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  • The curious case of the Mesolithic Iberian dogs: an archaeogenetic study
    Publication . Pires, Ana Elisabete; Detry, Cleia; Chikhi, Lounes; Rasteiro, Rita; Amorim, Isabel R.; Simões, Fernanda; Matos, José; Petrucci-Fonseca, Francisco; Ollivier, Morgane; Hänni, Catherine; Cardoso, João Luís; Arias, Pablo; Diniz, Mariana; Araújo, Ana Cristina; Bicho, Nuno; Sousa, Ana Catarina; Moreno-García, Marta; Arruda, Ana Margarida; Fernández-Rodríguez, Carlos; Porfírio, Eduardo; Arnaud, José Morais; Valente, Alexandra; Gonçalves, David; Alves, Lara; Götherström, Anders; Davis, Simon J. M.; Ginja, Catarina
    We investigated the genetic, composition of six Canis remains from western Iberia, directly radiocarbon dated to 7,903-7,570 years (cal BP). They were identified as dogs via their qrchaeological and depositional context, osteometry, and a high percentage of aquatic diet shared with humans. For comparison, genetic data were obtained from an additional 37 Iberian dog remains from the Neolithic to Late Antiquity, as well as two Palaeolithic anda a Chalcolithic Canis identified as wolves. Previous data indicated that dog mtDNA haplogroup A (HgA) is prevalent in extant European dogs (>50%), in the Near East and Asia, but rare or absent (<10%) in European Canis older than 3,000 years (cal BP). We found a high frequency of dog HgA in pre-Neolithic Europe. We show that, contrary to the current view, Canis with HgA did not necessarily arrive in Europe from East-Asia. This phylogeographical difference in HgA frequency demonstrates that genetic differentiation was prior to, or as a consequence of, domestication which may be linked with pre-Neolithic local processes for Iberian wolf domestication. Our results emphasize that knowledge of both ancient wolves and early dogs genetic profiles from the European periphery should improve our understanding of the evolution of the European dog.
  • A multidisciplinary study of Iberian Chalcolithic dogs
    Publication . Blaschikoff, Ludmilla; Daza-Perea, Arantxa; Requicha, J. F.; Detry, Cleia; Rasteiro, Rita; Guimarães, Sílvia; Ureña, Irene; Serra, Octávio; Schmidt, Ryan; Valera, António Carlos; Almeida, Nelson J.; Porfírio, Eduardo; Santos, Ana Beatriz; Delicado, Cátia; Simões, Fernanda; Matos, José; Rosário, Isabel Amorim do; Petrucci-Fonseca, Francisco; Davis, Simon J. M.; Muñoz Merida, Antonio; Gotherstrom, Anders; Fernández-Rodríguez, Carlos; Cardoso, João Luís; Ginja, Catarina; Pires, Ana Elisabete
    Domesticated dogs have been present in the Iberian Peninsula long before other domesticated species, back to the late Palaeolithic period. Their origin is still uncertain, but dogs were already well established during the Chalcolithic period (ca. 5000–4000 BP). This study employed a multidisciplinary approach comprising osteometric, radiographic and palaeogenomic analyses to characterize Chalcolithic Iberian Canis remains. Two Chalcolithic archaeological sites – Leceia, Oeiras, in Portugal, and El Caset´on de la Era, Villalba de los Alcores, Valladolid, in Spain – were the main focus of this study. Osteometric and odontometric data from eleven other sites in Iberia were also included. Osteometric results show signs of phenotypic variability, likely the result of human-driven selective pressure. Dental radiographic and dental wear analyses allowed age at death estimation for four individuals (two juvenile and two adults). Three Chalcolithic Iberian dogs had their mitogenomes resequenced and the mitochondrial DNA analysis allowed to assign each individual to two of the major known haplogroups – A and C. Molecular sex infered by the chromosomeX/chromosome1 coverage ratio allowed to identify one female and two males. This study unveils some aspects of the Iberian Chalcolithic dogs: these dogs already exhibited various morphotypes whose profiles might be associated to the performance of certain tasks, as well as mitogenomes of two distinct lineages that help tracking the evolutionary paths of Iberian dogs.