Why Europeans have much to be grateful for

Across the dinner table, today’s well-informed European population might discuss the alleged decline of civilisation as armed conflict, complex economic concerns, and climate change dominate headlines, but two just-released studies show how far the peoples of the continent have come over the past 45,000 years. And how much modern residents have to be grateful for.

In the vast sweep of time, it wasn’t very long ago when man was battling for survival as he fashioned spear tips from stone and sallied forth from his cave sanctuary to battle the often-large creatures that provided food and hides for clothing.

At the end of the last great Ice Age, about 19,000 years ago, even in the somewhat warmer climes of Portugal and Spain, ancient homo sapiens lived a brutish existence as they strived to reach an “old” age of perhaps 30 years. The recent studies found that only few areas of the continent were warm enough to sustain populations of people and even on the Italian peninsula, today warm and mild, the harsh environment wiped out fledgling tribes.

Using new techniques to examine the DNA extracted from the teeth and bones of 357 ancient Europeans, researchers discovered that several waves of hunter-gatherers migrated into Europe, then coexisted for thousands of years. Some groups survived the Ice Age, and then vanished. The Neanderthals, a parallel species of humans, did not survive and went extinct.

Occasionally, we have a moment of clarity when we can consider the bigger picture: see the positive arc of history and know that, all in all, life is good these days.

Farmers migrated from present-day Turkey and began to settle in the warming continent of Europe some 9,000 years ago, supplanting the hunter-gatherers that clung to life in the Ice Ages. They started a way of life that would be more familiar to people today.

Yet it was still a tough go. Unhygienic living conditions and little effective medical care meant the average life span in more “civilised” Roman times was likely limited to about 35 years with an infant mortality rate of about 30 per cent. And as Europeans continued to discover adjacent lands and peoples — with whom they often engaged in violent competition — life for the average “working man” farmer continued much the same for thousands of years. By the Middle Ages, little progress in medical care or technological breakthroughs meant life remained short, harsh and difficult.

As we today discuss whether we should agree to accept free Covid-19 vaccines, perhaps it is a good time to consider what happened during waves of plague that decimated Europe. The most fatal pandemics recorded in human history wiped out somewhere between 30 and 60 per cent of the European population. Even today one can find ossuaries and monuments scattered across Europe that still bear testament to the stunning events.

We now know the plague could have been cured by penicillin, an antibiotic so common since its discovery in the first part of the 20th century that we have to be wary of overuse.

Even during the Renaissance — a so-called reawakening of civilisation following the fall of Rome 1,000 years before — the wealthy might have been sponsoring creation of high art but life for the peasants that underpinned society remained harsh. And due to the plague, average life expectancy during that time actually fell even further — to about 25 years.

The recent studies of the ancient DNA show that there are no genetic vestiges of very early Europeans present today. It appears the first modern humans in Europe might have disappeared along with the Neanderthals, their histories lost amid the ice and unrecorded time.

Yet clearly, increasingly larger groups did survive as the continent warmed and forests replaced glaciers. Europe today is densely populated, home to nearly 750 million people, making it the third-most populous region in the world following Asia and Africa.

And its societies not only grew in size but also evolved to reach higher levels of civilisation. The sheer number of varied peoples, languages and cultures made for a land rife in competition and conflict, but by the latter half of the 20th century, Europe was trying something very new: a consortium of countries that would work together and solve problems through negotiation and cooperation. The European Union is the most ambitious attempt at true cooperative governance ever attempted by mankind. Other organisations such as the United Nations have far more members but they do not have the binding institutions and legal framework needed for a workable form of government.

Even a quick look at where the EU is based can tell a story about continuous adaptation and evolution toward a higher ideal. Its headquarters is in Brussels, Belgium, a country named for a large tribe so fierce that it gave Julius Caesar a hard time indeed. Today, large groups gather to vote on issues as elected representatives of the 27 EU member states.

It’s doubtful many Europeans consider such a big picture as they go about their daily lives or perhaps even struggle to meet the many requirements of modern society. But occasionally it’s a good idea. Even the fact we can coax a tale from DNA in teeth many thousands of years old is itself a hopeful sign about the enduring nature of humans and their vast potential.

So, next time we sigh and recall the “golden times” of how things used to be, perhaps we need a nudge and a reminder that now, this moment, is the “good old days”.

(Jon Van Housen and Mariella Radaelli are international veteran journalists based in Italy.)

• Opinion