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PMID: 15941827 Published · ppublish English Comparative Study Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Prehistoric contacts over the Straits of Gibraltar indicated by genetic analysis of Iberian Bronze Age cattle.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America ·Vol. 102 ·No. 24 ·2005-06-14 ·Pages 8431-5

Anderung C, Bouwman A, Persson P, Carretero JM, Ortega AI, Elburg R, Smith C, Arsuaga JL, Ellegren H, Götherström A

Abstract

The geographic situation of the Iberian Peninsula makes it a natural link between Europe and North Africa. However, it is a matter of debate to what extent African influences via the Straits Gibraltar have affected Iberia's prehistoric development. Because early African pastoralist communities were dedicated to cattle breeding, a possible means to detect prehistoric African-Iberian contacts might be to analyze the origin of cattle breeds on the Iberian Peninsula. Some contemporary Iberian cattle breeds show a mtDNA haplotype, T1, that is characteristic to African breeds, generally explained as being the result of the Muslim expansion of the 8th century A.D., and of modern imports. To test a possible earlier African influence, we analyzed mtDNA of Bronze Age cattle from the Portalón cave at the Atapuerca site in northern Spain. Although the majority of samples showed the haplotype T3 that dominates among European breeds of today, the T1 haplotype was found in one specimen radiocarbon dated 1800 calibrated years B.C. Accepting T1 as being of African origin, this result indicates prehistoric African-Iberian contacts and lends support to archaeological finds linking early African and Iberian cultures. We also found a wild ox haplotype in the Iberian Bronze Age sample, reflecting local hybridization or backcrossing or that aurochs were hunted by these farming cultures.

MeSH Terms

Africa, Northern Animals Base Sequence Cattle/genetics Cluster Analysis DNA Primers DNA, Mitochondrial/genetics Fossils Geography Germany Haplotypes/genetics Molecular Sequence Data Phylogeny Population Dynamics Sequence Analysis, DNA Spain

Chemicals

DNA Primers DNA, Mitochondrial

Authors & Affiliations

10 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID

Anderung Cecilia

Department of Evolutionary Biology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18D, SE-752 36 Uppsala, Sweden.

Bouwman Abigail

Persson Per

Carretero José Miguel

Ortega Ana Isabel

Elburg Rengert

Smith Colin

Arsuaga Juan Luis

Ellegren Hans

Götherström Anders

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Article Info

Journal

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Abbr.

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

ISSN

0027-8424

DOI

10.1073/pnas.0503396102

Published

2005-06-14

Epub

2005-00-07

Pages

8431-5

Language

English

Region

United States

NLM ID

7505876

PMCID

PMC1150856

Subset

Databases

GENBANK

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External Links

PubMed source DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0503396102 PMC Full Text View journal details

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Prehistoric contacts over the Straits of Gibraltar indicated by genetic analysis of Iberian Bronze Age cattle.

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