title: A European Mitochondrial Haplotype Identified in Ancient Phoenician Remains from Carthage, North Africa.
abstract: While Phoenician culture and trade networks had a significant impact on Western civilizations, we know little about the Phoenicians themselves. In 1994, a Punic burial crypt was discovered on Byrsa Hill, near the entry to the National Museum of Carthage in Tunisia. Inside this crypt were the remains of a young man along with a range of burial goods, all dating to the late 6th century BCE. Here we describe the complete mitochondrial genome recovered from the Young Man of Byrsa and identify that he carried a rare European haplogroup, likely linking his maternal ancestry to Phoenician influenced locations somewhere on the North Mediterranean coast, the islands of the Mediterranean or the Iberian Peninsula. This result not only provides the first direct ancient DNA evidence of a Phoenician individual but the earliest evidence of a European mitochondrial haplogroup, U5b2c1, in North Africa.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Allan Wilson Centre, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Elizabeth A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Matisoo-Smith
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Allan Wilson Centre, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.|Department of Biochemistry, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Anna L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Gosling
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Boocock
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Allan Wilson Centre, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kardailsky
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Lebanese American University, Byblos, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Yara
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kurumilian
authors.affiliation: National Heritage Institute, Tunis, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Sihem
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Roudesli-Chebbi
authors.affiliation: Archaeological Museum, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Leila
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Badre
authors.affiliation: Université d'Aix-Marseille, Centre Camille Jullian, Aix-en-Provence, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Paul
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Morel
authors.affiliation: National Heritage Institute, Tunis, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Leïla Ladjimi
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Sebaï
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Lebanese American University, Byblos, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Pierre A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Zalloua
mesh_terms: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics*; D006239:Haplotypes; D049690:History, Ancient; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D014416:Tunisia; D044465:White People / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial