Empúries: Hellenistic Echoes on the Catalan Coast

Empúries (Ancient Greek: Emporion), located on the Costa Brava near modern Girona, was a focal point of Mediterranean exchange from the Archaic through the Hellenistic periods. Archaeological data indicates successive layers of Greek and Iberian occupation, with imported ceramics, amphorae, and architectural fragments attesting to long-distance maritime connections. The five sequenced individuals sampled from the necropolis at the Centre de Visitants were dated between 376 and 57 BCE, situating them firmly in a landscape of colonial entanglement and cultural blending.

Limited evidence suggests that Empúries functioned as both a trading entrepôt and a social laboratory where Greek settlers, indigenous Iberians, and other Mediterranean visitors interacted. Material culture demonstrates Hellenic ritual and domestic practices adapted to local contexts; burials show variation that may reflect diverse origins or identities. Genetic data from this small assemblage should be read against that archaeological backdrop: while the grave assemblages hint at Mediterranean connectivity, the DNA paints a picture of both incoming influences and enduring local maternal continuity. Archaeological contexts—urban quarter remains, harbor installations, and necropolis layouts—help anchor these biological signals in a dynamic coastal community shaped by mobility and exchange.

Because the sample size is very small (n=5), any model of origin or population movement must remain provisional. Further sampling across stratified contexts at Empúries and nearby Iberian sites is required to untangle colonial migration from long-term regional continuity.

Genome-wide and uniparental data from five individuals (376–57 BCE) sampled at Empúries provide a tantalizing but limited window into Hellenistic-period population dynamics on the Catalan coast. The Y-DNA results include haplogroup J in two individuals and a generic R designation in one. Haplogroup J is broadly associated in ancient contexts with eastern Mediterranean and Anatolian lineages and is commonly encountered in maritime Greek and Near Eastern-associated samples; its presence here could reflect male-mediated gene flow from eastern Mediterranean sources, whether via Greek settlers, sailors, or other travelers. The R lineage—without further subclade resolution in these data—could reflect local western European paternal ancestry, which is common across the Iberian Peninsula.

Mitochondrial DNA is dominated by haplogroup H variants (three H, one H1e, one H33), lineages that are widespread in western Europe from the Neolithic onward. The predominance of H-lineage mtDNA suggests considerable maternal continuity with local Iberian populations, or at least that female ancestry in this small sample derives primarily from lineages long-established in western Europe.

Crucially, the sample count is very small (n=5) and comes from a single necropolis, so conclusions about population structure, admixture proportions, or migration pulses must be considered preliminary. Archaeological context—Greek colonial presence, Mediterranean trade, and intermarriage—offers plausible mechanisms for the mixture of eastern-associated paternal markers and western maternal continuity observed here. Broader genomic sampling, higher-resolution Y-haplogroup assignment, and comparative analyses with contemporary Iberian and eastern Mediterranean datasets are needed to test competing scenarios of mobility and integration.