Genetic Mapping is challenging Historical Theory

Discuss the world of the Greeks, Romans, Babylonians, and Egyptians.
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billd89
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Genetic Mapping is challenging Historical Theory

Post by billd89 »

https://www.hhmi.org/news/ancient-dna-o ... uthern-arc

The genetic mix found in Romans about 2000 years ago is almost identical to that from Anatolia, suggesting that the people in Imperial Rome were largely descended from Anatolians. That’s not something that the ancient historians mentioned in their voluminous writings. “With the DNA, we can see things, like the Anatolian influx in Rome, that that text writers might not have known about or chosen to record due to the biases of the time,” says Reich.

andrewcriddle
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Re: Genetic Mapping is challenging Historical Theory

Post by andrewcriddle »

billd89 wrote: Wed Sep 07, 2022 3:43 pm https://www.hhmi.org/news/ancient-dna-o ... uthern-arc

The genetic mix found in Romans about 2000 years ago is almost identical to that from Anatolia, suggesting that the people in Imperial Rome were largely descended from Anatolians. That’s not something that the ancient historians mentioned in their voluminous writings. “With the DNA, we can see things, like the Anatolian influx in Rome, that that text writers might not have known about or chosen to record due to the biases of the time,” says Reich.

Herodotus suggests that the Etruscans came from Anatolia. The ancient Romans had a substantial Etruscan element.

Andrew Criddle
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Re: Genetic Mapping is challenging Historical Theory

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Got to love Andrew. Should get a special place in the BC&H hall of fame when we establish one. Amazingly erudite.
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billd89
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Re: Genetic Mapping is challenging Historical Theory

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A detailed scientific summary:
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/biorxiv ... 6.full.pdf

I'm not sure about the new genetic map, but p.5 of the pdf has the entire Coastal Delta area 'Greek' by 550 BC. Alexander the Great c.330 BC "invaded" well-established Greek territory (by the genetic data), it seems. This old map pretends a quite limited Greek influence, c.550 BC:
Image

Haaretz reported the new study w/o the bold headline:
https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/202 ... 26bf8b0000

Not entirely 'news' since the NYT reported the debate in 2007:
https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/03/heal ... 27788.html
Secret Alias
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Re: Genetic Mapping is challenging Historical Theory

Post by Secret Alias »

When I look at that map that's what I would expect from WHAT I KNOW about Greek and Semitic colonial patterns. I'd say it confirms what we know from the sources not disproves it. Score one for the literary sources.
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