Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Identifying Genetic Traces of Historical Expansions : Phoenician Footprints in the Mediterranean

Zalloua, Pierre A. ; Platt, Daniel E. ; El Sibai, Mirvat ; Khalife, Jade LU orcid ; Makhoul, Nadine ; Haber, Marc ; Xue, Yali ; Izaabel, Hassan ; Bosch, Elena and Adams, Susan M. , et al. (2008) In American Journal of Human Genetics 83(5). p.633-642
Abstract

The Phoenicians were the dominant traders in the Mediterranean Sea two thousand to three thousand years ago and expanded from their homeland in the Levant to establish colonies and trading posts throughout the Mediterranean, but then they disappeared from history. We wished to identify their male genetic traces in modern populations. Therefore, we chose Phoenician-influenced sites on the basis of well-documented historical records and collected new Y-chromosomal data from 1330 men from six such sites, as well as comparative data from the literature. We then developed an analytical strategy to distinguish between lineages specifically associated with the Phoenicians and those spread by geographically similar but historically distinct... (More)

The Phoenicians were the dominant traders in the Mediterranean Sea two thousand to three thousand years ago and expanded from their homeland in the Levant to establish colonies and trading posts throughout the Mediterranean, but then they disappeared from history. We wished to identify their male genetic traces in modern populations. Therefore, we chose Phoenician-influenced sites on the basis of well-documented historical records and collected new Y-chromosomal data from 1330 men from six such sites, as well as comparative data from the literature. We then developed an analytical strategy to distinguish between lineages specifically associated with the Phoenicians and those spread by geographically similar but historically distinct events, such as the Neolithic, Greek, and Jewish expansions. This involved comparing historically documented Phoenician sites with neighboring non-Phoenician sites for the identification of weak but systematic signatures shared by the Phoenician sites that could not readily be explained by chance or by other expansions. From these comparisons, we found that haplogroup J2, in general, and six Y-STR haplotypes, in particular, exhibited a Phoenician signature that contributed > 6% to the modern Phoenician-influenced populations examined. Our methodology can be applied to any historically documented expansion in which contact and noncontact sites can be identified.

(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; and , et al. (More)
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; and (Less)
author collaboration
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
American Journal of Human Genetics
volume
83
issue
5
pages
10 pages
publisher
Cell Press
external identifiers
  • pmid:18976729
  • scopus:55249104277
ISSN
0002-9297
DOI
10.1016/j.ajhg.2008.10.012
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
fee44f6d-b952-4854-bacb-1195bfe74845
date added to LUP
2020-12-18 15:22:02
date last changed
2024-04-03 20:52:14
@article{fee44f6d-b952-4854-bacb-1195bfe74845,
  abstract     = {{<p>The Phoenicians were the dominant traders in the Mediterranean Sea two thousand to three thousand years ago and expanded from their homeland in the Levant to establish colonies and trading posts throughout the Mediterranean, but then they disappeared from history. We wished to identify their male genetic traces in modern populations. Therefore, we chose Phoenician-influenced sites on the basis of well-documented historical records and collected new Y-chromosomal data from 1330 men from six such sites, as well as comparative data from the literature. We then developed an analytical strategy to distinguish between lineages specifically associated with the Phoenicians and those spread by geographically similar but historically distinct events, such as the Neolithic, Greek, and Jewish expansions. This involved comparing historically documented Phoenician sites with neighboring non-Phoenician sites for the identification of weak but systematic signatures shared by the Phoenician sites that could not readily be explained by chance or by other expansions. From these comparisons, we found that haplogroup J2, in general, and six Y-STR haplotypes, in particular, exhibited a Phoenician signature that contributed &gt; 6% to the modern Phoenician-influenced populations examined. Our methodology can be applied to any historically documented expansion in which contact and noncontact sites can be identified.</p>}},
  author       = {{Zalloua, Pierre A. and Platt, Daniel E. and El Sibai, Mirvat and Khalife, Jade and Makhoul, Nadine and Haber, Marc and Xue, Yali and Izaabel, Hassan and Bosch, Elena and Adams, Susan M. and Arroyo, Eduardo and López-Parra, Ana María and Aler, Mercedes and Picornell, Antònia and Ramon, Misericordia and Jobling, Mark A. and Comas, David and Bertranpetit, Jaume and Wells, R. Spencer and Tyler-Smith, Chris}},
  issn         = {{0002-9297}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{11}},
  number       = {{5}},
  pages        = {{633--642}},
  publisher    = {{Cell Press}},
  series       = {{American Journal of Human Genetics}},
  title        = {{Identifying Genetic Traces of Historical Expansions : Phoenician Footprints in the Mediterranean}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ajhg.2008.10.012}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.ajhg.2008.10.012}},
  volume       = {{83}},
  year         = {{2008}},
}