CLAUDIO, Faraone e Imperatore Romano

Gli archeologi europei hanno scoperto, a 20 km a nord di Luxor, una pietra del tempio di Iside a Shanur (costruito durante l'occupazione romana: 30 a.C-390 d.C.) decorata con incisioni rappresentanti Claudio, imperatore romano, vestito come un faraone. Nell'incisione, Claudio regge un gigantesco palo - riferibile al dio Min della fertilità. 
Le scene incise erano 36, ma questa appena scoperta è una delle meglio conservate.
Claudio (41-50 d.C.) non si recò mai in Egitto, ma nell'incisione è descritto come : "Figlio di Ra,  Signore delle Corone, Re dell'alto e Basso Egitto, signore delle due Terre".
Il dio Min dichiara a Claudio: "Ti do le terre straniere del Sud".

I Claudius, Roman emperor and Egyptian pharaoh 





A team of European researchers has found an ancient stone that has the carvings of Roman emperor Claudius dressed as an Egyptian pharaoh. 

Claudius performing rituals before God Min. Temple of Isis at Shanhur, Egypt

 [Credit: Marleen De Meyer/Troy Sagrillo] 

The stone was discovered on the wall of the Temple of Isis at Shanhur, an Egyptian temple built during the Roman occupation (30 BC to 390 AD), located on the east bank of the Nile River, about 20km north of Luxor. 
In the carving, Claudius, the Roman emperor from 41 to 54 AD, is wearing an elaborate crown such as the ones ancient Egyptian rulers used to wear, according to the finding published in the Journal of Egyptian Language and Archaeology (ZAS), Discovery News reported. 
Archaeologists are of the opinion that such crowns were worn only in Egypt. 
Moreover, Claudius' depiction on the carving indicates some ritual that may have taken place at the temple, though archaeologists say Claudius never visited Egypt. 
The Roman emperor is shown raising a giant pole, which according to the hieroglyphs on the carving is the pole of the chapel of Min, the ancient Egyptian god of fertility.
The hieroglyphs mention a date suggesting the time the pole raising ritual took place. 
The Egyptian hieroglyphs further describe Claudius as the "Son of Ra, Lord of the Crowns," and as the "King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Lord of the Two Lands." 
In the hieroglyphs, Min, who is described as, "the one who brings into control the warhorses, whose fear is in the Two Lands," tells Claudius, "I give you the (southern) foreign lands." 
According to archaeologists, the Temple of Isis originally had 36 scenes on each of its walls but this newly found pole-raising scene is one of the best preserved. 

Source: International Business Times [March 27, 2014]

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Zeppara e Solarussa

articolo di Massimo Pittau.

Zeppara (TZéppara) - Villaggetto presso Ales. (prov. di Oristano).
Il toponimo trova riscontro in altri 7 toponimi uguali di Baressa, Barumini, Genoni, Gonnosfanadiga, Guspini, Narbolia, Villaverde, e negli altri Sebera (Ortacesus), Zepparedda (Tuili), TZeppere (Ittiri), Zeparàgiu (Villagrande Strisaili). Teppera (Scanu M.), Teppero (Villanova Monteleone), Tèpparo (Tresnuraghes), Tèppore (Montresta; forse al plur. come indizia il medievale Theppar (CSMB 173) (PLS 121-128).

Esso è da riportare all’appellativo sèbera, sèpera, cèbera, tzèpera, tzèpara, tèpera (anche -pp-) «ghiaia, ciottolame, pietrame, pietraia, collina pietrosa», che è un relitto sardiano o protosardo, probabilmente da confrontare – non derivare – col lat. saburra «zavorra di imbarcazione» (costituita da ciottolame) (già prospettato come di origine etrusca; DELL, DELI, DICLE), antroponimo Saburra, Sabbura (LEN) (suffisso -rr-) .

Il villaggio compare fra le parrocchie della diocesi di Usellus che nella metà del sec. XIV versavano le decime alla curia romana (RDS 1384, 1647, 1853, 2300, 2802) e inoltre tra i villaggi che sottoscrissero la pace fra Eleonora d’Arborea e Giovanni d’Aragona del 1388 (CDS I 841/2) come Cepera. Ed è citato anche nella Chorographia Sardiniae (202.17) di G. F. Fara (anni 1580-1589) come oppidum Zepparae. - Anche le altre Zeppara sono citate in documenti medioevali, ma la loro esatta identificazione non è sempre facile ed è da farsi di volta in volta.

