Abstract
La Hoya (Alava, Basque Country) was one of the most important villages of the Late Bronze and Iron Ages of the north of the Iberian Peninsula, until it was violently devastated around the 4th century and abandoned in the 3rd century B.C. Archaeological evidences suggest that descendants from La Hoya placed their new settlement in a nearby hill, which gave rise to the current village of Laguardia. In this study, we have traced the genetic imprints of the extinct inhabitants of La Hoya through the analysis of maternal lineages. In particular, we have analyzed the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region of 41 human remains recovered from the archaeological site for comparison with a sample of 51 individuals from the geographically close present-day population of Laguardia, as well as 56 individuals of the general population of the province of Alava, where the archaeological site and Laguardia village are located. MtDNA haplotypes were successfully obtained in 25 out of 41 ancient samples, and 14 different haplotypes were identified. The major mtDNA subhaplogroups observed in La Hoya were H1, H3, J1 and U5, which show a distinctive frequency pattern in the autochthonous populations of the north of the Iberian Peninsula. Approximate Bayesian Computation analysis was performed to test the most likely model for the local demographic history. The results did not sustain a genealogical continuity between Laguardia and La Hoya at the haplotype level, although factors such as sampling effects, recent admixture events, and genetic bottlenecks need to be considered. Likewise, the highly similar subhaplogroup composition detected between La Hoya and Laguardia and Alava populations do not allow us to reject a maternal genetic continuity in the human groups of the area since at least the Iron Age to present times. Broader analyses, based on a larger collection of samples and genetic markers, would be required to study fine-scale population events in these human groups.
Highlights
La Hoya was a settlement located in the region currently known as the Basque Country, in Northern Spain, from Late Bronze to Iron Ages (15th to 3rd centuries B.C)
The reconstruction of population history through the study of present-day population data may not be able to infer important information derived from population replacements, genetic drift or minor migration events occurred in certain past periods
Ancient DNA studies are of great interest as they provide a direct access to prehistoric and historic genetic information
Summary
La Hoya was a settlement located in the region currently known as the Basque Country, in Northern Spain, from Late Bronze to Iron Ages (15th to 3rd centuries B.C). This fortified town located near Laguardia (Alava) (Fig 1) had an extension of approximately four hectares and was inhabited during 13 centuries, becoming an important Celtiberian trade center during the Iron Age. The first human settlement dated back to the 15th century B.C., when Indo-European populations from Central Europe made contact with the local megalithic cultures [1]. Archaeological evidences suggest that the inhabitants of La Hoya settled in a nearby hill, where nowadays the village of Laguardia is located (Fig 1)
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