Recent Paper with apparent Phoenician sample

Alyan

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http://sci-hub.tw/https://www.nature.com/articles/s41431-019-0361-1

People from Ibiza: an unexpected isolate in the WesternMediterranean
Simone Andrea Biagini1Neus Solé-Morata1Elizabeth Matisoo-Smith2Pierre Zalloua3David Comas1Francesc Calafell1Received: 10 August 2018 / Revised: 15 January 2019 / Accepted: 24 January 2019© European Society of Human Genetics 2019
Abstract

In this study, we seek to understand and to correlate the genetic patterns observed in the population of the island of Ibiza in
the Western Mediterranean basin with past events. Genome-wide genotypes of 189 samples representing 13 of 17 regions inSpain have been analyzed, in addition to 105 samples from the Levant, 157 samples from North Africa, and one ancient sample from the Phoenician Cas Molí site in Ibiza. Before the Catalans conquered the island in 1235 CE, Ibiza (Eivissa) had already been influenced by several cultures, starting with the Phoenicians, then the Carthaginians, followed by the Umayyads. The impact of these various cultures on the genetic structure of the islanders is still unexplored. Our results show a clear distinction between Ibiza and the rest of Spain. To investigate whether this was due to the Phoenician colonization or to more recent events, we compared the genomes of current Ibizans to that of an ancient Phoenician sample from Ibiza and to both modern Levantine and North African genomes. We did not identify any trace of Phoenician ancestry in the current Ibizans. Interestingly, the analysis of runs of homozygosity and changes in the effective population size through time support the idea that drift has shaped the genetic structure of current Ibizans. In addition to the small carrying capacity of the island,Ibiza experienced a series of dramatic demographic changes due to several instances of famine, war, malaria and plague that could have significantly contributed to its current genetic differentiation.

A sample (MS10614) from the Phoenician Cas Molí site inIbiza [13] was sequenced at a 0.47X coverage, and wasprojected into a PCA space with two modern groups ofsamples, from Iberia (including contemporary Ibiza) and theLevant (Supplementary Figure S7a). The ancient Phoeni-cian sample clusters with the modern Levantines, ratherthan with the cluster represented by the core regions. Fur-thermore, the admixture proportions seem to be consistentwith this result (Supplementary Figure S7b). In thefigure,the average percentage for each component is displayed foreach group; it is clear that the ancient sample is closelyrelated to the groups from Levant. And, conversely, theseresults seem to be incompatible with direct continuitybetween the current population of Ibiza and the ancientPhoenicians who settled the island.
 
Since the sample's well within the range of Levantine to Arabian populations, we can assume he's an acceptable proxy for not just Phoenicians but Iron Age Levantines as well. Maybe we should wait for the sample to be released publicly for personal testing (namely to compare with Samaritans, MENA Christians, Saudis).
 
I think we may be losing sight of the fact that the "Phoenicians" we find in the Western Mediterranean and in later time periods might be North African admixed, given their colonies in North Africa, i.e. Carthage, first and foremost.

If we want to know the make-up of the "original" Phoenicians, I think it might be better to wait for a sample from their homeland, or at least before the establishment of their North African colonies.
 
According to the paper Ibiza was settled from Cadiz, though that was long before the date of this sample. There was Carthaginian cultural influence at least, probably immigration, after that. She is a little shifted toward Spain on the PCA, so might have European admixture.
 
So, as I said, not perhaps the optimum sample if the point is to get a picture of the Phoenician genome.
 
Yeah, she is quite late in Phoenician history, and not very good quality DNA anyway. There are the Sidon Bronze Age samples, though they are earlier than the Phoenician period. I'd like to see some Carthaginians.
 
Very close to Lebanese, Tunisians, Moroccans, though his closest relative seems to be in the BedouinA set.

https://static-content.springer.com...-1/MediaObjects/41431_2019_361_MOESM1_ESM.pdf

Should have included Palestinians - Jordanians, Lebanese and Syrians are too 'northern'.

Didn't the 3 Egyptian DNA samples analysed a couple of years ago also fit closest with the Bedouin A set? Were these purported Phoenicians "Egyptian-like"? I wonder if that is an artifact of being in fact a North African-Levantine mix like those ancient Egyptians. If they fit close to Tunisians and Moroccans, I think we may have found an early Punic sample, not an actual Phoenician. (Edit: I retreat from that after seeing the graphs better, it seems it is very close to not only Bedouin A but also Druze and Syrian samples, but slightly shifted toward the Spanish European cluster, so it might really be some Iron Age Phoenician, a bit less "northern" than the present-day population, perhaps mixed with some European admixture).
 
Didn't the 3 Egyptian DNA samples analysed a couple of years ago also fit closest with the Bedouin A set? Were these purported Phoenicians "Egyptian-like"? I wonder if that is an artifact of being in fact a North African-Levantine mix like those ancient Egyptians. If they fit close to Tunisians and Moroccans, I think we may have found an early Punic sample, not an actual Phoenician. (Edit: I retreat from that after seeing the graphs better, it seems it is very close to not only Bedouin A but also Druze and Syrian samples, but slightly shifted toward the Spanish European cluster, so it might really be some Iron Age Phoenician, a bit less "northern" than the present-day population, perhaps mixed with some European admixture).

Yeah exactly, between Levantines/Jordanians and Bedouin. That is where Palestinians usually sit because they seem to have less highland West Asian admixture than the former.

You're right about the slight European shift.
 
As I said, someone should take the sample and compare it with Samaritans and other not included West Asians. Also, going from clustering and admixture in the paper the sample looks to be Levantine/Arabian (which would fit an Iron Age Levantine). Don't forget that "North Africa" can represent Natufian/Neolithic Levant Farmer which Arabians and Levantines certainly have.

Also, recall that Steppe/European mixture was found in Iron Age Lebanon samples from a village.
 

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