Adriatic Sea through the analysis of genome-wide data from Southern Italy

torzio

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Assessing temporal and geographic contacts across the
Adriatic Sea through the analysis of genome-wide data from
Southern Italy

Alessandro Raveane1,2
*, Ludovica Molinaro3 , Serena Aneli 4
, Marco Rosario Capodiferro 1,5 ,


Southern Italy was characterised by a complex prehistory that started with different
Palaeolithic cultures, later followed by the Neolithic transition and the demic dispersal from
the Pontic-Caspian Steppe during the Bronze Age. Archaeological and historical evidence
points to demic and cultural influences between Southern Italians and the Balkans, starting
with the initial Palaeolithic occupation until historical and modern times. To shed light on the
dynamics of these contacts, we analysed a genome-wide SNP dataset of more than 700
individuals from the South Mediterranean area (102 from Southern Italy), combined with
ancient DNA from neighbouring areas. Our findings revealed high affinities of South-Eastern
Italians with modern Eastern Peloponnesians, and a closer affinity of ancient Greek
genomes with those from specific regions of South Italy than modern Greek genomes. The
higher similarity could be associated with the presence of a Bronze Age component
ultimately originating from the Caucasus and characterised by high frequencies of Iranian
and Anatolian Neolithic ancestries. Furthermore, to reveal possible signals of natural
selection, we looked for extremely differentiated allele frequencies among Northern and
Southern Italy, uncovering putatively adapted SNPs in genes involved in alcohol metabolism,
nevi features and immunological traits, such as ALDH2, NID1 and CBLB.


https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.02.26.482072v1.full.pdf

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.02.26.482072v1
 
VfDn2OS.png


Minoan, baby! My analysis was iron-clad!
 
I'm starting to wonder if the Minions could actually be a good proxy for what pre-Italic southern farmers in Italy may have looked like genetically. Perhaps the Italics brought Steppe to Southern Italy in a similar amount that the Proto-Greeks brought it to the pre-Hellenic people in Greece. Which could be why Southern Italians look genetically similar to Mycenaeans. Of course in addition to waves of Greek colonization.

Date: March 10, 2021
 
Are there any new ancient samples analysed or is it just speculation based on the old and usual modern samples?
 
VfDn2OS.png


Minoan, baby! My analysis was iron-clad!

Yes, Minoans are an integral part. :)

I just read through it and the Supplement once, but too tired to get into the nitty gritty tonight.

I must say, it seems to validate the conclusions of
Stamatoyannopoulos et al., Eur. J. Hum. Genet. (2017).



I don't see any new samples but rather the case of newer statistical methods applied to already available samples.
 
Minoan language was likely CHG and spread with J2a assimilating G2a, probably all J2a in South-East Europe were Minoan-like.
 
Yes, Minoans are an integral part. :)

I just read through it and the Supplement once, but too tired to get into the nitty gritty tonight.

I must say, it seems to validate the conclusions of
Stamatoyannopoulos et al., Eur. J. Hum. Genet. (2017).


I don't see any new samples but rather the case of newer statistical methods applied to already available samples.

No new samples, but I'm pleased to see that they've come to the conclusion of using a Minoan-like population, with the latest data, and methods.

This also complements Sarno et al. 2021, nicely.
 
I don't see new statistical methods either. The statistical softwares used are the same as that available for years. Maybe there will have been some updates in the packages. A population genetically similar to Minoans (not Minoan in the ethnic sense) in south-eastern Europe before the arrival of Steppe is very possible. But hopefully studies containing ancient DNA will come out soon to confirm this.
 
As you know, I've been a proponent of a Minoan-like population. I think it is logical considering the composition of Central Italian Neolithic. I hope we will be able to get samples from the right period to verify this theory. At any rate, I am very pleased to see prominent Italian geneticists formally put forward the theory.
 
As you know, I've been a proponent of a Minoan-like population. I think it is logical considering the composition of Central Italian Neolithic. I hope we will be able to get samples from the right period to verify this theory. At any rate, I am very pleased to see prominent Italian geneticists formally put forward the theory.

