Shoreline Shadows of Nouvelle-Aquitaine

On the ragged edge of postglacial Europe, between river terraces and patchy oak woods, the people sampled at Les Perrats (Agris, Charente) lived around 7200–7000 BCE. Archaeological data from the site — lithic scatters, worked bone fragments, and spatial distributions of hearths — indicate seasonal occupation tied to riverine and wooded landscapes. The broader region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine bears traces of Mesolithic continuity after the Last Glacial Maximum: populations expanded into reforested lowlands, exploiting an increasingly productive mosaic of habitats.

Limited evidence suggests that groups in this part of SW France maintained mobile lifeways with repeated use of favored locations rather than large, permanent settlements. At Les Perrats, recovery of microliths and small bladelets fits a toolkit optimized for hunting small to medium game and for processing plant resources. Palimpsests of hearths and refuse concentrations indicate returning occupation episodes — the cinematic image is of smoke drifting over river reedbeds as families prepare seasonal resources. Archaeological data indicates continuity with wider Western European Mesolithic traditions, but local adaptations to estuaries and limestone plateaus are apparent.

Because the genetic sample is small, these archaeological patterns are especially important: they provide the cultural frame for interpreting the few genomes available and caution against overgeneralizing from limited DNA evidence.

Three ancient genomes from Les Perrats provide a narrow but valuable genetic window into early Mesolithic inhabitants of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. All three individuals carry mitochondrial haplogroup U — a lineage widely observed among European hunter-gatherers — while the single reported Y-chromosome belongs to haplogroup I, a lineage frequently associated with Mesolithic male lineages in northwestern Europe. These signals align broadly with the Western Hunter-Gatherer (WHG) genetic cluster documented across much of Mesolithic Europe.

Crucially, the small sample size (n = 3) requires caution: patterns visible here are preliminary and cannot capture the full diversity of the region. Limited sampling increases the chance that observed haplogroups reflect local kinship or drift rather than regional norms. Archaeological context helps temper interpretations; the mtDNA U presence supports a common maternal ancestry among forager groups, while haplogroup I on the Y-chromosome is consistent with male-line continuity seen elsewhere in Mesolithic western Europe.

Genetically, these individuals likely predate substantial Neolithic farmer admixture in the area. As later millennia introduce incoming farming groups, the genomic signature seen at Les Perrats would be expected to dilute, so these genomes are valuable baselines for tracking demographic shifts. Future sequencing of more individuals from Nouvelle-Aquitaine is essential to move from evocative snapshots to robust regional models.