Archaeogenetics
Archaeogenetics, a term coined by
Colin Renfrew, refers to the application of the techniques of
molecular genetics to the study of the
human past. This can involve:
- the analysis of DNA recovered from archaeological remains;
- the analysis of DNA from modern human populations in order to the history of that population, and;
- the application of statistical methods developed by molecular geneticists to archaeological data.
The topic has its origins in the study of
human blood groups and the realisation that this classical genetic marker provides information about
linguistic and
ethnic groupings. Early work in this field included that of Ludwik and Hanka Herschfeld, William Boyd and Arthur Mourant. From the
1960s onwards,
Luca Cavalli-Sforza used classical genetic markers to examine the population prehistory of Europe, culminating in the publication of
The History and Geography of Human Genes in
1994.
In 1987 Rebecca Cann, Mark Stoneking and A. C. Wilson published support for the Out of Africa hypothesis and introduced the idea of Mitochondrial Eve, based upon analysis of mitochondrial DNA in modern populations.
See also
Biomolecular archaeology
References
- Cann, R.L., Stoneking, M., and Wilson, A.C., 1987, Mitochondrial DNA and human evolution, Nature 325; pp 31-36
- Cavalli-Sforza, L. L., Menozzi, P., and Piazza, A., 1994, The History and Geography of Human Genes. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
- Renfrew, A.C., and Boyle, K.V., (Eds), 2000, Archaeogenetics: DNA and the population prehistory of Europe. Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research.
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