigetian individuals. His ancestry also
6:22	·	suggests a reduced Neanderthal component
6:25	·	compared to older European populations.
6:29	·	Tagleimman's bones preserve evidence of
6:31	·	his diet through stable isotope
6:33	·	analysis. Compared to contemporaries, he
6:36	·	consumed a substantial amount of aquatic
6:38	·	protein from freshwater fish. This
6:40	·	contrasts with the largely terrestrial
6:43	·	diet of other epigetian individuals,
6:45	·	including earlier upper paleolithic
6:47	·	humans. His consumption of aquatic foods
6:50	·	may have been due to seasonal or
6:52	·	environmental factors or reflect
6:54	·	specific subsistence strategies used by
6:57	·	his group. Interestingly, this dietary
6:59	·	signature also helped clarify apparent
7:02	·	inconsistencies in radiocarbon dating.
7:05	·	While one sample dated him slightly
7:07	·	younger than another, the discrepancy
7:10	·	was not due to the presence of two
7:11	·	individuals, but rather to variations in
7:14	·	the parts of the skeleton sampled and
7:16	·	their collagen turnover rates.
7:19	·	The identity of Taglante man's attackers
7:21	·	remains a mystery, but given the genomic
7:24	·	and archaeological context, researchers
7:26	·	believe the violence stemmed from
7:28	·	intergroup conflict during a period of
7:30	·	territorial expansion and migration. As
7:33	·	glacias retreated and fertile valleys
7:35	·	reopened, human groups began
7:37	·	recolonizing the Alps and competing for
7:39	·	access to game, water sources, and
7:41	·	shelter. The technology used flint
7:44	·	tipped projectile weapons strongly
7:46	·	suggests organized violence and possibly
7:49	·	planned raiding or ambush scenarios.
7:51	·	Given the genetic homogeneity of
7:53	·	epigettian groups across Italy, the
7:56	·	attackers may have belonged to a similar
7:57	·	gene pool, but a different band.
8:00	·	Differences in territory, access to
8:02	·	highland hunting grounds, or personal
8:04	·	disputes could have escalated into
8:06	·	violence.
8:08	·	Alternatively, remnants of Gravitian
8:10	·	groups possibly pushed to marginal areas
8:12	·	by the incoming epigitian wave may have
8:15	·	resisted displacement. While there's
8:17	·	limited genetic evidence of coexistence,
8:20	·	archaeological layers suggest that some
8:23	·	Gravettian technologies lingered. This
8:25	·	could mean the attack was part of a
8:27	·	larger pattern of demographic
8:29	·	replacement and conflict, a clash
8:31	·	between new and old inhabitants of the
8:33	·	Italian peninsula. While the attacker's
8:36	·	genetic identity cannot be directly
8:37	·	known, the context of projectile trauma,
8:40	·	the lack of healing, and the targeting
8:43	·	of major arteries all point to
8:45	·	deliberate practiced violence, a warning
8:47	·	of the darker side of prehistoric human
8:49	·	expansion.
8:52	·	Tagliente man's burial was careful, even
8:54	·	ceremonial. He was laid supine in a
8:57	·	shallow pit with his arms outstretched
8:59	·	and his legs covered by slabs of stone.
9:01	·	One of the stones bore a carved image.
9:04	·	What appears to be a lion and an orox's
9:06	·	horn. Red ochre and a pierced shell were
9:09	·	also found near the body. Despite the
9:11	·	violent nature of his death, his
9:13	·	community ensured a respectful burial.
9:16	·	This suggests that Tagalente man held a
9:19	·	valued role, possibly as a hunter or
9:20	·	warrior. The presence of animal
9:23	·	symbolism might hint at social or
9:25	·	spiritual beliefs, perhaps a connection
9:27	·	to toemic animals or clan identity.
9:31	·	Tagliente man lived during a period of
9:33	·	profound transformation ecologically,
9:35	·	genetically and socially. As the ice age
9:38	·	waned, new groups poured into the
9:40	·	Italian peninsula from the Balkans,
9:42	·	bearing fresh genetic lineages and new
9:44	·	cultural traditions. He belonged to one
9:47	·	of these groups, the Villa Bruna
9:48	·	cluster, whose genes would later become
9:51	·	dominant across Europe. But his death,
9:53	·	swift, bloody, and territorial, reveals
9:56	·	the cost of human migration, and the
9:58	·	tensions that brewed in the tight
10:00	·	corridors of Europe's rebounding
10:02	·	wilderness. In death, Tagliente man
10:05	·	became more than an individual. He
10:07	·	became a witness, his wounds a record,
10:10	·	his DNA a signature, his bones a
10:12	·	testimony. His is the earliest murder on
10:15	·	Italian soil we can now reconstruct in
10:17	·	detail. a man shaped by his lineage, his
10:20	·	environment, and ultimately by the blade
10:23	·	of another.
