EAA2021: Abstract

Abstract is part of session #511:

Title & Content

Title:
The Punic Mediterranean - a new ancient DNA perspective
Content:
Towards the end of the 6th century BCE, the former colony Carthage in present-day Tunisia emerged as a hegemonial power in the Western Mediterranean. While keeping the Phoenician language as well as many aspects of cultural practices, a new set of "Punic" customs spread rapidly from the Northwest African coast throughout the Western Mediterranean, including coastal sites in Iberia, Ibiza, Sicily and Sardinia. In this study we produced novel ancient DNA evidence from human remains buried in Western Mediterranean Punic necropoli. So far, ancient DNA data from Punic sites has been sporadic, and here we generated genome-wide ancient DNA as well as new Radio Carbon dates to fill this gap. Together, this new data allowed us to probe whether cultural links to North Africa are also accompanied by North African genetic ancestry. Moreover, we studied putative genetic connections to the Levant and Aegan. Finally, we investigated the complex interaction with local populations.
Keywords:
Punics, Carthaginians, Ancient DNA, Population Genetics
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authors

Main authors:
Harald Ringbauer1
Co-author:
Iñigo Olalde2
Alissa Mittnik3
Carles Lalueza-Fox4
David Reich3
Affiliations:
1 MPI-EVA Leipzig
2 University Pompeu Fabra
3 Harvard University
4 Institute of Evolutionary Biology (CSIC-UPF)