Abstract
From the Late Bronze Age onwards, shared elements of the so-called “Celtic” culture linked different human groups which were distributed across Europe. During the Late Iron Age (LIA, 4th – 1st centuries BCE), these groups were involved in migration processes and settled in the Italian Peninsula after crossing the Alps. Although these movements are archaeologically documented, the genetic history of LIA “Celtic” groups from north and south of the Alps remains unexplored.
In this paleogenomic study, we aim to address: i) if the relative homogeneous “Celtic” culture is also reflected in their genomic makeup, ii) how the genetic relationships between the studied “Celtic” groups and other ancient and present-day populations from Europe are characterized. For this, we carried out molecular analyses on 136 skeletal remains from 13 LIA archaeological contexts from modern Switzerland and Northern Italy. The genetic sex determination of 84 individuals resulted in 45 XX and 39 XY, including 29 subadults. With the additional support of mitochondrial DNA, we detected biological relatedness among individuals within two different Swiss archeological sites, and another case in one of the North-Italian sites.
Comparative analysis shows that LIA individuals from Switzerland and Northern Italy are not clearly differentiated, suggesting genetic affinity among them. Moreover, their genomic diversity overlaps with those of present-day populations. However, our data suggest genetic discontinuity between LIA individuals from Northern Italy and present-day populations from the same geographic area. Conversely, the comparison with published data suggests a stronger genetic affinity among Iron Age groups from Europe.