Afinidades entre poblaciones antiguas de la península Ibéricaantropología dental

Resumen

A set of 8727 dental pieces belonging to 453 individuals were anthropologically studied, utilizing dental morphology as a method to analyze and characterize all cases and collections. The material derives from Prehistoric and Mediaeval archaeological sites in the Iberian Peninsula. The study was developed with the intention of resolving some doubts about the origins and immigration of some ancient Spanish populations and to trace the biological continuity at the studied sites and the interrelationships among them over time. Two main periods were investigated for this purpose: the Bronze Age in Granada province and La Mancha region, and the Mediaeval Age in Granada province and the region of Castilla-León. The Bronze Age sites in Granada province include one megalithic burial (La Navilla) and five Argaric settlements (Caltellon Alto, Fuente Amarga, Cerro De La Encina, Cuesta Del Negro and Cerro De La Virgen). Motilla del Azuer, in La Mancha, is the only prehistoric site from outside Granada. The Mediaeval age collections consist of two Andalusian sites from Granada province, the cemetery of Sahl Ben Malik-Triunfo and La Torrecilla-Arenas del Rey, and three Castilian sites, Villanueva de Soportilla and Palacios de la Sierra in Burgos province and San Baudelio de Berlanga in Soria. According to the metric and morphological studies, all analyzed populations exhibit Mediterranean characters. No significant differences were detected, but the North African affiliation can be observed during the Medieval Age, especially in the southern sites. Dental analysis results revealed the Western Eurasian origin of all the studied populations. The differences detected can be attributed to local evolution, immigration and other microevolutionary mechanisms. These findings established the bio-continuity of Spanish populations throughout the periods under study. Among the Western Eurasian subgroups, the Spanish collections tend to demonstrate a greater bio-similarity with the North African subgroup. The influence from North Africa increased gradually from prehistoric times up to the Mediaeval Age. Only three sites (Castellón Alto, Fuente Amarga and La Navilla) showed greater affiliation with the Caucasians, North and Western Europeans and other subgroups and had remained separated from North Africans and the other Spanish series. If sufficient data from the Copper and Neolithic Ages had been available to enable comparisons, we might have been able to determine whether these populations had come from outside Spain or were descendants of populations who lived in the Iberian Peninsula during earlier periods. All of the remaining sites (Cerro de la Encina, Cerro de la Virgen, Cuesta del Negro, etc.) were clustered together, denoting high bio-similarities and bio-continuity. In prehistoric sites, a process of local evolution or demographic isolation is observed, especially in Motilla Del Azuer (La Mancha). However, medieval sites show gene flow processes, denoting greater immigration and population movements. The Argaric series of Cerro de la Virgen, Cerro de la Encina and Cuesta del Negro are the same population genetically, and the mediaeval collection of Villanueva de Soportilla shows similar phenotypical characteristics. These three Argaric populations are markedly separated from the other prehistoric populations and are closer to the mediaeval ones, acting as a connection between prehistoric and mediaeval populations. The cultural difference is evident and very large. This indicates a biological continuity in the Iberian Peninsula throughout the periods under study. Another finding of interest was the high biological similarity between the Andalusian population of Granada (the Sahl ben Malik cemetry-Triunfo) and the Castilian population of Palacios de la Sierra. The cause of this bio-proximity is clarified by means of the historical records, which indicate mass immigrations of the mozárabes (Christians who lived under Arab regimes in Al Andalus territories) to regions in the Christian Kingdoms during the Almoravide and Almohade periods. La Torrecilla also shows high bio-similarities with the Castilian sites of Palacios and San Baudelio that are much greater than those with the Triunfo cemetery. San Baudelio (Soria) appears somewhat isolated from the other Castilian and Andalusian populations. According to the historical records, a large part of its population originally derived from the mozárabes, and it showed a greater biological resemblance with La Torrecilla than with any other Spanish population.