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UID/ANT/04038/2013 The study of the Bom Santo Cave (central Portugal), a Neolithic cemetery, indicates a complex social, palaeoeconomic, and population scenario. With isotope, aDNA, and provenance analyses of raw materials coupled with stylistic variability of material culture items and palaeogeographical data, light is shed on the territory and social organization of a population dated to 3800-3400 cal BC, i.e. the Middle Neolithic. Results indicate an itinerant farming, segmentary society, where exogamic practices were the norm. Its lifeway may be that of the earliest megalithic builders of the region, but further research is needed to correctly evaluate the degree of this community's participation in such a phenomenon. preprint published

The genetic impact associated to the Neolithic spread in Europe has been widely debated over the last 20 years. Within this context, ancient DNA studies have provided a more reliable picture by directly analyzing the protagonist populations at different regions in Europe. However, the lack of available data from the original Near Eastern farmers has limited the achieved conclusions, preventing the formulation of continental models of Neolithic expansion. Here we address this issue by presenting mitochondrial DNA data of the original Near-Eastern Neolithic communities with the aim of providing the adequate background for the interpretation of Neolithic genetic data from European samples. Sixty-three skeletons from the Pre Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) sites of Tell Halula, Tell Ramad and Dja'de El Mughara dating between 8,700–6,600 cal. B.C. were analyzed, and 15 validated mitochondrial DNA profiles were recovered. In order to estimate the demographic contribution of the first farmers to both Central European and Western Mediterranean Neolithic cultures, haplotype and haplogroup diversities in the PPNB sample were compared using phylogeographic and population genetic analyses to available ancient DNA data from human remains belonging to the Linearbandkeramik-Alföldi Vonaldiszes Kerámia and Cardial/Epicardial cultures. We also searched for possible signatures of the original Neolithic expansion over the modern Near Eastern and South European genetic pools, and tried to infer possible routes of expansion by comparing the obtained results to a database of 60 modern populations from both regions. Comparisons performed among the 3 ancient datasets allowed us to identify K and N-derived mitochondrial DNA haplogroups as potential markers of the Neolithic expansion, whose genetic signature would have reached both the Iberian coasts and the Central European plain. Moreover, the observed genetic affinities between the PPNB samples and the modern populations of Cyprus and Crete seem to suggest that the Neolithic was first introduced into Europe through pioneer seafaring colonization., Author Summary Since the original human expansions out of Africa 200,000 years ago, different prehistoric and historic migration events have taken place in Europe. Considering that the movement of the people implies a consequent movement of their genes, it is possible to estimate the impact of these migrations through the genetic analysis of human populations. Agricultural and husbandry practices originated 10,000 years ago in a region of the Near East known as the Fertile Crescent. According to the archaeological record this phenomenon, known as “Neolithic”, rapidly expanded from these territories into Europe. However, whether this diffusion was accompanied or not by human migrations is greatly debated. In the present work, mitochondrial DNA –a type of maternally inherited DNA located in the cell cytoplasm- from the first Near Eastern Neolithic populations was recovered and compared to available data from other Neolithic populations in Europe and also to modern populations from South Eastern Europe and the Near East. The obtained results show that substantial human migrations were involved in the Neolithic spread and suggest that the first Neolithic farmers entered Europe following a maritime route through Cyprus and the Aegean Islands.

The North-East of the Iberian Peninsula is doubtlessly one of the areas where the funerary practices of Neolithic communities have best been documented. Although little evidence has been found of human remains and burials belonging to the first moments of the period, the situation changes greatly after the late fifth millenniwn cal BC. At that time, the occupation of the valleys and the plains is accompanied by the expansion of communities in the area, as reflected by the numerous necropolises and graves that are dated up to the late fourth millennium.

