The Science of Nature (2018) 105:63 httpsJ/doi.org/ 10.1007/ s001 14-018-1586-5 ORIGINAL PAPER CrossMark Did the Romans introduce the Egyptian mongoose (Herpestes ichneumon) into the Iberian Peninsula? 4 5 Cleia Detry 1 E> . João Luís Cardoso 1,2,3 . Javier Heras Mora • Macarena Bustamante-Álvarez • Ana Maria Silva 1,6 . João Pimenta 1,7 • Isabel Fernandes 8 • Carlos Fernandes 9 Received : 19 June 2018 / Revised: 23 August 2018 / Accepted : 19 September 2018 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2018 Abstract New finds ofbones ofthe Egyptian Mongoose (Herpestes ichneumon), one from Portugal and one from Spain, were directly 14C dated to the first century AD. While the Portuguese specimen was found without connection to the Chalcolithic occupation ofthe Pedra Furada cave where it was recovered, the Spanish fmd, collected in the city of Mérida, comes from a ritual pit that also contained three human and 40 dog burials. The finds rep0l1ed here show that the Egyptian mongoose, contrary to the traditional and predominant view, did not first atTive in the lbetian Peninsula during the Muslim occupation of lberia. lnstead, our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the species was first introduced by the Romans, or at least sometime during the Roman occupation of Hispania. Therefore, rad iocarbon dating of new archaeological finds of bones of the Egyptian Mongoose (Herpestes ichneumon) in the lberian Peninsula pusb back the confimled presence ofthe species in tlle region by approximately eight centuries, as the previously oldest dated record is from the ninth century. With these new dates, there are now a total offour 14C dated specimens of Egyptian mongooses from the lberian Peninsula, and ali ofthese dates fali within the last 2000 years. Tms offers support for the hypothesis that the presence ofthe species in lberia is due to hi storical introductions and is at odds with a scenario of natural sweepstake dispersai across the Straits of Gibraltar in the Late Pleistocene (126,000- 11 ,700 years ago), recently proposed based on genetic data. Keywords Egyptian mongoose . Herpestes ichneumon · lberia . Roman period Communicated by: Sven ThaDe Introduction 18:1 Cleia DetIy The origin of the lberian population of the Egyptian mon­ [email protected] goose (Herpestes ichneumon) has been much debated. Zooarchaeology can play an important role in c1arif)ring when UNlARQ- Ceno'o de Arqueologia da Universidade de Lisboa, and how this species reached the Iberian Peninsula. Faculdade de Letras da Uni versidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, POlt ugal Today, tms matnmalian mesocarnivore is found mainly in 2 Universidade Aberta, Li sbon, POIt\lgal Africa and southwest Asia (Do Linh San et a!. 2016). ln ICArEHB, Faculdade das Ciências Humanas e Sociais, Uni versidade Europe, its distribution is restricted to the southwestem pat1 do Algarve, Faro, POItugal of the Iberian Peninsula (Delibes 1982; Balmori and 4 Junta de Exo'emadura, Extremadura, Spain Carbonell 2012; Fig. 1). Deprutamento de PrehistOli a y Arqueología. Facultad de Filosofia y The distribution of the Egyptian mongoose in the lberian Leo'as, Uni versidad de Granada, Granada, Spain Peninsula may have experienced expansions and contractions, Laboratólio de Préhistória, CIAS- Cenl1'o de Investigação em with the species now undergoing a period of expansion and Ano'opologia e Saúde, Depaltamento Ciências da Vida, Uni versidade recolonization (BOtTalho et a!. 1996; Balmori and Carbonell de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal 2012; Barros et a!. 20 I 5). The fact that the mongoose inhabits Município de Vila Franca de Xira, Vila Franca de Xira, POItugal Mediterranean forest and SIUl.lblands and prefers dense vege­ Municí pio de Palmela, Palmela, POItugal tation cover, coupled with the reduction ofthese biotopes due CE3C- Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes, to agricultural expansion in the twentieth centuty, may explain Faculdade de Ciências da Uni versidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, POIt ugal the shrinkage ofthe species' range during that period (Delibes ~ Springer Published online: I I October 20 18 63 Page 2 of 13 Sei Nat (2018) 105:63 1982; Borralho et a!. 1996). Throughout much of the last from Nerja Cave in southern Spain, radioearbon dated century, the mongoose was restricted to the south of the to the twelfth eentury AD (Riquelme-Cantal et a\. Tagus River, whereas in the nineteenth century, the lberian 2008), and another from Muge in central Portugal, range was more extensive and included some of the northern­ 14C dated to the ninth eentury AD. These were eon­ most regions of the peninsula, such as Galicia and Asturias sistent with the hypothesis of introduction(s) during (Delibes 1982). It is possible that before the nineteenth centu­ the Muslim oecupation of the lberian Peninsula ry, with lower human pressure, the Egyptian mongoose could (Detry et a\. 