Scientific Reports (Sep 2021)
Biomolecular insights into North African-related ancestry, mobility and diet in eleventh-century Al-Andalus
- Marina Silva,
- Gonzalo Oteo-García,
- Rui Martiniano,
- João Guimarães,
- Matthew von Tersch,
- Ali Madour,
- Tarek Shoeib,
- Alessandro Fichera,
- Pierre Justeau,
- M. George B. Foody,
- Krista McGrath,
- Amparo Barrachina,
- Vicente Palomar,
- Katharina Dulias,
- Bobby Yau,
- Francesca Gandini,
- Douglas J. Clarke,
- Alexandra Rosa,
- António Brehm,
- Antònia Flaquer,
- Teresa Rito,
- Anna Olivieri,
- Alessandro Achilli,
- Antonio Torroni,
- Alberto Gómez-Carballa,
- Antonio Salas,
- Jaroslaw Bryk,
- Peter W. Ditchfield,
- Michelle Alexander,
- Maria Pala,
- Pedro A. Soares,
- Ceiridwen J. Edwards,
- Martin B. Richards
Affiliations
- Marina Silva
- Department of Biological and Geographical Sciences, School of Applied Sciences, University of Huddersfield
- Gonzalo Oteo-García
- Department of Biological and Geographical Sciences, School of Applied Sciences, University of Huddersfield
- Rui Martiniano
- Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge
- João Guimarães
- Department of Biology, CBMA (Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology), University of Minho
- Matthew von Tersch
- BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York
- Ali Madour
- Department of Biological and Geographical Sciences, School of Applied Sciences, University of Huddersfield
- Tarek Shoeib
- Department of Biological and Geographical Sciences, School of Applied Sciences, University of Huddersfield
- Alessandro Fichera
- Department of Biological and Geographical Sciences, School of Applied Sciences, University of Huddersfield
- Pierre Justeau
- Department of Biological and Geographical Sciences, School of Applied Sciences, University of Huddersfield
- M. George B. Foody
- Department of Biological and Geographical Sciences, School of Applied Sciences, University of Huddersfield
- Krista McGrath
- BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York
- Amparo Barrachina
- Servei d’Investigacions Arqueològiques i Prehistòriques - Museu Belles Arts de Castelló
- Vicente Palomar
- Museo Municipal de Arqueología y Etnología de Segorbe
- Katharina Dulias
- Department of Biological and Geographical Sciences, School of Applied Sciences, University of Huddersfield
- Bobby Yau
- Department of Biological and Geographical Sciences, School of Applied Sciences, University of Huddersfield
- Francesca Gandini
- Department of Biological and Geographical Sciences, School of Applied Sciences, University of Huddersfield
- Douglas J. Clarke
- Department of Biological and Geographical Sciences, School of Applied Sciences, University of Huddersfield
- Alexandra Rosa
- Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Madeira
- António Brehm
- Human Genetics Laboratory, University of Madeira
- Antònia Flaquer
- Institute for Medical Information Processing, Biometry and Epidemiology - IBE, LMU University
- Teresa Rito
- Department of Biology, CBMA (Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology), University of Minho
- Anna Olivieri
- Dipartimento di Biologia e Biotecnologie “L. Spallanzani, Università di Pavia
- Alessandro Achilli
- Dipartimento di Biologia e Biotecnologie “L. Spallanzani, Università di Pavia
- Antonio Torroni
- Dipartimento di Biologia e Biotecnologie “L. Spallanzani, Università di Pavia
- Alberto Gómez-Carballa
- Grupo de Investigacion en Genetica, Vacunas, Infecciones y Pediatria (GENVIP), Hospital Clínico Universitario and Universidade de Santiago de Compostela
- Antonio Salas
- Grupo de Investigacion en Genetica, Vacunas, Infecciones y Pediatria (GENVIP), Hospital Clínico Universitario and Universidade de Santiago de Compostela
- Jaroslaw Bryk
- Department of Biological and Geographical Sciences, School of Applied Sciences, University of Huddersfield
- Peter W. Ditchfield
- School of Archaeology, University of Oxford
- Michelle Alexander
- BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York
- Maria Pala
- Department of Biological and Geographical Sciences, School of Applied Sciences, University of Huddersfield
- Pedro A. Soares
- Department of Biology, CBMA (Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology), University of Minho
- Ceiridwen J. Edwards
- Department of Biological and Geographical Sciences, School of Applied Sciences, University of Huddersfield
- Martin B. Richards
- Department of Biological and Geographical Sciences, School of Applied Sciences, University of Huddersfield
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-95996-3
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 11,
no. 1
pp. 1 – 13
Abstract
Abstract Historical records document medieval immigration from North Africa to Iberia to create Islamic al-Andalus. Here, we present a low-coverage genome of an eleventh century CE man buried in an Islamic necropolis in Segorbe, near Valencia, Spain. Uniparental lineages indicate North African ancestry, but at the autosomal level he displays a mosaic of North African and European-like ancestries, distinct from any present-day population. Altogether, the genome-wide evidence, stable isotope results and the age of the burial indicate that his ancestry was ultimately a result of admixture between recently arrived Amazigh people (Berbers) and the population inhabiting the Peninsula prior to the Islamic conquest. We detect differences between our sample and a previously published group of contemporary individuals from Valencia, exemplifying how detailed, small-scale aDNA studies can illuminate fine-grained regional and temporal differences. His genome demonstrates how ancient DNA studies can capture portraits of past genetic variation that have been erased by later demographic shifts—in this case, most likely the seventeenth century CE expulsion of formerly Islamic communities as tolerance dissipated following the Reconquista by the Catholic kingdoms of the north.