10-16-2023, 10:00 AM
Ancestry and kinship in a Late Antiquity-Early Middle Ages cemetery in the Eastern Italian Alps
In South Tyrol (Eastern Italian Alps) during Late Antiquity-Early Middle Ages, archeological records indicate cultural hybridization among alpine groups and peoples of various origin. Using paleogenomics, we reconstructed the ancestry of 20 individuals (4th-7th cent. AD) from a cemetery to analyse whether they had heterogeneous or homogenous ancestry and to study their social organization. The results revealed a primary genetic ancestry from southern Europe and additional ancestries from south-western, western and northern Europe suggesting that cultural hybridization was accompanied by complex genetic admixture. Kinship analyses found no genetic relatedness between the only two individuals buried with grave goods. Instead, a father-son pair was discovered in one multiple grave, together with unrelated individuals and one possible non-local female. These genetic findings indicate the presence of a high social status familia which is supported by the cultural materials and the proximity of the grave to the most sacred area of the church.
https://www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S...23)02292-7
In South Tyrol (Eastern Italian Alps) during Late Antiquity-Early Middle Ages, archeological records indicate cultural hybridization among alpine groups and peoples of various origin. Using paleogenomics, we reconstructed the ancestry of 20 individuals (4th-7th cent. AD) from a cemetery to analyse whether they had heterogeneous or homogenous ancestry and to study their social organization. The results revealed a primary genetic ancestry from southern Europe and additional ancestries from south-western, western and northern Europe suggesting that cultural hybridization was accompanied by complex genetic admixture. Kinship analyses found no genetic relatedness between the only two individuals buried with grave goods. Instead, a father-son pair was discovered in one multiple grave, together with unrelated individuals and one possible non-local female. These genetic findings indicate the presence of a high social status familia which is supported by the cultural materials and the proximity of the grave to the most sacred area of the church.
https://www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S...23)02292-7