The transition from the Late Neolithic to the Bronze Age has witnessed important population and societal changes in western Europe.¹ These include massive genomic contributions of pastoralist herders originating from the Pontic-Caspian steppes^2,3 into local populations, resulting from complex interactions between collapsing hunter-gatherers and expanding farmers of Anatolian ancestry.4, 5, 6, 7, 8 This transition is documented through extensive ancient genomic data from present-day Britain,^9,10 Ireland,^11,12 Iberia,¹³ Mediterranean islands,^14,15 and Germany.⁸ It remains, however, largely overlooked in France, where most focus has been on the Middle Neolithic (n = 63),^8,9,16 with the exception of one Late Neolithic genome sequenced at 0.05× coverage.¹⁶ This leaves the key transitional period covering ∼3,400–2,700 cal. years (calibrated years) BCE genetically unsampled and thus the exact time frame of hunter-gatherer persistence and arrival of steppe migrations unknown. To remediate this, we sequenced 24 ancient human genomes from France spanning ∼3,400–1,600 cal. years BCE. This reveals Late Neolithic populations that are genetically diverse and include individuals with dark skin, hair, and eyes. We detect heterogeneous hunter-gatherer ancestries within Late Neolithic communities, reaching up to ∼63.3% in some individuals, and variable genetic contributions of steppe herders in Bell Beaker populations. We provide an estimate as late as ∼3,800 years BCE for the admixture between Neolithic and Mesolithic populations and as early as ∼2,650 years BCE for the arrival of steppe-related ancestry. The genomic heterogeneity characterized underlines the complex history of human interactions even at the local scale.

从新石器时代晚期到青铜时代的过渡见证了西欧重要的人口和社会变化。^{1其中包括来自庞蒂克-里海草原2 、3}的牧民对当地人口的大量基因组贡献，这是由于安纳托利亚血统的狩猎采集者与不断扩大的农民之间的复杂相互作用造成的。 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 这种转变通过来自当今英国、^{9、10爱尔兰}、^{11、12伊比利亚}、^{13 个地中海}岛屿、^{14、15和德国}的大量古代基因组数据^{记录。8然而，在法国，它仍然很大程度上被忽视了，其中}大部分焦点都集中在新石器时代中期 (n = 63)、^{8、9、16 ，除了一个}以 0.05 倍覆盖率测序的新石器时代晚期基因组。¹⁶这留下了覆盖~3,400-2,700 cal的关键过渡期。年（校准年） BCE 基因未采样，因此狩猎 - 采集者持续存在和草原迁徙到达的确切时间框架未知。为了解决这个问题，我们对来自法国的 24 个古代人类基因组进行了测序，时间跨度约为 3,400-1,600 cal。公元前几年。这揭示了新石器时代晚期人群的遗传多样性，包括皮肤、头发和眼睛黝黑的个体。我们在新石器时代晚期社区中检测到异质的狩猎采集者血统，在某些个体中高达 63.3%，以及贝尔烧杯种群中草原牧民的可变遗传贡献。我们对新石器时代和中石器时代人口之间的混合提供了最晚至公元前 3,800 年的估计，并且早在公元前 2,650 年对与草原相关的祖先的到来进行了估计。