Publications by authors named "Rafael Mico"
The Early Bronze Age in Europe is characterized by social and genetic transformations, starting in the early 3rd millennium BCE. New settlement and funerary structures, artifacts and techniques indicate times of change with increasing economic asymmetries and political hierarchization. Technological advances in metallurgy also played an important role, facilitating trade and exchange networks, which became tangible in higher levels of mobility and connectedness.
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- The transition to the Bronze Age in southeastern Iberia involved significant social shifts, including the abandonment of Late Copper Age settlements for hilltop sites and a change in burial practices from collective graves to individual ones, indicating a hierarchical society.
- A genomic study was conducted that increased available data, revealing a turnover of Y-chromosome lineages and the introduction of steppe-related ancestry around 2200 cal BCE, correlating with the rise of the El Argar culture.
- The findings suggest a founder effect in male lineages, as males had more relatives at burial sites compared to females, but more complex genetic models indicate possible earlier contributions from Mediterranean populations beyond the expected two-source models.
Background And Aims: Modifiable lifestyle factors, such as physical activity (PA) and Mediterranean diet (MD), decrease metabolic syndrome (MetS). The aim was to assess 1-year changes of leisure-time physical activity (LTPA), sedentary behavior, and diet quality according to MetS severity in older population at high cardiovascular risk.
Methods And Results: Prospective analysis of 55-75-year-old 4359 overweight/obese participants with MetS (PREDIMED-Plus trial) categorized in tertiles according to 1-year changes of a validated MetS severity score (MetSSS).
The El Argar society of the Bronze Age in the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula (2200-1550 cal BCE) was among the first complex societies in Europe. Its economy was based on cereal cultivation and metallurgy, it was organized hierarchically, and successively expanded its territory. Most of the monumentally fortified settlements lay on steeply sloped mountains, separated by fertile plains, and allowed optimal control of the area.
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- Agriculture arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 5700 BCE, marking a shift in lifestyle from hunter-gatherers to farming communities.
- This study analyzes the mitochondrial DNA of 213 individuals across various regions of Iberia from the Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age, contributing to a comprehensive understanding of prehistoric populations.
- The findings indicate a notable genetic continuity in the Early Neolithic lineages, with a higher presence of hunter-gatherer genes in Iberia compared to other parts of Europe, suggesting a unique population history for the region.