Record

Sample details

Recorded details and available lineage markers.

Individual

Sicily EN individual, Italy

Sample ID: UZZ077

Date Range

5476 BCE - 5365 BCE

Cultural Period

Italy Sicily EN

Biological Sex

Female

mtDNA Haplogroup

H

Y-DNA Haplogroup

Not available

Social Role

Farmer (AI estimate, era-typical)

Geography

Location

Where this individual was discovered

Country Italy

Locality Sicily. Grotta dell’Uzzo

Coordinates 38.1100, 12.7866

Chronology

Date range

When this individual lived in the broader context of human history

Sicily EN individual, Italy 5476 BCE - 5365 BCE

Context

Historical context

Background information associated with the reference record.

Sicily in the Early Neolithic (c. 6000–5000 BCE) was part of the broader Mediterranean spread of farming and settled life. On the island, Early Neolithic communities developed local routines for land use, production, and exchange, leaving behind evidence for village-based domestic economies and growing craft specializations.

Region & Environment

Sicily’s environment offered a mix of arable land, pasture potential, and access to marine resources along the coasts. Early Neolithic settlement choices would have taken advantage of cultivable soils and freshwater availability, while also enabling exploitation of wild and coastal resources during different seasons.

Historical Context

In much of the Mediterranean, the Early Neolithic marks the transition from foraging-dominated economies to farming and herding. Sicily’s Early Neolithic is placed before later historical colonization and is characterized archaeologically by regional traditions within a wider Neolithic horizon.

Populations & Lifeways

Early Neolithic populations likely practiced mixed subsistence with agriculture supported by animal husbandry. Everyday life centered on household production: grinding cereals, processing plant foods, and managing livestock. Mobility may have been seasonal or local, but the overall pattern is consistent with longer-term occupations rather than purely mobile lifeways.

Archaeology & Material Culture

Archaeological signatures of the Early Neolithic include domestic remains and ceramic assemblages that help distinguish regional traditions. The Early Stentinello culture is especially associated with characteristic pottery and related artifact sets, which in turn reflect cooking and storage practices as well as patterns of craft learning.

Stone tools, bone/antler items, and portable objects complement ceramics, showing how daily tasks—from food preparation to clothing and tool maintenance—were organized. Such assemblages also indicate that communities participated in exchange or shared technological know-how across the central Mediterranean.

Culture & Society

Material culture suggests social norms expressed through shared ceramic styles and recurring artifact choices. Domestic production likely played a major role in community identity, while differences between sites (in artifact frequencies and features) can reflect local preferences, varying access to materials, or household specialization.

Legacy & Transition

The Early Neolithic laid foundations for later Neolithic and subsequent prehistoric cultural phases on Sicily by entrenching farming practices and durable settlement strategies. Over time, evolving ceramic traditions and changing artifact repertoires document gradual shifts in technology and social organization into later Neolithic developments.

Analysis

Genetic comparisons

These comparisons show genetic similarity, not identity or origin. The populations listed are those whose genomes show statistical alignment to this ancient individual.

Similarity reflects shared history, not shared identity. These are analytical comparisons, not claims about who this person was.

Modern Genetic Admixture

This analysis compares the DNA profile with present-day reference populations, showing statistical similarity to modern reference populations from different regions. The excavation site records where this individual was found, not a fixed modern genetic identity.

Europe 92.3%

Southern European 92.3%

Italian 37.6%

Sardinian 28.4%

Iberian 17.3%

Balkan 8.9%

Africa 5.3%

North African 4.1%

West African 1.2%

Ghanaian, Liberian, Sierra Leonean 1.2%

Asia 1.8%

Chinese & Southeast Asian 1.8%

Tibetan 1.8%

Oceania 0.7%

Melanesian 0.7%

Papuan 0.7%

Closest Modern Populations

These are the modern populations showing the closest statistical alignment to A woman buried in Italy in the Early Neolithic era, ranked by genetic distance. Lower distance values indicate closer statistical similarity. Cross-region similarity can reflect shared ancestry, population movement, continuity, or later admixture.

