Iberian Peninsula WASN’T Conquered by Invaders in 2,200 BC, New Study Says

Modern scholars have generally accepted the theory that violent invaders from the steppes (dry, grassy plains) of Eastern Europe used murderous means to displace many populations in Western Europe in the distant past. One such displacement was said to have occurred on the southeastern Iberian Peninsula in approximately 2,200 BC, marking the transition from the Copper (Chalcolithic) Age to the Bronze Age in that part of the world.

It is known that the lands of modern-day southern Spain experienced a sudden population crash at this time, which could have been caused by warfare. This coincided with a shift in the genetic makeup of the descendants of the survivors of that crash, as past analyses of DNA taken from skeletal samples dating to this era showed an influx of genetic material from the Pontic-Caspian steppe region. Putting two and two together, archaeologists and historians concluded that invading armies from the steppes of Eastern Europe were responsible for both the population decline and the subsequent introduction of fresh DNA into the local gene pool.

But this idea has now been firmly rejected by a team of archaeologists from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) and the University of Murcia, who recently completed a study that looked more deeply into this tumultuous period in Iberian Peninsula history. These researchers uncovered evidence to show that population losses preceded the arrival of the Pontic-Caspian DNA in the region, which is not at all consistent with the invasion theory.

Map of southeast Iberia showing the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age sites mentioned in the report. (Created using the Free and Open Source QGIS and a Google Maps basemap/Journal of Archaeological Reports).

In a paper just published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, the Spanish archaeologists offer an alternative hypothesis. They believe the area experienced a sudden and rapid population loss in the late third millennium BC as a result of disease outbreaks, or some other type of nature-related cause. This created a demographic vacuum that was filled by intermixing with peoples from nearby areas, who brought the steppe DNA with them when they began to settle in the southeastern Iberian Peninsula.

Under this scenario immigration and peaceful co-existence would explain the changes in the genetic makeup of the population, making it unnecessary to imagine that some type of invasion took place.

A More Precise Timeline Reveals the Surprising Truth

In this enlightening new study, the Spanish archaeologists analyzed the skeletal remains of 450 individuals recovered from both Copper Age tombs and Bronze Age graves in southeastern Spain. There was actually an interesting contrast between these, as Copper Age societies in western Europe favored communal burials in large, shared tombs, while Bronze Age peoples usually buried their dead individually or occasionally in pairs.

Tomb 80 of La Almoloya (Pliego Murcia). Example of a typical burial from the Argaric Bronze Age. (© ASOME-UAB)

Interestingly, the change of preferred burial style in southeastern Iberia occurred quite quickly. This is consistent with the area having experienced a rather rapid crash in population, as fewer people living in the region would have meant more space available for individual burials.

The archaeologists used carbon-14 dating tests to establish when exactly the various skeletons they studied had been buried. The results they obtained revealed a fascinating development, and one that ultimately formed the foundation of their theory about what had caused the demographic changes the region experienced in the late third millennium BC.

What the research team discovered is that the number of burials in the region peaked in number between the years 2,550 and 2,400 BC, before declining rapidly between 2,300 and 2,250 BC.

These dates are notable, because they show that the arrival of Pontic-Caspian DNA in the region occurred after the population decline, and not before or during.

 “It is likely that the inhabitants of southeastern Iberia were already very few, around 4,300 or 4,200 years ago, just before the arrival of populations with new genetic components, labelled ‘Steppe,’” stated UAB archaeologist and study co-author Rafael Micó, in an Autonomous University of Barcelona press release.

“When individuals with Steppe ancestry were found in southeastern Iberia, around 2200-2000 BC, they simply mixed with small local groups or occupied uninhabited areas.”

This conclusion is in line with data obtained from previous genetic studies, which suggested that the Steppe DNA was brought to the region through both male and female ancestral lines.

 “This allows us to propose a different historical scenario, which does not contemplate invading hordes of Steppe warriors who would have annihilated the local men and formed a male elite with exclusive access to local women,” declared study co-author Cristina Rihuete Herrada, another archaeologist from the Autonomous University of Barcelona.

From Societal Crisis Came the Dawning of a New Age

What is indisputable is that around 4,200 years ago, Central and Western Europe experienced large-scale social and cultural disruptions that created a sense of crisis and led to changes in the way people lived. This marks the transition from the Copper or Chalcolithic Age to the Bronze Age, but simply observing that fact does not explain why the disruptions occurred at this particular time.

Some archaeologists believe that environmental changes created significant survival-related challenges that required abrupt and radical responses. Others have identified epidemics of contagious diseases as the cause of the chaos, operating under the assumption that population growth left Europeans more vulnerable to such outbreaks. But archaeologists have concluded that an increase in warfare, caused by more competition for land and resources, offers the best explanation for the sudden disruptions and the changes in lifestyle they provoked.

The latter concept has been the accepted theory about what happened in southeastern Iberia.

“In recent years it has been argued that populations with what is known as ‘Steppe ancestry’ migrated westwards from the region around the Black Sea, aided by the horse and wheel as new technologies, and brutally raided Western Europe,” explained UAB archaeologist and study co-author Camila Oliart.

Backing this assertion was the discovery that ancient Steppe DNA had definitely infiltrated the local population in the region in the right general time period. But by pinning down the timeline for this DNA “invasion” more precisely, the UAB and University of Murcia researchers have opened up space for a competing theory. They’ve been able to show that a Late Copper Age decline in population depleted the population beforehand, leading to a scenario where immigration and/or emigration would likely have increased. In these circumstances, it would have made sense for struggling Copper Age peoples to pool their population numbers and resources to increase their odds of survival.

“We cannot ignore the fact that violence was an ingredient of social life in the Copper Age,” acknowledged Miguel Valério, another Autonomous University of Barcelona researcher and study co-author. “But so far nothing proves that its end was the consequence of a generalized conflict between genetically distinct populations.”

While the invasion theory might have made sense when it was first developed, as of now the best available evidence does seem to point in a different direction.

Top image: Left; Tomb 80 of La Almoloya (Pliego Murcia). Example of a typical burial from the Argaric Bronze Age. Right; the archaeological site of Gatas (Turre, Almería), where one of the oldest known Argaric tombs was found.         Source: © ASOME-UAB

By Nathan Falde