[Scroll down for updates]
In this case two individuals (right) from La Braña-Arintero site in Valdelugueros (León province near the Asturian border), dated to 7000 years ago, borderline with Neolithic arrival but, according to the paper, still “Mesolithic” (i.e. Epipaleolithic).
- M. Lacan found mtDNA H among Epipaleolithic Basques in 2011.
- M. Hervella found mtDNA H and U5 among pre-Neolithic Cantabrians and Basques respectively a couple of months ago.
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Pre-Neolithic mtDNA lineages found in Northern Iberia to date (all quite unquestionable) |
Update (revised): on the nuclear DNA sequences
Interestingly the study includes a large SNP sequence of the nuclear DNA of both individuals. When compared with several modern European populations (overloaded of Finnish and Tuscans, who hijack the analysis, the result is as follows:
As we can see the dimension 1 is hijacked by the Tuscan-Finnish duality, while the dimension 2 seems almost private, extending inside all populations with minor variations. This render the PCA essentially useless and meaningless. However it would seem that the La Braña individuals cluster best with some British and some of their creole cousins from Utah (CEU).
However when global tripolar comparison is made (after removing the noisy Finns), the result is:
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Figure S2. PCA with the Shotgun Data from La Braña 1 (Left) and La Braña 2 (Right) and the Worldwide Data Set from 1,000 Genomes Project, |
Interestingly the La Braña individuals not just cluster separately from Modern Europeans but they actually look “more Asian” than these. In fact, would we superimpose these PCA plots on any global one with more samples (which always takes an L shape with vortex at or near the European cluster) like this one (from Etyo Helix), the La Braña people would overlap Afghans and Gujaratis, roughly.
So it’s like the analysis performed is more perplexing than informative. Not really helpful. We can only hope that the sequences are soon released to the public domain so independent researchers can perform contrasting analysis. These PCAs alone are almost useless.
Update (Jun 29): details of the La Braña-Arintero findings:
Close-up of Braña 1 (source) |
The cave was only excavated since 2006. Braña 1 was found in flexed position with ochre and a delimitation of the niche by rocks (but there is evidence that no earth was disposed on top of it). Braña 2 was found in non-anatomical disposal (possibly because of post burial alterations by water or people), at the bottom of a natural hole 4 m. deep, just beside the other one and with indications of being also a primary burial.
Braña 1 had no caries but erosion of some teeth in what is suggested to have been caused by the use of teeth tool. There is a serious injury in the upper jaw by piercing artifact (spear?), which healed.
Associated to Braña 2, there were found 24 perforated deer canines, possibly part of a necklace or other decoration originally.
The two burials are from almost exactly 7000 years ago. The ages are:
- Braña 1: 6980±50 calBP (5990-5740 BP – raw C14)
- Braña 2: 7030±50 calBP (6010-5800 BP – raw C14)
The assigning of the burials to ‘Mesolithic’ (Epipaleolithic) is based 100% on the datings and not on cultural elements (other than the deer canines) that are absent in this site. The ‘Mesolithic’ comparison dates from further North (Asturias) are from the 7th or 6th millennium uncalibrated but none of them is more recent than the ones from La Braña-Arintero (in fact they look as quite older):
- El Espertín (Burón): 7080±40 BP and 7790±120 BP (not calibrated)
- Los Canes: unspecified dates from the 6th millennium BP (not calibrated), where similar deer canine decorations were found also in burial context
Refs.
Julio Vidal et al., LOS HOMBRES MESOLÍTICOS DE LA BRAÑA-ARINTERO(VALDELUGUEROS, LEÓN): UN HALLAZGO FUNERARIO EXCEPCIONALEN LA VERTIENTE MERIDIONAL DE LA CORDILLERA CANTÁBRICA. 2008. ··> found at Academia.edu.
Julio Vidal et al., LOS HOMBRES MESOLÍTICOS DE LA BRAÑA-ARINTERO (VALDELUGUEROS, LEÓN): EL HALLAZGO, SITUACIÓN, ASPECTOS ARQUEO-ANTROPOLÓGICOS, CRONOLOGÍA Y CONTEXTO CULTURAL ··> found at Academia.edu.
9.3% African and 90.7% Atlantic_Baltic
- 30% Southern (i.e. Eastern Mediterranean South or Arabia)
- 7% West Asian (i.e. Eastern Mediterranean North or Caucasus)
- 1% South Asian
45% Atlantic_Med, 41.6% North_European, 10.3% East_African, 1% Sub_Saharan
Update (Jul 1 – II):
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(From Dienekes’ blog – fair use of copyrighted work) |
Updates (Jul 3): strange ritual for ‘Mesolithic’ and some other DNA comparisons
The latest zombie comparison (different set of zombies) by Dienekes (scroll for updates in the already provided link) is similar to the previous (i.e. c. 90% like modern Europeans, specifically NW ones without the “Neolithic” stuff) but instead of being anomalous towards Africa it is towards East Asia. Not sure what to think other than it seems to point to some unchartered component with deep roots.
Maybe more interesting but still in the hmmmm zone is the comment at Diario de León[es] by Pablo Arias, Director of the Prehistoric Research Institute of Cantabria. Among other less important details,he argues that the burial or rather lack of it thereof (as the corpses were placed in the cave without earth covering, even if Braña 1 does display signs of intentional funerary disposition) is most anomalous, actually unique, among ‘Mesolithic’ burial practices which always included proper burial and not just disposition. My translation:
Nevertheless, he details that there are some peculiarities making it unique: like the kind of necklace found along individual number 2 and very specially the characteristic of the funerary space: corpses deposited on the floor of a selected hypogeum. “From another point of view, La Braña-Arintero provides another evidence of the spectacular increase in the number of burials in the 7th millennium a.C. and that may relfect an intensification of the territoriality in these societies”.
Pablo Arias precises that the more striking characteristic of the funerary context of La Braña-Arintero resides in the sepulchral space itself, detailing that it is an exclusively funerary site, with no link to settlements of that age. We see that a remote cavity, apparently not suited for habitation, and the corpses have been placed there in peculiar spaces, well delimited by natural space in the way of niches.
And this, as he defends in the article, is a funerary behavior that has no clear precedents in other peninsular contexts and rather reminds to behaviors more common in later periods instead.
And… what we just needed, so to say: Bushman affinities! In his latest comparison, using the DIY Harappa World calculator, Dienekes finds that the Braña composite is stubbornly >80% European (in this case 55% NE Euro and 27% Mediterranean) and some 17% (the highest figure so far!) non-European, mostly 7% Siberian and 6% Bushman (San).