Solarussa (pronunzia locale Sabharússa) (villaggio del Campidano di Oristano) 

Anche per questo toponimo c’è da dire che, se non si conoscessero le sue antiche attestazioni, neppure il più preparato e più geniale dei linguisti sarebbe in grado di scoprirne l’etimologia (cfr. Santadi).

Nel Condaghe di Bonarcado questo toponimo compare nelle forme di Solarussa, Solagrussa, Solarusa e infine di Cebera grussa (CSMB 25, 28, 32, 68, 172). Considerato che le schede di questo condaghe hanno subìto notevoli rimescolamenti, non è illegittimo considerare come forma più antica quella di Cebera grussa. Il primo componente del nostro toponimo è da connettere con l’appellativo sèbera, sèpera, cèbera, tzèpera, tzèpara, tèpera (anche -pp-) «ghiaia, ciottolame, pietrame, pietraia», relitto sardiano o protosardo, probabilmente da confrontare – non derivare – col lat. saburra «zavorra di imbarcazione» (costituita da ciottolame) (già prospettato come di origine etrusca; DELL, DELI, DICLE), antroponimo (suffisso -rr-) (cfr. Zeppara).

Il secondo componente corrisponde all’aggettivo grussu, russu-a «grosso-a», che deriva dal lat. grussus per grossus (DILS). Pertanto Cebera grussa o Solarussa significa «ghiaia grossa», con un significato che trova riscontro esatto nelle caratteristiche geomorfiche della zona in cui è situato il villaggio: pianura alluvionale del basso Tirso, caratterizzata da abbondante materiale ghiaioso, il quale, inoltre, assume spesso la forma di “cumuli o mammelloni di ghiaia”(LCS I 123).

Il nostro villaggio compare in un documento del Codex Diplomaticus Sardiniae dell’anno 1187 e in un altro del 1336 (CDS I 261/1, 705/2). Poi compare parecchie volte tra le parrocchie della diocesi di Arborea che nella metà del sec. XIV versavano le decime alla curia romana (RDS) e inoltre figura tra i villaggi che sottoscrissero l’atto di pace fra Eleonora d’Arborea e Giovanni d’Aragona del 1388 (CDS I 842/2, 843/2).

Ed è citato pure nella Chorographia Sardiniae (136.35; 194.20) di G. F. Fara (anni 1580-1589) come oppidum Solarussae.

*Per ulteriori informazioni sugli appellativi citati si veda l’opera di Massimo Pittau, Nuovo Vocabolario della Lingua Sarda – fraseologico ed etimologico, edizione digitale accrescita ed emendata, “Ipazia Books”, 2014 (Amazon). In quest’opera di trova anche la spiegazione delle abbreviazioni e delle sigle della bibliografia studiata.

Giganti d'argilla?

Una riunione segreta urgente

Una testa da Monti Prama.

Che strano intreccio può mai unire un noto (ma per il momento, ancora innominabile) avvocato cagliaritano, il Museo Nazionale Etrusco di Villa Giulia, il Museo Etnografico Pigorini di Roma e le statue di Monti Prama? Oltre a qualche altro notabile, per il momento non noto, dell'Archeologia Nazionale?

Si tratta di indiscrezioni e mezze parole, per ora: tutto è ancora un'illazione, una maligna voce di corridoio, un'ipotesi oltraggiosa...
Ma la storia promette di fare molto rumore, in ogni modo.

Premesse.
Il 16 marzo scorso, all'informale 'cerimonia' tra pochi intimi, tenutasi in occasione della chiusura della mostra audiovisiva "La Sardegna dei 10.000 Nuraghi" (conclusasi con esito giudicato piuttosto positivo dalla Sopraintendenza), tenutasi presso il Museo di Villa Giulia, pare si siano riunite - e con molta preoccupazione - le autorità del mondo archeologico, intervenute segretamente per colpa di un'esplosiva voce di corridoio uscita da un laboratorio radiologico.

