Insights into Punic genetic signatures in the southern necropolis of Tharros (Sardinia)

Abstract

Background

Phoenician and Punic expansions have been protagonists of intense trade networks and settlements in the Mediterranean Sea.

Aims

The maternal genetic variability of ancient Punic samples from the Sardinian necropolis of Tharros was analysed, with the aim to explore genetic interactions and signatures of past population events.

Subjects and methods

The mtDNA HVS-I and coding region SNPs were analysed in 14 Punic samples and 74 modern individuals from Cabras and Belvì (for which the HVS-II region was also analysed). The results were compared with 5,590 modern Euro-Mediterranean sequences and 127 ancient samples.

Results

While contemporary groups fall within the genetic variability of other modern Sardinians, our Punic samples reveal proximity to present-day North-African and Iberian populations. Furthermore, Cabras and Belvì cluster mainly with pre-Phoenician groups, while samples from Tharros project with other Punic Sardinian individuals.

Conclusion

This study provides the first preliminary insights into the population dynamics of the Punic site of Tharros. While the number of currently available samples does not allow definitive investigation of the connection with indigenous Sardinian groups, our results seem to confirm internal migratory phenomena in the central-western Mediterranean and female participation in the Punic mobility.

Keywords:

• Ancient DNA
• mtDNA
• archaeology
• Tharros
• Punic Sardinia

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank all the donors from the analyzed Sardinian populations who kindly provided their biological samples for this study. We are indebted to Prof. Ferdinando Sechi and Dr. Simonetta Carboni for help us in the sampling of the modern population from Belvì and Cabras. We would like to thank the Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio per la Città Metropolitana di Cagliari e le province di Oristano e Sud Sardegna which in 2014 and 2016 granted authorization to collect ancient samples and carry out genetic analyses.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Italian Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (MIUR) - PRIN assigned to DL (AGED-1000 Ancient Italian Genomes: Evidence from ancient biomolecules for unravelling past human population Dynamics. Grant ID: 20177PJ9XF).