The Continental Population Structure of Europe

Sokal, Robert R.

doi:10.1146/annurev.an.20.100191.001003

Cited by 16 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…A phylogenetic tree structure would add additional similarities and distances to the data, above and beyond those engendered by local differentiation. These conclusions agree with earlier findings in our laboratory (13,14,27) that intrusion of populations differentiated elsewhere has contributed an important element to the association between genetics and language in Europe.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Origins of the Indo-Europeans: genetic evidence.

Sokal

Oden

Thomson

1992

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Two theories of the origins of the IndoEuropeans currently compete. M. Gimbutas believes that early Indo-Europeans entered southeastern Europe from the Pontic Steppes starting ca. 4500 B.C. and spread from there. C. Renfrew equates early Indo-Europeans with early farmers who entered southeastern Europe from Asia Minor ca. 7000 BC and spread through the continent. We tested genetic distance matrices for each of 25 systems in numerous Indo-Europeanspeaking samples from Europe. To match each of these matrices, we created other distance matrices representing geography, language, time since origin of agriculture, Gimbutas' model, and Renfrew's model. The correlation between genetics and language is signi t. Geography, when held constant, produces a markedly lower, yet still highly significant partial correlation between genetics and language, showing that more remains to be explained. However, none of the remaining three distances-time since origin of agriculture, Gimbutas' model, or Renfrew's model-reduces the partial correlation further. Thus, neither of the two theories appears able to explain the orign of the Indo-Europeans as gauged by the geneticslanguage correlation. Here we examine whether the genetic evidence available from modern European populations favors one of the two hypotheses on IE origins. Our approach is to examine correlations between genetic and linguistic distances in Europe and to estimate the effects ofvarious factors (geography, origin of agriculture) and hypothesized movements (Gimbutas' and Renfrew's models) on the magnitude of these correlations. MATERIALS AND METHODSWe studied 25 genetic systems (erythrocyte antigens, plasma proteins, enzymes, histocompatibility alleles, immunoglobulins; Table 1) from 2111 IE-speaking samples in Europe. Details are specified elsewhere (10-14). We computed Prevosti's genetic distances (15, 16) (GEN) separately for the 479 to 27 localities (mean = 84) of each genetic system. Linguistic distances (LAN) were subjective estimates furnished by M. Ruhlen, based on his current classification of IE languages (17). A dendrogram (Fig. 1) resulting from UPGMA clustering (18) of the linguistic distance matrix shows the relations between the IE languages in that matrix. We computed great-circle geographic distances (GEO) between pairs of localities. The origin-of-agriculture distances (OOA) between any pair of points were described earlier (8). They sum distances from their respective starting times of agriculture back to their putative common agricultural origins.The Renfrew hypothesis distance (REN) matrix was based on ref. 4 and discussions with Professor Renfrew. In his view, most ofthe introduction and subsequent diversification ofthe IE language families in Europe was concurrent with the spread of agriculture in the continent. Nevertheless, Renfrew explains the final branching into the major language families by a series of 10 so-called transitions illustrated in ref. 4 (figure 7.7). These transitions are associated with specific archaeological assemblage...

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Origins of the Indo-Europeans: genetic evidence.

Sokal

Oden

Thomson

1992

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…This would imply either extensive gene flow or a high rate of extinction of mitochondrial haplotypes, both processes causing a drastic change of the mitochondrial pool in the last 2,500 years. More importantly, a result of that kind would force us to reconsider the universally held assumption that patterns in the DNA of modern individuals reflect the evolutionary processes affecting their prehistoric ancestors (see, e.g., Piazza et al 1988;Sokal 1991;von Haeseler et al 1995;Richards et al 2000Richards et al , 2002Semino et al 2000). Alternatively, should other ancient populations prove similar to comparable modern ones, one should conclude that the Etruscans' mitochondrial sequences underwent extinction at a particularly high rate and look for an explanation for that.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Etruscans: A Population-Genetic Study

Vernesi

Caramelli

Dupanloup

et al. 2004

The American Journal of Human Genetics

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The origins of the Etruscans, a non-Indo-European population of preclassical Italy, are unclear. There is broad agreement that their culture developed locally, but the Etruscans' evolutionary and migrational relationships are largely unknown. In this study, we determined mitochondrial DNA sequences in multiple clones derived from bone samples of 80 Etruscans who lived between the 7th and the 3rd centuries b.c. In the first phase of the study, we eliminated all specimens for which any of nine tests for validation of ancient DNA data raised the suspicion that either degradation or contamination by modern DNA might have occurred. On the basis of data from the remaining 30 individuals, the Etruscans appeared as genetically variable as modern populations. No significant heterogeneity emerged among archaeological sites or time periods, suggesting that different Etruscan communities shared not only a culture but also a mitochondrial gene pool. Genetic distances and sequence comparisons show closer evolutionary relationships with the eastern Mediterranean shores for the Etruscans than for modern Italian populations. All mitochondrial lineages observed among the Etruscans appear typically European or West Asian, but only a few haplotypes were found to have an exact match in a modern mitochondrial database, raising new questions about the Etruscans' fate after their assimilation into the Roman state.

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“…The main way to gain insight into past population processes is to analyze and interpret current patterns of genetic variation (10,11). Data on ancient DNA can also help, but they are scanty now, and will not become abundant in the foreseeable future (12).…”

Section: Genetic Variation As a Clue To Prehistoric Phenomenamentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetics and the population history of Europe

Barbujani

Bertorelle

2001

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

120

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Analysis of genetic variation among modern individuals is providing insight into prehistoric events. Comparisons of levels and patterns of genetic diversity with the predictions of models based on archeological evidence suggest that the spread of early farmers from the Levant was probably the main episode in the European population history, but that both older and more recent processes have left recognizable traces in the current gene pool.

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The Continental Population Structure of Europe

Cited by 16 publications

References 55 publications

Origins of the Indo-Europeans: genetic evidence.

Origins of the Indo-Europeans: genetic evidence.

The Etruscans: A Population-Genetic Study

Genetics and the population history of Europe

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