10:27	·	As the last glacial maximum began to
10:29	·	ease around 20,000 years ago, the icy
10:32	·	grip that had covered vast swaths of
10:34	·	Europe started to release its hold. This
10:37	·	environmental shift triggered one of the
10:39	·	most transformative periods in
10:41	·	prehistoric human history, a time marked
10:44	·	by the recolonization of deglaciated
10:46	·	lands, the rise of new cultural
10:48	·	traditions, and the spread of novel
10:50	·	genetic lineages.
10:52	·	At the heart of this transition stood
10:54	·	the epigetian culture and its genetic
10:57	·	counterpart, the VA Bruna cluster, which
11:00	·	together helped define the human
11:02	·	landscape of Europe in the millennia
11:04	·	that followed. The epigetian tradition
11:07	·	emerged as a successor to the Gravettian
11:09	·	culture around 24,000 years ago and
11:13	·	persisted across southern and eastern
11:15	·	Europe well into the early hollesene. It
11:18	·	flourished in regions such as the
11:19	·	Italian peninsula, the Balkans, and
11:21	·	Eastern Europe, often occupying rock
11:24	·	shelters and river valleys that had
11:25	·	become accessible as glacias retreated.
11:28	·	Rather than a singular unified culture,
11:31	·	the epigetian represents a flexible
11:33	·	evolving toolkit and symbolic tradition
11:36	·	adopted by scattered bands of hunter
11:38	·	gatherers navigating a rapidly changing
11:41	·	ice age world.
11:44	·	These groups were expert hunters,
11:46	·	particularly of red deer, ibex, and
11:48	·	reindeer, and were adept at exploiting a
11:50	·	wide range of resources. Their toolkit
11:52	·	reveals continuity with gravitian blade
11:54	·	and backed point technology, but also a
11:57	·	move towards smaller, more adaptable
11:59	·	microlithic tools. Flint projectile
12:02	·	points, often finally retouched,
12:04	·	indicate a growing reliance on distance
12:05	·	weapons such as spears and perhaps even
12:08	·	bows. The use of bone and antler for
12:11	·	barbed points and harpoons also suggests
12:14	·	a diversification of hunting methods.
12:17	·	Epigravetian burials reflect the
12:19	·	symbolic complexity of these societies.
12:22	·	Individuals were often interred with
12:23	·	grave goods such as ochre, decorated
12:26	·	stones, flint tools, and personal
12:28	·	ornaments made of shells and animal
12:30	·	teeth. Engraved art, sometimes depicting
12:33	·	animals or abstract figures, suggests
12:36	·	continuity with earlier upper
12:37	·	Paleolithic spiritual and aesthetic
12:40	·	traditions, but also localized
12:42	·	expressions unique to this period.
12:45	·	Sites like Riparo Tagliente in northern
12:48	·	Italy, Grotto Paglichi in the south, and
12:51	·	Sante Theodoro in Sicily demonstrate the
12:53	·	wide geographic range of the epigetian
12:56	·	and its adaptability to alpine, coastal
12:59	·	and inland environments. These
13:02	·	archaeological finds reveal that even in
13:04	·	the cold and unstable world of the late
13:06	·	pleaene, human culture was thriving,
13:09	·	dynamic, and deeply embedded in both
13:12	·	landscape and memory.
