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Chapter Eight - Genetic History of the Caucasus

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 January 2025

Aram Yardumian  and
Theodore G. Schurr
Aram Yardumian
Affiliation:
Bryn Athyn College, Pennsylvania
Theodore G. Schurr
Affiliation:
University of Pennsylvania
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Summary

This chapter reviews anthropological genetic inquiries into the population dynamics in the Caucasus. Genetic and genomic methods are introduced along with the problems of identifying specific regions of origins for genetic populations. Also discussed are the general genetic characteristics of the Caucasus and neigboring areas of the Near East and steppe; gene-language-geography studies; genetic affinities between Maikop kurgan burials and contemporary South Caucasus peoples; the phylogeography of maternal and paternal lineages in the Caucasus and western Asia; revelations about Caucasus prehistory derived from ancient genomics; the putative connection between the spread of farming, Indo-European languages, and Y-chromosome lineages; the timing of the split between Caucasus and European hunter-gatherer groups; and questions as to the role of Caucasus hunter-gatherers in the peopling of continental Europe.

Keywords

GeneticsgenomicsmtDNAY-chromosomeautosomal DNAhaplogrouphaplotypeadmixturephylogenycoalescence
Type
Chapter
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The Peopling of the Caucasus
Early Human Settlement at the Crossroads of Continents
 , pp. 115 - 201
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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