6533b830fe1ef96bd1297c97
RESEARCH PRODUCT
The Greeks in the West: genetic signatures of the Hellenic colonisation in southern Italy and Sicily
Sebastiano TusaGillian ShepherdFrancesca BrisighelliFrancesca BrisighelliIgor RudanCristian CapelliTatijana ZemunikLuca TaglioliGianmarco FerriSergio TofanelliDeborah BolnickFrancesco CalìAntonino FacellaDonata LuiselliValentino RomanoMark G. ThomasCaroline HaywardGeorge B.j. BusbyGeorge B.j. BusbyPaolo Anagnostousubject
Male0301 basic medicineDIVERSITYPopulation geneticsSicilyPhylogenyGenetics (clinical)POPULATIONGeneticseducation.field_of_studyGeographyGreecehuman population geneticEcologyY-CHROMOSOMEY-CHROMOSOME; POPULATION; ADMIXTURE; LINEAGES; MUTATIONS; DIVERSITY; MODELS; PAIR; TIME; WAVETIMEADMIXTUREFemaleGreeksPopulationMODELSSouth ItalySettore BIO/08 - ANTROPOLOGIABiologyArchaic periodArticleY-CHROMOSOME ; POPULATION ; LINEAGES ; ADMIXTURE ; MUTATIONS ; DIVERSITY ; EXPANSION ; ANCESTOR ; HISTORY ; MODELS03 medical and health sciencesPAIRDemography; Female; Geography; Greece; Haplotypes; Humans; Male; Mutation; Phylogeny; Sicily; Genetics Population; Genetics; Genetics (clinical)GeneticsHumansAncient Greeks population geneticseducationDemographygenetics (clinical); geneticsY chromosomeMUTATIONSHaplotypeLINEAGESpopulation geneticsColonisationGenetics Population030104 developmental biologyHaplotypesGreek ancestryMutationgenetic markersWAVEdescription
Greek colonisation of South Italy and Sicily (Magna Graecia) was a defining event in European cultural history, although the demographic processes and genetic impacts involved have not been systematically investigated. Here, we combine high-resolution surveys of the variability at the uni-parentally inherited Y chromosome and mitochondrial DNA in selected samples of putative source and recipient populations with forward-in-time simulations of alternative demographic models to detect signatures of that impact. Using a subset of haplotypes chosen to represent historical sources, we recover a clear signature of Greek ancestry in East Sicily compatible with the settlement from Euboea during the Archaic Period (eighth to fifth century BCE). We inferred moderate sex-bias in the numbers of individuals involved in the colonisation: a few thousand breeding men and a few hundred breeding women were the estimated number of migrants. Last, we demonstrate that studies aimed at quantifying Hellenic genetic flow by the proportion of specific lineages surviving in present-day populations may be misleading.European Journal of Human Genetics advance online publication, 15 July 2015; doi:10.1038/ejhg.2015.124.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-01-01 |