Anfänger
Regular Member
- Messages
- 438
- Reaction score
- 349
- Points
- 63
- Ethnic group
- Iranian
- Y-DNA haplogroup
- R1b-Z2103
- mtDNA haplogroup
- U7a4
Mesolithic and Neolithic in Sicily
Highlights
1.Genetic transition between Early Mesolithic and Late Mesolithic hunter-gatherers.
2.A near-complete genetic turnover during the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition.
3.Exchange of subsistence practices between hunter-gatherers and early farmers.
Summary
Sicily is a key region for understanding the agricultural transition in the Mediterranean, due to its central position. Here, we present genomic and stable isotopic data for 19 prehistoric Sicilians covering the Mesolithic to Bronze Age periods (10,700-4,100 yBP). We find that Early Mesolithic hunter-gatherers (HGs) from Sicily are a highly drifted lineage of the Early Holocene western European HGs, while Late Mesolithic HGs carry ∼20% ancestry related to northern and (south)eastern European HGs, indicating substantial gene flow. Early Neolithic farmers are genetically most similar to farmers from the Balkans and Greece, with only ∼7% ancestry from local Mesolithic HGs. The genetic discontinuities during the Mesolithic and Early Neolithic match changes in material culture and diet. Three outlying individuals dated to ∼8,000 yBP, however, suggest that hunter-gatherers interacted with incoming farmers at Grotta dell’Uzzo, resulting in a mixed economy and diet for a brief interlude at the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition.
Link:https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004222005144
Highlights
1.Genetic transition between Early Mesolithic and Late Mesolithic hunter-gatherers.
2.A near-complete genetic turnover during the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition.
3.Exchange of subsistence practices between hunter-gatherers and early farmers.
Summary
Sicily is a key region for understanding the agricultural transition in the Mediterranean, due to its central position. Here, we present genomic and stable isotopic data for 19 prehistoric Sicilians covering the Mesolithic to Bronze Age periods (10,700-4,100 yBP). We find that Early Mesolithic hunter-gatherers (HGs) from Sicily are a highly drifted lineage of the Early Holocene western European HGs, while Late Mesolithic HGs carry ∼20% ancestry related to northern and (south)eastern European HGs, indicating substantial gene flow. Early Neolithic farmers are genetically most similar to farmers from the Balkans and Greece, with only ∼7% ancestry from local Mesolithic HGs. The genetic discontinuities during the Mesolithic and Early Neolithic match changes in material culture and diet. Three outlying individuals dated to ∼8,000 yBP, however, suggest that hunter-gatherers interacted with incoming farmers at Grotta dell’Uzzo, resulting in a mixed economy and diet for a brief interlude at the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition.
Link:https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004222005144