Myths and legends have always been windows into the human psyche, revealing our fears, dreams, and attempts to understand the world. Yet, could these stories also encode the history of humanity’s migrations and interactions? A interesting and creative study by Hélios Delbrassine and colleagues, a pre-print has been published in bioRxiv, suggests just that. By combining genetic data with a vast database of over 2,000 mythological motifs, this research uncovers how the tales we tell may trace back to the Out of Africa migration, some 60,000 years ago.
Through statistical comparisons of genetic distances, geographic relationships, and the distribution of mythological motifs, the study reveals that both population movements and cultural diffusion have shaped the stories we tell today. The findings not only link myths to ancient human migrations but also provide a unique interdisciplinary framework for exploring the intersection of genetics and cultural anthropology.
“Our results reveal that correlations between mythemes and genetic patterns can be traced back to population movements that pre-date the Last Glacial Maximum,” the authors write, situating storytelling at the core of human history.
At the heart of this study is the database of Yuri Berezkin, which catalogs the presence or absence of 2,138 “mythemes”—core narrative motifs—across 926 traditions worldwide. These mythemes are treated like genetic markers, allowing researchers to analyze their distribution using methods borrowed from population genetics, such as Wright’s fixation index (F-statistic) and AMOVA.
The study reveals that certain motifs—like the planet Venus being the Moon’s wife or the rainbow originating from a snake—exist across continents, suggesting that these tales are ancient, predating the Last Glacial Maximum and possibly originating during the initial dispersal of humans out of Africa.
To explain the global distribution of these motifs, the study tests two main models: cultural diffusion (spread through storytelling independent of population movement) and demic diffusion (spread linked to human migrations). While cultural diffusion dominates at larger geographic scales, the researchers find that within a 5,000-kilometer radius, demic diffusion plays a more significant role. This suggests that population movements, such as the Neolithic expansions and the colonization of Oceania and the Americas, carried specific mythemes along migration routes.
“The distribution of mythological motifs appears to result from a combination of cultural and demic processes, with their relative importance varying across time and space,” the authors conclude.
One of the study’s most striking findings is the link between mythological motifs and the genetic landscape of pre-Last Glacial Maximum populations. By focusing on motifs found in Africa, Oceania, and South America, the researchers identify a demic signal associated with the Out of Africa migration, dating back at least 60,000 years. This signal is strongest for motifs shared across these regions, suggesting they may represent the oldest surviving stories of humanity.
For example, tales of cosmic phenomena, dangerous encounters with non-human entities, and trickster animals appear to have been carried by early human populations as they spread across the globe. These findings provide the earliest evidence for storytelling as a shared cultural practice, integral to human identity.
While the study offers compelling insights, it is not without limitations. The reliance on Berezkin’s database, which varies in quality across regions, may introduce biases. Additionally, the exclusion of modern colonial influences limits the study’s ability to account for recent cultural exchanges that might obscure older patterns.
The models tested also oversimplify the complexity of cultural transmission. By focusing on geographic and genetic distances, the study may overlook the influence of historical trade networks, religious dissemination, and other mechanisms of motif spread. Future research incorporating additional cultural factors could provide a more nuanced understanding.
This study invites us to reconsider the deep history of storytelling, framing it as a fundamental human activity that has persisted across millennia and migrations. By linking genetic and cultural data, the research highlights how myths are not merely reflections of societal values but also carriers of our species’ shared history.
As Delbrassine and colleagues demonstrate, the stories we tell are more than entertainment—they are cultural artifacts that bridge the past and present, connecting us to the first storytellers who wandered out of Africa. This interdisciplinary approach sets the stage for further exploration, promising to illuminate the intricate web of biology, culture, and history that defines humanity.
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“Tracing Myths Through Time: A Genetic and Cultural Approach”
Examines the genetic signal in Eurasian myths post-Neolithic.
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“Cosmic Motifs and the Spread of Early Humans”
Focuses on shared astronomical myths across continents.
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“Demic and Cultural Diffusion in Mythology”
Investigates the mechanisms of motif transmission in South Asia.
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