20 I I). More reeent!y, remains of the have been distributed across the Iberian Península. However, mongoose have been found welI to the north of its there are probably factors, such as lower temperatures (BalTOS present-day range, in G ijón, northern Spain, and dated et a!. 2015), that limit the spread and persistence of the species to the sixth eentury AD (L1orente-Rodríguez et a\. in the north, and the Pyrenees apparent1y act as a banier to 2015) (Fig. I). dispersai outside the peninsula. Here, we report additional remains of Egyptian 1110ngoose While the Egyptian mongoose is known from the from Portugal and Spain, two ofwhieh were 14C dated to the Late Pleistocene and Holocene of north Africa, it is Roman period (Table I; Fig. I). The Spanish set of remains absent in the European Pleistocene fo ssil record (Fig. 2) was dated to the first century AD and found together (Kurtén 1968; Dobson 1998). Accordingly, its presence with 40 dogs in a ritual eontext in Mérida (Calle in the lberian Peninsula is generally considered the re­ Almendralejo), western Spain. The radioearbon-dated bone sult of historical introduction from north Africa (Dobson fr0111 Portugal (Fig. 3), also dated to the first centUJy AD, 1998), and traditionall y linked to the Arab conquest of was found intrusive (i.e. not eontemporaneous with the pre­ lberia (Delibes 1982). historie human oeeupation) in a Chalcolithie context in the Before this study, three archaeologieal finds of Cave of Pedra Furada in Vila Franca de Xira. The three re­ Egyptian mongoose from Iberia were published. One maining bones (Fig. 4) were found in lslamie eontexts in the Fig . 1 Map showing the geographic range (grey colour) of the Egypti an mongoose (H el]Jestes ichneumon) in the Tberian Peninsula until 20 I O (Barros et aI. 2015 ; Balmori and CaI'bonell 2012). Black dots and stars, respectively, indicate the location of previously published and new finds (thi s study) of [-J. ichneumon. I- Fáblica de Tabacos, Gijón, Spain; 2- Moita do Sebastião, Muge, POItugal; 3- Cabeço da Amoreira, Muge, POItugal; 4- Pedra Furada I Cave, Vila Franca de Xira, Portugal; 5- Calle (street) Almendralejo, 4 1, Mérida, Spain; 6- Ponta da Passadeira, Barreiro, POItugal; 7- Palmela Castle, Palmela, POItugal; 8- Nelja Cave, Málaga, Spain. Map done by André Pereira ~ Springer oV1, z ~ 'N o ~ o V> 0\ w Table 1 Archaeological finds of Egyptian mongoose (Herpestes ichneulI1 on) repOlted fi'om Europe, Dates are calibrated using Calib Rev, 7,0.4 with the curve Intcal13 (Reimer et aI. 2013) Sample Counoy, region Bones Contex t Chro nology ofthe Date ofthe bones Lab Code 13C 14C Date Calibrated date Reference archaeological site (2u) Tabaquera Spain, Gijon 28 bones Contemporaneous Late Antiquity 6th Cent. AD * :I: Not dated * Llorente et a I. Late Antiquity 20 15 Muge (Moita do POIt ugal, SalvatelTa Cranium lntrusive? Mesoli thic :I: Not dated * Deo'y et aI. 20 11 Sebasti ão) de Magos Muge (Cabeço POItugal , Salvaterra Ulna, Pelvis Ino'usive Mesoli thic 9th Cent. AD WK-26799 11 68 ± 30 772- 903 Deoy et aI. 20 11 da Amoreira) de Magos Islamic peri od 9 18- 965 cal AD Pedra Furada Cave POItugal, Vila Franca Ulna lntrusive Chalcolithic and 1st Cent. AD Beta-4673 10 - 19,7 2030 ± 30 154- 139 cal BC This 3I1icle, de Xira Bronze Age Roman peri od 11 3 cal BC - Fig, 3 52 cal AD Calle Almendralejo Spain, Méri da Cranium, Femur, Contemporaneous Roman 1st Cent. AD Beta-4673 I I - 16,9 2020 ± 30 104 cal BC - 57 This alticle, Tibia Roman period cal AD Fig, 2 Ponta da Passadeira Ponugal, BalTeiro Mandible In01Jsive? Neolithic * :I: Not dated * Soares 20 13 Palmela Castle POIt ugal, Humerus, Femur Contemporaneous? Medieval 8th/9th- 10th Cent. :I: * Not dated * This an icle Palmela and Tibia AD, Fig, 4 Islamic Period Nelj a- 1734 Spain , Málaga Cranium Intrusive Chalcolithic 12th Cent. AD Ua-32892 - 19,9885 ± 40 1033- 1224 Rique1me-Cantal Islamic period 1239- 1249 et aI. 2008 cal AD Sant' Antioco Italy, Sardinia Distal humerus Contemporaneous Punic 4th- 5th Cent. BC :I: * Not dated Campanela and Punic Wilkens 2004 \O" '"rtl w I ~ ~'" S' I~ aco !I 63 Page 4 of 13 Sei Nat (201 8) 105:63 Fig. 2 Bones ofEgyptian mongoose (He/yJestes ichneumon) fOllnd in the fllneraty pit at Call e Almendralejo, Mérida (Spain) (on the left), compared with the bones ofthe LARC­ DGPC reference collection (right). Photographs: José Paulo Ruas o 1 2 3cm Iaeeeea! lweeew4 medieval site ofthe Castle ofPalmela, Portugal, and dated via Archaeological remains of the Egyptian the associated cultural remains. mongoose in Europe The finds discussed here are therefore the oldest radiocarbon-dated remains of Egyptian mongoose described lt has been argued (Masseti 2009) that the earliest fmd ofthe so far for the Ibelian Peninsula. Egyptian l110ngoose in Eurape is a bone recovered fram a ~ Springer Sei Nat (2018) 105:63 Page 5 of 13 63 Fig.3 One ulna identified as Egyptian mongoose (Hel/Jestes ichl1eumon) from Pedra Furada Cave (pOItugal) (on the left), compared with the bones of the LARC-DGPC reference collection (right), radiocarbon dated to the first centuly AD.