1. Origin and mobility of Iron Age Gaulish groups in present-day France revealed through archaeogenomics
- Author
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Claire-Elise Fischer, Marie-Hélène Pemonge, Isaure Ducoussau, Ana Arzelier, Maïté Rivollat, Frederic Santos, Hélène Barrand Emam, Alexandre Bertaud, Alexandre Beylier, Elsa Ciesielski, Bernard Dedet, Sophie Desenne, Henri Duday, Fanny Chenal, Eric Gailledrat, Sébastien Goepfert, Olivier Gorgé, Alexis Gorgues, Gertrud Kuhnle, François Lambach, Anthony Lefort, Amandine Mauduit, Florent Maziere, Sophie Oudry, Cécile Paresys, Estelle Pinard, Suzanne Plouin, Isabelle Richard, Muriel Roth-Zehner, Réjane Roure, Corinne Thevenet, Yohann Thomas, Stéphane Rottier, Marie-France Deguilloux, and Mélanie Pruvost
- Subjects
Biological sciences ,Evolutionary biology ,Genetics ,Genomics ,Paleobiology ,Paleogenetics ,Science - Abstract
Summary: The Iron Age period occupies an important place in French history because the Gauls are regularly presented as the direct ancestors of the extant French population. We documented here the genomic diversity of Iron Age communities originating from six French regions. The 49 acquired genomes permitted us to highlight an absence of discontinuity between Bronze Age and Iron Age groups in France, lending support to a cultural transition linked to progressive local economic changes rather than to a massive influx of allochthone groups. Genomic analyses revealed strong genetic homogeneity among the regional groups associated with distinct archaeological cultures. This genomic homogenization appears to be linked to individuals’ mobility between regions and gene flow with neighbouring groups from England and Spain. Thus, the results globally support a common genomic legacy for the Iron Age population of modern-day France that could be linked to recurrent gene flow between culturally differentiated communities.
- Published
- 2022
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