On Phonecian DNA

[davidb]

Came across these articles. Thought people might find interesting:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/dna-sequencing-of-ancient-phoenician-remains-could-make-us-reconsider-the-history-of-human-movement-a7048046.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3611457/Ancient-DNA-study-finds-Phoenician-Carthage-European-ancestry.html

Researchers from New Zealand's University of Otago believe the DNA of the man, who they call 'Young Man of Byrsa' or 'Archie', closely matches that of a particular modern day individual from Portugal.

According to lead study author Lisa Matisoo-Smith, a professor in the department of anatomy at New Zealand's University of Otago, the remains reveal the earliest known evidence in North Africa of a rare European genetic population, or haplogroup, known as U5b2c1.

However, previous research has found that U5b2c1 was present in two ancient hunter-gatherers recovered from an archaeological site in north-western Spain.

The team suggests their lineage remained north of the Mediterranean, even after Phoenicians arrived.

And their descendants then ended up in the north of Africa.

[Duncan Head]

The full paper is at http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0155046