A new study published in Nature Communications presents genome-wide data from 125 individuals buried in Copper Age cemeteries in the Carpathian Basin, dating between roughly 4800 and 3900 BCE. This was a time when communities in the region were adopting new burial customs, including the use of formal cemeteries, and beginning to work copper on a larger scale. Despite these visible changes in material culture and ritual, the genetic results point to a high degree of continuity with the preceding Neolithic farming populations. There is little indication of major population replacement or large-scale influx from outside groups during this period. What stands out more clearly is the variation between communities. The study compares two large cemeteries belonging to the same archaeological culture and located only about 100 kilometers apart. One, at Tiszapolgár-Basatanya in Hungary, shows low genetic diversity and a high number of close biological relatives buried together, including evidence consistent with first-cousin unions. The data also suggest a patrilocal pattern, where women tended to move to the community of their husbands, pointing to a relatively closed social group organized along patrilineal lines. By contrast, the cemetery at Urziceni-Vamă in Romania shows noticeably higher genetic diversity and far fewer close kin relationships among the buried individuals. There is less evidence of a rigid patrilineal structure, and the community appears to have been more open to integrating people from outside. These differences are notable because both sites belong to the same material culture, with broadly similar pottery, tools, and burial practices. The genetic and kinship data suggest that communities could maintain quite different social organizations — one more inward-looking and kin-focused, the other more diverse and socially fluid — even while participating in the same broader cultural traditions. The paper adds to the view that genetic continuity does not automatically translate into social uniformity, and that local groups could develop different ways of structuring kinship and residence within a relatively short period and small geographic area. Map of Tiszapolgar culture and neighboring cultures.