The problem is always the same, that ancient DNA confirms it. In the past some prominent Italian geneticists have made many mistakes basing their conclusions only on the observation of modern samples. Also the picture on the Central Italian Neolithic is still a very limited, the samples come from Neolithic site on the Adriatic coast, altough it is clear that the idea that an Iran/CHG signal could have arrived earlier in Greece and Italy remains plausible.
 
This study does appear to accord with the Stamatoyannopoulos study, which also found substructure in the Peloponnese:

“We find considerable heterogeneity of Peloponnesean populations exemplified by genetically distinct subpopulations and by gene flow gradients within Peloponnese.”

B5F4E314-1840-4AF4-B4C8-EF3374CC45AD.jpg
 
Indeed it does.
 
The authors are quite aware that ancient dna from the Neolithic through to the Middle Ages is necessary to prove exactly how the Southern Italian/Sicilian genome came to be.

They mention it numerous times, including here:
"Differently from the rest of Europe, Greece and Southern Italy appear to havebeen less impacted by this demic dispersal [steppe], being characterized by an additional Iranian related ancestry (16–19). However, the lack of Southern Italian ancient genomes from theNeolithic period keeps open essential questions regarding this major cultural anddemographic transition in the region.

Mindful, however, that we can learn a lot from archaeology, they also state:

"Starting from the mid 3rd millennium Before Current Era(BCE) archaeological evidence allows to outline a network of cultural connections interactingalong the Adriatic-Ionian axis, operating between two or more different core areas andradiating across trajectories of link and expansion which likely triggered small human groupsmovements (20,21). As a matter of fact, from about 4.3 to 4 kya, the well-know Cetina-typecultural elements, also related to the Bell Beaker phenomenon in the North-WesternBalkans, played an active role spreading from the Dalmatian core area Southwards across the Adriatic in Northern Apulia and South-Eastern Italy also influencing the Ionian Islandsand Western Greece (22).Later on, during the 2nd millennium BCE a flourishing and continuous cultural relationshipwas established between Southern Italy and Aegean communities especially from theRecent Bronze Age (3.3 to 3.2 kya) onward (23,24). Although the demographic extent ofthese contacts is not clear, some valuable insights on mobility could be inferred fromceramic crafts. The most recent analytical evidence, relating to the Aegean-type pottery fromthe core sites of Punta di Zambrone (Tyrrhenian Calabria) and Roca Vecchia (SouthernAdriatic Apulia), allow to highlight a strong connection with the Western Greek regions(Ionian Islands, Acarnania, Achaea and Elis) and, to a lesser extent, with Western Crete(25)."

The following is also important:

"In the second half of the 7th century BCE, some of these settlements,specifically in South-Eastern Sicily (Siracusa and Megara Iblea) and Apulia (Taranto), wereattributed to Eastern Peloponnesian founders (31,32)"

The nature of the early settlements, the scale of their demographic impact and geneticlegacy are still a matter of debate. Some genetic studies (33,34) have tried characterise thedemographic impact of these processes in Southern Italy using present-day Italianpopulations, but none of them had the intent of finely dissecting these ancient components.Furthermore, a recent aDNA study (35) showed that Iron Age Apulians were not yetsuperimposable to contemporary Southern Italians, pointing to later processes as keys forthe understanding of present-day genetic diversity in Italy."

However, there is also this:

"In this study, we highlighted a high similarity between Southern Italy and the Peloponnese.In fact, our cluster analysis showed that present-day South-Eastern Peloponnesianpopulations have high genetic affinity with modern Apulians, Calabrians and South-EasternSicilians, all characterised by a cluster composition different from those displayed by otherGreek groups (Fig. 1B, Fig. S3). Additionally, individuals from Western Sicily showsimilarities with populations inhabiting the Western part of Peloponnese (Fig. 1B, Fig. S4).Although establishing the chronological context for this affinity using present-day genomesmight be challenging, our results are in accordance with archaeological and historicalsources that attributed the origin of Greek colonies in South-Eastern Sicily and Apulia frompopulations inhabiting the southern and Eastern parts of the Peloponnese (31,32).Uniparental Y-chromosome findings are also in agreement with these observations revealingEastern Peloponnesian ancestries in East Sicily (34) and shared haplogroups amongmodern-day Greeks and populations living in Southern Italian areas colonised by Greekssuch as the Salento (Apulia) and the Ionian coast of Calabria (56). The lower affinity withother Balkan populations could be attributed to a lower influence by inland populations, suchas Slavic-related people (57) and/or genetic drift in Tsakones and Maniots as suggested by historical sources (39). Therefore, our results imply a high affinity between Southern Italiansand Peloponnesians possibly abrupted very recently by major events of migrations and/oradmixture as the one recorded during the Middle Age period (58). However the observationthat, in some analyses, Southern Italians and ancient Greeks share more alleles thanmodern and ancient Peloponnesians, may suggest a scenario including the preservation ofan ancient population signal in the genome of Southern Italians that was likely diluted byinland migrations in Greece (Fig. 3)."

