Phoenician Settlements: A Story of Integration and Cultural Assimilation

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Since the second millennium BCE, the Phoenicians linked east and west through their established trade networks across the Mediterranean. We investigate the extent of Phoenician integration with the communities they settled across the western Mediterranean. Skeletal samples from Phoenician burial sites in Lebanon, Italy, Spain, and Tunisia were collected. We obtained complete mitochondrial genomes on all collected samples and genome-wide data on a subset of these. We analyzed and compared ancient DNA results with genomes from populations across the Mediterranean. Our results indicate evidence of continuity of genetic lineages from pre-Phoenician populations in all settlements except for the island of Ibiza where genetic discontinuity between the early Phoenician settlers and the island’s modern inhabitants was observed. We also find evidence of new, unique lineages likely resulting from Phoenician trade networks or settlements strategies that included the translocation of women throughout the region as well as the assimilation of indigenous women in Phoenician settlements. Combined, this evidence suggests significant female mobility and genetic diversity in Phoenician communities, reflecting the inclusive and multicultural nature of Phoenician society. Our data demonstrate that both migration and cultural assimilation were common, resulting in surprisingly cosmopolitan communities in the past.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 24575