Ancient DNA study finds Phoenician fromCarthage had European ancestry25 May 2016

A research team co-led by a scientist at New Zealand'sUniversity of Otago has sequenced the first completemitochondrial genome of a 2500-year-old Phoeniciandubbed the "Young Man of Byrsa" or "Ariche". This is thefirst ancient DNA to be obtained from Phoenicianremains. Ariche was found to have belonged to a rareEuropean haplogroup that likely links his maternalancestry to locations somewhere on the NorthMediterranean coast, most probably on the IberianPeninsula. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

A research team co-led by a scientist at NewZealand's University of Otago has sequenced thefirst complete mitochondrial genome of a2500-year-old Phoenician dubbed the "Young Manof Byrsa" or "Ariche".

This is the first ancient DNA to be obtained fromPhoenician remains and the team's analysis showsthat the man belonged to a rare Europeanhaplogroup—a genetic group with a commonancestor—that likely links his maternal ancestry tolocations somewhere on the North Mediterraneancoast, most probably on the Iberian Peninsula.

The findings are newly published in the prestigiousinternational journal PLOS ONE.

Study co-leader Professor Lisa Matisoo-Smith ofthe Department of Anatomy says the findingsprovide the earliest evidence of the Europeanmitochondrial haplogroup U5b2cl in North Africaand date its arrival to at least the late sixth centuryBC.

"U5b2cl is considered to be one of the most ancienthaplogroups in Europe and is associated withhunter-gatherer populations there. It is remarkablyrare in modern populations today, found in Europeat levels of less than one per cent. Interestingly, ouranalysis showed that Ariche's mitochondrial geneticmake-up most closely matches that of thesequence of a particular modern day individualfrom Portugal," Professor Matisoo-Smith says.

While the Phoenicians are thought to haveoriginated from the area that is now Lebanon, theirinfluence expanded across the Mediterranean andwest to the Iberian Peninsula where theyestablished settlements and trading posts. The cityof Carthage in Tunisia, North Africa, wasestablished as a Phoenician port by colonists fromLebanon and became the centre for laterPhoenician (Punic) trade.

The researchers analysed the mitochondrial DNAof 47 modern Lebanese people and found nonewere of the U5b2cl lineage.

Previous research has found that U5b2cl waspresent in two ancient hunter-gatherers recovered

1 / 2

from an archaeological site in north-western Spain,she says.

"While a wave of farming peoples from the NearEast replaced these hunter-gatherers, some of theirlineages may have persisted longer in the far southof the Iberian peninsula and on off-shore islandsand were then transported to the melting pot ofCarthage in North Africa via Phoenician and Punictrade networks."

Professor Matisoo-Smith says Phoenician cultureand trade had a significant impact on Westerncivilisation. For example, they introduced the firstalphabetic writing system.

"However, we still know little about the Phoeniciansthemselves, except for the likely biased accountsby their Roman and Greek rivals—hopefully ourfindings and other continuing research will castfurther light on the origins and impact of Phoenicianpeoples and their culture," she says.

More information: carolynperry.blogspot.nl/2010/… he-carthaginian.html

Provided by University of OtagoAPA citation: Ancient DNA study finds Phoenician from Carthage had European ancestry (2016, May 25)retrieved 27 August 2018 from https://phys.org/news/2016-05-ancient-dna-phoenician-carthage-european.html

This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, nopart may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

2 / 2