Traces of forgotten historical events in mountain communities in Central Italy: A genetic insight

Abstract

The samples highlight an overall European genetic pattern both for mtDNA and Y chromosome. Notwithstanding this scenario, Y chromosome haplogroup Q, a common paternal lineage in Central/Western Asia but almost Europe-wide absent, was found, suggesting that Central Italy could have hosted a settlement from Anatolia that might be supported by cultural, topographic and genetic evidence.

Grotta Mora Cavorso: Physical, material and symbolic boundaries of life and death practices in a Neolithic cave of central Italy

“…The preliminary results of the DNA analyses show a mixed genetic ancestry for the community members of Grotta Mora Cavorso (partly indigenous, partly with Near Eastern genetic marks) and the isotopic analyses suggest that the diet was mainly based on meat (Scorrano et al, 2014,2016,2018). As expected, no genetic connections were found between the ancient and the modern samples (Rolfo et al, 2011;Messina et al, 2015).…”

“…Furthermore, DNA and isotope analyses on Neolithic human bones have been made (Scorrano et al, 2018). At the same time, molecular studies were carried out on the DNA of volunteers from the village of Jenne and other communities of the Aniene Valley and surrounding areas (Messina, 2015;Rolfo et al, 2011). This experiment was aimed at testing the degree of isolation and external influences occurring amongst these mountain human groups throughout the centuries.…”

Evaluating mtDNA patterns of genetic isolation using a re-sampling procedure: A case study on Italian populations

“…A possible explanation for Saracinesco is related to the introgression of a small amount of haplotypes which are substantially different from those of the receiving population. In fact, the presence in this village of haplotypes belonging to haplogroups U3 and R0a suggests gene flow from the Eastern Mediterranean (Messina et al 2015). We found one population (Luserna Cimbrians), for which the null hypothesis could only be rejected for FS but not for A-Fst and HD (pattern 5).…”

Middle eastern genetic legacy in the paternal and maternal gene pools of Chuetas

“…As shown in Fig. 5, this haplogroup is practically absent in Europe (0-2%), although some exceptions are found, such as Cappadocia village in Italy (14.6%) 75 . The highest frequencies of haplogroup R0a are found in the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa, reaching values as high as ~ 25% in Soqotra Island in Yemen 73 .…”