Modern humans have populated Europe for more than 45,000 years1,2. Our knowledge of the genetic relatedness and structure of ancient hunter-gatherers is however limited, owing to the scarceness and poor molecular preservation of human remains from that period3. Here we analyse 356 ancient hunter-gatherer genomes, including new genomic data for 116 individuals from 14 countries in western and central Eurasia, spanning between 35,000 and 5,000 years ago. We identify a genetic ancestry profile in individuals associated with Upper Palaeolithic Gravettian assemblages from western Europe that is distinct from contemporaneous groups related to this archaeological culture in central and southern Europe4, but resembles that of preceding individuals associated with the Aurignacian culture. This ancestry profile survived during the Last Glacial Maximum (25,000 to 19,000 years ago) in human populations from southwestern Europe associated with the Solutrean culture, and with the following Magdalenian culture that re-expanded northeastward after the Last Glacial Maximum. Conversely, we reveal a genetic turnover in southern Europe suggesting a local replacement of human groups around the time of the Last Glacial Maximum, accompanied by a north-to-south dispersal of populations associated with the Epigravettian culture. From at least 14,000 years ago, an ancestry related to this culture spread from the south across the rest of Europe, largely replacing the Magdalenian-associated gene pool. After a period of limited admixture that spanned the beginning of the Mesolithic, we find genetic interactions between western and eastern European hunter-gatherers, who were also characterized by marked differences in phenotypically relevant variants.

Identifying the geological and geographical origin of lithic raw materials is critical to effectively address prehistoric forager raw material economies and mobility strategies. Currently, Paleolithic archaeology in Belgium lacks a systematic sourcing strategy to effectively substantiate detailed interpretations of prehistoric hunter‐gatherer behavioral change across time and space. This pilot study evaluates the potential to “fingerprint” flint from the Mons Basin, western Belgium, using the laser ablation‐inductively coupled plasma‐mass spectrometry (LA‐ICP‐MS) technique and a multivariate statistical analysis of 87 geological samples and 39 Gravettian period chipped stone artifacts. We reappraise two hypotheses raised by previous scholars based on visual raw material identification: (1) the Gravettian occupants of Maisières‐Canal supplied themselves with “black flint” from one single source; (2) the sites Rhens and Koblenz‐Metternich yielded artifacts indicative of long‐distance transfer of western Belgian flint into the German Rhineland, ca. 260 km from the primary source area. Our results demonstrate the validity of LA‐ICP‐MS data with flint and compositional data analysis for fingerprinting discrete geological formations from the Mons Basin. We suggest multiple source provisioning for Maisières‐Canal. Geochemical characterization of other potential flint sources is required to validate the long‐distance transfer hypothesis of western Belgian “black flint” into the German Rhineland.

The authors explore the arrival of the earliest Gravettian in north-west Europe, using new high precision radiocarbon dates for bone excavated at Maisières-Canal in Belgium to define a short-lived occupation around 33 000 years ago. The tanged points in that assemblage have parallels in British sites, including Goat's Hole (Paviland). This is the site of the famous ochred burial of a young adult male, confusingly known as the ‘Red Lady’, now dated to around 34 000 BP. The new results demonstrate that this British ‘rich burial’ and the Gravettian with tanged points may belong to two different occupation horizons separated by a cold spell.

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The early Gravettian site of Maisières‐Canal (Belgium) was discovered in 1966, during the widening of the Canal du Centre. Emergency excavation allowed the discovery of an open‐air human occupation which yielded abundant archaeological material. A re‐examination of the well‐preserved faunal collections has expanded the bird assemblage from the 29 bones initially recognized to 78, which have been studied from an archaeozoological point of view. Six taxa were identified, including species regularly encountered in Upper Paleolithic sites, such as the snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus), the northern raven (Corvus corax), and the willow or rock ptarmigan (Lagopus sp.). Ducks (Anatinae) are by far the best represented taxa. Surprisingly, only radius fragments were recovered for ducks, most bearing breaks and tool marks. We paid special attention to this peculiar set of duck radiuses. We performed experiments on fresh duck wings to evaluate the impact of different actions on the radius. Based on our experiments, two main hypotheses emerged. This accumulation of duck radiuses may represent (1) the waste from the production of dry wings and/or (2) a supply of raw material for craft activities. However, neither of these two hypotheses can be conclusively confirmed. As well as exhibiting some discrepancies, the bird bone assemblage from Maisières‐Canal shares several characteristics with early Gravettian sites from central Europe.