High continuity of forager ancestry in the Neolithic period of the eastern Maghreb

Mark Lipson (), Harald Ringbauer, Giulio Lucarini (), Nabiha Aouadi, Louiza Aoudia, Lotfi Belhouchet, Olivia Cheronet, Ariane-Rym Dahmani, Francesco Genchi, Francesco Pastina, Michaela Lucci, Henry Lumley, Nabila Mansouri, Alessia Nava, Fatma Touj, Swapan Mallick, Nadin Rohland, Alfredo Coppa (), Ron Pinhasi () and David Reich ()
Additional contact information
Mark Lipson: Harvard University
Harald Ringbauer: Harvard University
Giulio Lucarini: Institute of Heritage Science (CNR-ISPC)
Nabiha Aouadi: Institut National du Patrimoine (INP)
Louiza Aoudia: CNRS-Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Musée de l’Homme
Lotfi Belhouchet: Sousse Archaeological Museum
Olivia Cheronet: University of Vienna
Ariane-Rym Dahmani: Institut National du Patrimoine (INP)
Francesco Genchi: Sapienza University of Rome
Francesco Pastina: Sapienza University of Rome
Michaela Lucci: Sapienza University of Rome
Henry Lumley: Institut de Paléontologie Humaine (IPH), Fondation Albert–1Er Prince de Monaco
Nabila Mansouri: Institut National du Patrimoine (INP)
Alessia Nava: Sapienza University of Rome
Fatma Touj: Institut National du Patrimoine (INP)
Swapan Mallick: Harvard Medical School
Nadin Rohland: Harvard Medical School
Alfredo Coppa: University of Vienna
Ron Pinhasi: University of Vienna
David Reich: Harvard University

Nature, 2025, vol. 641, issue 8064, 925-931

Abstract: Abstract Ancient DNA from the Mediterranean region has revealed long-range connections and population transformations associated with the spread of food-producing economies1–6. However, in contrast to Europe, genetic data from this key transition in northern Africa are limited, and have only been available from the far western Maghreb (Morocco)1–3. Here we present genome-wide data for nine individuals from the Later Stone Age through the Neolithic period from Algeria and Tunisia. The earliest individuals cluster with pre-Neolithic people of the western Maghreb (around 15,000–7,600 years before present (bp)), showing that this ‘Maghrebi’ ancestry profile had a substantial geographic and temporal extent. At least one individual from Djebba (Tunisia), dating to around 8,000 years bp, harboured ancestry from European hunter–gatherers, probably reflecting movement in the Early Holocene across the Strait of Sicily. Later Neolithic people from the eastern Maghreb retained largely local forager ancestry, together with smaller contributions from European farmers (by around 7,000 years bp) and Levantine groups (by around 6,800 years bp), and were thus far less impacted by external gene flow than were populations in other parts of the Neolithic Mediterranean.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-08699-4

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