Sembra che fossero mosse da un'urgente ed incredibile necessità, che - se venisse confermata - potrebbe sconvolgere radicalmente molti piani programmatici, porre termine a numerose carriere accademiche e mandare al macero svariati quintali di guide ed opuscoli turistici.

Il 'fatto'.
Tutta la questione sarebbe stata scatenata da un reperto radiologico occasionale, eseguito in tutta fretta e segreto presso un noto ed esclusivo studio radiologico, per una ipotetica 'fratturina' forse prodottasi in un reperto nel corso del trasporto...

Per quanto oltraggioso possa sembrare, parrebbe (il condizionale è d'obbligo!) che uno dei reperti di Monti Prama in mostra a Villa Giulia contenga un'anima metallica.

Ipotetica riproduzione di cima di Nuraghe, da Monti Prama.

Dato che ciò dovrebbe essere impossibile, per una scultura ricavata a tutto tondo dalla pietra, in presenza di quello che parrebbe prendere tutte le forme di un clamoroso falso, si è procdeuto d'urgenza a raschiare un po' di materiale dalla scultura e a farlo analizzare.

Una voce falsa, chiacchiere da bar.

La 'voce' sarebbe probabilmente sfuggita - confidenzialmente, tra amici - ad un tecnico di laboratorio.

Il tutto potrebbe anche non avere affatto rilevanza e non corrispondere in alcun modo al vero.

Dato che - da subito - è stato tutto impostato come una chiacchiera da bar tra amici: il tecnico sarebbe un tifoso interista romano e dopo qualche aperitivo si sarebbe 'lamentato' dei colori originari delle statue (rosso e nero, ndr.) che "sono quelli di una società falsa e raccomandata e quindi è giusto così, che siano false anche le statue". Gli amici lo avrebbero spinto a dire di più...

Lo studio negherebbe e si trincera dietro un 'no comment': non fanno radiografie a statue e radiografano solo pazienti...

Il tecnico sarebbe introvabile: partito in vacanza. Non prima, sembra, di avere rilasciato ad amici fidati altre notizie, forse inventate anch'esse di sana pianta.

Invece di ottenere una risposta confermante il materiale ipotizzato (pietra arenaria locale sarda, 'dolce' e quindi facilmente aggredibile dal punto di vista scultoreo anche con attrezzi primitivi) la risposta dell'analisi chimica sarebbe stata quanto mai inaspettata e deludente. 

Si tratterebbe di materiale d'impasto, con sostegno metallico interno: probabilmente un 'tondino' di 5 mm di diametro. Il tutto sarebbe stato lavorato in modo da sembrare frammentato da originali interi scolpiti in arenaria e da non mostrare l'anima metallica.

Conclusioni (per il momento).
La cosa, naturalmente è del tutto inconcepibile: chi andrebbe mai a produrre così tante migliaia di falsi? 
Si ricorda che le statue dei cosiddetti "Giganti di Monti Prama" sono state rinvenute in numerosissimi frammenti, che hanno richiesto anni per una lenta e paziente opera di ricostruzione in un laboratorio del Sinis. Possibile che nessuno si sia accorto di nulla?
Non sembra verosimile.
 Ma se siamo di fronte ad un falso, sarebbe il più clamoroso falso italiano dopo quello delle teste di Modigliani e sarebbe - in tutti i sensi - più grande in assoluto, anche in considerazione della mole - veramente enorme - del lavoro.

Nei prossimi giorni, probabilmente, ne sapremo di più. Fonti bene informate - che per ora intendono restare anonime - potrebbero uscire allo scoperto con altre notizie. O potrebbero anche tacere, se superate dall'evidenza dei fatti di cronaca...

Ex Oriente Bos

Ancient African cattle 

first domesticated 

in Middle East

 Geneticists and anthropologists previously suspected that ancient Africans domesticated cattle native to the African continent nearly 10,000 years ago. 

Now, a team of University of Missouri researchers has completed the genetic history of 134 cattle breeds from around the world. In the process of completing this history, they found that ancient domesticated African cattle originated in the "Fertile Crescent," a region that covered modern day Iraq, Jordan, Syria and Israel. 