1

Sardinian

3.6365

2

French Corsica

6.1090

3

Belmonte Jew

6.3774

4

Italian Lazio

7.1580

5

Italian Umbria

7.4276

6

Sicilian West

7.4681

7

Italian Lombardy

7.5776

8

Spanish Murcia

7.6586

9

Spanish Andalucia

7.7324

10

Spanish Menorca

7.7435

Context

Related Samples

This individual exists within a broader network of ancient samples. No ancient genome stands alone.

Search related samples

Individual	Culture/Period	Date	Location	Action
Sicily Epigravettian individual, Italy	Late Mesolithic Sicily, Italy	8798 BCE	Sicily. Grotta dell’Uzzo, Italy	View
Sicily Epigravettian individual, Italy	Late Mesolithic Castelnovian Culture, Sicily, Italy	6633 BCE	Sicily. Grotta dell’Uzzo, Italy	View
Mediterranean Mesolithic individual, Italy	Early Mesolithic Sicily	9040 BCE	Sicily. Grotta dell’Uzzo, Italy	View
Sicily N Stentinello individual, Italy	Neolithic Stentinello Culture in Sicily	5380 BCE	Sicily. Grotta dell’Uzzo, Italy	View
Sicily N Stentinello individual, Italy	Neolithic Stentinello Culture in Sicily	5376 BCE	Sicily. Grotta dell’Uzzo, Italy	View
Mediterranean Hunter-Gatherers individual, Italy	Late Mesolithic Castelnovian Culture, Sicily, Italy	6416 BCE	Sicily. Grotta dell’Uzzo, Italy	View
Sicily EBA individual, Italy	Early Bronze Age Sicily	2196 BCE	Sicily. Grotta dell’Uzzo, Italy	View
Mediterranean Neolithic individual, Italy	Middle Neolithic Sicily	4879 BCE	Sicily. Grotta dell’Uzzo, Italy	View
Sicily Epigravettian individual, Italy	Late Mesolithic Castelnovian Culture, Sicily, Italy	6773 BCE	Sicily. Grotta dell’Uzzo, Italy	View
Sicily Mesolithic individual, Italy	Late Mesolithic Sicily, Italy	6008 BCE	Sicily. Grotta dell’Uzzo, Italy	View
Sicily N Stentinello individual, Italy	Neolithic Stentinello Culture in Sicily	5327 BCE	Sicily. Grotta dell’Uzzo, Italy	View
Sicily N Stentinello individual, Italy	Neolithic Stentinello Culture in Sicily	5327 BCE	Sicily. Grotta dell’Uzzo, Italy	View
Sicily EN individual, Italy	Early Neolithic Sicily	5476 BCE	Sicily. Grotta dell’Uzzo, Italy	View
Sicily Epigravettian individual, Italy	Late Mesolithic Castelnovian Culture, Sicily, Italy	6694 BCE	Sicily. Grotta dell’Uzzo, Italy	View
Sicily Epigravettian individual, Italy	Late Mesolithic Castelnovian Culture, Sicily, Italy	6694 BCE	Sicily. Grotta dell’Uzzo, Italy	View
Sicily Epigravettian individual, Italy	Late Mesolithic Castelnovian Culture, Sicily, Italy	6693 BCE	Sicily. Grotta dell’Uzzo, Italy	View
Sicily Epigravettian individual, Italy	Late Mesolithic Castelnovian Culture, Sicily, Italy	6694 BCE	Sicily. Grotta dell’Uzzo, Italy	View
Sicily N Stentinello individual, Italy	Neolithic Stentinello Culture in Sicily	5311 BCE	Sicily. Grotta dell’Uzzo, Italy	View
Sicily Mesolithic individual, Italy	Late Mesolithic Sicily, Italy	5987 BCE	Sicily. Grotta dell’Uzzo, Italy	View
Sicily Epigravettian individual, Italy	Early Mesolithic Sicily	8800 BCE	Sicily. Grotta dell’Uzzo, Italy	View
Sicily MN individual, Italy	Middle Neolithic Sicily	4050 BCE	Sicily. Grotta dell’Uzzo, Italy	View

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