Detecting the T1 cattle haplogroup in the Iberian Peninsula from Neolithic to medieval times: new clues to continuous cattle migration through time

• We report the earliest dated evidence of T1 mtDNA haplotypes in Neolithic Iberia.
• There is continuity of T1 in Iberia from the Neolithic to medieval period.
• Therefore, T1 was not solely a Muslim (711 AD) or later introduction.
• Rather, T1 persisted from the initial spread of agriculture from the Near East.
• This was then followed by possible further colonisation from Europe and Africa.

The spread of domestic animals through time is one of the topics studied by archaeologists to assess human trade and migration. Here we present mitochondrial analysis of 42 archaeological cattle (Bos taurus) bone samples, from 16 different sites in the Iberian Peninsula and covering a broad timeframe (from the early Neolithic to the Middle Ages), to provide evidence about the origin and dispersion of the T1 cattle haplogroup in relation to human contacts and movements. The presence of the T1 haplotype in one sample from an early Neolithic site close to the Mediterranean coast of Iberia, and its continuing presence in the Peninsula during Roman and Medieval times, clearly demonstrates that T1 was not solely a Muslim or later introduction. Rather, our molecular data show evidence for a pioneer coastal colonisation of the Iberian Peninsula from the Mediterranean basin, followed by possible further colonisation, leading to a continuity of diversity through time.