En la presente publicación se presentan los resultados del análisis del ADN mitocondrial (ADNmt) de dos individuos del nivel magdaleniense de El Pirulejo (Córdoba) (Asquerino et al., 1991). Las secuencias obtenidas se encuadran dentro de la variabilidad genética del hombre moderno actual, sin presentar similitud alguna con las secuencias de ADN mitocondrial de neandertal publicadas hasta la fecha. La distribución actual de las variantes mitocondriales encontradas en las dos muestras de El Pirulejo es similar a la encontrada en otros dos individuos Paleolíticos (Caramelli et al., 2003), y coherente con el modelo de expansión del hombre anatómicamente moderno desde África. At the present work it was studied the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in two individuals from the Magdalenian level from El Pirulejo archaeological site located in Córdoba, Spain (Asquerino et al. 1991). The obtained sequences were inside the genetic variability of modern humans and did not share any similarities with published Neanderthal mtDNA sequences. The present distribution of the mtDNA lineages from El Pirulejo are similar to that found at other two Paleolithic individuals (Caramelli et al., 2003). All data are compatible with an “Out of Africa” model of dispersion of modern humans.

En la presente publicación se presentan los resultados del análisis del ADN mitocondrial (ADNmt) de dos individuos del nivel magdaleniense de El Pirulejo (Córdoba) (Asquerino et al., 1991). Las secuencias obtenidas se encuadran dentro de la variabilidad genética del hombre moderno actual, sin presentar similitud alguna con las secuencias de ADN mitocondrial de neandertal publicadas hasta la fecha. La distribución actual de las variantes mitocondriales encontradas en las dos muestras de El Pirulejo es similar a la encontrada en otros dos individuos Paleolíticos (Caramelli et al., 2003), y coherente con el modelo de expansión del hombre anatómicamente moderno desde África. At the present work it was studied the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in two individuals from the Magdalenian level from El Pirulejo archaeological site located in Córdoba, Spain (Asquerino et al. 1991). The obtained sequences were inside the genetic variability of modern humans and did not share any similarities with published Neanderthal mtDNA sequences. The present distribution of the mtDNA lineages from El Pirulejo are similar to that found at other two Paleolithic individuals (Caramelli et al., 2003). All data are compatible with an “Out of Africa” model of dispersion of modern humans.

Los orígenes de las poblaciones europeas han sido abordados desde diversas disciplinas, destacando la contribución de los estudios de genética de poblaciones. Se barajan dos momentos en la prehistoria en los que se ha podido modelar el acervo genético de las poblaciones europeas: la difusión del neolítico y las expansiones del paleolítico superior. La posibilidad de recuperar información genética de poblaciones pretéritas ofrece una oportunidad única para comprobar in situ las hipótesis planteadas desde otras disciplinas.Se estudiaron 197 muestras dentales y óseas de 115 individuos de 17 yacimientos arqueológicos de época neolítica y sumeria de Próximo Oriente, época meroítica de Nubia y de época paleolítica, neolítica y post-neolítica de la Península Ibérica. Se obtuvieron secuencias completas de DNA mitocondrial de 244 p.b. de 35 individuos distintos, que fueron comparadas con secuencias de la misma región de individuos actuales de 38 poblaciones europeas, africanas y de Próximo Oriente. En las reconstrucciones filogenéticas basadas en la distancia de Reynolds los grupos de muestras antiguas se agrupan entre sí, separándose del resto de poblaciones actuales. Sin embargo, las reconstrucciones filogenéticas realizadas a partir de los haplotipos de las muestras antiguas y modernas denotan que, aunque la mayoría de variantes mitocondriales antiguas no están presentes en las poblaciones actuales muestreadas, pueden relacionarse más o menos cercanamente con ellas.La composición de haplotipos y haplogrupos de las muestras antiguas de Próximo Oriente y la Península Ibérica difiere notablemente de la hallada en las poblaciones actuales de estas regiones geográficas.En la muestra antigua de Próximo Oriente destaca especialmente la ausencia de los haplogrupos mitocondriales J, U3, W y X, relacionados con la expansión del neolítico hacia Europa. Esto puede deberse bien a que la muestra antigua obtenida no es representativa -cronológica o geográficamente- de las poblaciones de Próximo Oriente que se expandieron durante el neolítico bien a que estas variantes no fueron introducidas en europa durante el neolítico.En la muestra antigua de la Península Ibérica destaca la presencia de un 50% de líneas subsaharianas. Estas líneas pudieron haber sido introducidas durante el Solutrense, el Mesolítico o el Neolítico. En este trabajo también se profundizó en diferentes aspectos técnicos relativos a la obtención de auténtico DNA antiguo y en la influencia de diversas variables en la preservación del material genético., The origins of the European populations have been extensively studied from different disciplines. It is thought that ancient demic expansions, like those occurred after the Late Glacial Maximum or during the neolithic diffussion from Middle East to Europe.The possibility to recover DNA from past populations offers an unique opportunity to test in situ these hypothesis. It were analyzed 197 teeth and bones from 115 individuals and 17 different archaeological sites from Middle East and the Iberian Peninsula .It was possible to recover 244pb-mitochondrial DNA sequences from 35 different individuals. They were compared to sequences from 38 European, African and Middle Eastern present-day populations. Phylogenetic reconstructions from Reynolds genetic distance showed that ancient samples clustered together, clearly separated from extant populations. However, phylogenetic reconstructions based on ancient and modern haplotypes showed that ancient mitochondrial haplotypes are related to extant ones. Haplotype and haplogroup frequencies in the ancient samples from Middle East and the Iberian Peninsula are clearly different from those present nowadays in the same geographical regions.Haplogroups related to neolithic expansion to Europe -J, U3, W and X- are absent in ancient middle eastern sample. There are two possible explanations to this fact. First, it could be possible that the ancient samples analyzed won't be representative of the Middle Eastern populations that expanded the neolithic. Second, it could be also possible that those haplogroups won't have been introduzed in Europe with demic expansions associated to neolithic. At this work it were also examined several technical aspects related to the obtention of genuine ancient DNA and the influence of different variables in DNA preservation.

