Holocene Genetic Evolution of Pig (Sus scrofa) on Romanian Territory in a European Time and Space Frame

Abstract

Romanian territory represents a key point in the dispersal of domestic pigs into Europe, due to its geographical position. Our study gathers a high number of samples from different archaeological sites on Romanian territory in order to establish a more accurate chronological view of the spread of domestic pig into Europe and to investigate the possibility of a local domestication process. Approximately 200 samples from 45 archaeological sites on Romanian territory, covering a large period of time, from the Neolithic to the Middle Ages, were subjected to DNA analysis. The sequencing of a short fragment from the D-loop region of the mitochondrial DNA identified a different prevalence of domestic pig genetic signature between two periods of time: the Neolithic period and the Early Bronze Age–Middle Ages period. While the Neolithic period is characterized by the presence of domestic pigs with a Near-Eastern signature, during the Early Bronze Age–Middle Ages period this genetic signature is replaced with a European one. Two European and two Near-Eastern signatures were described for all the analysed samples, each of them prevailing within the wild, respectively domestic Sus scrofa. The data also revealed the introgression process as a form of domestication in Romanian territory.