Kuri-Rinder cattle from the Buduma Area of West Africa 

[Credit: British White Cattle] 

In their study published in PLOS Genetics, Prof. Decker (University of Missouri) and a team of international researchers compared the similarities and differences among the genetics of many different cattle breeds to determine how the breeds are related. 
Their research found mixing of native cattle in Indonesia with imports from India, European and African cattle in Italy and Spain, and European and Asian cattle in Korea and Japan. 

The MU researchers also determined that unique American cattle breeds, such as Texas longhorns, are the result of breeding between Spanish cattle, transported from Europe by explorers in the 16th century, and breeds of Zebu, or Brahman cattle from India imported into the U.S. from Brazil in the late 1800s. 

Decker says these discoveries help advance genetics and uncover important information about human history. Prof. Decker says the genetics of these African cattle breeds are similar to those of cattle first domesticated in the Middle East nearly 10,000 years ago, proving that those cattle were brought to Africa as farmers migrated south. 

Those cattle then interbred with wild cattle, or aurochs, which were native to the region, and changed their genetic makeup enough to confuse geneticists. "In many ways, the history of cattle genetics mirrors human history," Decker said.

"In the case of African cattle, anthropologists and geneticists used to suspect that domesticated African cattle were native to the continent, when in fact, they were brought by migrating peoples thousands of years ago.

By better understanding the history of the animals we domesticate, we can better understand ourselves." 
Decker also said that cattle breeding is important for animal farmers looking to maximize their herds' meat and dairy production. 
He says that understanding the genetic history of cattle breeds is important when looking for solutions to agricultural issues. 

"Now that we have this more complete genetic history of cattle worldwide, we can better understand the diversity of the species," Decker said. 
"By understanding the variations present, we can improve cattle for agricultural purposes, whether that is through breeding more disease-resistant animals or finding ways to increase dairy or beef production." 

Source: Public Library of Science [March 27, 2014]

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Human Evolution

Genetic markers 

provide unprecedented primate link 

in human evolution 

 Genetics provides stunning new answers to the question of human evolution, according to Auckland cancer researcher, Dr Graeme Finlay. 

Brain Tumors Genetic Markers [Credit: University of Nottingham] 

Genetic markers that are used to follow the development of populations of cells have exactly the same character as those that track the development of species, says Dr Finlay who has just published a book on genetics and human evolution. 
His book, 'Human Evolution: Genes, Genealogies and Phylogenies', was published by Cambridge University Press late last year. 
Dr Finlay is senior lecturer in Scientific Pathology at the Department of Molecular Medicine and Pathology, and an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the Auckland Cancer Society Research Centre, in the University of Auckland.
 "Controversy over human evolution remains widespread, but the human genome project and genetic sequencing of many other species have provided myriad precise and unambiguous genetic markers that establish our evolutionary relationships with other mammals," says Dr Finlay. 
This book identifies and explains these identifiable, rare and complex markers including endogenous retroviruses, genome-modifying transposable elements, gene-disabling mutations, segmental duplications and gene-enabling mutations. 
These new genetic tools also provide fascinating insights into when and how many features of human biology arose: from aspects of placental structure, vitamin C dependence and trichromatic vision, to tendencies to gout, cardiovascular disease and cancer. 
The book brings together a decade's worth of research and ties it together to provide an overwhelming argument for the mammalian ancestry of the human species. 
Dr Finlay says he hopes the book will be of interest to professional scientists, undergraduate and college students in both the biological and biomedical sciences, and to anyone including theologians concerned with the scientific evidences for evolution. 
He says when he entered University he was fascinated by cells and DNA, but had no interest in evolution.   "I was aware of conflict over evolution from people who were very suspicious of science and I found a lot of their arguments were very disturbing because they were simply not true," he says.



 "In my early days as a cancer researcher, the early 1980s, a whole new understanding of cancer arose, from people working with a type of viruses called retroviruses. These are viruses that are very cunning parasites." "I read avidly about retroviruses because they were telling us so much about the genes that cause cancer. 
That was in the days when the AIDS virus was discovered and also a leukaemia virus was discovered, and they are both retroviruses too. They were fascinating times," says Dr Finlay. "As part of that reading, I stumbled on the fact that we all inherit pieces of retroviral DNA in our genomes," he says.
"They are part of our genomic structure. In fact eight per cent of our genome is contributed by retroviruses, whose strategy is to insert their DNA into our DNA," he says. 
"To discover that we share particular retroviral sequences with chimps, gorillas, orang-utans, gibbons and other primates, was to me extraordinary, because it was an overwhelming demonstration of common ancestry." "I've spent a bit of time writing and trying to spread these ideas in church circles. I decided we need a book so people can really appreciate the compelling nature of the evidence," says Dr Finlay. Finlay is himself a Christian and believes that there are excellent theological reasons why the evolution of the created order should be acceptable to all Christians. 

