The discovery of a 17,000-year-old skeleton in Grotta delle Mura, near Monopoli in Puglia, offered new insights into the genetic history of early human populations in southern Italy. The child, who died at just 16 months of age, is one of the most significant archaeological finds in recent years, particularly because their genome is the oldest ever sequenced in Italy.

The study was carried out by Italian and German universities and published in Nature Communications: in it, we gain a fascinating look into the life, health, and genetic ancestry of a young inhabitant of the Paleolithic era, while also uncovering clues about broader patterns of migration and genetic mixing in prehistoric Europe.