Greeks Are Descendants of the Mycenaeans, DNA Study Confirms

By
Tasos Kokkinidis
November 22, 2023



The tomb of Clytemnestra at Mycenae. Credit: Jean Housen /Wikimedia Commons/CC BY 3.0

DNA evidence proves that Greeks are indeed descendants of the Mycenaeans, who ruled mainland Greece and the Aegean Sea from 1,600 BC to 1,200 BC.

The evidence comes from a well-publicized 2017 study in which scientists analyzed the genes from the teeth of nineteen people across various archaeological sites within mainland Greece and Crete.

Those included ten Minoans from Crete dating from 2900 B.C.E. to 1700 BCE, four Mycenaeans from the archaeological site at Mycenae and other cemeteries on the Greek mainland dating from 1700 B.C.E. to 1200 B.C.E., and five people from other early farming or Bronze Age (5400 B.C.E. to 1340 B.C.E.) cultures in Greece and Turkey.

By comparing 1.2 million letters of genetic code, the researchers, who published their study in the journal, Nature, were able to plot how the individuals were related to each other.

More:
https://greekreporter.com/2023/11/22/new-evidence-supports-modern-greeks-having-dna-of-ancient-mycenaeans/