Genetic studies on the prehispanic population buried in Punta Azul cave (El Hierro, Canary Islands)

Ordóñez, Alejandra C.; Fregel, Rosa; Trujillo-Mederos, Aioze; Hervella, Montserrat; de-la-Rúa, Concepción; Rosa, Manuel Antonio González de la

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2016.11.004

Cited by 23 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…The average mtDNA depth is ~140X, with a minimum value of 8X (Table S2). Observed haplogroups agree with previous studies [33,36-39,41], indicating the presence of North African (U6), Eurasian (H, J2, T2 and X) and sub-Saharan African lineages (L1 and L3) in the Canarian indigenous population (Figure S2). As delineated before [36], the majority of haplogroups observed are of Eurasian origin, most with a Mediterranean distribution.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 91%

“…In order to compare our samples to previously published data, we combined the newly generated mtDNA genomes with HVRI data from the Canarian indigenous population (Table S1) [33,36–39]. Given that sample sizes for Lanzarote and Fuerteventura are small and their indigenous populations are considered to be similar based on archaeological data [76], these data sets were pooled together.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The islands of La Palma and Tenerife show a relatively diverse mtDNA composition (>70%) [33,36,37], while the others show signs of genetic drift and/or diversity reduction events, such as a bottleneck or a founder effect. In La Gomera, mtDNA diversity was 54.2%, due to the high frequency of haplogroup U6b1a [38], while in El Hierro, this value was 2.9%, with the almost complete fixation of H1cf haplogroup in the Punta Azul site [39]. With new data on the indigenous population of Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura (Table S3), we show that Gran Canaria had high mtDNA diversity, similar to Tenerife and La Palma, while Lanzarote and Fuerteventura had low diversity (51.1%) because of the high frequency of H*(xH1cf, H4a1a) lineages.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In order to perform population-based analyses, we included in our study previously published [36–39] and unpublished HVR data from the seven islands. Newly reported HVR data from the islands of Gran Canaria (n = 75), Lanzarote (n = 8) and Fuerteventura (n = 10) was obtained following the methodology described by Maca-Meyer et al [36] and Ordóñez et al [39]. Briefly, after external decontamination, tooth samples were extracted by means of a GuSCN-silica based protocol.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A recent NGS study of the Canarian indigenous people presented the first complete mtDNA genomes and low-coverage full genomes from this population, and, more specifically, from the central islands of Tenerife and Gran Canaria [41]. However, previous aDNA data [36–39] suggested that the indigenous populations from different islands might have experienced different demographic processes. The inclusion of data from all seven islands is therefore of paramount importance to accurately characterizing the archipelago’s indigenous population.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mitogenomes illuminate the origin and migration patterns of the indigenous people of the Canary Islands

Fregel

Ordóñez

Cabrera

et al. 2018

Preprint

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The Canary Islands’ indigenous people have been the subject of substantial archaeological, anthropological, linguistic and genetic research pointing to a most probable North African Berber source. However, neither agreement about the exact point of origin nor a model for the indigenous colonization of the islands has been established. To shed light on these questions, we analyzed 48 ancient mitogenomes from 25 archaeological sites from the seven main islands. Most lineages observed in the ancient samples have a Mediterranean distribution, and belong to lineages associated with the Neolithic expansion in the Near East and Europe (T2c, J2a, X3a…). This phylogeographic analysis of Canarian indigenous mitogenomes, the first of its kind, shows that some lineages are restricted to Central North Africa (H1cf, J2a2d and T2c1d3), while others have a wider distribution, including both West and Central North Africa, and, in some cases, Europe and the Near East (U6a1a1, U6a7a1, U6b, X3a, U6c1). In addition, we identify four new Canarian-specific lineages (H1e1a9, H4a1e, J2a2d1a and L3b1a12) whose coalescence dates correlate with the estimated time for the colonization of the islands (1st millennia CE). Additionally, we observe an asymmetrical distribution of mtDNA haplogroups in the ancient population, with certain haplogroups appearing more frequently in the islands closer to the continent. This reinforces results based on modern mtDNA and Y-chromosome data, and archaeological evidence suggesting the existence of two distinct migrations. Comparisons between insular populations show that some populations had high genetic diversity, while others were probably affected by genetic drift and/or bottlenecks. In spite of observing interinsular differences in the survival of indigenous lineages, modern populations, with the sole exception of La Gomera, are homogenous across the islands, supporting the theory of extensive human mobility after the European conquest.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mitogenomes illuminate the origin and migration patterns of the indigenous people of the Canary Islands

Fregel

Ordóñez

Cabrera

et al. 2018

Preprint

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Violence in paradise: Cranial trauma in the prehispanic population of Gran Canaria (Canary Islands)

Delgado-Darias¹,

Barroso

Velasco‐Vázquez

2018

American J Phys Anthropol

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The aboriginal population of Gran Canaria show a high frequency of traumatic injuries to the skull compared to other archaeological groups. Their frequent location in the anterior aspect suggests regular face-to-face confrontations. However, the lethal injuries typically occurring in large-scale combat are scarce. Practices such as ritualized combat, mentioned in ethnohistorical sources, would help to channel and mitigate inter-group conflict. The predominance of depressed blunt force trauma is in accordance with the weapons used by those populations: hand-thrown stones, clubs and sticks. The higher frequency in males indicates that they took part in direct violence more than females did. The hierarchical organization of their society may have led to frequent situations of conflict. The insular nature of a territory barely 1,500 m in size was a determining factor in competition for access to food resources, especially at times of climate crises or population growth.

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Perinatal burials at pre‐Hispanic noncemetery sites in Gran Canaria: Tophet, infanticide, or natural mortality?

Barroso¹,

Delgado-Darias

Ordóñez

et al. 2021

Intl J of Osteoarchaeology

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In this paper, we perform the first multidisciplinary study of perinatal burials at a pre-Hispanic domestic site in Gran Canaria. For that, we carried out bioanthropological analyses, the genetic determination of the molecular sex of the individuals, and the contextualization of their chronological and cultural affiliations. To date, these remains had been associated to a local re-interpretation of a Phoenician-Punic tophet or as evidence of female infanticide within the mechanisms of demographic control of the ancient Canarians. However, these proposals did not take into account the recurrence of this type of human remains outside the normative cemeteries of the indigenous population or considered the demographic profile of coetaneous necropolises. In the light of the age of death and the molecular sex of the individuals, and the results obtained from the taphonomic and chronological analyses, we propose an alternative historical scenario, directly linked to high perinatal mortality rates and the development of specific burial practices for those individuals that died around the time of birth.

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Genetic studies on the prehispanic population buried in Punta Azul cave (El Hierro, Canary Islands)

Cited by 23 publications

References 34 publications

Mitogenomes illuminate the origin and migration patterns of the indigenous people of the Canary Islands

Mitogenomes illuminate the origin and migration patterns of the indigenous people of the Canary Islands

Violence in paradise: Cranial trauma in the prehispanic population of Gran Canaria (Canary Islands)

Perinatal burials at pre‐Hispanic noncemetery sites in Gran Canaria: Tophet, infanticide, or natural mortality?

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