The Iberians developed a surprisingly sophisticated culture in the Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula from the 6th century BC to their conquest by the Romans in the 2nd century BC. They spoke and wrote a non-Indo-European language that still cannot be understood; their origins and relationships with other non-Indo-European peoples, like the Etruscans, are unclear, since their funerary practice was based on the cremation of the bodies, and therefore, anthropology has been unable to approach the study of this people. We have retrieved mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from a few of the scarce skeletal remains, preserved some of them belonging to ritualistically executed individuals. The most stringent authentication criteria proposed on ancient DNA, such as independent replication, aminoacid analysis, quantization of template molecules, multiple extractions and cloning of PCR products, have been followed to obtain reliable sequences of the mtDNA hypervariable region 1 (HVR1) as well as some haplogroup diagnostic SNPs. The phylogeographic analyses show that the haplogroup composition of the ancient Iberians was very similar to that found in modern Iberian Peninsula populations, suggesting a long-term genetic continuity since pre-Roman times. Nonetheless, there is lesser genetic diversity in Iberians than among modern populations, a fact that could reflect the small population size at the origin of the population sampled and the heterogenic tribal structure of the Iberian society. Moreover, the Iberians were not especially close to the Etruscans, which points to a considerable genetic heterogeneity in Pre-Roman Western Europe

The genetics of pre-Roman Iberian Peninsula: A mtDNA study of ancient Iberians / Sampietro, M.L; Caramelli, D.; Lao, O.; Calafell, F.; Comas, D.; Lari, M.; Agustí, B.; Bertranpetit, J.; Lalueza-Fox, C.. - In: INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS SERIES. - ISSN 0531-5131. - STAMPA. - 1288:(2006), pp. 142-144. [10.1016/j.ics.2005.12.033]

The genetics of pre-Roman Iberian Peninsula: A mtDNA study of ancient Iberians

CARAMELLI, DAVID;LARI, MARTINA;
2006

Abstract

The Iberians developed a surprisingly sophisticated culture in the Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula from the 6th century BC to their conquest by the Romans in the 2nd century BC. They spoke and wrote a non-Indo-European language that still cannot be understood; their origins and relationships with other non-Indo-European peoples, like the Etruscans, are unclear, since their funerary practice was based on the cremation of the bodies, and therefore, anthropology has been unable to approach the study of this people. We have retrieved mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from a few of the scarce skeletal remains, preserved some of them belonging to ritualistically executed individuals. The most stringent authentication criteria proposed on ancient DNA, such as independent replication, aminoacid analysis, quantization of template molecules, multiple extractions and cloning of PCR products, have been followed to obtain reliable sequences of the mtDNA hypervariable region 1 (HVR1) as well as some haplogroup diagnostic SNPs. The phylogeographic analyses show that the haplogroup composition of the ancient Iberians was very similar to that found in modern Iberian Peninsula populations, suggesting a long-term genetic continuity since pre-Roman times. Nonetheless, there is lesser genetic diversity in Iberians than among modern populations, a fact that could reflect the small population size at the origin of the population sampled and the heterogenic tribal structure of the Iberian society. Moreover, the Iberians were not especially close to the Etruscans, which points to a considerable genetic heterogeneity in Pre-Roman Western Europe
2006
1288
142
144
Sampietro, M.L; Caramelli, D.; Lao, O.; Calafell, F.; Comas, D.; Lari, M.; Agustí, B.; Bertranpetit, J.; Lalueza-Fox, C.
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