From aDNA to Archeology: Genetics of the Chalcolithic-Bronze Age transition in southern Portugal

Abstract

The archaeological data, due to its complexity/multiplicity, has been treated by several disciplines. This allows archaeologists to build historical narratives that are closer than ever to the communities of the Past. The results of the ancient DNA that have recently focused on the peninsular territory, also contribute to this reality. They emphasize complex contact networks (not just with areas that are now European), as well as different mobility patterns according to the sex of the individuals. However, its main conclusion lays on the identification of a genetic rupture in the transition between the Chalcolithic and the Bronze Age. At this moment the native genes are replaced, in 99%, by individuals with genetic ancestry in the Pontic-Caspian steppe. Thus, it is necessary to contextualize this genetic substitution archaeologically. To that some hypotheses are put forward, helping one understand, to what extent, the dynamics suggested by DNA can contribute to the knowledge of the abrupt end of the Chalcolithic communities in the South of Portugal, in the transition to the Bronze Age.