Name: DNAGENICS DNA Analysis Platform
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Chapter I

Identity

The biological and cultural markers that define this ancient individual

Sample ID

I4631

Date Range

4236 BCE - 3818 BCE

Cultural Period

Middle Neolithic Comb Ware Culture, Latvia

Biological Sex

Female

mtDNA Haplogroup

U4

Y-DNA Haplogroup

N/A (Female)

Social Role

Farmer (AI estimate, era-typical)

Chapter II

Place

Where this individual was discovered

Country Latvia

Locality Zvejnieki

Coordinates 56.2833, 25.1333

Chapter III

Time

When this individual lived in the broader context of human history

I4631 4236 BCE - 3818 BCE

Chapter IV

Story

The narrative of this ancient life

Region & Environment

Latvia in the middle Neolithic was shaped by forests, lakes, and fertile pockets suitable for cultivation. Abundant waterways supported travel, hunting, and fishing opportunities, while settlement locations were likely selected to balance arable land with access to aquatic resources.

Historical Context

The Comb Ceramic/Comb Ware horizon is part of the wider Neolithic record of Northern Europe. Similar ceramic styles across regions suggest social and exchange connections that helped spread technological knowledge and recognizable decorative conventions.

Populations & Lifeways

Populations associated with Comb Ware traditions likely maintained mixed subsistence systems combining plant cultivation with animal husbandry, supplemented by hunting and fishing. Daily routines would have included craft work such as pottery production, as ceramic style and technique were significant markers of cultural affiliation.

Archaeology & Material Culture

Archaeology for this period emphasizes:

Comb-decorated ceramics and related vessel forms
Stone tools suited to farming and woodworking
Settlement remains and activity areas that reflect everyday production The ceramic tradition is especially important because it provides a clear diagnostic feature and helps archaeologists correlate sites within the broader Comb Ware/Comb Ceramic complex.

Culture & Society

Ceramic decoration and vessel design can reflect group identity and learning traditions transmitted through community practice. Shared styles indicate that communities were not isolated; instead, they participated in patterns of interaction where decorative motifs and technical skills could travel.

Legacy & Transition

Toward the end of the Middle Neolithic, new cultural combinations emerged in the Baltic region. The Comb Ware horizon represents an important stage in the long-term Neolithic trajectory of Latvia, leaving a material legacy—especially in ceramics—that later communities interpreted, replaced, or transformed.

Chapter V

Genetics

These comparisons show genetic similarity, not identity or origin. The populations listed are those whose genomes show statistical alignment to this ancient individual.

Similarity reflects shared history, not shared identity. These are analytical comparisons, not claims about who this person was.

Modern Genetic Admixture

This analysis compares the DNA profile with present-day reference populations, showing statistical similarity to modern reference populations from different regions. The excavation site records where this individual was found, not a fixed modern genetic identity.

Europe 92.5%

Eastern European 56.1%

Northwestern European 36.4%

Finnish 28.2%

Scandinavian 8.3%

America 7.5%

Native American 7.5%

Closest Modern Populations

These are the modern populations showing the closest statistical alignment to A woman buried in Latvia in the Middle Neolithic era, ranked by genetic distance. Lower distance values indicate closer statistical similarity. Cross-region similarity can reflect shared ancestry, population movement, continuity, or later admixture.

1

Russian Leshukonsky

3.3738

2

Komi A

3.6877

3

Russian Pinezhsky

4.0192

4

Russian Pinega

4.1634

5

Tatar Mishar

4.6610

6

Vepsian

4.7706

7

Russian Krasnoborsky

4.8485

8

Karelian

5.0738

9

Finnish North

5.3195

10

Mordovian

5.3493

Context

Related Samples

This individual exists within a broader network of ancient samples. No ancient genome stands alone.

