The invention and ongoing refinement of high-throughput sequencing technologies, coupled with advancements in laboratory methods and innovative bioinformatic workflows, have opened up uncharted territories that were previously unimaginable. The genetic ancestry of modern European populations can be predominantly attributed, albeit with slight variations, to three ancient sources (European Mesolithic hunter-gatherers, Anatolian Neolithic farmers, and early Bronze Age groups from the Steppe). The contribution of these sources in Romania remains largely unknown, as the current archaeogenetic landscape of the region exhibits an uneven distribution of records across both time and space, with limited sampling resolution.

This project is aims to further contribute to the atlas of genetic diversity in past populations by zooming in on a microregional scale. It seeks to explore human genetic signatures and tap into underexplored environmental archives that preserve traces of ancient microbial life in order to offer a novel perspective on past life conditions, population movements, and relationships.