How a new DNA study revealed most Carthaginians were not originally from the Levant

A new DNA study into Phoenician and Punic civilisations has revealed a surprising twist – that most Carthaginians (Puinic people) were not actually from the Levant and instead shared genetic similarities with people from Sicily and the Aegean, with a significant influence from North Africa.

The study, published in the Nature journal, analysed a large sample of genomes from human remains buried in Phoenician and Punic sites from around north Africa, the Levant, Iberia as well as Sicily, Sardinia and Ibiza.

Phoenician civilisation, over 3,000 years old, was centred around what is now believed to be Lebanon. The culture expanded widely despite Phoenician city states being conquered by other civilisations.

The new study, carried out by geneticist Harald Ringbauer at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany and his colleagues, has challenged long-held ideas about the origins and ancestry of Carthaginians, who are linked to Levantine Phoenicians.

Results showed that Levantine Phoenicians contributed little genetically to Punic settlements in the western Mediterranean between the 6th and 2nd centuries BCE, despite strong cultural, historical, and linguistic ties.

The findings come after geneticists worked with archaeologists in Europe and North Africa to identify skeletons excavated over the past 2 centuries from Phoenician-style graves. 

Over five years of tracing the remains of hundreds of people as well as DNA extracted from bones, more than 100 genomes from Phoenician individuals were created.

"We find surprisingly little direct genetic contribution from Levantine Phoenicians to western and central Mediterranean Punic populations," Ringbauer said.

"This provides a new perspective on how Phoenician culture spread -- not through large-scale mass migration, but through a dynamic process of cultural transmission and assimilation," he added.

The findings indicate that when Phoenician settlers travelled to find colonies across the Mediterranean, they were joined by locals who later adopted their language, religion, and culture.

Trade, intermarriage and population mixing also played a key role in shaping communities.

Rather than a homogenous Levantine ancestry, the findings conclude that there is a diverse genetic profile from communities in North African and the Aegean.

The journal also notes that Carthage – a Phoenician colony in North Africa – had significant influence, particularly when it came to the genetic makeup of Punic populations. As Cathage rose to power, North African ancestry became more prominent with time.

According to Ringbauer, the mix of ancestry is likely the result of people connected by a so-called 'Mediterranean highway' maintained by trade between Phoenician outposts.

However, following the fall of Phoenician city-states in the Middle East, people with ancestry from this region may have been cut off from the Mediterranean highway, he explains.

Editor's note: This article originally mistakenly suggested Phoenicians were mostly not from the Levant, but the study focuses on their cultural offshoot the Carthaginians. It has now been corrected.