PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Hannah M. Moots
AU  - Margaret Antonio
AU  - Susanna Sawyer
AU  - Jeffrey P. Spence
AU  - Victoria Oberreiter
AU  - Clemens L. Weiß
AU  - Michaela Lucci
AU  - Yahia Mehdi Seddik Cherifi
AU  - Francesco La Pastina
AU  - Francesco Genchi
AU  - Elisa Praxmeier
AU  - Brina Zagorc
AU  - Olivia Cheronot
AU  - Kadir T. Özdoğan
AU  - Lea Demetz
AU  - Selma Amrani
AU  - Francesca Candilio
AU  - Daniela De Angelis
AU  - Gabriella Gasperetti
AU  - Daniel Fernandes
AU  - Ziyue Gao
AU  - Mounir Fantar
AU  - Alfredo Coppa
AU  - Jonathan K. Pritchard
AU  - Ron Pinhasi
TI  - A Genetic History of Continuity and Mobility in the Iron Age Central Mediterranean
AID  - 10.1101/2022.03.13.483276
DP  - 2022 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2022.03.13.483276
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2022/08/23/2022.03.13.483276.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2022/08/23/2022.03.13.483276.full
AB  - The Iron Age saw the expansion of Phoenician and Greek colonies across the Mediterranean and the rise of Carthage as the major maritime power of the region. These events were facilitated by the ease of long-distance travel following major advances in seafaring. We know from the archaeological record that trade goods and materials were moving across great distances in unprecedented quantities, but it is unclear how these patterns correlate with human mobility. To investigate population mobility and interactions directly, we sequenced the genomes of 30 ancient individuals from Carthaginian and Etruscan port cities around the central Mediterranean, in Tunisia, Sardinia, and central Italy. At all three locations, there is a meaningful contribution of autochthonous populations (from Bronze Age North Africa, Sardinia, and Italy, respectively), as well as highly heterogeneous ancestry including many individuals with ancestry from other parts of the Mediterranean region. These results highlight both the role of autochthonous populations and the extreme interconnectedness of populations in the Iron Age Mediterranean. By studying these trans-Mediterranean neighbors together, we explore the complex interplay between local continuity and mobility that shaped the Iron Age societies of the central Mediterranean.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.