A wave of migrants 4,500 years ago left their trace in the DNA and languages of modern Europeans . This is according to a study that found evidence of this Stone Age migration by analysing DNA of 69 people who lived across Europe between 8,000 and 3,000 years ago . Among the shifts in the genetic make-up of ancient Europeans they found that DNA associated with the Yamnaya people appeared strongly in what is now northern Germany . Researchers have identified a mass migration of Kurgan populations ( Yamna culture ) which went from the Russian steppes to the centre of Europe 4,500 years ago . Previously , researchers had believed it spread 8,500 years ago , when the first farmers from the Near East , now modern day Turkey , brought it to Europe . There are two main theories as to how Indo-European languages spread in Europe . The first is the Anatolian hypothesis , which claims spread of the language occurred some 8,500 years ago , when the first farmers from the Near East ( currently Turkey ) brought it to Europe . The Kurgan hypothesis , meanwhile , proposes that the language was spread by nomadic herders of the steppes found to the north of the Black and Caspian Sea . This theory suggests their language spread throughout Europe after the invention of wheeled vehicles , from 6,000 to 5,000 years ago . The Yamnaya were herders who lived in the steppe north of the Black and Aral Seas . This injection of DNA indicates ' a massive migration into the heartland of Europe from its eastern periphery , ' said the researchers , led by David Reich of Harvard Medical School . Such a large-scale influx would likely have affected not just the DNA but ancient cultures as well . Although genes ca n't determine what people spoke , the researchers argue that their findings could influence the debate about the origins of Indo-European tongues . Indo-European languages include more than 400 tongues , from modern languages such as English and Polish to ancient languages like Hittite and Sanskrit . Basque , which is spoken in south-west France and northern Spain , is not Indo-European , and may be the only surviving relic of earlier languages once spoken more widely , according to the BBC . Linguists have long debated whether Indo-European languages came to Europe with farmers migrating from the Middle East or some other group , such as the Yamnaya . Previously , researchers had believed that Indo-European language spread some 8,500 years ago , when the first farmers from the Near East , now modern day Turkey , brought it to Europe . The latest study suggests that Europe was first reshaped at this time in what archaeologists call the Neolithic Revolution . Farmers from Anatolia travelled north , bringing new technology and language into Europe . This was followed by a second wave of people several thousand years later from what is today Ukraine and Russia . The latest study suggests that Europe was first reshaped during the Neolithic Revolution 8,500 years ago . Farmers at this time travelled north , bringing new technology and language into Europe . Pictured is an early Neolithic 35-40 year old male from , Czech Republic , who was part of the first mass migration to Europe . As well as genetic evidence , researchers point to the fact that many Indo-European languages share words for things like axles , harness poles , and the wheel . These devices were invented long after the Neolithic Revolution began in Europe . 'Major language replacements are thought to require large-scale migration , ' said the authors of the study , which was published Monday by the journal Nature . 'Our results make a compelling case for the steppe as a source of at least some of the Indo-European languages in Europe . ' Andrew Garrett , a linguist at the University of California , Berkeley , who was not involved in the study , said it was significant that the mass migration occurred at a time some models had previously identified for Indo-European expansion . 'It fills in a significant piece of a big and interesting puzzle , ' said Garrett .
Study looked at DNA of Europeans who lived 8,000 and 3,000 years ago . DNA associated with Turkey people appeared in northern Germany . Turkey were herders from the steppe north of the Black and Aral Seas . This suggests a large influx that would have changed speech and DNA . Previously , researchers believed that Indo-European language spread some 8,500 years ago , by the first farmers from the Near East , now Yamnaya .