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From: Bonnie Schrack <>
Subject: [DNA] New article on Etruscans
Date: Wed, 07 Feb 2007 22:25:05 -0500


I don't think I've seen this on the list -- hope I'm not duplicating a
posting.

Am. J. Hum. Genet., 80:000, 2007

Mitochondrial DNA Variation of Modern Tuscans Supports the Near Eastern
Origin of Etruscans

Alessandro Achilli, Anna Olivieri, Maria Pala, Ene Metspalu, Simona
Fornarino, Vincenza Battaglia, Matteo Accetturo, Ildus Kutuev, Elsa
Khusnutdinova, Erwan Pennarun, Nicoletta Cerutti, Cornelia Di Gaetano,
Francesca Crobu, Domenico Palli, Giuseppe Matullo, A. Silvana
Santachiara-Benerecetti, L. Luca Cavalli-Sforza, Ornella Semino, Richard
Villems, Hans-Jürgen Bandelt, Alberto Piazza, and Antonio Torroni

From the Dipartimento di Genetica e Microbiologia, Università di Pavia,
Pavia, Italy (A.A.; A.O.; M.P.; S.F.; V.B.; M.A.; A.S.S.-B.; O.S.;
A.T.); Department of Evolutionary Biology, University of Tartu and
Estonian Biocentre, Tartu, Estonia (E.M.; I.K.; E.P.; R.V.); Institute
of Biochemistry and Genetics, Ufa Science Center of Russian Academy of
Sciences, Ufa, Russia (I.K.; E.K.); Dipartimento di Genetica, Biologia e
Biochimica, Università di Torino, Torino, Italy (N.C.; C.D.G.; F.C.;
G.M.; A.P.); Molecular and Nutritional Epidemiology Unit, Center for the
Study and Prevention of Cancer–Scientific Institute of Tuscany Region,
Firenze, Italy (D.P.); Department of Genetics, Stanford University
School of Medicine, Stanford (L.L.C.-S.); and Department of Mathematics,
University of Hamburg, Hamburg (H.-J.B.)

Received October 25, 2006; accepted for publication January 10, 2007;
electronically published February 6, 2007.

The origin of the Etruscan people has been a source of major controversy
for the past 2,500 years, and several hypotheses have been proposed to
explain their language and sophisticated culture, including an
Aegean/Anatolian origin. To address this issue, we analyzed the
mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of 322 subjects from three well-defined areas
of Tuscany and compared their sequence variation with that of 55 western
Eurasian populations. Interpopulation comparisons reveal that the modern
population of Murlo, a small town of Etruscan origin, is characterized
by an unusually high frequency (17.5%) of Near Eastern mtDNA
haplogroups. Each of these haplogroups is represented by different
haplotypes, thus dismissing the possibility that the genetic allocation
of the Murlo people is due to drift. Other Tuscan populations do not
show the same striking feature; however, overall, ∼5% of mtDNA
haplotypes in Tuscany are shared exclusively between Tuscans and Near
Easterners and occupy terminal positions in the phylogeny. These
findings support a direct and rather recent genetic input from the Near
East—a scenario in agreement with the Lydian origin of Etruscans. Such a
genetic contribution has been extensively diluted by admixture, but it
appears that there are still locations in Tuscany, such as Murlo, where
traces of its arrival are easily detectable.
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Alert readers will note that some of the leading figures in mtDNA
research are listed as authors on this paper. Also note that it doesn't
seem to use ancient DNA to support its hypothesis. I haven't gotten the
article yet, but hopefully will soon.

Bonnie

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