Sample ID	Culture/Period	Date	Location	Action
I1378	Neolithic Ukraine	5400 BCE	Vovnigi, Ukraine	View
I4626	Hunter-Gatherer Latvia	5838 BCE	Zvejnieki, Latvia	View
I4631	Middle Neolithic Comb Ware Culture, Latvia	4236 BCE	Zvejnieki, Latvia	View
Ukraine_HG1	Mesolithic Ukraine	9107 BCE	Vasylivka-3 (Zaporizhia Oblast, Vasylivka District, Vasylivska municipality), Ukraine	View
Ukraine_N1	Neolithic Ukraine	5400 BCE	Vovnihy-2 (Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Dnipro District, Solone municipality), Ukraine	View
Latvia_MN1	Middle Neolithic Latvia	4311 BCE	Zvejnieki (Zemgale, Neretas District), Latvia	View
Latvia_HG3	Latvian Mesolithic Culture	5304 BCE	Zvejnieki (Zemgale, Neretas District), Latvia	View
Latvia_MN2	Middle Neolithic Comb Ware Culture, Latvia	4236 BCE	Zvejnieki (Zemgale, Neretas District), Latvia	View
Latvia_HG1	Latvian Mesolithic Culture	6465 BCE	Zvejnieki (Zemgale, Neretas District), Latvia	View
I1819		9107 BCE	Vasil'evka, Ukraine	View
I1378		5400 BCE	Vovnigi, Ukraine	View
I4626		5838 BCE	Zvejnieki, Latvia	View
I4627		4311 BCE	Zvejnieki, Latvia	View
I4628		5304 BCE	Zvejnieki, Latvia	View
I4629		3091 BCE	Zvejnieki, Latvia	View
I4631		4236 BCE	Zvejnieki, Latvia	View
I4632		6465 BCE	Zvejnieki, Latvia	View
I1819		9107 BCE	Vasil'evka, Ukraine	View
I4632		6465 BCE	Zvejnieki, Latvia	View
I4628		5304 BCE	Zvejnieki, Latvia	View
I4629		3091 BCE	Zvejnieki, Latvia	View
I4627		4311 BCE	Zvejnieki, Latvia	View

Sample ID	Culture/Period	Date	Location	Action
I4631	Middle Neolithic Comb Ware Culture, Latvia	4236 BCE	Zvejnieki, Latvia	View
Latvia_MN2	Middle Neolithic Comb Ware Culture, Latvia	4236 BCE	Zvejnieki (Zemgale, Neretas District), Latvia	View

Sources

References

Scientific publications and genetic data that inform this profile.

Scientific Publication

The Neolithic Transition in the Baltic Was Not Driven by Admixture with Early European Farmers

Authors Jones ER, Zarina G, Moiseyev V, Lightfoot E, Nigst PR et al.

Abstract

The Neolithic transition was a dynamic time in European prehistory of cultural, social, and technological change. Although this period has been well explored in central Europe using ancient nuclear DNA [1, 2], its genetic impact on northern and eastern parts of this continent has not been as extensively studied. To broaden our understanding of the Neolithic transition across Europe, we analyzed eight ancient genomes: six samples (four to ∼1- to 4-fold coverage) from a 3,500 year temporal transect (∼8,300-4,800 calibrated years before present) through the Baltic region dating from the Mesolithic to the Late Neolithic and two samples spanning the Mesolithic-Neolithic boundary from the Dnieper Rapids region of Ukraine. We find evidence that some hunter-gatherer ancestry persisted across the Neolithic transition in both regions. However, we also find signals consistent with influxes of non-local people, most likely from northern Eurasia and the Pontic Steppe. During the Late Neolithic, this Steppe-related impact coincides with the proposed emergence of Indo-European languages in the Baltic region [3, 4]. These influences are distinct from the early farmer admixture that transformed the genetic landscape of central Europe, suggesting that changes associated with the Neolithic package in the Baltic were not driven by the same Anatolian-sourced genetic exchange.

View in DNAGENICS View Original Publication

G25 Coordinates

These coordinates represent a position in genetic space, a tool for comparison, not a conclusion. You can use these to perform custom admixture analysis in G25 Studio.

I4631,0.11982422,0.04804878,0.08657922,0.07219088,0.01087198,0.0192841,-0.00520606,-0.00229588,-0.0055822,-0.03331182,0.00830822,-0.00899568,0.01589436,0.00309962,-0.00953146,-0.00920386,-0.00505176,-0.00354358,-0.0050025,-0.00675196,0.00038722,0.00144188,-0.01401496,0.0057693,-0.00275382

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Loading Report

A woman buried in Latvia in the Middle Neolithic era