BAMAD no.23
Brit-Am
DNA and
Anthropology Updates
Updates in DNA studies along with Anthropological Notes of general interest with a particular emphasis on points pertinent to the study of Ancient Israelite Ancestral Connections to Western Peoples as explained in Brit-Am studies.
Brit-Am
Research
Revelation
Reconciliation
The Brit-Am Rose
Official Symbol of Brit-Am
1. DNA of Ancient and Modern Sardinia
(a) Ancient
mtDNA
from Late Bronze and Iron Age Sardinia
http://dienekes.blogspot.com/
From the paper:
In the multidimensional scaling of Fig. 3, Nuragic Sardinians cluster with the
majority of the European populations. Given the small sample size, inevitable in
ancient DNA studies, it is at present impossible to infer their evolutionary
relationships from mtDNA aYnities. Nevertheless, in relation with ancient
samples, Nuragic Sardinians appear more related to the Iberians than to the
Etruscans, whose position in the graph is eccentric. Three data points are not
enough for a robust generalisation. However, one can at least conclude that
Sardinians and Iberians show a greater genealogical continuity with the
Bronze-Age inhabitants of the same regions than the Tuscans.
Human Genetics Volume 122, Numbers 3-4 / November, 2007. DOI:
10.1007/s00439-007-0403-6
Abstract We sampled teeth from 53 ancient Sardinian (Nuragic) individuals who
lived in the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age, between 3,430 and 2,700 years ago.
After eliminating the samples that, in preliminary biochemical tests, did not
show a high probability to yield reproducible results, we obtained 23 sequences
of the mitochondrial DNA control region, which were associated to haplogroups by
comparison with a dataset of modern sequences. The Nuragic samples show a
remarkably low genetic diversity, comparable to that observed in ancient
Iberians, but much lower than among the Etruscans. Most of these sequences have
exact matches in two modern Sardinian populations, supporting a clear
genealogical continuity from the Late Bronze Age up to current times. The
Nuragic populations appear to be
part of a large and geographically unstructured cluster of modern European
populations, thus making it difficult to infer their evolutionary relationships.
However, the low levels of genetic diversity, both within and among ancient
samples, as opposed to the sharp differences among modern Sardinian samples,
support the hypothesis of the expansion of a small group of maternally related
individuals, and of comparatively recent differentiation of the Sardinian gene
pools.
(b) Brit-Am Notes:
(1)
Wikipedia:
Sardinia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sardinia
Genetics
Y Chromosome
The original Nuraghe inhabitants of Sardinia, who are now concentrated in the
interior of the island due to pressure from colonists, are a genetic
anomaly[citation needed] in the region. They belong to Y-chromosome haplogroup
I, which otherwise has high frequency only in Scandinavia and the Croatia-Bosnia
area.
Furthermore, the I haplogroup of the indigenous Sardinians is of the I1b1b
subtype, which is unique to the island. The I1b1b haplogroup also has a low
distribution in and around the Pyrenees, indicating some migration of Sardinians
to or from that area. The Sardinian subtype is more closely related to the
Croatian-Bosnian subtype than to the Scandinavian subtype. Sardinia also has a
relatively high distribution of Y-chromosome haplogroup G, stemming from people
that migrated to Sardinia from Anatolia. The Y-chromosome haplogroup G also has
a relatively high concentration in and around the Pyrenees, again indicating
migration of Sardinians to or from that area.
(2) Changes of Population?
We saw remarks to the effect that the population of Sardina had changed several
times due to exterminations and expulsions followed by re-colonization.
The above sources however indicate a continuity.
2. Latin America: A Mixed Population
Study unlocks Latin American past
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7307563.stm
The arrival of Europeans changed more than just the landscape
European colonisation of South America resulted in a dramatic shift from a
native American population to a largely mixed one, a genetic study has shown.
It suggests male European settlers mated with native and African women, and
slaughtered the men.
But it adds that areas like Mexico City "still preserve the genetic heritage"
because these areas had a high number of natives at the time of colonisation.
The findings appear in the journal Public Library of Science Genetics.
The international team of researchers wrote: "The history of Latin America has
entailed a complex process of population mixture between natives and recent
immigrants across a vast geographic region.
"Few details are known about this process or about how it shaped the genetic
make-up of Latin American populations."
'Clear signature'
The study examined 249 unrelated individuals from 13 Mestizo populations (people
from a mixed European/native American origin) in seven countries, ranging from
Chile in the south to Mexico in the north.
Not only did the European settlers take away land and property, they also took
away the women.
"There is a clear genetic signature," explained lead author Andres Luiz-Linares
from University College London.
"The initial mixing occurred predominately between immigrant and European men
and native and African women."
He said that the study showed that it was a pattern that was uniform across
Latin America.
"We see it in all the populations we examined, so it is clearly a historical
fact that the ancestors of these populations can be traced to matings between
immigrant men and native and African women."
The researchers found that within the genetic landscape of Latin America, there
were variations.
"The Mestizo with the highest native ancestry are in areas which historically
have had relatively large native populations," they reported.
This included Andean regions and cities such as Mexico City, where major
civilisations were already established by the time Europeans reached the
continent in the late 15th Century.
"By contrast, the Mestizo with the highest European ancestry are from areas with
relatively low pre-Columbian native population density and where the current
native population is sparse," they added.
Bloody past
Explaining the fate of native males when the Europeans arrived, Professor
Luiz-Linares said: "It is a very sad and terrible historical fact, they were
basically annihilated.
"Not only did the European settlers take away land and property, they also took
away the women and, as much as possible, they exterminated the men."
He said the findings could help people change their perception of Latin American
history.
"It is very important in terms of rescuing the past and recognising the roots of
the population, and the living presence of natives within the current
population," Professor Luiz-Linares explained.
As well as providing an insight into the past, the team hopes that the findings
will also help shape studies aimed at identifying and analysing diseases.
3. Why men should pair off with younger women
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn13497-why-men-should-pair-off
-with-younger-women.html?feedId=online-news_rss20
4. We prefer people we think are
similar to ourselves
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/
2008/03/17/scibrain117.xml
By Roger Highfield, Science Editor
Last Updated: 10:01pm GMT 17/03/2008
Extract:
The roots of being able to discriminate between races may go deep, according to
a 2006 study at Tel Aviv University which involved caucasian infants raised in
Israel, African infants raised in Ethiopia, and Ethiopian infants raised in
Israel.
The team found that when presented with photos on a screen, the white Israeli
infants preferred looking at new faces of their own race; African babies raised
in Ethiopia preferred to look at African faces. But the Ethiopian-Israeli
infants, who had been exposed since birth to people of both races, showed no
preference.
5. Optimistic mothers have boys, study
says
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2004/aug/04/health.sciencenews
Extract:
Women who believe they are going to live for a long time are more likely to give
birth to sons than less optimistic women, a new study suggests.
Researchers reached the strange conclusion after completing a survey of British
women who had recently become mothers. They found that for every extra year a
woman thought she was going to live, the odds of her firstborn being a boy
increased significantly.
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See also:
BAMAD Archives
DNA
DNA Refuted. The "Cohen Gene"
mtDNA
Y DNA
R1b The Western Japhet?? or not?
haplogroup I
Brit-Am DNA
THE PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY OF
THE HEBREW PEOPLES
Queries about Race
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