Link to bioRxiv paper: http://biorxiv.org/cgi/content/short/2020.08.10.241430v1?rss=1 Authors: Bortolini, E., Pagani, L., Oxilia, G., Posth, C., Fontana, F., Badino, F., Saupe, T., Montinaro, F., Margaritora, D., Romandini, M., Lugli, F., Papini, A., Boggioni, M., Perrini, N., Oxilia, A., Aiese Cigliano, R., Barcelona, R., Visentin, D., Fasser, N., Arrighi, S., Figus, C., Marciani, G., Silvestrini, S., Bernardini, F., Menghi Sartorio, J. C., Fiorenza, L., Moggi Cecchi, J., Tuniz, C., Kivisild, T., Gianfrancesco, F., Peresani, M., Scheib, C. L., Talamo, S., D'Esposito, M., Benazzi, S. Abstract: The end of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) in Europe (~16.5 ka ago) set in motion major changes in human culture and population structure. In Southern Europe, Early Epigravettian material culture was replaced by Late Epigravettian art and technology about 18-17 ka ago at the beginning of southern Alpine deglaciation, although available genetic evidence from individuals who lived ~14 ka ago opened up questions on the impact of migrations on this cultural transition only after that date. Here we generate new genomic data from a human mandible uncovered at the Late Epigravettian site of Riparo Tagliente (Veneto, Italy), that we directly dated to 16,980-16,510 cal BP (2{sigma}). This individual, affected by a low-prevalence dental pathology named focal osseous dysplasia, attests that the very emergence of Late Epigravettian material culture in Italy was already associated with migration and genetic replacement of the Gravettian-related ancestry. In doing so, we push back by at least 3,000 years the date of the diffusion in Southern Europe of a genetic component linked to Balkan/Anatolian refugia, previously believed to have spread during the later Bolling/Allerod warming event (~14 ka ago). Our results suggest that demic diffusion from a genetically diverse population may have substantially contributed to cultural changes in LGM and post-LGM Southern Europe, independently from abrupt shifts to warmer and more favourable conditions. Copy rights belong to original authors. Visit the link for more info