Ancient DNA challenges prevailing interpretations of the Pompeii plaster casts

[kingdavid]

So bam files are out

ENA Browser

ENA Browser

www.ebi.ac.uk

I just saw that theytree site uploaded
Them to his great tree boy they are fast

 

[Salento]

From Reich Lab - Pilli et al. Current Biology 2024

Dodecad K12b (1240K)

I3682_Ind25:I3682_cov-4.87%,0.76,0,0.68,3.80,37.36,10.28,0,0,13.99,0,32.87,0.27
I3685_Ind52:I3685_cov-30.79%,8.09,0,5.92,0,11.01,0,0,2.34,33.19,0.93,38.52,0
I3686_Ind51:I3686_cov-5.08%,3.05,0,0,1.32,13.33,20.68,0,1.85,18.13,0,41.65,0
I3690_Ind22:I3690_cov-8.50%,12.22,0,1.24,0,17.56,13.63,0,0,21.18,0,34.16,0
I3691_Ind53:I3691_cov-23.58%,10.60,0,5.71,1.84,19.58,2.92,0,1.22,18.77,0,39.35,0

1240K Eigenstrat:

Datasets | David Reich Lab

reich.hms.harvard.edu

https://reich.hms.harvard.edu/sites/reich.hms.harvard.edu/files/inline-files/2024_CurrentBiology_Pompeii_2.pdf

... against the latest V62 1240K (different than AADR 54) :

 

[Salento]

That’s interesting, the closest match for I3691 (Pompeii) is Pompeii f1R.

 

[kingdavid]

That’s interesting, the closest match for I3691 (Pompeii) is Pompeii f1R.

Great work
Salento
Nice f1R belonged to a southern european downstream of A-m13

Thread 'Genomic analysis of two Pompeians that died during the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD'

May 26, 2022

The archaeological site of Pompeii is one of the 54 UNESCO World Heritage sites in Italy, thanks to its uniqueness: the town was completely destroyed and buried by a Vesuvius’ eruption in 79 AD. In this work, we present a multidisciplinary approach with bioarchaeological and palaeogenomic analyses of two Pompeian human remains from the Casa del Fabbro. We have been able to characterize the genetic profile of the first Pompeian’ genome, which has strong affinities with the surrounding central Italian population from the Roman Imperial Age. Our findings...

• kingdavid
• Replies: 70
• Forum: Iron Age & Antiquity

• 

He is mentioned in PC1 of this present paper
He is from the house of the craftsman

 

[Palermo Trapani]

Salento: Thanks, I don't get any close matches with these Pompeian's. Thanks for all your work fratello. Cheers.

Distance to: Palermo_Trapani_Ancestry
11.28645649 I3682_Ind25:I3682_cov-4.87%
16.50510527 I3690_Ind22:I3690_cov-8.50%
19.03457643 I3691_Ind53:I3691_cov-23.58%
22.62856381 I3686_Ind51:I3686_cov-5.08%
32.21854435 I3685_Ind52:I3685_cov-30.79%

 

[Vitruvius]

It's interesting how many of these cluster in the typically Punic section of the PCA. Beyond that it looks like one is plausibly southern European (italian/greek/anatolian) and another is fairly definitively Levantine.

I agree with what other have said in that those who were left behind to die were much more likely to be slaves of foreign extraction. Combined with the diversity seen in prior pompeii studies, this is not so surprising.

 

[kingdavid]

It's interesting how many of these cluster in the typically Punic section of the PCA. Beyond that it looks like one is plausibly southern European (italian/greek/anatolian) and another is fairly definitively Levantine.

I agree with what other have said in that those who were left behind to die were much more likely to be slaves of foreign extraction. Combined with the diversity seen in prior pompeii studies, this is not so surprising.

Agree low status
I guess there was some movement at some point of punic merchants/ traders to pompeii
Maybe looking for a better life
Yes actually I3685 (the T dude) might have been a levantine trader or merchant
The j individuals look south italian / greek in there autosomall
And the e-L19 individuals looks to have some punic ancestery ( specifically I3682 less so for I3691)

 

[HereToLearn]

It's interesting how many of these cluster in the typically Punic section of the PCA. Beyond that it looks like one is plausibly southern European (italian/greek/anatolian) and another is fairly definitively Levantine.

Honest question: is there any autosomal overlap between Italians and Anatolians? Is it really possible to mix them up?

 

[Pax Augusta]

As a maritime trade city Pompeii was a melting pot, a cosmopolitan place with a heterogeneous population. Culturally it was shaped by a blend of Oscan, Samnite, Etruscan, Greek, Roman and Punic influences.
Pompeii’s port facilitated extensive maritime trade, connecting it to various parts of the Mediterranean and the city’s markets were centres of economic and cultural interaction. There would be merchants from different regions exchanging goods.

