After modern humans made it to Europe some 50,000 years ago, they hunted and gathered in small groups for scores of generations. Then, 10,000 years ago, people in Europe began to farm and settle down. About 5000 years later, cattle herders from the steppes of Eurasia surged into Europe with the wheel and metal tools and weapons, ending the Stone Age and ushering in the Bronze. Cultural and technol...
**Steelman:** This study represents a landmark in paleogenetics, leveraging an unprecedented dataset to demonstrate that human evolution accelerated dramatically alongside cultural and technological revolutions. The findings credibly link genetic adaptation to environmental pressures—such as diet shifts after agriculture, pathogen exposure in denser societies, and even behavioral traits—while acknowledging unresolved questions. The transparency about methodological limitations (e.g., distinguish...