title: Prehistoric contacts over the Straits of Gibraltar indicated by genetic analysis of Iberian Bronze Age cattle.
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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Evolutionary Biology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18D, SE-752 36 Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Cecilia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Anderung
authors.forename: Abigail
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bouwman
authors.forename: Per
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Persson
authors.forename: José Miguel
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Carretero
authors.forename: Ana Isabel
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Ortega
authors.forename: Rengert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Elburg
authors.forename: Colin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Juan Luis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Arsuaga
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ellegren
authors.forename: Anders
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Götherström
mesh_terms: D000352:Africa, Northern; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002417:Cattle / Q000235:genetics*; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D017931:DNA Primers; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D005580:Fossils; D005843:Geography; D005858:Germany; D006239:Haplotypes / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D011157:Population Dynamics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013030:Spain
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial