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Martínez-García L, Ferrari G, Cuevas A, Atmore LM, López-Arias B, Culling M, Llorente-Rodríguez L, Morales-Muñiz A, Roselló-Izquierdo E, Quirós JA, Marlasca-Martín R, Hänfling B, Hutchinson WF, Jakobsen KS, Jentoft S, Orton D, Star B, Barrett JH. Ancient DNA evidence for the ecological globalization of cod fishing in medieval and post-medieval Europe. Proc Biol Sci 2022; 289:20221107. [PMID: 36259206 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.1107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Understanding the historical emergence and growth of long-range fisheries can provide fundamental insights into the timing of ecological impacts and the development of coastal communities during the last millennium. Whole-genome sequencing approaches can improve such understanding by determining the origin of archaeological fish specimens that may have been obtained from historic trade or distant water. Here, we used genome-wide data to individually infer the biological source of 37 ancient Atlantic cod specimens (ca 1050-1950 CE) from England and Spain. Our findings provide novel genetic evidence that eleventh- to twelfth-century specimens from London were predominantly obtained from nearby populations, while thirteenth- to fourteenth-century specimens were derived from distant sources. Our results further suggest that Icelandic cod was indeed exported to London earlier than previously reported. Our observations confirm the chronology and geography of the trans-Atlantic cod trade from Newfoundland to Spain starting by the early sixteenth century. Our findings demonstrate the utility of whole-genome sequencing and ancient DNA approaches to describe the globalization of marine fisheries and increase our understanding regarding the extent of the North Atlantic fish trade and long-range fisheries in medieval and early modern times.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lourdes Martínez-García
- Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo 0315, Norway
| | - Giada Ferrari
- Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo 0315, Norway.,Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH3 5NZ, UK
| | - Angélica Cuevas
- Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo 0315, Norway
| | - Lane M Atmore
- Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo 0315, Norway
| | - Begoña López-Arias
- Laboratorio de Arqueozoología LAZ-UAM, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid 28049, Spain
| | - Mark Culling
- Evolutionary Biology Group, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Hull, Hull HU6 7RX, UK
| | - Laura Llorente-Rodríguez
- Laboratory for Archaezoological Studies, Faculty of Archaeology, University of Leiden, Leiden 2311 EZ, The Netherlands
| | - Arturo Morales-Muñiz
- Laboratorio de Arqueozoología LAZ-UAM, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid 28049, Spain
| | | | - Juan Antonio Quirós
- Department of Geography, Prehistory and Archaeology, University of the Basque Country, Vitoria-Gasteiz 48940, Spain
| | | | - Bernd Hänfling
- Institute for Biodiversity and Freshwater Conservation, UHI-Inverness, Inverness, UK
| | - William F Hutchinson
- Evolutionary Biology Group, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Hull, Hull HU6 7RX, UK
| | - Kjetill S Jakobsen
- Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo 0315, Norway
| | - Sissel Jentoft
- Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo 0315, Norway
| | - David Orton
- BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, York, UK
| | - Bastiaan Star
- Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo 0315, Norway
| | - James H Barrett
- Department of Archaeology and Cultural History, NTNU University Museum, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim 7012, Norway
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