"Overall, these results are inagreement with the detection of a small proportion of Iranian-related ancestry in SicilianMiddle Bronze Age samples (17), which could be tentatively linked to the spread of theMycenaean culture (59). Interestingly, our results modelled the source of this contribution asa mixture of AN and Iran Chalcolithic ancestries (14). The latter was found consistentlyacross Southern Italy and the Peloponnese, confirming again common genetic sourcesshared between these two regions (Fig. 2)."

All of the above, btw, has been speculated here first based solely on history and archaeology then reinforced by dodecad anayses, and finally further reinforced and clarified by Jovialis' work.

As for the method used. The prior paper on the Peloponnese was in 2017. Obviously, the authors used different software from that available at that time, which was the point of my statement.
 
we need to take care on how they interpret Apulia and in what time frame they refer to...............

Taranto was founded by Spartans and was never part of the Messapian Iapygian tribes ...................we even have

In 472 BC, Taranto signed an alliance with Rhegion, to counter the Iapygian tribes of the Messapians and Peucetians, and the Oscan-speaking Lucanians (see Iapygian-Tarentine Wars), but the joint armies of the Tarentines and Rhegines were defeated near Kailia, in what Herodotus[1] claims to be the greatest slaughter of Greeks in his knowledge, with 3,000 Reggians and uncountable Tarentines killed. In 466 BC, Taranto was again defeated by the Iapygians; according to Aristotle,[2]

Granted , some time around 400BC when the Iapygians began making their own pottery instead of bringing it in from Croatia , would have been a time that peloponnese and NW greek influence in Apulia

So taranto went from Spartan to Corinthian and back to spartan in a period of 300 years ..............then Roman after that
 
If memory serves on history, western Peloponnese fell to the medieval Slavs while eastern Peloponnese remained in Byzantine hands. Perhaps history and science agree pretty well here too, where populations in the east are more akin with some south Italian and Sicilian populations and may better represent older populations. We will know either way when we get older Greek samples.
 
^^Of course,ancient dna objectively analyzed will be the determinant, but I'm not sure about the above.

Take a look at the tables at the end of the paper. I see no indication that the western Peloponnese has any more "Germany/Slovakia" than the eastern side, nor that the eastern side in every case has more Caucasus elated ancestry than the western side.
 
The authors are quite aware that ancient dna from the Neolithic through to the Middle Ages is necessary to prove exactly how the Southern Italian/Sicilian genome came to be.

They mention it numerous times, including here:
"Differently from the rest of Europe, Greece and Southern Italy appear to havebeen less impacted by this demic dispersal [steppe], being characterized by an additional Iranian related ancestry (16–19). However, the lack of Southern Italian ancient genomes from theNeolithic period keeps open essential questions regarding this major cultural anddemographic transition in the region.

