Monday, November 1, 2021

A table representing ancestry proportions of Armenians who have four grandparents from the same region.

 A table representing ancestry proportions of Armenians who have four grandparents from the same region. Ancient DNA and averages from academic papers (Behar, Yunusbaev) are also included. It must be noted that this calculator is obsolete. Today there are more sensitive tools to measure ancestry proportions based on real ancient populations. I use this tool because the data there is more abundant.


The two most stable components, with low variance are the Gedrosia and Atlantic_Med. The first is related to ancient Iran Neolithic. As You can see the highest Gedrosia is found in NW Iranian sample from Hasanlu. While the Atlantic_Med is related to Anatolian Neolithic farmers and as expected the highest levels is found in Malatya Bronze Age. You can also notice that all sampled Armenians have lower Atlantic_Med than the ancient people from Malatya and Alalakh (Cilicia). And subsequently higher Gedrosia than the ancient samples from the same regions. But not higher than the level found in NW Iran and Armenia_LBA.


The components that show the highest variance are the SW_Asia, North Europe and Caucasus. The Caucasus component do not show any regional correlation. The Western Armenians have as much Caucasus as Eastern. And at last one person from Urfa do have even more than many Eastern Armenians. The erratic behavior of this component is due to fact that it is a very mixed component harbouring both Anatolian and Steppe alleles. Sometimes it can even mask alleles of non Caucasian origin like in the case of that person from Urfa.


The North Europe component do show regional pattern. It is higher in Eastern Armenia and reaches the lowest levels near the Euphrates river. But increases once more in Cilicia region for obvious historic reasons. North Europe is related to Steppe ( Yamna ) ancestry but is NOT equal to him. The real Yamna ancestry is probably higher by 3-5 percentage points depending of regions. As You can see in ancient Republic of Armenia it was very high while in ancient Malatya and Alalakh (Cilicia) it was zero, which is confirmed by other more advanced tools also. This high level of Steppe ancestry in ancient Republic of Armenia is explained by Middle Bronze Age (2400-1600bc) incursions from North via Caucasus. In the current stage of our knowledge the Y DNA R1b-Z2103 and I2-L596 were introduced to Armenia by this migrations. With time "North Europe" spread to west and south. In Early Iron Age ( after 1200 bc ) it was in most likelihood present in all historic Armenia and even outflows in nearby regions. It must be noted that those migrations from East/North to West/South also increased "Gedrosia" in Western Armenia. Starting from Urartian period (after 850bc) this trend reversed. Modern Republic had witnessed various episodes of gene flow from Southern parts of historic Armenia which diluted the Steppe and increased the SW_Asia in Eastern Armenia. While the Atlantic_Med remained stable.


The next component that show regional variability is the SW_Asia. This is a complex component partly related to Levant and partly to Anatolia and Fertile crescent in general. Western Armenians have more of it than Eastern ones for obvious geographic reasons. As You can see in the past this component was much higher in Malatya and Alalakh ( Cilicia ). And very low in modern Republic. Over time the intra Armenian migrations that I mentioned above had reduced the level of SW_Asia in Western Armenians and increased in East.


Other components worth to mention are the NW_Africa and South Asia. The NW_Africa is related to Levant and was present in ancient Malatya in higher proportions. While the South Asia is related to Iran Neolithic farmers and was much higher in ancient NW Iran.


In conclusion modern Armenians are much more homogenous and close to each others than the ancient inhabitants of Bronze Age historic Armenia and it's neighbourhood. This homogenization is due to common identity, language. But the traces of ancient events are still perceptible with thorough analysis.


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