title: Identifying genetic traces of historical expansions: Phoenician footprints in the Mediterranean.
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 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.
authors.affiliation: Lebanese American University, Chouran, Beirut 1102 2801, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Pierre A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Zalloua
authors.forename: Daniel E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Platt
authors.forename: Mirvat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: El Sibai
authors.forename: Jade
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Khalife
authors.forename: Nadine
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Makhoul
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Haber
authors.forename: Yali
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.forename: Hassan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Izaabel
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bosch
authors.forename: Susan M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Adams
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Arroyo
authors.forename: Ana María
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: López-Parra
authors.forename: Mercedes
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aler
authors.forename: Antònia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Picornell
authors.forename: Misericordia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ramon
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Jobling
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Comas
authors.forename: Jaume
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bertranpetit
authors.forename: R Spencer
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Wells
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tyler-Smith
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D041322:Chromosomes, Human, Y; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000235:genetics; D005787:Gene Frequency; D005828:Genetics, Population; D005843:Geography; D006239:Haplotypes; D049690:History, Ancient; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008522:Mediterranean Sea; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D011157:Population Dynamics