Apolipoprotein Study of Ethiopians

Genetic Variation at Apolipoprotein E Locus in Ethiopia:
An E5 Variant Corresponds to Two Different Mutant Alleles: E*5 (Glu212Lys) and E*5 (Gln204Lys; Cys112Arg)

R. Scacchi et al.

Human Biology 75.2 (2003) 293-300

The occurrence of E*5 212 and E*5 204 alleles in two populations of the Mediterranean basin (Turkey and Italy) but not in West Africans can be explained by taking into account that the Ethiopian gene pool was estimated to be >40% of Caucasoid derivation (Cavalli-Sforza et al. 1994). In addition, more recent phylogenetic analysis based on classical protein polymorphism (Tartaglia et al. 1996) and Y-chromosome sequence variation (Underhill et al. 2000) showed that Ethiopians appear to be distinct from Africans and more closely associated with populations of the Mediterranean basin.

Links (requires access)

Strabo on Ancient Britons

An interesting passage from Strabo, Geography, 4.5.2:

Britons are taller than Celts and less light-haired (êsson xanthotriches), and their bodies are of looser build.

This is quite a peculiar statement, since today, Britons are lighter-haired than Frenchmen. The demographic impact of the Franks in France would definitely increase blond elements, but that of the Anglo-Saxons and Norsemen in Britain was certainly numerically superior. Hence, the reversal of pigmentation order can be explained. It is interesting though to note that Britons are also made out to be both taller and less blond, indicating that there was no correlation between light hair and tall stature.

Gamkrelidze/Ivanov on Proto-Indo-Europeans

T.V. Gamkrelidze, V.V. Ivanov, 1995, Indo-European and the Indo-Europeans, Mouton de Gruyter, Berlin - New York

pp. 847-849

12.8.1. The diffusion of the ancient Southwest Asian physical type in western Asia and Europe as a reflection of ethnic blending

The non-Indo-European linguistic substrata of the autochthonous populations of ancient Europe facilitated the graduate differentiation of the Ancient European dialects and the rise of the separate Celtic, Italic, Illyrian, Germanic, Baltic, and Slavic linguistic groups. Contacts among these languages would still have been possible, with consequent formation of shared lexical isoglosses reflected in the diagram of dialect differentiation at level 6 (see I.7, Fig. 3 and I.7.5 above).

The trajectory proposed here for migrations of the Indo-Europeans from a center in Southwest Asia to new territories in Eurasia, and for their contacts with speakers of other languages, correlates to some extent with the physical anthropological picture of migrations and racial blending in western Europe (see Map 3). There is an eastern Mediterranean, Balkan-Caucasian area of racial formation centered in Asia Minor (Alekseev 1974:224-25). In this area we can distinguish a Southwest Asian population group, widely attested in monuments in Southwest Asia (Luschan 1911, Bunak 1927, Field 1961). This physical type is characterized by marked brachycephaly, intensified development of facial and body hair, and a distinctive nose form (depicted, for example, in Hittite reliefs). It is typical of the tribes who were in contact with the ancient Near Eastern area, including the southern Caucasus, Asia Minor, and northern Iran, at a certain chronological level (Abduselisvili, 1966). From this area it spread with some changes to Afghanistan (in particular Nuristan: Herrlick 1937) and northern India (the so-called Indo-Afghan race: Devec 1967). It is related to the Bronze Age population of Central Asia and the contemporary Pamir-Fergana type (Alekseev 1974:222-23). The eastern Mediterranean type is also represented in Europe, where it blends with the earlier types - northern, southern and central-eastern, the latter with Mongoloid admixture - which represent the original population (Alekseev 1974: 225-41).

Our claim that the Proto-Indo-European speakers were of the Mediterranean racial type conflicts with the traditional view of the Indo-Europeans as fair-haired, blue-eyed, and dolichocephalic, a view drawn from the literary texts of the ancient Indo-European languages (cf. Lelekov 1982). There is a certain idealization of light skin and fair hair in the the Old Indic and Greek traditions (e.g., Indra is characterized as fari, ha'ri-), but this indicates that fair coloring was rare and phenotypically marked among the early Indo-Europeans; it cannot be interpreted as some kind of memory of the of the typical physical features of their ancestors who spoke Proto-Indo-European. There is special sympoblic significance for the color white in various early Indo-European traditions, and it is connected with early Indo-European social organization, but there is no basis in regarding it as based on hair or skin color.

The assumption that the Indo-Europeans were blue-eyed found some currency when northern Europe was regarded as the original Proto-Indo-European homeland, but placing the homeland in Southwest Asia changes the physical type that must be assumed. The migrations of the early Indo-European speakers and their interactions with local populations in their new territories would eventually have brought about fundamental changes in their physical type. Such interaction must be assumed for northern Europe, where the Ancient European languages were super-imposed on the local non-Indo-European languages in prehistoric times. The speakers of the ancient European languages could have been a dark-eyed population which was assimilated by the indigenous population. The outcome would have depended on the relative numbers of the indigenous and immigrant population. The child of a dark-eyed and a light-eyed parent will be phenotypically dark-eyed but heterozygous, carrying a gene for light eyes which may become overt in the next generation if the gene for dark eyes is lost. Thus a pre-Indo-European population with light eye color, as in northern Europe, could have remained predominantly light-eyed even after being conquered by a dark-eyed population and adopting their language.

The Fallmerayer Thesis in the Light of Genetic Evidence

Jacob Fallmerayer stirred quite a controversy in the 19th century by proposing that the Hellenic nation had perished in the Middle Ages by admixture with Slavs and Albanians.

We are now in a position, through genetic evidence to evaluate this thesis, at least with respect to the question of Slavic settlements.

Slavs are distinguished by having a specific Y-chromosome haplogroup R1a, or HG3, or Eu19. This reaches frequencies of higher than 50% in Poles and decreases significantly in non-Slavic populations. The "Macedonians" of FYROM, the Slavic population immediately to the north of Greece have frequencies of R1a of 35%.

We must warn that R1a itself is not a Slavic marker. This means that any particular R1a sequence could, or could not be of Slavic origin. But, a population that has mixed with Slavs is likely to show this in relatively high levels of R1a.

Ornella Semino published a study in Science 290: 1155 in which the levels of R1a (which she calls Eu19 are given in various populations. Greeks have 11.8%, that is about 1/6 that of the Hungarians, who top the list at 60%. The Hungarians are not Slavs, but from the genetic standpoint they could very well be of Slavic origin, converted linguistically by the Asiatic Magyars. The Poles at 56.4% are the highest Slavic population.

We must note that ancient Slavic groups at the time of the Slavic dispersals probably had even higher levels of R1a. After all, Poles and Hungarians are themselves only partly Slavic in origin, and the result of admixture of a predominantly Slavic element with indigenous pre-Slavic ones. As a result, it is likely that at the time of their migrations, the Slavs had even higher frequencies of R1a.

R1a did not originate with the Slavs (that is why it is not a Slavic marker). Its origins in a Eastern European refugium after the Last Glacial Maximum means that it has had plenty of time to spread across the continent even to places where Slavs were never present. For example, its frequency in Syrians at a frequency of 10%, close to that of Greece, in the Saami of Scandinavia at 10%, Turks at 6.6% and in Albanians in 9.8%. It is even found in the Dutch, at a frequency of 3.7%, a population that has been largely unaffected by any Slavonic incursion. Given that Greece is closer to the area where R1a probably originated, it is very likely that R1a lineages would have been part of early population elements of the Balkans.

