Abstract
The island of Sardinia has been of particular interest to geneticists for decades. The current model for Sardinia’s genetic history describes the island as harboring a founder population that was established largely from the Neolithic peoples of southern Europe and remained isolated from later Bronze Age expansions on the mainland. To evaluate this model, we generate genome-wide ancient DNA data for 70 individuals from 21 Sardinian archaeological sites spanning the Middle Neolithic through the Medieval period. The earliest individuals show a strong affinity to western Mediterranean Neolithic populations, followed by an extended period of genetic continuity on the island through the Nuragic period (second millennium BCE). Beginning with individuals from Phoenician/Punic sites (first millennium BCE), we observe spatially-varying signals of admixture with sources principally from the eastern and northern Mediterranean. Overall, our analysis sheds light on the genetic history of Sardinia, revealing how relationships to mainland populations shifted over time.
Highlights
The island of Sardinia has been of particular interest to geneticists for decades
We investigate three aspects of Sardinian population history: First, the ancestry of individuals from the Sardinian Neolithic—who were the early peoples expanding onto the island at this time? Second, the genetic structure through the Sardinian Chalcolithic (i.e., Copper Age, ca. 3400–2300 BCE) to the Sardinian Bronze Age—were there genetic turnover events through the different cultural transitions observed in the archeological record? And third, the post-Bronze Age contacts with major Mediterranean civilizations and more recent Italian populations—have they resulted in detectable gene flow?
Fig. 1) from (1) a broad set of previously excavated samples initially used for isotopic analysis[40], (2) the Late Neolithic to Bronze Age Seulo cave sites of central Sardinia[41], (3) the Neolithic Sites Noedalle and S’isterridolzu[42], (4) the Phoenician-Punic sites of Monte Sirai[23] and Villamar[43], (5) the Imperial Roman period site at Monte Carru (Alghero)[44], (6) medieval remains from the site of Corona Moltana[45], (7) medieval remains from the necropolis of the Duomo of San Nicola[46]
Summary
The current model for Sardinia’s genetic history describes the island as harboring a founder population that was established largely from the Neolithic peoples of southern Europe and remained isolated from later Bronze Age expansions on the mainland. To evaluate this model, we generate genome-wide ancient DNA data for 70 individuals from 21 Sardinian archaeological sites spanning the Middle Neolithic through the Medieval period. The earliest individuals show a strong affinity to western Mediterranean Neolithic populations, followed by an extended period of genetic continuity on the island through the Nuragic period (second millennium BCE).
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