The influence of Magna Graecia, the Greek colonies in Southern Italy, played a crucial role in transmitting Greek culture to Pompeii. This region was a hub of Greek culture and commerce.
Magna Graecia has had a significant impact of on Pompeii’s development and its inhabitants. The presence of Greek cognomina (family name, surname) and cultural practices in Pompeii indicates a significant Greek influence.

Placing Individuals: Pompeian Epigraphy in Context

Also, the city’s connections with the western Mediterranean, including Punic and Sicilian influences, are significant and often overlooked. Pompeii had strong ties with the western Mediterranean, namely Sicily (also part of Magna Graecia), which had a dual Greek and Punic heritage.

Pompeii in the Hellenistic period shows a mix of some Greek and Punic cultural elements, which characterises Sicily.​

Hellenistic Pompeii: between Oscan, Greek, Roman and Punic (Chapter 2) - The Hellenistic West

Magna Graecia (Sicily included) will have played a major cultural, religious and genetic role, contributing to the Eastern Mediterranean influences existing in Pompeii.

This map had already been posted by Vitruvius in another thread, it shows the extent of Greek colonization in the Mediterranean.

Yes, exactly, one should not forget that in the area around Pompeii 800 years before the eruption of Vesuvius the Greeks arrive, and therefore that area becomes Greek before Romanization, and therefore a strong influence from the eastern Mediterranean arrives long before the Roman Empire. Apparently a study of the Iron Age in Greece is finally coming out, and without any surprise there is a cosmopolitan situation there as well.

Archaeogenetics of the iron age burial ground of Phaleron in Athens

Presenter: Eirini Skourtanioti

Authors: Eirini Skourtanioti, Anthi Tiliakou, Johannes Krause, Alissa Mittnik, Raffaela Bianco, Angela Mötsch, Eleni Anna Prevedorou, Stella Chryssoulaki, Panagiotis Karkanas, Jane Buikstra, Johannes Krause, Philipp Stockhammer


Eirini Skourtanioti
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Germany
Abstract:

Located on the southern coast of Attica in Greece, Phaleron served as one of the principal ports of Athens in ancient times. Excavations have revealed a burial ground comprising approximately 2,000 burials, spanning the late 8th to the 4th century BCE. This extensive cemetery offers insights into the burial practices, social structures and political changes inAthens at a pivotal moment for the rise of democracy and the associated socialand politicalconflicts. With a wide variety of burial types from elaborate funerary monuments, to simple pit and jar burials, and ‘deviant’ burials of violent deaths, the site provides a unique opportunity to study the transition from the Geometric to the Archaic and Classical period in Athens through the study of the health, diet, lifestyles and genetics of the ancient population.

The exceptional data recovered from Phaleron has now been enlarged by new ancient DNA analysis. By applying state of the art, highly specific enrichment protocols, we have generated genome wide data from more than 100 individuals sampled from diverse burial contexts within a sector of the burial ground. Our analyses reveal a unprecedented rate of individuals with ‘non local’ ancestry showing no association with distinctive burial type features. In contrast to earlier Bronze Age Aegean sites, where ancestry outliers reflect population migration from Anatolia and later the Eurasian steppe, in Phaleron, the non local ancestry predominantly belongs to the broader Central and Eastern Mediterranean gene pool, but also Central Asia and Europe. In addition, when analyzing individuals with ancestry typical in the Aegean, we find genetic continuity since the Late Bronze Age suggesting that the transition still referred to sometimes as ‘Greek Dark Ages’ was not accompanied by major admixture events into the Aegean. Finally, to estimate relatedness, we employed the method Identical By Descent which indicated that the individuals were distantly and sporadically related, rather than being members of biological families. Combined with the evidence for continuing the practice of consanguineous endogamy although more moderately our analyses suggest that the Phaleron cemetery reflected a large and diverse population as well as local communities of extended families.

 

[Vitruvius]

Honest question: is there any autosomal overlap between Italians and Anatolians? Is it really possible to mix them up?

Today, no. In the Early Imperial Roman era, dodecanese-like individuals which plot between modern southern Italians and anatolians were exceedingly abundant in central Italy so it was much more plausible.

Btw, don't be surprised if the Dodecanese like average ends up being typical for Peloponesian greeks/greek islanders by this era. There's a high likelihood of this.

 

[Vitruvius]

Yes, exactly, one should not forget that in the area around Pompeii 800 years before the eruption of Vesuvius the Greeks arrive, and therefore that area becomes Greek before Romanization, and therefore a strong influence from the eastern Mediterranean arrives long before the Roman Empire. Apparently a study of the Iron Age in Greece is finally coming out, and without any surprise there is a cosmopolitan situation there as well.

Thanks for posting. Based off the abstract it looks like we will see continuity from the LBA to the Greek iron age despite some non locals being present. Since they specify the central mediterranean as a source of non local ancestry I presume some italics will also be found.