Archaeogenetics of the Picenes and the legacy of the Roman expansion in Central Italy

Until the Roman conquest, the Italian peninsula was characterized by the presence of many different ethnic groups. Although considerable archaeological research has been conducted, several aspects of the evolution of these ancient populations are still unknown. We focused our attention on the Picenes, a civilization established during the Iron Age on the Adriatic coast of Central Italy. They flourished until the beginning of the III century BCE, when their territory was conquered by Romans. To investigate the origin of the Picenes and the genetic legacy of the Roman conquest, we extracted DNA from 91 ancient individuals belonging to four different Central Italian burial sites (two Picene, an Etruscan and a Roman Imperial time necropolises) to frame the genetic variability of the Picenes in the local context. Our preliminary results show no major genetic differences between Picenes and other contemporary populations like the Etruscans, suggesting a shared ancestry for the Iron Age Central Italian populations. Nevertheless, Picenes show some additional genetic influences, possibly linked to other European cultures. Similarly to other areas of Central Italy, the arrival of the Romans caused a partial shift in the genetic landscape of the region towards Near Eastern and North African components, although some continuity between the Iron Age and the Imperial time is still present.