13:15	·	The most profound transformation
13:17	·	associated with the epigetian period
13:19	·	came not just from technology or art but
13:22	·	from a sweeping genetic shift. Around
13:25	·	17,000 years ago a new genetic lineage
13:28	·	appears in the Italian peninsula. The
13:30	·	Villa Bruna cluster named after the
13:33	·	Villa Bruna one skeleton found in
13:34	·	northern Italy and dated to about 14,000
13:37	·	years ago. This lineage quickly spread
13:40	·	across much of Europe, replacing or
13:42	·	mixing with the earlier Gravettian
13:44	·	derived populations like the Vestonichi
13:46	·	cluster. Individuals such as Tagente 2
13:50	·	from Riparo Tagliente in Venetto
13:52	·	represent the earliest known instances
13:54	·	of the Villa Bruna genetic profile in
13:56	·	southern Europe. His genome dated to
14:00	·	around 17,000 years ago exhibited strong
14:02	·	affinities with populations from the
14:04	·	Balkans. This suggests that the Villa
14:07	·	Bruna cluster entered Europe from the
14:09	·	southeast following a corridor along the
14:11	·	Adriatic coast or south of the Alps as
14:14	·	the glacias retreated and new ecological
14:16	·	zones opened. The spread of Villa Bruna
14:19	·	ancestry was not gradual and local. It
14:22	·	was rapid and expansive. Within just a
14:25	·	few thousand years, this lineage would
14:26	·	become the dominant genetic profile
14:28	·	among European hunter gatherers. Its
14:31	·	characteristics included mitochondrial
14:33	·	Hapler groups such as U5 and the Y
14:36	·	chromosome Hapler group I2 both of which
14:39	·	became prominent in meolithic and even
14:41	·	some early Neolithic populations across
14:43	·	Europe. The Villa Bruner genome also
14:46	·	shows signs of reduced Neanderthal
14:48	·	ancestry suggesting either demographic
14:51	·	dilution through interbreeding with
14:52	·	newer modern human populations or
14:54	·	selective pressures that purged archaic
14:57	·	genes.
14:58	·	Furthermore, this cluster marks one of
15:00	·	the first appearances of certain
15:02	·	pigmentation genes associated with
15:04	·	lighter skin and eye color. Though these
15:06	·	traits were still variable and not yet
15:08	·	fixed in the population,
15:11	·	the convergence of the epigetian
15:13	·	cultural tradition and the Villa Bruna
15:16	·	genetic lineage was not coincidental. It
15:19	·	represents the fusion of migration,
15:21	·	adaptation, and environmental
15:23	·	opportunity. As new groups moved into
15:26	·	the Italian peninsula and beyond, they
15:28	·	brought not only their DNA, but also
15:30	·	their knowledge, tools, and symbolic
15:33	·	systems. While they inherited aspects of
15:36	·	local Gravettian traditions, the
15:38	·	innovations they introduced, especially
15:39	·	in projectile technology and regional
15:41	·	adaptation, reflect a distinct cultural
15:44	·	identity. Moreover, the spread of Villa
15:46	·	Brununa ancestry coincided with the
15:48	·	emergence of major cultural and symbolic
15:50	·	transitions in Western and Southern
15:52	·	Europe. It is during this period that we
15:55	·	see increasing evidence of artistic
15:56	·	expression, complex burial rituals, and
15:59	·	the domestication of the dog, a sign of
16:01	·	changing human animal relationships and
16:04	·	possibly social structures. The Italian
16:07	·	peninsula served as a crucial staging
16:09	·	ground for this transformation.
16:11	·	Northeastern Italy in particular appears
16:13	·	to have been the entry point for the
16:15	·	Villa Bruna genetic pulse which then
16:17	·	radiated westward into France, northward
16:20	·	into the Alps and eastward along the
16:22	·	Danube.
16:23	·	This migration not only reshaped the
16:25	·	genetic makeup of Europe, but also
16:28	·	helped knit together previously isolated
16:30	·	populations into a more interconnected
16:32	·	web of huntergatherer societies.
16:36	·	By the time the Mesolithic dawned around
16:38	·	12,000 years ago, the Villa Bruna
16:40	·	cluster had left a profound mark on the
16:43	·	continent. Its descendants would
16:45	·	interact with western huntergatherer
16:47	·	groups like the Obercastle cluster,
16:50	·	blending their lineages and forming the
16:52	·	basis of Europe's post ice age
16:54	·	populations.
16:56	·	When Neolithic farmers eventually
16:57	·	arrived from the near east, it was these
17:00	·	Villa Bruner descended hunter gatherers
17:02	·	who formed the genetic and cultural
17:04	·	substrate of prehistoric Europe. The
17:07	·	epigetian culture, meanwhile, serves as
17:10	·	a vivid illustration of how human
17:12	·	adaptability is expressed not only
17:14	·	through tools and survival strategies,
17:16	·	but also through art, burial, and
17:18	·	belief. Together, the Epigravetian and
17:22	·	Villa Bruna cluster offer a window into
17:25	·	a continent in transition from cold to
17:28	·	warmth, from isolation to expansion, and
17:31	·	from one human population to another.
17:34	·	This dynamic interplay of genetics and
17:37	·	culture in the epigetian villa Bruna
17:39	·	nexus stands as one of the most
17:41	·	important chapters in the story of how
17:43	·	modern Europe came to be. Not merely as
17:46	·	a place but as a tapestry of people,
17:48	·	memory and legacy.