Genomic and dietary discontinuities during the Mesolithic and Neolithic in Sicily

• DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.104244
• Publication Date: 2022-04-12T18:29:56Z
• Authors: He Yu; Marieke S. van de...; Marcello A. Mannino; Sahra Talamo; Adam B. Rohrlach; Ainash Childebayeva; Vanessa Villalba-...; Franziska Aron; Guido Brandt; Marta Burri; Cäcilia Freund; Rita Radzeviciute; Raphaela Stahl; Antje Wissgott; Helen Fewlass; Antonio Tagliacozzo; Marcello Piperno; Sebastiano Tusa; Carmine Collina; Vittoria Schimmenti; Rosaria Di Salvo; Kay Prüfer; Cosimo Posth; Jean-Jacques Hublin; Detlef Gronenborn; Didier Binder; Choongwon Jeong; Wolfgang Haak; Johannes Krause
• Keywords: Mesolithic; Archaeological Science

Sicily is a key region for understanding the agricultural transition in Mediterranean because of its central position. Here, we present genomic and stable isotopic data 19 prehistoric Sicilians covering Mesolithic to Bronze Age periods (10,700-4,100 yBP). We find that Early hunter-gatherers (HGs) from are highly drifted lineage Holocene western European HGs, whereas Late HGs carry ∼20% ancestry related northern (south) eastern indicating substantial gene flow. Neolithic farmers genetically most similar Balkans Greece, with only ∼7% local HGs. The genetic discontinuities during match changes material culture diet. Three outlying individuals dated ∼8,000 yBP; however, suggest interacted incoming at Grotta dell'Uzzo, resulting mixed economy diet brief interlude Mesolithic-Neolithic transition.