The origin of social inequalities in Northern Italy: clues from ancient genomes
Abstract:
Revealing and understanding the dynamics promoting the onset and perpetration of social inequalities in prehistoric societies is a major challenge that has been historically faced evaluating archaeological and anthropological evidence. In recent years the amount of genomic data obtained from ancient remains has dramatically increased, and we also observed the development of methods specifically designed to obtain robust estimates of kinship and ancestry from low coverage data. We now have the unique opportunity to exploit archaeogenomic data to describe, with unprecedented resolution, past population structure and processes such as migration and admixture, but also to shed light on sociocultural dynamics (e.g. lineage-based transmission of social status and wealth) which are the basis of the onset of inequalities. The analysis of ancient genomes may therefore become crucial to infer past social dynamics, with the added value of possibly being informative about demographic events that promoted changes in the social structure. Archaeogenetic has revealed that two major population dynamics within the last 10,000 years extensively impacted the genomic composition of Europeans: the Neolithic expansion and the Bronze-Age migration from Steppe; despite the importance of these events, our genetic understanding is mainly built upon pan-European sampling strategies, resulting in limited knowledge about the impact of these migrations at the level of single societies.
In this project we propose a high-resolution multidisciplinary study of three burial sites in Northeast Italy from Neolithic, Eneolithic and Bronze Age periods, with the specific aim to infer the social and genetic structure and their possible change in this time transect. We will sequence whole genomes of 110 individuals, and thanks to a tight collaboration among archaeologists, anthropologists and geneticists we will provide a detailed reconstruction of the biological relatedness within each funerary context. The kinship analysis, combined with a deep resolution chronology, the fine assessment of grave goods and burial practice, the possible evidence of access to different kinds of dietary resources and individual mobility provided by stable isotopes analysis, will give us information about the presence of inequality between the members of each burial site. We will be able to discern wealth inheritance rules and patterns of social organization, so as to provide a fundamental contribution to understanding how the social structure changed over time. The comparison with ancient European genomes would provide any evidence of correlation between social structure and specific ancestry patterns, whose implication on shaping the genetic background of Northern Italy will be explicitly tested. This project will give us the unique opportunity to shed light on the onset of social inequality in Northern Italy during Prehistory, and on the cultural and biological mechanisms that promoted its development.
In this project we propose a high-resolution multidisciplinary study of three burial sites in Northeast Italy from Neolithic, Eneolithic and Bronze Age periods, with the specific aim to infer the social and genetic structure and their possible change in this time transect. We will sequence whole genomes of 110 individuals, and thanks to a tight collaboration among archaeologists, anthropologists and geneticists we will provide a detailed reconstruction of the biological relatedness within each funerary context. The kinship analysis, combined with a deep resolution chronology, the fine assessment of grave goods and burial practice, the possible evidence of access to different kinds of dietary resources and individual mobility provided by stable isotopes analysis, will give us information about the presence of inequality between the members of each burial site. We will be able to discern wealth inheritance rules and patterns of social organization, so as to provide a fundamental contribution to understanding how the social structure changed over time. The comparison with ancient European genomes would provide any evidence of correlation between social structure and specific ancestry patterns, whose implication on shaping the genetic background of Northern Italy will be explicitly tested. This project will give us the unique opportunity to shed light on the onset of social inequality in Northern Italy during Prehistory, and on the cultural and biological mechanisms that promoted its development.
Dettagli progetto:
Referente scientifico: Ghirotto Silvia
Fonte di finanziamento: Bando PRIN 2022 PNRR
Data di avvio: 30/11/2023
Data di fine: 30/11/2025
Contributo MUR: 89.703 €
Partner:
- Università degli Studi di FERRARA (capofila)
- Università degli Studi di FIRENZE