Echoes of the Islamic Golden Age

The period captured by these samples spans the early Islamic expansions into Iberia and centuries of dynastic change across the Mediterranean and South Asia. Archaeological contexts include urban and rural deposits from Palau Castell de Betxí and Plaza Parroquial in Vinaròs, late-medieval stratigraphy at Calle Panaderos and Cueva Romero in Granada province, Anatolian island and inland sites such as Zeytinliada (Erdek) and Yenişehirkapı (İznik), the Mesopotamian frontier at Aktaş Mevki (Midyat), and the Ghaznavid-era cemetery at Udegram in Swat Valley.

These places testify to networks of trade, pilgrimage and military movement that intensified after the 7th century. Archaeological data indicates urban continuity and reuse of Roman and Visigothic infrastructure in al-Andalus, while Anatolian and Levantine contexts show Byzantine, early Islamic and later Ottoman layers. Genetic evidence aligns with this picture of mobility: there are clear signatures of western Eurasian maternal lineages alongside Y-chromosome diversity reflecting both local European and broader Near Eastern/North African paternal inputs.

Limited evidence suggests regional differences in ancestry; however, the dataset’s temporal span (665–1652 CE) and uneven geographic coverage mean that fine-grained demographic reconstructions remain provisional.

The dataset of 53 genomes reveals a mosaic of ancestries consistent with a multi-center Islamic world. Y-chromosome haplogroup R (n=13) — common in Europe — is frequent in Iberian samples, indicating substantial local male-line continuity or admixture with European lineages. Haplogroup E (n=9), often associated with North African and some Levantine populations, appears across Iberian and eastern Mediterranean contexts and may document North African connections important during the Almoravid and Almohad periods. Haplogroup J (n=6), widespread in the Near East, appears in Anatolian and Levantine samples and signals eastern Mediterranean paternal ancestry. Less frequent lineages (CT, T) reflect deeper or more diverse paternal inputs.

Mitochondrial DNA is dominated by West Eurasian maternal lineages: H (n=17), U (n=7), J (n=7), HV (n=3), and subclades like H1. These maternal profiles suggest substantial continuity with local European and Near Eastern populations, consistent with female-mediated local ancestry or long-standing regional maternal lineages.

Population-level analyses show admixture gradients: Iberian individuals tend toward mixed European/Levantine/North African ancestry, Anatolian and Levantine samples cluster with eastern Mediterranean genepools, and the Udegram individuals show South-Central Asian affinities linked to Ghaznavid-era networks. Sample size (53) permits robust regional signals but geographic and temporal sampling biases mean some subregional conclusions remain tentative.