"This book was the result and was extended into other areas, like jumping genes that make up another 40 per cent of our DNA and have just been accumulating there over our evolutionary history." 
"Jumping genes are like tiny little parasites that insert themselves into our DNA and every now and again they copy and paste. Some cut and paste. 
Again we share millions of those with chimps and other primates," he says. "And this is even more interesting because we share some with rats and mice, bats and whales. It enables us to develop very extensive evolutionary family trees." 
He says it is the same logic in cancer research, because jumping genes are increasingly implicated in cancer.

They also establish how you can map out the development of cancers. "You can work out the evolution of cancers, by looking at how cancer cells express genetic markers. They indicate, for example that most cancers are monoclonal. The cells might share a single mutation, so you know they came from a single cell in which that mutation occurred." 


Source: University of Auckland [March 27, 2014]

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A chi restituire gli ori della Crimea?

E' certamente uno dei problemi minori della presente e confusa situazione, ma sta creando grande imbarazzo fra gli 'addetti ai lavori' del Museo di Amsterdam. 
Gli ori degli Sciti sono in mostra lì e sono costituiti da materiale proveniente da ben cinque musei ukraini, di cui quattro della Crimea. 
Le autorità del Museo olandese - dovendole restituire, alla chiusura della mostra itinerante - si sono rivolte al Ministro degli Esteri olandese, per averne dei lumi. Il problema legale internazionale è allo studio.


Ancient Crimean gold caught in legal limbo 



 Scythian gold and other rare artefacts from Crimea on loan to an Amsterdam museum are in legal limbo after Russia’s annexation of the peninsula. The archaeological museum of the University of Amsterdam has asked the Dutch ministry of foreign affairs for advice and is consulting lawyers about the artefacts, which were due to return to Ukraine when a touring exhibition now at the Allard Pierson Museum closes. 

Objects on view in the exhibition “The Crimea—Gold and Secrets of the Black Sea

 [Credit: University of Amsterdam] 

A spokesman for the university tells The Art Newspaper: “The Allard Pierson Museum considers it extremely important to exercise care in this situation.” 

The objects will remain in the Netherlands for at least the duration of the exhibition, he says, which had been extended from May to August. "Given the complexity of the issue, the manner in which the objects will be returned is currently being investigated by the legal advisers of the university,” he says. 

The artefacts came to the Netherlands based on loan agreements that were concluded prior to the political upheaval in Ukraine and the recent change of power in Crimea. The show opened in Amsterdam in February, having travelled from Bonn in Germany. Mikhail Piotrovsky, the director of the State Hermitage Museum, told journalists in St Petersburg on Tuesday that it is unclear what will happen to the works on display in the exhibition “The Crimea—Gold and Secrets of the Black Sea”. 

The show features ancient jewellery and armour on loan from five Ukrainian museums, including four in the Crimean peninsula. A controversial referendum in Crimea on 16 March saw a 96% vote in favour of joining the Russian Federation. “The objects from the Kerch museum, which is in Crimea, have been exhibited in Holland and are supposed to return,” Piotrovsky told local media in St Petersburg. 

“A difficult problem arises. On the one hand, legally, everything is against the [Kerch] museum. On the other hand, these objects belong to the museum. We will work out an agreement on how the museum will get them back,” Piotrovsky said. 
The Hermitage was not involved in the exhibition. The St Petersburg museum’s collection includes Scythian gold, however, and it has a branch in Amsterdam. Valentina Mordvintseva, an archaeologist from the Crimean branch of the Institute of Archaeology of the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences, who helped organise the show, says it explores “the interaction and diversity of cultures on the Crimean peninsula in the period from the seventh century BC to the seventh century AD”. 
Highlights include a group of first century AD Chinese lacquer boxes found at a Crimean burial site along with bronze Roman vessels: “This is the westernmost find of Chinese lacquer in the world, which indicates the long-distance contact of various ancient peoples; for all practical purposes, it shows the ties between two great empires—China and Rome.” Mordvtinseva told Russia’s NTV news channel that breaking up Crimea’s collections would be a fatal move. “This is murder, both for the objects and for the museum,” she said. 

