🏛️ Corinthian DNA in an Epirus colony

Ancient genomes show that Amvrakia’s first settlers were mostly people from the Corinth area, not locals. The earliest Amvrakians share long DNA chunks with individuals from Tenea near Corinth, which fits a 7th-century BCE foundation by migrants from the metropolis.

Through the Classical and Hellenistic periods the city’s gene pool stays broadly continuous, with only modest shifts. A direct contribution from the nearby Late Bronze Age population is not clearly detected at the founding stage, suggesting culture and people moved together from Corinth.

Takeaway: Amvrakia’s origin story is genetic as well as cultural — founded mainly by Corinthians, then maintained with local continuity over time.

Source: Psonis et al., 2025. Genetic affinities between an ancient Greek colony and its metropolis: the case of Amvrakia in western Greece.