Southeast Iberia Chalcolithic Echoes

The people designated here as Spain_SE_Iberia_CA lived during the late Chalcolithic of southeastern Iberia, between roughly 3300 and 2146 BCE. Archaeological deposits from cave and rock-shelter sites — notably Camino del Molino (Caravaca, Murcia), Cova d'En Pardo (Planes, Alicante) and Cueva de las Lechuzas (Villena, Alicante) — preserve funerary contexts, pottery styles and occasional copper artefacts that signal a region in transition.

Material culture shows continuity with earlier Neolithic farming communities alongside innovations: more frequent copper tools, modified pottery forms, and rearranged burial practices. These patterns suggest local development rather than wholesale population replacement. Limited evidence points to growing social differentiation: some burials contain richer grave goods and isolated individuals, while many remain modest communal interments.

Archaeological data indicates mobility within the Mediterranean and inland uplands, probably driven by pastoralism, seasonal resources, and emerging exchange in raw materials. While the landscape of southeastern Iberia retains deep Neolithic roots, the Chalcolithic era reveals new social rhythms and technologies that set the stage for later Bronze Age transformations.

Genetic analysis of 23 individuals from southeast Iberia (3300–2146 BCE) provides a moderately robust window into Chalcolithic population dynamics. Maternal lineages are dominated by mtDNA haplogroups associated with early European farmers—K (8 samples) and J (6)—alongside H lineages (total H=4, including H1=2) and a lone V. This maternal profile aligns with continuity of Neolithic farmer ancestry in the region.

Paternal markers are more varied: Y-haplogroup I (6 individuals) is common here, with notable counts of H2 (4) and G (2). Haplogroup I is frequently linked to long-standing European male lineages and local hunter-gatherer persistence in some areas; H2 and G have been observed in Neolithic farmer contexts elsewhere. The mix of Y-lineages suggests a complex palimpsest of ancestry rather than a single migrating paternal source.

Autosomal signals for Chalcolithic Iberia often reflect predominantly Neolithic-farmer ancestry with varying contributions from local hunter-gatherers and, in some contemporary Iberian samples, low levels of steppe-related ancestry. In this dataset signals are heterogeneous: some individuals conform closely to farmer-like profiles, while others show elevated hunter-gatherer-associated components. Because autosomal inferences depend on comparative reference panels and regional sampling, interpretations should remain cautious. The sample size (n=23) gives moderate confidence in recurrent patterns, but spatial and temporal gaps mean conclusions are provisional.