Archaeogenomic and Bioinformatic Analysis of the Columbus Lineage: Evidence from the Counts of Gelves.
The geographical and familial origins of Christopher Columbus have remained a subject of intense historiographical debate for over five centuries. Despite numerous hypotheses, empirical genetic evidence capable of resolving his ancestral history or place of birth has been absent from the literature until now. This study presents the third stage of the first forensic genetic analysis performed on skeletal remains belonging to several direct descendants of Columbus, spanning the 16th to 18th centuries. By applying Massively Parallel Sequencing (MPS) to analyse autosomal, X- and Y- chromosome DNA markers, and integrating the results with multidisciplinary evidence from historical, genealogical, archaeological, and anthropological research implicated in this project, the identification of several individuals founded in the Crypt of Santa Maria de Gracia located in Gelves (Sevilla, Spain) has been achieved. The analysis of their biological relatedness enabled the reconstruction of kinship networks among the individuals interred in the crypt, which, when interpreted in the context of documented genealogical lineages, provides indirect but consistent evidence pointing toward the debated origin of the discoverer.