[Fwd: [ArchTheoMeth] genes and languages--Kurds and Georgians]

[Geoffrey SUMMERS]

This came from the Archaeology and Theory list. There have been several
responses on that list, including an objection to the position that
Georgian and Basque are related.

Geoff

> Subject: [ArchTheoMeth] genes and languages--Kurds and Georgians
> Date: Fri, 1 Dec 2000 12:37:17 +0900
> From: "Mark Hall" <hall at nbz.or.jp>
> Reply-To: ArchaeologyTheoryMethod at egroups.com
> To: <ArchaeologyTheoryMethod at egroups.com>, <EuropeanArchaeology at egroups.com>,
>     <NEAsianStudies at egroups.com>

> Since it has come up repeatedly on this list and others, the equating of
> genes, pots, peoples and languages, an interesting article that hasn't seen
> much press is:

> Comas, Calafell, et al. (2000) Georgian and Kurd mtDNA sequence analysis
> shows a lack of correlation between languages and female genetic lineages,
> AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY Vol. 112, 5-16.

> In a quick summary, using 360 base pairs from the mtDNA sequence, they
> looked at the mtDNA from 45 Georgians and 29 Kurds.  Georgians are
> Kartvelian speakers while the Kurds are Indo-Iranian speakers. The
> genetic analysis points only to minor differences between the Georgians
> and Kurds and the rest of the European populations and very different
> from the Basque population (which Georgians are often linked to).  Their
> conclusion is the linking of European mtDNA with the Indo-European
> languages is seriously questioned.

> Best, Mark Hall

--
Geoffrey SUMMERS
Dept. of Political Science & Public Administration,
Middle East Technical University,
Ankara TR-06531, TURKEY.

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