Ancient DNA Traces Corinthian Roots of Amvrakia
A genetic study of ancient remains suggests Amvrakia's earliest residents descended from the Greek city of Corinth.
Updated on Nov. 4, 2026 in Life Sciences
Researchers analyzing ancient DNA found that early inhabitants of Amvrakia, a colony founded by Corinth in the second half of the seventh century B.C., shared inherited genetic segments with people from Corinthian territory. The findings, published in Genome Biology, also showed no direct ancestry from the nearby Ammotopos community among those early residents.
Why it matters
The study offers a genetic window into how ancient Greek colonies were populated, testing whether settlers from a founding city or neighboring communities shaped a colony's earliest population. It adds direct biological evidence to historical accounts of Corinthian colonization in northwestern Greece.
Researchers sequenced 26 ancient genomes, including 15 from Amvrakia, nine from Tenea and two from Ammotopos, and two of three Archaic-period Amvrakia individuals shared inherited DNA segments with Tenea, indicating common ancestors roughly 110 to 170 years earlier. Because no genomes from ancient Corinth were available, Tenea served as a proxy for Corinth's population, so the direct source population remains unconfirmed.
The players
Corinth
Corinth was an influential ancient Greek city-state that founded Amvrakia and other colonies across the Greek world.
Pyrrhus
Pyrrhus was a king of Epirus who made Amvrakia his capital in 294 B.C. and is remembered for his military campaigns against Rome.
The details
Researchers compared DNA from Amvrakia individuals with DNA from Tenea and Ammotopos and used shared inherited segments to estimate when common ancestors lived. By the Hellenistic period, no shared DNA stretches were found between Amvrakia and Tenea, suggesting the genetic link weakened over time as the city came under Macedonian rule in 338 B.C. and later became capital of the Kingdom of Epirus under Pyrrhus in 294 B.C.
Timeline
Second half of the seventh century B.C.: Corinth founds Amvrakia.
338 B.C.: Amvrakia comes under Macedonian rule.
294 B.C.: Amvrakia becomes capital of the Kingdom of Epirus under Pyrrhus.
Hellenistic period: No shared DNA is found between Amvrakia and Tenea.
Big Picture
The findings place Amvrakia within the wider pattern of Archaic Greek colonization, in which founding cities such as Corinth sent settlers to establish new communities. Ancient DNA now offers a way to test those historical accounts directly against the biological record of colonial populations.
Ancient DNA studies like this one help historians and archaeologists verify how populations moved and settled in the ancient world. The methods used here can be applied to other archaeological sites to test long-standing assumptions about colonization and migration.
The takeaway
Genetic evidence can confirm or challenge written accounts of ancient colonization, showing how populations actually moved and mixed. Readers interested in ancient history can follow similar studies as sequencing methods improve.
Further reading
Explore more ancient genetics research in our Life Sciences section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by GreekReporter.