Thus, we know that at least a part of 11.8% of R1a in Greeks is of pre-Slavic origin. We also know that the ancient Slavs had frequencies of it in excess of 50%. It's hard to quantify the exact percentages, but I will give an educated guess, that 5% of R1a lineages in Greece are of Slavic origin, while the ancient Slavs had it in frequency of 75%. The picture is not much different if we change these numbers, but they will do for now. As a result, the Slavonic influence in Greece turns out to be about 7%, an almost exact match for the figure given by Vasiliev in his History of the Byzantine Empire based on demographic considerations.

This figure might turn out to be less, or slightly more. Better resolution using markers distinguishing R1a chromosomes might provide us with additional information. But, the conclusion seems unavoidable, that the contribution of Slavs to the Greek gene pool (if any) is very limited, certainly not enough to extinguish the noble Hellenic nation as Fallmereyer had proposed.

Extent of Berber Admixture in Europe

Berbers are distinguished by a particular subclade of HG21 [or E*(xE3)] which is labelled 25.2 in [1]. In contrast, Europeans and Arabs have higher levels of another clade, 25.1. Thus, while Berbers have 71.0% of 25.2, Europeans have at most 5.6% in a sample from Lombardy, while Spaniards have at most 2.2% (with the exception of an isolated population group of known mixed origins), the French have 4.1%, most Sardinians lack it, while one has it at a frequency of 2.1%, and only one of three Sicilian groups (from Sciacca) has it at a frequincy of 2.3%.

These results are a strong indication that most of HG21 and its subclades in Europe is of ancient origin and not associated with recent absorption of North African elements, which can be quantified at less than 5%. Note also that since data on the origin of HG25.2 are not available, it may be possible that part of it may be of prehistoric origin, i.e., predating the Roman and Medieval periods.

[1] Human Immunology
Volume 62, Issue 9 , September 2001, Pages 871-884

HG26 is not Mongoloid

Those who continue to insinuate that it is are invited to update the information that they are giving to their readers.

Aside from the fact that HG26 is ancestral to HG1, it is also the case that it assumes highest frequencies in the Mediterranean islands, precisely those regions were Mongoloid ancestry is all but impossible (for historical reasons).

[1] reports that HG 26.1, a clade of 26 is found in frequencies between 3.6 and 12.5% in Corsica, which obviously has no Mongoloid connections whatsoever. It is found in frequency of 5.6% in Lombardy, and 1.5% in Latium. It is found in frequencies of 4.7% and 2.2% in two locations of Sardinia and 7 and 9.3% in two locations of Sicily. Also in frequency of 1.4% in the French.

If HG26 had been brought to Europe by Mongoloids, then it would be accompanied by other Y chromosomes found in Central Asia or East Asia, e.g., HG3, or HG10/36 etc. There is no reason whatsoever to assign HG26 chromosomes to East Asian origin.

[1] Human Immunology
Volume 62, Issue 9 , September 2001, Pages 871-884

Y chromosomes in Britain

Y Chromosomes Sketch New Outline of British History
By NICHOLAS WADE

History books favor stories of conquest, not of continuity, so it is perhaps not surprising that many Englishmen grow up believing they are a fighting mixture of the Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Danes, Vikings and Normans who invaded Britain. The defeated Celts, by this reckoning, left their legacy only in the hinterlands of Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

A new genetic survey of Y chromosomes throughout the British Isles has revealed a very different story. The Celtic inhabitants of Britain were real survivors. Nowhere were they entirely replaced by the invaders and they survive in high proportions, often 50 percent or more, throughout the British Isles, according to a study by Dr. Cristian Capelli, Dr. David B. Goldstein and others at University College London.

Full article (NYTimes.com)

IQ Elitism

One of the most dangerous ideologies floating around today is IQ elitism. If anyone want to know my views on IQ, read Straight Thinking about IQ first.

IQ elitism is the ideology that sees an increase in IQ as the main way to effect progress. To this end, IQ elitists often stress any (or all) of the following:

1. Society's ills can't be solved by correcting the way we think, act, or interact with one another (in other words, they can't be solved by the application of reason to one's own life, or to social life). Rather, they will be solved by augmenting a biological valuable, genetic predisposition to high IQ.
   
2. Our modus operandi is fine and needs no improvement. We just need higher mean IQ.
   
3. Mean IQ is more important than culture, ethnicity, or race. In particular, ethnic and racial origins of individuals are mostly important if they tell us something about how smart they are.
   
4. Racial mixture is actually good if it promotes IQ. Indeed, the high-IQ elements should mix freely irrespective of race or ethnic origin.
   
5. Western civilization is just the result of people having a relatively high IQ. Western civilization can continue to exist, as long as Western societies have high IQs, irrespective of whether their racial, ethnic, cultural and religious composition changes. Thus, the racial, ethnic, cultural, and religious identity of Western society is unimportant to the IQ elititst; the Greco-Roman origins, the Christian Religion, the Caucasoid racial identity of civilization are secondary: the only necessary thing is high IQ and adoption of some shallow version of the IQ elitist's political ideology.
   
6. Adherence to a pseudo-scientific anticipation of intelligence modification based on genetic engineering, or eugenics as a way to effect IQ increase
   
7. Strong views on immigration, in particular promoting the immigration of high-IQ groups irrespective of other variables
   

I obviously disagree with IQ elitism. It is dangerous on two counts: (i) by reducing human progress to IQ it fails to take note of the full spectrum of psychological and social factors effecting progress. IQ elitism is essentially anti-intellectual, its main tenet is that the system works fine, we just need better (in the sense of higher IQ) individual units, and (ii) by promoting shady fantasies of a golden future via genetic engineering, and/or eugenics, it leads to a passive stance, even rejection of more realistic means of effecting progress.

IQ Elitism represents the triumphant return of biological determinism dancing on the ashes ot the equally bankrupt paradigm of social determinism. Both are symptomatic of the much deeper problem of the inadequacy of economistic/consumeristic/materialistic calculative Utilitarianism (in both its left- and right-wing manifestations) to provide a viable psychological foundation for human prosperity.

Palaeoanthropology of Siberia

V. Alexeev, The Physical Specificities of Paleolithic Hominids in Siberia, in The Paleolithic of Siberia: New Discoveries and Interpretations (ed. A.P. Derev'anko)

"Thus, if during the Upper Paleolithic the population of the Siberian steppe zone was Mongoloid, then during the Neolithic, Europeoid groups moving, one may assume, from the west, were continuously added to this population."

"As for Southern Siberia, the results of Upper Paleolithic palaeoanthropological analysis indicate with high probability that the Europeoid admixture in the composition of the Neolithic population may be secondary, accumulating on a Neolihthic base."

"The boundary of the Europeoid movement is clearly fixed at Lake Baikal. To the east of Baikal no palaeoanthropological find bears any traces of Europeoid admixture."

New Information on haplogroup N

N-M178 a branch of N that includes the Tat mutation was found to be the single most frequent haplogroup in 18 Siberian populations (22.7%), while the whole N is at a frequency of 42.7%. N-M178 was found in 15 of 18 sampled populations, reaching its highest frequency of 94.3% in the Yakuts of Central-South Siberia (Turkic speakers, east of Lake Baikal, i.e., in the region of Siberia where there are no palaeoanthropological traces of Europeoid race)

A new polymorphism N-P43 (19.7% in total, and 32.6% in NW Siberia) was discovered. N-P43 lacks that Tat mutation, and hence belongs to the old HG12 group. 91.6% of N-P43 bearers are Uralic speakers.

N-M178 and N-P43 were dated to 2,180 +/ 105 years, and 3,500 +/- 300, while N was dated to 6,910+1,480. Karafet re-affirms the initial appraisal of their origin:

"Haplogroups N-P43 and N-M178 may
have entered Siberia from Mongolia and North China (Zerjal et al. 1997) and later
spread west, and then northeastward within Siberia."

[1] T. Karafet et al., High Levels of Y-Chromosome Differentiation among Native Siberian Populations and the Genetic Signature of a Boreal Hunter-Gatherer Way of Life, Human Biology, Volume 74, Number 6, December 2002

Fingerprint Facts

Check out some fingerprint facts and find out how many loops/whorls/arches you have.

NRY Haplogroups

This will be a growing entry, detailing all the info/speculation on the origins of haplogroups of the non-recombining portion of the Y chromosome (NRY).

Y Chromosome Consortium Nomenclature
Prior Nomenclature Systems
NRY Tree
Published Markers
Genome Research, Vol. 12, Issue 2, 339-348, February 2002
Annu. Rev. Anthropol. 2002, Vol. 31: 303-321

I've put all the rest in the link below, since this doesn't work well with blog format

http://www33.brinkster.com/dienekesp/nrytree.html

Portrait of Miltiades of Ravenna

Portrait of Miltiades, the victor of Marathon, an Athenian from Ravenna preserving the original coloring of the beard (black).

Y Chromosomes in Altai-Sayan

There are many interesting points in this article. The main one that I would like to emphasize at the moment is the striking difference in Caucasoid markers in mtDNA and Y chromosomes of the Altai-Sayan peoples. This is some good evidence for the scenario that I proposed previously

Polymorphism of the Y-Chromosome Diallelic Loci in Ethnic Groups of the Altai-Sayan Region
Russian Journal of Genetics 38(3): 309-314; Mar 2002

M. V. Derenko et al.

Abstract

Using the data on five diallellic Y-chromosome loci (DYS199, 92R7, SRY1532, RBF5, and DYS287) polymorphism, genetic structures of the five Turkic-speaking ethnic groups of the Altai-Sayan upland (Tuvinians, Sojots, Shorians, Khakassians, and Southern Altaians (Altai-Kizhi), were described. The gene pools of the populations examined were characterized by the presence of pronounced paleo-Caucasoid component (92R7-T-lineages). The frequency of this component increased westward, reaching more than 70% in Shorians and Southern Altaians. Haplotype TAT-C (RBF5 locus) was observed in all populations, except Shorians, with the frequencies varying from 5.4% in Altai-Kizhi to 18.8% in Khakassians. The Alu-insertion in the DYS287 locus was revealed only in the Altaian sample with the frequency of 3.3%. It was established that the Altai-Sayan populations studied split into two statistically significantly different groups. One of the groups was represented by Tuvinians, Sojots, and Khakassians, while another one was comprised of Shorians and Altaians.

...

Ethnic groups of the Altai-Sayan region are different
in respect of their anthropological features, though
they share the prevalence of Turkic language and culture
in their genesis. The formation of the indigenous
anthropological type of the Altai-Sayan upland is
traced back to the Neolithic and characterized by
intense admixture of the European and Mongoloid
groups. In most indigenous people of the region,
namely, Southern Altaians, Tuvinians from the steppe
regions, and some groups of Khakassians, the most
Mongoloid, Central Asian type prevails. This type is a
complex racial genetic structure, the origin of which
traces back to the Mongoloid groups that underwent
admixture at different periods of time (from the ancient
times to the late Middle Ages). In respect of their
anthropologic features, Shorians along with some
Ugric and Samoyed peoples are typical representatives
of the Uralic race. The features of the Uralic race, occupying
intermediate position between large Mongoloid
and Caucasoid races, can be also observed among
Northern Altaians and some of the Khakassian groups
[1-3].

...

...

Haplotype 3, defined by the TAT-C allele and found
in 14.6% of Tuvinians, 5.4% of Altaians, 11.8% of
Sojots, and 18.8% of Khakassians, cannot be unambiguously
attributed to either Mongoloid or Caucasoid lineages.
It is established that TAT-C allele of the RBF5
locus is distributed predominantly in Northern Eurasia.
Maximum frequencies of this allele were observed in
Yakuts (86%), Buryats from Mongolia (52%), and also
in such Finno-Ugric peoples as Finns (61%), Estonians
(37%), and Maris (33%) [12, 17]. The TAT-C allele was
also found in populations of the Volga-Ural region with
the frequencies varying from 9% in Mordovians to 68%
in Udmurts [26]. Zerial et al. suggested that this mutation
first arose in the populations of Asia and then dispersed
over the territory of Northern Europe reaching
Finland, which can indicate substantial genetic contribution
of Mongoloids to the development of Northern
European peoples [17]. These authors also advanced an
alternative hypothesis concerning the origin of the TAT-C
allele. Specifically, high frequency of the ancestral, in
respect of the TAT-C allele, Y-chromosome variant
LLY22g-A (17%) revealed in Maris is considered to be
the evidence of the emergence of the TAT-C allele in
this particular population [12]. The presence of the
TAT-C allele in the Russian gene pool with frequencies
varying from 15 to 21% is explained by the presence of
considerable proportion of the Finno-Ugric and/or
Turkic admixture in the modern Russians [17, 27].

Since in Tuvinians the tribe attribution is determined
down the male lineage, it is thus possible to correlate
the information on the origin of certain tribal groups
with the Y-chromosome variants. For instance, the carriers
of the TAT-C allele in Tuvinian population are the
representatives of the Irgit tribe. This allele was found
in the five of six members of the tribe examined. In
addition, this allele is a marker for Y chromosomes in
the representatives of three other tribes, namely, the
Turkic by its origin Oorzhak tribe and two Mongolian
tribes (Salchak and Mongush). Thereby, TAT-C haplotype
in the Tuvinian gene pool may be either of Turkic,
or of Mongolian descent. Some authors also suggest the
Samoyedic origin of the Irgit tribe [28]. This in turn can
serve as a confirmation of the Finno-Ugric origin of the
TAT-C allele. The use of a combined approach based on
the analysis of Y-chromosome diallelic and microsatellite
loci variation along with the inclusion in the analysis
of other Turkic and Finno-Ugric populations would
provide detailed estimation of the contributions of different
by the descent components to the gene pool of
the present-day population of the region examined.

G.F. Debetz on Eyelid Form

Debets G.F. ,Anthropological Investigations in Daghestan, in Contributions to the Physical Anthropology of the Soviet Union, p. 87:

"Eyelid Form

This feature, which is so important for the differentiation of Europeoid from Mongoloid types, did not reveal any differences among Caucasian [Caucasian means from Caucasus, not 'Caucasoid'] nationalities. Observations of Georgian anthropologists showed certain distinctions of Caucasians from Russians: in the latter the eyefold was somewhat larger, the eye slit somewhat narrower and the position of the orbit a little more inclined. However, it is doubtful if one can consider these characters as being posessed by all Northern Europeoids. The results obtained by the Baltic Expedition, in which the author participated, showed that the Lithuanians, for example, do not disclose any difference from the Caucasians in regard to eyelid structure. In all probability, the distinctions of Russians from Caucasians should not be explained by the fact that the eyelid structure of Northern Europeans is different from that of Southern Europeans, but by the fact that the Russians absorbed elements which are characterized by some Mongoloid traits."

Caricature of Boris Yeltsin emphasizing tilted outer rim. Yeltsin is of Baltic type with a slight Mongoloid admixture.

East Asian DNA in Europe (and how it came to be)

DNAPrint Genomics offers AncestryByDNA a test which measures a person's "biogeographical ancestry" in terms of percent Indo-European, East Asian, Sub-Saharan African and Native American.

A surprising outcome of their testing so far is that about one out of three Caucasians have significant Native American and East Asian ancestry. While the Native American component probably reflects an introgression of Amerindian genes into the Caucasian population, the presence of East Asian genes in Northern and Eastern Europeans has been a surprise to many of the testees, as reported in the Genealogy-DNA mailing list. Haploid genetic markers, namely on mtDNA and the non-recombining portion of the Y chromosome do not in general show the presence of East Asian lineages in Europe (with the exception of several East Asian mtDNA haplogroups in low frequency and mainly NRY haplogroup N3, which is frequent in Northeast Europe).

However, there is a very good explanation for the mechanism by which East Asian genes may have come into the population of Eastern and Northern Europe. As far as I know, no one has proposed it before.

During prehistoric times, Caucasoid people (mainly Iranics, but also Tocharians) were widely distributed in the Eurasian steppes. The practice of patrilocality and their proximity to regions inhabited by Mongoloids would ensure that (a) their Y chromosomes would remain Western Eurasian, (b) that they would acquire a certain level of Mongoloid admixture by taking (voluntarily, or not) Mongoloid women.

Later, in the 1st and 2nd millennia AD, the tide reversed and movements of peoples from the Eurasian steppes invaded Europe. Some of these were initiated from as far east as Mongolia, but the vast majority of men would be drawn from the Caucasoid and Caucasoid-Mongoloid people of Asia. These invasions involved males, who do not pass on their (potentially Mongoloid) mtDNA to their children. Hence, partially Mongoloid males could have been absorbed without much evidence in terms of Y chromosome or mtDNA markers of East Asian origin.

The concept of "biogeographical ancestry" (see e.g., the work of Mark D. Shriver) will eventually lead to a better understanding of admixture proportions in various human populations, by making use of many "ancestry informative markers", mainly diallelic SNPs on many human chromosomes. Coupled with work similar to that of Noah Rosenberg for the identification of distinct clusters of human variation, we will eventually be able to devise (a) a hierarchical decomposition of human variation into clusters (which I prefer to call 'races', and 'subraces', even though these terms are not trendy in the scientific community), (b) the distribution of ancestry from these clusters in various admixed populations and ethnic groups.

Tracing Jewish DNA for Family History & Ancestry

A quite long and informative look on an upcoming book.

Southern Caucasoid mtDNA of Altai-Sayan Mongoloid groups

Russian Journal of Genetics, 38 (9): 1098-1103, September 2002

Origin of Caucasoid-Specific Mitochondrial DNA Lineages in the Ethnic Groups of the Altai–Sayan Region

M. V. Derenko et al.

Abstract

The data on sequence variation in the first hypervariable segment (HVSI) of human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) representing Caucasoid mtDNA lineages in the gene pools of Altaians and Khakassians are presented. Identification of the subgroups of Caucasoid mtDNA lineages found in the gene pools of the ethnic groups of the Altai–Sayan region and the adjacent territories, Altaians, Khakassians, Tuvinians, Buryats, and Yakuts was carried out. All Caucasoid mtDNA lineages belonged to groups H, HV1, J*, J1, J1b1, T1, T4, U1a, U2, U3, U4, U5a1, I, X and N1a. Taking into consideration possible contribution of southern Caucasoid and eastern European components to the formation of the anthropological type of Altai–Sayan ethnic groups, distribution of the revealed Caucasoid mtDNA lineages among the ethnic groups of the Central Asia, Western Asia, Caucasus, and Eastern Europe was examined. The applied approach permitted identification of 60% of mtDNA types the majority of which had southern Caucasoid origin. Less than 10% of mtDNA types were of eastern European origin. The gene pools of Altaians and Khakassians displayed the presence of autochthonous components represented by mtDNA types from subgroups U2 and U4.

mtDNA and Slavic Ethnogenesis

Russian Journal of Genetics 37 (12): 1437-1443, December 2001

Differentiation and Genetic Position of Slavs among Eurasian Ethnic Groups as Inferred from Variation in Mitochondrial DNA

B. A. Malyarchuk

The distribution of identical and similar (phylogenetically related) types of hypervariable segment 1 (HVS1) of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) was studied in human populations belonging to three Slavonic groups and nine ethnogeographic groups of Eurasia (total sample size 2772 people). The results testified to a common origin of West, South, and East Slavs and revealed a central place of West Slavs among all Slavonic ethnic groups. Mixing was shown to play a substantial role in the formation of specific features of all three Slavonic gene pools. The mitochondrial gene pools of the Slavonic ethnic groups proved to preserve features suggesting a common ancestor for these and South European populations (especially those of the Balkan Peninsula).

...

(2) West Slavs occupy the central position among all
Slavonic ethnic groups. The West Slavonic gene pool
has the maximum number of rare common and similar
mtDNA types as compared with the gene pools of Russians
and Bulgarians, while these two Slavonic ethnic
groups are only to an extent genetically similar to each
other.

(3) Interethnic interactions (mixing and assimilation)
have played a substantial role in the formation of
the genetic portrait of various Slavonic groups. West
Slavs show a high genetic similarity to German ethnic
groups (Germans, Austrians); Bulgarians are similar to
the ethnic groups of the Balkan Peninsula; and Russians
are similar to the Finno-Ugric ethnic groups of
Northern and Eastern Europe.
The results obtained allow the following conclusions.

(4) The gene pools of all Slavonic ethnic groups
show an appreciable similarity to the gene pools of
South European ethnic groups and especially to the ethnic
groups of the Balkan Peninsula. In addition, a substantial
fraction of rare and unique mtDNA types found
in the populations of Italy and Mediterranean islands
have analogs in the gene pools of West and East Slavs.
This testifies to a hypothesis that ancestors of modern
Slavs originally diverged from South European populations
to form an individual branch.

...

From the anthropological viewpoint, the high
genetic similarity between Russians and West Slavs can
be explained on the basis of a hypothesis that the major
anthropological type was brought to the Russian Plain
from the west and the southwest by East Slavonic ethnic
groups [21]. In addition, the above genetic data provide
evidence in favor of the concept that the genetic
features of modern Russians are determined by mixing
of Slavs and the Finno-Ugric populations of Eastern
Europe. Detection of common mtDNA types in the
gene pools of Russians and Iranians suggests an ancient
connection between Slavs and Scythian populations of
the steppe zone of Eastern Europe (which is supported
by the anthropological, linguistic, and archeological
data [1-3, 20].

...

Conclusion (4) that the Slavonic mitochondrial gene
pool is similar to that of the Balkan populations is supported
by linguistic data, as proto-Slavonic dialects are
considered connected with the southeastern group of
Indo-European dialects ([1], pp. 81-82).

...

Note also that the data on mtDNA variation in the
European populations are in general agreement with
data on polymorphism of the Y chromosome [22]. As
has been shown by now, a high similarity of the gene
pools of West and East Slavs is evident from the distribution
of paternal lines in the European populations.
First of all, this concerns the distribution of line 92R7TSRY1532A
in the Slavonic gene pools. The difference
in gene pool between individual Slavonic groups have
been attributed by their mixing with neighbors. For
instance, a high (11.6% on average) frequency of line
TatC in East Slavs can be explained by their intense
contacts with Finno-Ugric European populations,
which display the maximum (36% on average) frequency
of this marker. It is clear that a complex
approach utilizing data of molecular genetics and
humanities is necessary for further analysis of the origin
and differentiation of Slavonic ethnic groups.

Link (pdf, requires access)

Icelandic mtDNA/Y chromosome study

Am. J. Hum. Genet., 72:1370-1388, 2003

A Populationwide Coalescent Analysis of Icelandic Matrilineal and Patrilineal Genealogies: Evidence for a Faster Evolutionary Rate of mtDNA Lineages than Y Chromosomes

Agnar Helgason et al.

Abstract

Historical inferences from genetic data increasingly depend on assumptions about the genealogical process that shapes the frequencies of alleles over time. Yet little is known about the structure of human genealogies over long periods of time and how they depart from expectations of standard demographic models, such as that attributed to Wright and Fisher. To obtain such information and to examine the recent evolutionary history of mtDNA and Y-chromosome haplotypes in the Icelandic gene pool, we traced the matrilineal and patrilineal ancestry of all 131,060 Icelanders born after 1972 back to two cohorts of ancestors, one born between 1848 and 1892 and the other between 1798 and 1742. This populationwide coalescent analysis of Icelandic genealogies revealed highly positively skewed distributions of descendants to ancestors, with the vast majority of potential ancestors contributing one or no descendants and a minority of ancestors contributing large numbers of descendants. The expansion and loss of matrilines and patrilines has caused considerable fluctuation in the frequencies of mtDNA and Y-chromosome haplotypes, despite a rapid population expansion in Iceland during the past 300 years. Contrary to a widespread assumption, the rate of evolution caused by this lineage-sorting process was markedly faster in matrilines (mtDNA) than in patrilines (Y chromosomes). The primary cause is a 10% shorter matrilineal generation interval. Variance in the number of offspring produced within each generation was not an important differentiating factor. We observed an intergenerational correlation in offspring number and in the length of generation intervals in the matrilineal and patrilineal genealogies, which was stronger in matrilines and thus contributes to their faster evolutionary rate. These findings may have implications for coalescent date estimates based on mtDNA and Y chromosomes.

Link (requires access)

Indice de Biodiversidad humana

A great Spanish-language resource has been added to the links.

Indice de Biodiversidad humana

Main Problem with Dawkins' Selfish Gene

Richard Dawkins defined a gene as (The Selfish Gene, 1976, p. 38):

"The gene is defined as a piece of chromosome which is sufficiently short for it to last, potentially, for long enough for it to function as a significant unit of natural selection."

Actually, it is not necessary for something to last intact for it to be a unit of selection. Imagine for example two (not linked) genes A,B that occur in a frequency of 50% each. If there is random mating, then 25% of people in the population will have the AB combination.

The AB combination potentially does not survive meiosis, but there will always be AB individiuals in the population, or at least for a long enough time for them to be selected for.

Thus, if AB confers an advantage or disadvantage, it will be positively or negatively selected. If it's advantageous, then this will lead to a rise of A and B genes in the population. But that is a consequence of selection. One cannot say that A and B were indeed the things that were selected.

Consider for example the co-evolution of small palates and small teeth. Since there are people with over-crowed teeth, and people with very widely spaced teeth (both of whom have problems), it's likely that these two features are controlled by at least two separate genetic factors. It was the combination of these factors that was selected for.

Also, suppose that AB is a selective +, BC is a -, CD is a + and DA is a - (think of A,B,C,D in a circle). Selection will tend to increase AB's. This will lead to the inccrease of B's. But BC's will tend to decrease B's. Each gene participates in a "good" and a "bad" combination. By observing the gene-level frequencies of A,B,C,D we would know nothing about the process taking place.

In conclusion, it is not just genes that are the targets of selection, but also genetic patterns consisting of more than one genes. In essence, everything that isn't transient (*) but is re-formed often enough in a population to be the target of selection, will be selected.

Gene-level shifts of frequency should not then be viewed in term's of a gene's selfish "fitness" or advantage but as the sum of the advantages of gene combinations in which the gene participates in a population.

(*) Like an individual man's whole genome, which won't re-appear on the planet, unless there is cloning of course.

Against the Selfish Gene

An article by Massimo Pigliucci.

24,000-year-old European mtDNA

An interesting study of 24,000-year-old mtDNA from Southern Italy sheds some light on the earliest Europeans.

Evidence for a genetic discontinuity between Neandertals and 24,000-year-old anatomically modern Europeans.

Caramelli D et al.

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2003 May 12; [epub ahead of print]

Abstract

During the late Pleistocene, early anatomically modern humans
coexisted in Europe with the anatomically archaic Neandertals for
some thousand years. Under the recent variants of the multiregional
model of human evolution, modern and archaic forms were
different but related populations within a single evolving species,
and both have contributed to the gene pool of current humans.
Conversely, the Out-of-Africa model considers the transition between
Neandertals and anatomically modern humans as the result
of a demographic replacement, and hence it predicts a genetic
discontinuity between them. Following the most stringent current
standards for validation of ancient DNA sequences, we typed the
mtDNA hypervariable region I of two anatomically modern Homo
sapiens sapiens individuals of the Cro-Magnon type dated at about
23 and 25 thousand years ago. Here we show that the mtDNAs of
these individuals fall well within the range of variation of today’s
humans, but differ sharply from the available sequences of the
chronologically closer Neandertals. This discontinuity is difficult to
reconcile with the hypothesis that both Neandertals and early
anatomically modern humans contributed to the current European
gene pool.

...

Specific mtDNA sites outside HVRI were also analyzed (by
amplification, cloning, and sequencing of the surrounding region)
to classify more precisely the ancient sequences within the
phylogenetic network of present-time mtDNAs (35-36).
Paglicci-25 has the following motifs: 17,025 AluI, 00073A,
11719G, and 12308A. Therefore, this sequence belongs to either
haplogroups HV or pre-HV, two haplogroups rare in general but
with a comparatively high frequencies among today’s Near-
Easterners (35). Paglicci-12 shows the motifs 00073G, 10873C,
10238T, and AACC between nucleotide positions 10397 and
10400, which allows the classification of this sequence into the
macrohaplogroup N , containing haplogroups W, X, I, N1a, N1b,
N1c, and N*. Following the definition given in ref. 36, the
presence of a single mutation in 16,223 within HRVI suggests a
classification of Paglicci-12 into the haplogroup N*, which is
observed today in several samples from the Near East and, at
lower frequencies, in the Caucasus (35). It is difficult to say
whether the apparent evolutionary relationship between
Paglicci-25 and Paglicci-12 and those populations is more than
a coincidence. Indeed, the haplogroups to which the Cro-
Magnon type sequences appear to belong are rare among
modern samples, and therefore their frequencies are poorly
estimated. However, genetic affinities between the first anatomically
modern Europeans and current populations of the Near
East make sense in the light of the likely routes of Upper
Paleolithic human expansions in Europe, as documented in the
archaeological record (37).

Full Text (pdf)

The Three Major Human Races

Human biodiversity mini gallery

Cystic Fibrosis in European Populations

European Journal of Human Genetics, May 2003, Volume 11, Number 5

Spatial patterns of cystic fibrosis mutation spectra in European populations

Oscar Lao, et al.

Abstract

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is the most frequent severe recessive disorder in European populations. We have analyzed its mutation frequency spectrum in 94 European, North African and SW Asian populations taken from the literature. Most major mutations as well as the incidence of CF mutations showed clinals patterns as demonstrated by autocorrelogram analysis. More importantly, measures of mutation diversity did also show clinal patterns, with mutation spectra being more diverse in southern than in northern Europe. This increased diversity would imply roughly a three-fold long-term effective population size in southern than in northern Europe. Distances were computed among populations based on their CF mutation frequencies and compared with distances based on other genic regions. CF-based distances correlated with mtDNA but not with Y-chromosome-based distances, which may be a consequence of the relatively homogeneous CF mutation frequencies in European populations.

...

Attitudes to the EU

From the Eurobarometer [Warning: 301-page pdf document]

Greek Attitudes towards the European Union (EU15 average in parentheses)

Percent of correct answers in a 5-question Quiz --- 44% (38%)
Self-Perceived Knowledge --- 4.3 (4.4)
Schoolchildren should be taught more about how EU institutions work --- 88% (84%)
Giving People more information about the EU should be a Priority --- 85% (71%)
Feeling attached to the EU --- 62% (52%)
Feeling Greek only --- 52% (38%)
Feeling Greek and European --- 42% (49%)
Feeling European and Greek --- 4% (7%)
Feeling European Only --- 2% (3%)
Support for EU membership --- 62% (55%)
Benefit from the EU membership --- 74% (50%)
More disadvantages of EU membership --- 10% (15%)
As many disadvantages as advantages --- 51% (46%)
More advantages --- 34% (27%)
Positive image of the EU --- 58% (50%)
Negative image of the EU --- 9% (14%)
Perceived role of the EU in people's daily life in 5 years --- 62% more important (45%)
Desired role of the EU in people's daily life in 5 years --- 70% more important (47%)
Support for the Euro --- 71% (63%)
Euro good --- 45% (EURO12: 45%)
Comfortable using the euro --- 76% (58%, EURO12: 60%)
Attached to the euro --- 47% (EURO12: 41%)
Attachment to past national currencies --- 67% (EURO12: 61%)
For a common foreign policy --- 79% (67%)
For a common defence policy --- 79% (73%)
Decision for European defence policy should be taken by --- National governments 25% (21%), NATO 4% (21%), EU 63% (44%)
Enlargement? -- yes 76% (52%)
Welcoming new member countries a priority --- 63% (31%)
Average % in Favour of the 13 Applicant Countries Joining the EU --- 58% (42%)

Earnest Hooton on the Mediterranean Race

Earnest Hooton on the Mediterranean race here.

Geography of Thought

The Geography of Thought: How Asians and Westerners Think Differently...and Why -- by Richard Nisbett

Amazon link

Update: A 32' radio interview on NPR is available to listen online.

Update II: Nisbett talked about how the cause of tides was discovered in the East and not by the Greeks because Easterners think more about relationships and Westerners think more about objects. But actually Greeks didn't think about tides because there are no tides in the Mediterranean

Update III: How about geometry, invented by the Greeks, which is all about spatial relationships between objects?

Update IV: Nisbett claimed that Mediterranean Europeans are less individualist than NW Europeans. An interesting proposition that is often repeated, and with which I disagree.

Update V: Nisbett: "Westerners think more verbally... Easterners think more geometrically". Contradiction with Update III ? And, come to think of it, how come Easterners who, according to Nisbett, pay more attention to interpersonal relationships did not become more "verbal" in their thinking?

The meaning of glaukos

Nordicists often use the Greek adjective glaukos, which was usually applied to eye color as evidence for the alleged presence of many blue-eyed individuals in ancient Greece. Thankfully, an entire book [1] has been written on the meaning of glaukos where all of the word's uses throughout Greek history (and even in Mycenaean Linear B) are recorded. It will be useful to quote Maxwell-Stuart's conclusion:

In sum therefore, glaukos and words derived from it were used mainly of the eye, especially of those eyes affected by glaucoma or cataract. Instinctive fear of blindness must be very strong among all sighted human beings, so their immediate reaction to such an eye will manifest itself in a repulsive frisson. Men will wish to ward off a similar fate from themselves. Healthy eyes of that colour therefore have something unnatural about them, and their relative infrequence in Greece proper (and, indeed, in Crete), will have aroused a similar instinctive hostility. Fear of the unknown and of the unusual would contribute to the notion that possessors of such eyes must be malign; hence the long association of blue and the Evil Eye which has lasted in Greece and the surrounding area until modern times. Not surprisingly, these feelings of hostility would be strengthened by knowledge that foreigners from the cold North - those dangerous, incursive, un-Greek people - had blue eyes, their intensity only the greater by frequent accompaniment of blond hair (we have noted often the close association of xanthos and glaukos).

[...]

In other words, the intense emotional and symbolic power of glaukos stems almost entirely from its application to a certain type of eye which was felt to be maleficient, dangerous, and hostile and which Athene, alone of all the gods, possessed in her role of divine protectress, as it were a living amulet, of certain Homeric heroes in particular, and of Athenian craftsmen in general.

[1] Maxwell-Stuart, P. G. Studies in Greek colour terminology, vol.1 "Glaukos". Leiden : Brill, 1981

Racial Types in France according to Ripley

William Z. Ripley, author of [1] used three racial types, Teutonic, Alpine, and Mediterranean to describe variation in Europeans. Here are his examples of these types in France (Left to Right: Teutonic from Contentin, Normandy; blond, CI=79. Alpine from Landes, brunet, CI=90. Mediterranean from Montpelier; brunet, CI=76.)

[1] Ripley, W. Z., 1900, The Races of Europe, a sociological study, Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner

Montandon on the Racial Elements of France

According to Coon's chapter on France:

"Montandon, a keen observer of the French racial scene, proposes the following racial proportions for the French nation: Nordic, 1 per cent; Sub-Nordic, 30 per cent; Dinaric-like, 15 per cent; relatively pure Alpine, 30 per cent; Small Mediterranean (Ibero-Insular), 10 per cent; Atlanto-Mediterranean (Litoral), 10 per cent; Basque type, l per cent; others, 3 per cent. Although the Alpine increment receives only 30 per cent, it must be remembered that in the Sub-Nordic as in the Dinaric-like category, there is a strong Alpine element; furthermore, the Atlanto-Mediterraneans of the Pyrenees and the Riviera are strongly tinged with Alpine. If Collignon's head diameters are correct, then the small Mediterraneans of the Dordogne are not pure Neolithic descendants, but have absorbed a much older non-Alpine racial entity."

See also this previous entry

Potential Problems with the Definition of Race

Jason Malloy has raised some potential red flags of my definition of race, which I repeat again for easy viewing:

Let P be a human population.

If:

1. all members of P pass an objective test T.
   

2. non-members of P don't pass T.
   
   
3. the vast majority of matings between members of P produce offspring that pass T.
   
   
4. the vast majority of matings including at least one non-member of P produce offspring that don't pass T.
   

then population P is said to be a human race.

The Synthesis of Black Spark, White Fire

Richard Poe claims to be just a journalist explaining, synthesizing, and popularizing the work of many authors. Included in his list of authors are classicist Frank Snowden and Martin Bernal, author of Black Athena. But is Frank Snowden compatible with Martin Bernal? In Black Athena Revisited, Frank Snowden writes an article titled "Bernal's 'Blacks' and the Afrocentrists" in which he disagrees strongly with Bernal's theory. He quotes the opinion (ibid., p. 112) of David O' Connor approvingly:

"Thousands of sculpted and painted representations from Egypt as well as hundreds of well preserved bodies from its cemeteries show that the typical physical type was neither Negroid nor Negro."

Snowden uses the classical sources to show how Bernal distorts the meaning of Greek and Latin texts to prove his Afrocentric thesis. His conclusion (ibid., p. 127) does not mince any words:

"In summary, despite abundant textual and iconographic evidence to the contrary, Bernal and many Afrocentrists have used "black," "Egyptian," and "African" interchangeably as the equivalents of blacks/Negroes in modern usage. According to this misinterpretation, ancient Egyptians were blacks, and their civilization, an important art of the heritage of blacks of African descent, has been "covered up" by white racists... What will be the effect on future generations, black and white alike, if the present "mythologizing" Afrocentrist trend continues, and if the historical record is not rectified?"

In other words, Frank Snowden is diametrically opposed to Martin Bernal. Their views are incompatible. Yet, Richard Poe has managed to "synthesize" their views. How can one synthesize "A" and "NOT A"?

I am tempted to agree with Roland Joffe when he writes in his review of Black Spark, White Fire:

In terms of methodology, there is the typical conflation of history, archaeology, myth, and literature, all seamlessly and uncritically woven into a single narrative.

Indeed, my opinion of the "synthesis" of Black Spark, White Fire is similar. Certainly, journalists are in a unique position of synthesizing and popularizing science. James Gleick, author of Chaos: Making a New Science is a great example of that. Black Spark, White Fire unfortunately isn't.

More on the Definition of Race

Steve Sailer brings up a potential objection to my definition of race, namely that one could define a "lactose tolerant", vs. a "lactose intolerant" race. Here is my definition again:

Let P be a human population.

If:

1. all members of P pass an objective test T.
   
2. non-members of P don't pass T.
   
3. the vast majority of matings between members of P produce offspring that pass T.
   
4. the vast majority of matings including at least one non-member of P produce offspring that don't pass T.
   

then population P is said to be a human race.

Actually, when I was thinking up my definition, I too wandered if it would be possible to attack it via what I thought of as a "single-locus attack." Does my definition leave open that possibility?

Suppose that you have a locus with two competing alleles, A and B. Each human being is either AA, AB, or BB. Can an objective test separate humanity into two races based on that locus in a way that would fit my definition? The answer is actually no, and here is why.

Suppose that we define a 'race' as that which is AA. Clearly, all people that are AA will pass the objective test (criterion #1) while the remaining mankind (AB and BB) won't (criterion #2). Our 'race' will also pass criterion #3: AA mating with AA will produce only AA. But it fails criterion #4: AB's mating with AB's can produce AA's and our definition forbids it. The reader can verify that all other possible subdivisions fail for similar reasons.

Hence, it's not possible to define a race based on a single locus, provided that there are heterozygous elements in the human population. Now if it is found that most of mankind is neatly divided into AA's and BB's for one locus, without any AB's, then it will be possible to divide mankind based on it alone. But, I doubt that there are (m)any loci like that (correct me if I'm wrong).

Thus, we are forced to seek the existence of races based on more than one locus. I concede that it may be that many of the potential races identified via this method might not correspond to the geographical races. But, I still think that the best way to think of a race is a population that possesses and can reproduce a genetic pattern.

Perhaps there are more 'races' than we suspect. Perhaps geographical race is only a special case of what I'm talking about. I am encouraged by the recent progress in determining with high accuracy the geographical ancestry of people based on a large number of markers. At least five populations with distinct genetic profiles at the global level have now been identified, in the sense that all members of a particular group are identified as such.

I think that if we think of race in terms of a genetic pattern, then it really becomes a meaningful concept. Whether it will become a useful concept is an altogether different matter. That will depend on the significance of the genetic pattern itself, i.e., on what the genes we've identified actually do.

PS: I will probably read and write about this in the future. I'm not quite dead set on my definition yet.

Main Racial Elements in Russians

V.V. Bunak, "Method and Program of Study of Descriptive Characters in Anthropology and the Necessity for their Revision," in Contributions to the Physical Anthropology of the Soviet Union, Russian Translation Series of the Peabody Museum of Arcaheology and Ethnology, Vol.1 No.2, p. 130:

"One of the most important conclusions resulting from the anthropological study of the Russian population, consists of the identification of three basic types, most clearly represented at present as well as in past periods of time in zones adjacent to the northern Urals, in the eastern Baltic area, and in the Black Sea Provinces of the North Caucasus and the Balkan peninsula, and which, for this reason, have been termed the Ural, the Baltic and the Pontic types. These three basic types, as well as some others less distinctly represented, are distinguished by a complex of characters: by the pigmentation of the iris, hair color, beard growth, structure of the eyelid, and possibly also by one or two distinguishing characters of the nasal structure. One would suppose that there are also distinctions in other descriptive characters, but these distinctions have not yet been established. However, this fact has not prevented the identification of basic anthropological elements and of their numerous subdivisions."

Human Domestication Reconsidered

Helen Leach is proposing that the Late Pleistocene and early Holocene (archaeologically Neolithic) humans underwent changes similar to those of animals that underwent the domestication process. So, she argues that if we apply terminology consistently, we must also entertain the possibility that humans themselves are a domesticated species.

Human Domestication Reconsidered

by Helen M. Leach

CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY Volume 44, Number 3, June 2003, pp. 349-368

In scientific usage, "domestication" has come to mean the process by which humans transformed wild animals and plants into more useful products through control of their breeding. Certain physical and behavioural changes have been identified as criteria of domestication. They include morphological changes affecting the skeletons of early Middle Eastern domesticates (e.g., reduction in size and skeletal robusticity, cranio-facial shortening, and declining tooth size). These changes also occur in some human populations starting in the Late Pleistocene. "Unconscious selection" pressures are increasingly invoked in explanations of both sets of data. The long-established paradigm of human control over domestication through artificial selection has meant that parallelism in these changes is seldom noted and few inclusive explanations have been attempted since the early 1900s. Recently, only symbolic and social domestication has been accepted for Homo sapiens. This article proposes a preliminary case for human biological domestication based on the effects of the built environment, decreased mobility, and changes in diet consistency associated with increasing sedentism.

Source (requires access)

Richard Poe Got a Positive Review

by a web author, and he is decidedly pleased about it. Here is the comment that I left to his self-congratulatory blog entry.

You must be pleased that you received a positive review. The expert who reviewed Black Spark, White Fire in the Journal of Near Eastern Studies certainly held a different opinion.

Whose opinion should one trust? Well, ideally one must examine (i) the Facts, (ii) the Reasoning by which one proceeds from Facts to Conclusions. As Aristotle said, all human beings are capable of Reason. But not all human beings are equally knowledgeable about Facts or equally rigorous in their application of Reason.

Hence, we are inclined to regard the opinion of experts more than that of non-experts. And here is the above expert's opinion:

"This study is as breathless, lopsided, haphazard, and misinformed as can be imagined. Written in an excited, journalistic style, the book has a nonlinear structure. Unlike an academic presentation, it has a decided story arc. The rhetorical posture of the book stands explicitly against that of conventional scholarship, an enterprise that Poe regards as part of the problem and not the solution. Poe is a unique contributor to Afrocentric literature in that he is white; unfortunately, he simply parrots scholars from that and parallel traditions, primarily Martin Bernal. (2) In terms of methodology, there is the typical conflation of history, archaeology, myth, and literature, all seamlessly and uncritically woven into a single narrative. Homer, Herodotus, Pausanias, the Parian marble, the Mit Rahina inscription, the Book of Enoch, and numerous other texts are read literally and harmonized effortlessly. There is also the typical paranoia, primarily about conspiracies to withhold knowledge (not unfounded concerns to African-Americans) and to deprive Africa of its glorious Egyptian past."

Update Interestingly, Jason Soon whose blog entry inspired Mr. Poe's exaltation is humble enough to admit that he doesn't know much about the subject. "I know that I don't know" as Democritus first put it. But Mr. Soon makes an even more important conclusion that needs to be repeated since it cuts straight into the heart of the matter:

It also makes a number of good points - for instance black Afrocentrists in the US are attacked for wanting to take pride in Egypt's achievements even if it is partly black because 'Africa is a big place' and US blacks are mostly from West Africa - but why shouldn't they if the descendants of Germanic barbarians of the far north of Europe can take pride in the achievements of older Mediterranean civilisations as being 'Western' and 'European'?

That is indeed the heart of the problem. But what is the solution? The solution according to Mr. Poe is that if we are tolerant of Germanics take pride in Greek accomplishments, so must we be of Negroid Africans taking pride in Egyptian accomplishments.

But that is not the only solution. A much better solution is for both Germanics and Negroid Africans to acknowledge that neither of the two had anything to do with the civilizations in question. Isn't it better to cure both these delusions instead of matching one (Germanic) delusion with another (Afrocentric) one?

Long Postscriptum: All kudos to the Germanics for their study, promotion, and extension of the classical heritage. They can rightly consider thesmselves as one of the spiritual heirs of Hellenism. African Americans too can decide to base their civilization on that of Egypt. If they do, they will have as much a right to be cultural heirs of Egypt, as Germans have of being cultural heirs to Greece. But, why should they choose to base their civilization on Egypt? After all, two centuries ago, Ancient Egypt was completely unknown to Negroid Africans and African Americans. They could just as easily have decided to become the cultural heirs of Sumer, or Japan, or even Greece. In fact, they are invited, at least by this Greek to become the cultural heirs of Hellenism if they choose to do so.

Anthropometry Guide

I uploaded a pdf file of Henri Vallois' guide to practical anthropometry here.

Definition of Race (II)

Here is a less formal, but simpler definition of race:

A race is a population (of some species) whose members, and only they, possess and reproduce a genetic pattern.

Some Art from Pompeii and Herculanaeum

can be found here. We can only understand the classical ideal by looking at classical art itself.

Definition of Race

I planned to write a more extensive treatment on race, how it differs from species, how it is created, and how it is undone, but that will have to wait, as I do more research and try to clarify my thought further.

While we wait for that to happen, here is my interim Definition of Race:

Let P be a human population.
If:

1. all members of P pass an objective test T.
2. non-members of P don't pass T.
3. the vast majority of matings between members of P produce offspring that pass T.
4. the vast majority of matings including at least one non-member of P produce offspring that don't pass T.

then population P is said to be a human race.

I will update this entry explaining each point in the definition.

Update I

1. Membership in a race cannot be subjective, i.e., dependent on the observer. It must be determined objectively, i.e., any two well-meaning observers will assign an individual to a race via an objective procedure, a procedure that does not depend on the observer.
2. The second rule simply says that a race is a maximal set of individuals who meet its membership criterion. It includes all such individuals, since none of the non-members meet the criterion.
3. A race cannot be a random temporary combination of features. It must have the capacity to reproduce itself into the future. And most of the offspring produced intra-racially must pass the objective test (and thus be members of the race). Otherwise, in the space of a few generations, even if it is genetically isolated, the race will cease to exist. But, we don't want to claim that all the offspring will meet the test, because offspring are random combinations of their parents' genes + mutations. But, as long as most repeat the pattern of their parents, each race will be a long-standing reality.
4. Finally, the genetic pattern of a race, which allows it to pass the objective test must be something that is difficult for the rest of mankind to "fake." It must be something non-trivial, that is unique to the race that can be replicated from non-members very rarely - if at all.

I will continue updating this entry, discussing how it is different from traditional racial taxonomies.

Update II

One thing to note about the above definition is that it proposes a program for discovering races:

1. Identify a candidate population
   
2. Determine what common features they have, and how they differ from other populations
   
3. Write a formula that takes a number of features and produces an output: "member of race", or "non-member of race".
   
4. Prove that criteria 1-4 are met
   
5. Done!
   

Notice, that in practice we can't literally prove something for an entire population. Objectively assessing every individual will be expensive. So, necessarily we will be limited to samples.

What happens when an individual turns up who we've thought is member of race A, but doesn't pass the objective test? There are two options:

1. If the objective test can be updated in a way that the race is preserved, i.e., it continues to define a race according to the definition, then update it. The new individual has just given us some extra information about the particular race. For example, suppose that there are two alleles for a gene: A and a, and one of the criteria for inclusion in our race is to be aa. If a mutant allele b is found in the population, then we can update our test to include ab and bb individuals as well.
2. If the former option is not feasible, then simply the individual does not belong to the race. Our intuition that he ought to be genetically similar failed us.

An important point to make is that our definition allows us to define a race without worrying about a racial taxonomy for mankind in general. We simply have to see that a population exhibits traits and can reproduce them, while the rest of mankind doesn't. Then, that population is a race.

One can of course develop a set of such races, and if he defines their objective criteria intelligently, these might encompass a great part of mankind.

It is of course possible, indeed likely, that some individuals will never be able to fit in a racial group. I suspect that this is the case for "racially hybrid" individuals. But, that remains to be explored.

The recent progress in identifying continental human populations without any a priori assumptions by examining large numbers of polymorphisms is strong evidence to the effect that the outlined program is feasible. Indeed, such studies will help generate distinct clusters of human biodiversity. Subsequently, by looking at the clusters, we can see what they mean and write a procedure that assigns individuals to clusters, hence defining race.

It is entirely possible that competing sets of "races" might emerge by the procedure we have outlined. It all depends on the set of features that one chooses to use for their objective test. Two sets of features might be correlated, and indeed one can already define a procedure for identifying, e.g., Black Africans either via genetics or anthropometrics. The two are not independent: if you have lots of alleles found in black Africans, you are likely to look like a Black African.

But, the main point is that our definition of race forces us to be objective about race. When we write, e.g., "Caucasoid", we will have to establish an objective procedure that determines whether one is Caucasoid or not, and meet the other criteria as well. So, it will no longer be possible to accuse thinkers on race that their terms are without content, because they will be precisely defined.

Ion of Chios on Apollo

Ion of Chios, one of the participants in Athenaeus' Deipnosophistae explains why Apollo's hair was painted black.

Athenaeus Soph., Deipnosophistae. Book 13 paragraph 81 line 27-20.

"For if he painted the God's [Apollo's] hair golden, and not black, the painting would be worse."

Farmers and their Languages

Jared Diamond and Peter Bellwood have written an article which appears in Science on "Farmers and Their Languages: The First Expansions". The abstract:

"The largest movements and replacements of human populations since the end of the Ice Ages resulted from the geographically uneven rise of food production around the world. The first farming societies thereby gained great advantages over hunter-gatherer societies. But most of those resulting shifts of populations and languages are complex, controversial, or both. We discuss the main complications and specific examples involving 15 language families. Further progress will depend on interdisciplinary research that combines archaeology, crop and livestock studies, physical anthropology, genetics, and linguistics."

The authors list three reasons for the success of farmers compared to hunter gatherers:

1. Food production can accommodate larger populations in a given area
   
2. Food producers were sedentary and could store surpluses, leading to complex technology, social stratification, centralized states, and professional armies.
   
3. Farmers had immunity to infectious diseases such as smallpox that co-evolved with farming communities.
   

Source (requires access)