La Clape: Caves of Late Neolithic to Bronze Ages

The La Clape assemblage sits on a limestone promontory on the Mediterranean coast near present-day Narbonne. Archaeological contexts — notably the Grotte Basse de la Vigne Perdue and the Grotte du Rouquet — preserve human remains and occasional artefacts spanning the Late Neolithic into the Early–Middle Bronze Age (radiocarbon dates cluster between ca. 3495 and 1547 BCE). These cave deposits likely represent episodic use for burials and secondary interment rather than continuous occupation, a pattern seen at other coastal cave sites in southern France.

Material culture from the region suggests a long-standing tradition of farming, herding and coastal resource use that experienced new influences during the third and second millennia BCE. Limited evidence indicates changes in mortuary practice and in the composition of grave goods that may track shifting social networks and mobility along the western Mediterranean. Archaeological data indicates contact with inland lowland groups and maritime connections that could have carried new ideas, goods, and people into La Clape.

Genetic evidence from nine individuals provides a focused, if small, snapshot: patterns are compatible with local Neolithic ancestry augmented by later incoming lineages. Because sample numbers are low and contexts mixed, any reconstruction of population origins remains preliminary and should be treated cautiously.

Ancient DNA from nine individuals recovered at La Clape offers a tentative genetic portrait of coastal southern France across nearly two millennia. Y-chromosome calls show a predominance of haplogroup I (4 individuals), with a single individual assigned to haplogroup R. Mitochondrial diversity includes J (2), U (2), T (1), H (1) and V (1). These maternal and paternal markers are consistent with broader regional trends: mtDNA lineages such as J and T are often associated with Neolithic farmer ancestries, while U and V can reflect older hunter‑gatherer contributions. Y haplogroup I is frequently found among long-standing European lineages deriving from Mesolithic and Neolithic male ancestry; the presence of R may indicate a Bronze Age influx of steppe-derived paternal ancestry, though the dataset is small.

Autosomal patterns (where recoverable) likely reflect a tri-partite mix typical of later prehistoric Europe: substantial Anatolian farmer ancestry, persistent Western hunter‑gatherer ancestry, and increasing Steppe-related ancestry entering in the third and second millennia BCE. Given the modest sample size (n=9) and temporal span from 3495 to 1547 BCE, any inference about the tempo of admixture or social patterning (e.g., sex-biased migration) is preliminary. Future sampling from stratified contexts would clarify whether changes in haplogroup frequencies reflect demographic replacement, elite mobility, or local adoption of new lineages through marriage networks.