image: El Portalón cave in the Sierra de Atapuerca (northern Spain) contains four millennia of biomolecular prehistory. view more
Credit: PNAS
Genetic evidence suggests that early Neolithic migration into the Iberian Peninsula established a distinct and continuous population that was more persistent and less affected by late prehistoric migrations than populations elsewhere in Europe, according to a study. The Iberian Peninsula was one of the last areas to be affected by mass migrations during the Neolithic period. Assessing the impact of the migrations using genetics has been challenging because of unfavorable DNA preservation conditions in the southern regions. Cristina Valdiosera and colleagues combined genome sequencing data and stable isotope analysis to assess the demographics and diet of 13 individuals from both the northern and southern peninsula and with ages ranging from 7,500 to 3,500 years. The authors found that genetic diversity varied more in time than in space, with early Neolithic farmer migrants displaying different genetic characteristics from the migrant farmers who settled central and northern Europe. Following a period of relatively low genetic diversity in early Neolithic Iberia, diversity increased as the population grew and the migrant farmers likely mixed with local hunter-gatherers. Stable isotope analysis suggests that the population's diet remained remarkably constant across space and time, with evidence of a terrestrial diet with no significant freshwater or marine component extending from the early Neolithic to the beginning of the Bronze Age. According to the authors, the results show that although early Neolithic migrations significantly reshaped the genetic and social characteristics of the Iberian Peninsula, those characteristics persisted into the Bronze Age.
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Article #17-17762: "Four millennia of Iberian biomolecular prehistory illustrate the impact of prehistoric migrations at the far end of Eurasia," by Cristina Valdiosera et al.
MEDIA CONTACTS: Juan Luis Arsuaga, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, SPAIN; tel: +34918222833; e-mail: <jlarfer@gmail.com>; Cristina Valdiosera, La Trobe University, Melbourne, AUSTRALIA; tel: +61 416 000 657; e-mail: <cvaldioser@gmail.com>
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences