Genetic History of Italy Information
The identity of a people, as well as being characterized by notions of culture is also characterized by processes of genetic evolution. Following recent scientific research carried out by geneticists, Italy has proven to be one of the last two remaining genetic islands across Europe (along with Finland), this due to the presence of the Alpine mountain chain that, over the centuries, has prevented large migration flows aimed at colonizing the Italian lands.[1][2]
During prehistory, Italy was mostly populated by different but very similar Indo-European groups, later collectively listed amongst the Ancient peoples of Italy.
Even though the Italic ethnic component was predominant, not all of these various peoples were linguistically or ethnically closely related. The majority of them spoke Italic languages, including Latin, others spoke Greek because of the arrival of Hellenic colonists, while others belonged to another Indo-European branch (Ligurian, Venetic, Lepontic, Messapian) and maybe were non-Indo-European (Etruscan, Raetic). Nonetheless the historical Romanisation unified the peninsula politically and linguistically starting from the consequences of the Social War to Augustus who annexed Cisalpine Gaul to Italy, this process marking the very beginning of the Italian nation.
Historical population of Italy
Further information: Prehistoric Italy and Ancient peoples of Italy Approximate distribution of languages in Iron Age Italy during the 6th century BC.• The modern man appeared during the Upper Palaeolithic. Specimens of Aurignacian age were discovered in the cave of Fumane and dated back about 34,000 years ago. During the Magdalenian period the first men from the Pyrenees populated Sardinia.[3]
• During the Neolithic farming stable is introduced by people from the east and the first villages are built, the weapons become more sophisticated and the first objects in clay produced.
• In the late Neolithic era the use of copper spreads and villages are built over piles near the lakes. In Sardinia, Sicily and part of “Continental Italy” the Beaker culture, which probably represents the western branch of the Corded Ware culture, also spreads from North-West Europe,.[4]
• During the Late Bronze Age in Italy appears the Urnfield or Villanovan culture characterized by the typical rite of incineration of the bodies originating from Central Europe, the use of iron spreads.[5] In Sardinia the Nuragic civilization flourishes.
• From the 8th century BC Greek colonists settle on the southern coast and in Sicily and found cities, initiating what was later called Magna Graecia. In the 5th century Celtic tribes from continental Europe settled in Northern Italy. The Etruscan civilization developed on the coast of Tuscany and Latium.
• With the Fall of the Roman Empire different populations of German origin intruded into Italy, the most significant was that of the Lombards, who will try to unify politically the “Boot of Italy”.
The formation of the Italian people
According to legend, Rome itself began as a city accepting various neighboring peoples as well as outcasts. Yet, despite domination by neighboring Etruscans, the Latin element dominated and would become the unifying feature of the Italian people and their various local cultures and languages. During the Late Republic and throughout the Imperial period there was a process of Romanization including genetic homogenization between the peoples of Italy and the Romans. The founding of new towns in both Cisalpine Gaul and southern Italy by Romans and their Latin allies for the purpose of stabilizing these areas and promoting trade led to large scale migration within the Italian penninsula. The Romans, realizing that Rome, meaning the city, could never alone monitor dozens of different peoples, with some initial resistance (which then caused the Social War), encouraged migrations and extended Roman citizenship to all Italic peoples (with some exceptions). Following the Social War the remaining native population (Celts, Veneti, Oscans, Umbrians, Siculi, Greeks, Etruscans, etc.), obtained citizenship and mingled with other Romanized settlers. Romanization was so successful that many Roman statesmen and writers came from regions outside of Latium including Pompey, Ovid, Livy, Horace, and Catullus.[6][7] The phenomenon of colonization in Italy continued during the Middle Ages as descendants of Roman settlers living in the north (sometimes with good amount of gallic genes and Etruscan) were moved to South. Moreover, since the unification of Italy, large numbers of southern Italians have moved to the urban centers of the North either to seek economic opportunities or to Italianize German speaking regions of Italy.
Genetic composition of Italians Y-DNA
Cavalli-Sforza's 1st Principal Component: A cline of genes with highest frequencies in the Middle East, spreading to lowest levels northwestPercentages of the various Y-DNA haplogroups (male) to which belong the Italians.[8]
| R1b | R1a | I1 | I2a | I2b | J | T | G | E3b | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | 49% | 2,5% | 2,5% | 3% | 1% | 20% | 4% | 7% | 11% |
Haplogroup I was present in Europe since Paleolithic, possibly along with R1b and R1a, while haplogroups J, T, G, E3b are present in Europe since the Neolithic.
Y-DNA genetic diversity
In the Alpine areas, Emilia Romagna [13] and most of Po Valley, more than half of the population belongs to Haplogroup R1b. This percentage drops gradually in central Piedmont [14] and central Tuscany (less than 50%) coming in lower percentages in the western area of Liguria [15], in Central Italy and South Italy (29%) and then Sicily (30%).[9]
![[14]](javascript:external('freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~gallgaedhil/images/R1b.png')){kind=link}
![[15]](javascript:external('1.bp.blogspot.com/_dsGYkxd7z_E/RbvOICLLkzI/AAAAAAAAAAs/EUg7YM6EJZs/s1600-h/R1bFreq.png')){kind=link}
Distribution of Italian Y-chromosome DNA (Y-DNA) haplogroups by region in percentage [10] Sardinia enclosed.
| Region | I1 | I2a | I2b | R1a | R1b | G2a | J2 | J1 | E1b1b | T + (L) | Q |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Italy | 6% | 2.5% | 2.5% | 3.5% | 55% | 2.5% | 11.5% | 0.5% | 11% | 4.5% | 0% |
| Central Italy | 3% | 2% | 5% | 3.5% | 43% | 8.5% | 19.5% | 2% | 10% | 3.5% | 0% |
| South Italy | 2.5% | 2.5% | 2.5% | 2.5% | 29% | 8.5% | 23.5% | 5% | 18% | 5.5% | 0% |
| Sicily | 3% | 1% | 1% | 4.5% | 30% | 5.5% | 26.5% | 4% | 17.5% | 6% | 1% |
| Sardinia | 0% | 37% | 0% | 0% | 22% | 15% | 10% | 2.5% | 10% | 1.5% | 2% |
Southern Italy, Liguria [16] and Lazio demonstrate a significant impact from the eastern Mediterranean basin. Prevailing in Liguria (37%)[17] and in the south of the peninsula is haplogroups J2 and E3b (aka E1b1b (E-M215)) that in some parts of Calabria, Sicily and Lucania reached percentages ranging from 40% to 50%, while virtually absent in Molise (0% -7%)[18] and sparsely distributed in northern Campania among Benevento, Avellino (17%) and Naples (27%). A fair distribution of these haplogroups, ranging from 37% to 27%, is also present in Central Italy (Lazio, Umbria and the Abruzzi) and in southern Piedmont [19].
![[16]](javascript:external('freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~gallgaedhil/images/J2a.png')){kind=link}
![[18]](javascript:external('4.bp.blogspot.com/_dsGYkxd7z_E/RbzM1iLLk2I/AAAAAAAAABU/RK3dJ_Xb6xw/s1600-h/Neolithic-low.png')){kind=link}
According to modern genetic investigation the higher presence of these haplogroups in Southern Italy was due partly to the Greek colonization whom took place in the classical era. It is estimated that approximately 37% of the paternal side of Sicilian gene pool, in fact, directly descended from Greek settlers of Magna Graecia.[11] Haplogroups J2 and E3b are particularly common in the Near East where it is believed to have originated. In Europe they are also present in low average percentage among the French, the Austrians, the Czechs and the Balkanic peoples [12] [20].
Migration High Medieval Y-DNA
Migrations occurred on Italian soil since the fall of the Roman Empire until 1000 AD have probably not significantly altered the gene pool of the Italian people, neither the Lombard[13] nor the Norman genetic contributions from the I1 haplogroup, associated with the Germanic peoples, had a strong legacy among the modern population as it is estimated that it is present among Italians in the north in the order of 2-3% and from 1 to 1.5% among Italians in the south.[14] Other haplotypes that could be penetrated in Italy together with the German invaders are haplogroup R1a which belongs to 2.5% of Italians and some subclades of the R1b Haplogroup (in particular the subclade R1b1c9) that owns 3.5% of Italians, with an higher concentration in the north-western parts of Italy [15] but because these haplogroups are just mentioned fairly commonly in other European ethnic groups it is difficult to establish whether they have been really brought into Italy by Germanic peoples or by other peoples. The Germanic heritage among the Italians then wanders around 5-10%.
Two subclades of North African Y-chromosome haplogroup E3b (labeled E-M81 and E-M78β) are useful in detecting historical admixtures from Berber people: in accordance with Cruciani et al. (2004), these makers exist at combined frequencies of 1.5% in northern Italians, 2.2% in central Italians, 0% in southern Italians, 1.4% in Sardinians, and 1,4% in Sicilians,[16] whereas in accordance with Plaza et al. (2003) North African mtDNA haplogroup U6 occurs at a rate of 0.6% in Sicilians and is absent everywhere else in Italy; [17] therefore Cruciani et al. (2004) state that “this suggests that gene flow from Carthaginian and Moorish colonists was minimal”. Cruciani et al. (2007) consider also E-M78 subhaplogroups E-V12, E-V22 and E-V65 for a deeper analysis. Taking into account both those E-M78 subhaplogroups and the E-M81 haplogroup (Cruciani et al. 2004), Cruciani et al. (2007) estimate the contribution of northern African -Berber and Arab - lineages to the entire male gene pool of northern Italy, central Italy, southern Italy and Sicily as 3.63%, 4.73%, 2.13%, 6.6% respectively. Though these are estimations and have not been confirmed. [18]
Genetic composition of Italians mtDNA
Percentages of mtDNA haplogroups (female) among Italians:
| H | V | J | T | U | K | I | W | X2 | others | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | 33,5% | 4,5% | 7,5% | 12% | 12,5% | 7% | 2% | 2,5% | 2% | 16,5% |
In Italy as elsewhere in Europe the most common haplogroup is haplogroup H originated probably about 20,000 years ago in southern Europe or in the Near East. Follow the haplogroup V originated in Iberia 15,000 years ago, haplogroup J originated in the Near East or the Caucasus, W (north-east Europe 25.000 years ago), T (Mesopotamia 17.000 years ago), U (Western Asia 60.000 years ago), I (30,000 years ago probably in Europe), K (16.000 years ago in the Near East), X2 (over 30,000 years ago in north-east Europe).[19][20] African Haplogroup L lineages are relatively infrequent (1% or less) throughout Italy with the exception of Latium, Volterra, Basilicata and Sicily where frequencies between 2 and 3% have been found.[21]
The contribution of Italians in rebuilding Europe's mtDNA
Recent studies have shown that the area of modern Italy has played an important role in the recovery of 'Western Europe” at the end of the Last glacial period. The study focused mitochondrial U5b3 haplogroup discovered that this female lineage had in fact originated in the Italian peninsula and that then expanded from there around 10,000 years ago towards Provence and the Balkans. In Provence, probably between 9000 and 7000 years, it gave rise to the haplogroup subclade U5b3a1. This subclade U5b3a1 later came from Provence to Sardinia by obsidian merchants, as it is estimated that 80% of obsidian found in France comes from Monte Arci in Sardinia reflecting the close relations that were at the time of these two regions. Still about 4% of the female population in Sardinia belongs to this haplotype.[22]
Sardinia
Main article: Sardinian_people#Genetic_peculiarities_of_the_population Haplogroup I Distribution in EuropeAlthough Sardinians also do not constitute a homogeneous population, Sardinia has unique genetic composition, when compared to other Italian, European and Mediterranean populations.[23]
See also
| Molecular Anthropology portal | |
| Evolutionary biology portal | |
| Italy portal |
External links
- R1b frequency in Italy [21] [22] [23]
- R1b with DYS393=12 clades frequency in Italy [24] [25]
- Italy DNA Project, R1b in Italy [26]
- R1a frequency in Italy [27]
- J2a frequency in Italy [28]
- E3b + J2 frequency in Italy [29]
![[24]](javascript:external('3.bp.blogspot.com/_dsGYkxd7z_E/RbzVzSLLk3I/AAAAAAAAABg/TywIt0oBOEk/s1600-h/dys393%3D12_low.png')){kind=link}
![[25]](javascript:external('freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~gallgaedhil/images/DYS393.png')){kind=link}
![[27]](javascript:external('2.bp.blogspot.com/_dsGYkxd7z_E/RbzJpCLLk1I/AAAAAAAAABI/IdIx2Kwz6DQ/s320/R1a-low.png')){kind=link}
Notes
- ^ Genetic Map of Europe
- ^ Correlation between Genetic and Geographic Structure in Europe. Current Biology 18, 1241–1248, August 26, 2008
- ^ [1] Siiri Rootsi : Y-Chromosome haplogroup I prehistoric gene flow in Europe
- ^ [2] University of Alberta: A Test of Non-metrical Analysis as Applied to the 'Beaker Problem'
- ^ [3] Culture del bronzo recente in Italia settentrionale e loro rapporti con la "cultura dei campi di urne"
- ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=lyL_78EfhaMC&pg=PA88&lpg=PA88&dq=northern+italy+romanized&source=bl&ots=MTGXcilMAk&sig=lgJml1MA8tUEcNnX4I-DCUBWMuw&hl=en&ei=AmJbTIZ7g_nwBvfR1PIC&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CBsQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=northern%20italy%20romanized&f=false
- ^ http://www.crystalinks.com/romanempire.html
- ^ [4] Eupedia : Distribution of European Y-chromosome DNA (Y-DNA) haplogroups by region in percentage
- ^ The administrative Regions who show the highest Haplogroup R1b concentration are Emilia-Romagna, Lombardy, and Le Marche. The regions with the lowest concentration are Sardinia, Campania, Calabria, and Sicily.
- ^ [5] Eupedia : Distribution of European Y-chromosome DNA (Y-DNA) haplogroups by region in percentage. See note n° 4
- ^ [6] European Journal of Human Genetics : Differential Greek and northern African migrations to Sicily are supported by genetic evidence from the Y chromosome
- ^ [7] Eupedia : Distribution of European Y-chromosome DNA (Y-DNA) haplogroups by region in percentage
- ^ Jörg Jarnut, (Geschichte der Langobarden, Stuttgart 1982. ISBN 3-17-007515-2 (Storia dei Longobardi, Torino 1995)), and other scholars rate the Lombards' population around 150,000 individuals (35,000 of them conventionally considered combatants compared to an italian population at time possibly numbering at least around 3,000,000 of individuals in total); not all of them ethnically Lombards as there were also Saxons (20,000 according Paul the Deacon), Suebi and Gepides as Avars and some Bulgarians as Romans from Noricum and Pannonia amongst them, too. The Lombard aristocracy apparently maintained a strong germanic ethnical identity and consciousness but the commoners (the Middle class) were mixed and the Lower classes had a strong Roman element; still, amongst the Lombard leadership 3 of the 36 Dukes were ethnically Avars, not germanic.
- ^ [8] Phylogeography of Y-Chromosome Haplogroup I Reveals Distinct Domains of Prehistoric Gene Flow in Europe
- ^ [9] Y-chromosome Short Tandem Repeat DYS458.2 Non-consensus Alleles Occur Independently in Both Binary Haplogroups J1-M267 and R1b3- M405
- ^ Cruciani F. et al. (March 2004) Phylogeographic Analysis of Haplogroup E3b (E-M215) Y Chromosomes Reveals Multiple Migratory Events Within and Out Of Africa. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 2004 May; 74(5): 1014–1022
- ^ Plaza S. et al. (July 2003), Joining the pillars of Hercules: mtDNA sequences show multidirectional gene flow in the western Mediterranean. Annals of Human Genetics 67 (Pt 4): 312-28
- ^ Cruciani F. et al. (March 2007) Tracing Past Human Male Movements in Northern/Eastern Africa and Western Eurasia: New Clues from Y-Chromosomal Haplogroups E-M78 and J-M12. Mol. Biol. Evol. 24(6):1300–1311
- ^ [10] Distribution of European mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroups by region in percentage
- ^ [11] Chronological development of mtDNA haplogroups
- ^ 4/138=2.90% in Latium, 3/114=2.63% in Volterra, 2/92=2.20% in Basilicata and 3/154=2% in Sicily, Achilli et al.2007, Mitochondrial DNA Variation of Modern Tuscans Supports the Near Eastern Origin of Etruscans
- ^ [12] American Journal of Human Genetics : Mitochondrial Haplogroup U5b3: A Distant Echo of the Epipaleolithic in Italy and the Legacy of the Early Sardinians
- ^ Sardinian Population (Italy): a Genetic Review, International Journal of Modern Anthropology. 2008
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Categories: Population genetics | Modern human genetic history
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