Mindful, however, that we can learn a lot from archaeology, they also state:

"Starting from the mid 3rd millennium Before Current Era(BCE) archaeological evidence allows to outline a network of cultural connections interactingalong the Adriatic-Ionian axis, operating between two or more different core areas andradiating across trajectories of link and expansion which likely triggered small human groupsmovements (20,21). As a matter of fact, from about 4.3 to 4 kya, the well-know Cetina-typecultural elements, also related to the Bell Beaker phenomenon in the North-WesternBalkans, played an active role spreading from the Dalmatian core area Southwards across the Adriatic in Northern Apulia and South-Eastern Italy also influencing the Ionian Islandsand Western Greece (22).Later on, during the 2nd millennium BCE a flourishing and continuous cultural relationshipwas established between Southern Italy and Aegean communities especially from theRecent Bronze Age (3.3 to 3.2 kya) onward (23,24). Although the demographic extent ofthese contacts is not clear, some valuable insights on mobility could be inferred fromceramic crafts. The most recent analytical evidence, relating to the Aegean-type pottery fromthe core sites of Punta di Zambrone (Tyrrhenian Calabria) and Roca Vecchia (SouthernAdriatic Apulia), allow to highlight a strong connection with the Western Greek regions(Ionian Islands, Acarnania, Achaea and Elis) and, to a lesser extent, with Western Crete(25)."

The following is also important:

"In the second half of the 7th century BCE, some of these settlements,specifically in South-Eastern Sicily (Siracusa and Megara Iblea) and Apulia (Taranto), wereattributed to Eastern Peloponnesian founders (31,32)"

The nature of the early settlements, the scale of their demographic impact and geneticlegacy are still a matter of debate. Some genetic studies (33,34) have tried characterise thedemographic impact of these processes in Southern Italy using present-day Italianpopulations, but none of them had the intent of finely dissecting these ancient components.Furthermore, a recent aDNA study (35) showed that Iron Age Apulians were not yetsuperimposable to contemporary Southern Italians, pointing to later processes as keys forthe understanding of present-day genetic diversity in Italy."

However, there is also this:

"In this study, we highlighted a high similarity between Southern Italy and the Peloponnese.In fact, our cluster analysis showed that present-day South-Eastern Peloponnesianpopulations have high genetic affinity with modern Apulians, Calabrians and South-EasternSicilians, all characterised by a cluster composition different from those displayed by otherGreek groups (Fig. 1B, Fig. S3). Additionally, individuals from Western Sicily showsimilarities with populations inhabiting the Western part of Peloponnese (Fig. 1B, Fig. S4).Although establishing the chronological context for this affinity using present-day genomesmight be challenging, our results are in accordance with archaeological and historicalsources that attributed the origin of Greek colonies in South-Eastern Sicily and Apulia frompopulations inhabiting the southern and Eastern parts of the Peloponnese (31,32).Uniparental Y-chromosome findings are also in agreement with these observations revealingEastern Peloponnesian ancestries in East Sicily (34) and shared haplogroups amongmodern-day Greeks and populations living in Southern Italian areas colonised by Greekssuch as the Salento (Apulia) and the Ionian coast of Calabria (56). The lower affinity withother Balkan populations could be attributed to a lower influence by inland populations, suchas Slavic-related people (57) and/or genetic drift in Tsakones and Maniots as suggested by historical sources (39). Therefore, our results imply a high affinity between Southern Italiansand Peloponnesians possibly abrupted very recently by major events of migrations and/oradmixture as the one recorded during the Middle Age period (58). However the observationthat, in some analyses, Southern Italians and ancient Greeks share more alleles thanmodern and ancient Peloponnesians, may suggest a scenario including the preservation ofan ancient population signal in the genome of Southern Italians that was likely diluted byinland migrations in Greece (Fig. 3)."

"Overall, these results are inagreement with the detection of a small proportion of Iranian-related ancestry in SicilianMiddle Bronze Age samples (17), which could be tentatively linked to the spread of theMycenaean culture (59). Interestingly, our results modelled the source of this contribution asa mixture of AN and Iran Chalcolithic ancestries (14). The latter was found consistentlyacross Southern Italy and the Peloponnese, confirming again common genetic sourcesshared between these two regions (Fig. 2)."

All of the above, btw, has been speculated here first based solely on history and archaeology then reinforced by dodecad anayses, and finally further reinforced and clarified by Jovialis' work.

As for the method used. The prior paper on the Peloponnese was in 2017. Obviously, the authors used different software from that available at that time, which was the point of my statement.

Indeed, it is so good to see these ideas are now in the mainstream of Italian genetics.
 

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