[spa] La posibilidad de recuperar información genética a partir de restos fósiles ofrece una oportunidad única para dar respuesta a algunas cuestiones planteadas desde otras disciplinas. Entre las aplicaciones de interés de la tecnología del ADN antiguo en el campo de la arqueología y la antropología destacan el diagnóstico molecular del sexo, el establecimiento de relaciones familiares entre individuos exhumados, la identificación personal y la caracterización genética de las poblaciones del pasado. El éxito en la consecución de estos estudios está condicionado principalmente por el estado de preservación del ADN en los restos analizados. Otras limitaciones de la técnica son la extracción, junto con el material genético, de moléculas que pueden inhibir los procesos experimentales necesarios para obtener la información genética y la contaminación de las muestras con ADN procedente de otras fuentes. Con todo, estas últimas citadas dificultades pueden controlarse mediante la aplicación de ciertas sencillas precauciones., [eng] The possibility of recovering genetic information from fossil remains, offers a unique opportunity to solve certain common questions in archaeology. Between all possible applications of ancient DNA technology in archaeology and anthropology, it should be emphasized the sex diagnosis, the establishment of kinship among exhumed individuals, personal identification, and genetic characterisation of past populations. The preservation of DNA in the analyzed remains will condition the success in the performed analysis. Other technical limitations are the co-extraction, with genetic material, of compounds capable of inhibiting the experimental processes needed to obtain genetic information, and also contamination of samples with exogenous DNA. These difficulties, however, can be usually solved by means of the application of several simple precautions.

El estudio interdisciplinar que constituye esta obra pone de manifiesto que El Pirulejo es el mejor yacimiento conocido para el conocimiento del Tardiglaciar en las comarcas interiores del sur de la Península Ibérica. El enclave conserva una secuencia muy rica en cantidad, calidad y diversidad de materiales arqueológicos que han permitido un análisis desde múltiples ópticas (cultura material, manifestaciones simbólicas, paleoeconomía, secuencia paleoambiental, etc.). This work is an interdisciplinary study about El Pirulejo, one of the most important site by the knowledge of the Lateglacial in the south of the Iberian peninsula. The archaoelogical site conservated a very richness sequence with a lot and variability archaeological rests that we permit a multiphocal analysis (material culture, simbolic evidences, palaeoeconomy, paleoenvironmental sequence, etc.).