Data from: Farmer fidelity in the Canary Islands revealed by ancient DNA from prehistoric seeds

The Canary Islands were settled in the first millennium AD by colonizers
likely originating from North Africa. The settlers developed a farming
economy with barley as the main crop. Archaeological evidence suggests the
islands then remained isolated until European sea-travellers discovered
and colonized them during the 14th and 15th centuries. Here we report a
population study of ancient DNA from twenty-one archaeobotanical barley
grains from Gran Canaria dating from 1050 to 1440 cal AD. The material
showed exceptional DNA preservation and genotyping was carried out for 99
single nucleotide markers. In addition 101 extant landrace accessions from
the Canary Islands and the western Mediterranean were genotyped. The
archaeological material showed high genetic similarity to extant landraces
from the Canary Islands. In contrast, accessions from the Canary Islands
were highly differentiated from both Iberian and North African mainland
barley. Within the Canary Islands, landraces from the easternmost islands
were genetically differentiated from landraces from the western islands,
corroborating the presence of pre-Hispanic barley cultivation on
Lanzarote. The results demonstrate the potential of population genetic
analyses of ancient DNA. They support the hypothesis of an original
colonization, possibly from present day Morocco, and subsequent isolation
of the islands and reveal a farmer fidelity to the local barley that has
lasted for centuries.