Oriol Vicente

The maternal genetic make-up of the Iberian Peninsula between the Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age

Agriculture first reached the Iberian Peninsula around 5700 BCE. However, little is known about the genetic structure and changes of prehistoric populations in different geographic areas of Iberia. In our study, we focus on the maternal genetic makeup of the Neolithic (~ 5500–3000 BCE), Chalcolithic (~ 3000–2200 BCE) and Early Bronze Age (~ 2200–1500 BCE). We report ancient mitochondrial DNA results of 213 individuals (151 HVS-I sequences) from the northeast, central, southeast and southwest regions and thus on the largest archaeogenetic dataset from the Peninsula to date. Similar to other parts of Europe, we observe a discontinuity between hunter-gatherers and the first farmers of the Neolithic. During the subsequent periods, we detect regional continuity of Early Neolithic lineages across Iberia, however the genetic contribution of hunter-gatherers is generally higher than in other parts of Europe and varies regionally. In contrast to ancient DNA findings from Central Europe, we do not observe a major turnover in the mtDNA record of the Iberian Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age, suggesting that the population history of the Iberian Peninsula is distinct in character.

New Computational and Mathematical Methods for Archaeological Fieldwork at the Extreme South of the Populated World

We present the methodology of computer modeling of an archaeological excavation. The method allows the study of archaeological formation, modification and transformation processes. Our main goal has been to build a computer model of middensite formation processes. The main purpose of these models is converting excavation data to visual elements (lines, surfaces, and solids) which can be used as a representation of that data. Furthermore, geostatistics and other quantitative spatial analysis methods are also discussed to characterize the processes having generated the spatial distribution of archaeological data.