Author: Sophia Kishkovsky 

 Source: The Art Newspaper [March 27, 2014]

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Costolette di mammut.

L'osservazione (recente) che i resti di Mammut presentano coste cervicali con frequenza dieci volte superiore (33,3%) a quella degli odierni elefanti (3,3%), insieme al fatto che tale presenza è in genere dovuta ad inbreeding (riproduzione tra consanguinei) e a gravidanza in cattive condizioni climatiche, ha fatto pensare che i resti di mammut rinvenuti fossero quelli di una popolazione spinta ormai sulla via del declino e dell'estinzione.

In genere, i mammifero (includendo quelli dal collo lungo - come le giraffe - e quelli apparentemente privi di collo - come i delfini-) possiedono 7 vertebre cervicali (con alcune eccezioni: il dudongo, i manatidi ed il bradipo), che sono prive di coste. Il reperimento di una costa cervicale (una costa che è connessa e si articola con una vertebra cervicale) è sempre un evento curioso. 
Le vertebre cervicali, di per sé, non dovrebbero essere dannose (salvo produrre problemi vascolari, talvolta una vera sindrome patologica).
Ma in genere si associano ad altre malformazioni che possono alterare il benessere e la longevità del soggetto portatore.

E' questa l'ipotesi di lavoro dei ricercatori  del Rotterdam Museum of Natural History e del  Naturalis Biodiversity Center di Leiden.

Oh, però: venite numerosi! Non affettiamo il nostro mammut solo  per una o due porzioni...

Neck ribs in woolly mammoths 

provide clues about their decline and extinction 





Researchers recently noticed that the remains of woolly mammoths from the North Sea often possess a 'cervical' (neck) rib—in fact, 10 times more frequently than in modern elephants (33.3% versus 3.3%). 
In modern animals, these cervical ribs are often associated with inbreeding and adverse environmental conditions during pregnancy. If the same factors were behind the anomalies in mammoths, this reproductive stress could have further pushed declining mammoth populations towards ultimate extinction. 

The arrow indicates a large articulation facet of a cervical rib on a fossil cervical vertebra of a woolly mammoth of the Natural History Museum Rotterdam

[Credit: Joris van Alphen]

 Mammals, even the long-necked giraffes and the short-necked dolphins, almost always have seven neck vertebrae (exceptions being sloths, manatees and dugongs), and these vertebrae do not normally possess a rib. 
Therefore, the presence of a 'cervical rib' (a rib attached to a cervical vertebra) is an unusual event, and is cause for further investigation. A cervical rib itself is relatively harmless, but its development often follows genetic or environmental disturbances during early embryonic development.
 As a result, cervical ribs in most mammals are strongly associated with stillbirths and multiple congenital abnormalities that negatively impact the lifespan of an individual. 

Researchers from the Rotterdam Museum of Natural History and the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden examined mammoth and modern elephant neck vertebrae from several European museum collections.
 "It had aroused our curiosity to find two cervical vertebrae, with large articulation facets for ribs, in the mammoth samples recently dredged from the North Sea. 
We knew these were just about the last mammoths living there, so we suspected something was happening. Our work now shows that there was indeed a problem in this population", said Jelle Reumer, one of the authors on the study published today in the open access journal PeerJ. 
 The incidence of abnormal cervical vertebrae in mammoths is much higher than in the modern sample, strongly suggesting a vulnerable condition in the species. 
Potential factors could include inbreeding (in what is assumed to have been an already small population) as well as harsh conditions such as disease, famine, or cold, all of which can lead to disturbances of embryonic and fetal development.
 Given the considerable birth defects that are associated with this condition, it is very possible that developmental abnormalities contributed towards the eventual extinction of these late Pleistocene mammoths. 

Source: PeerJ [March 25, 2014]

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Aplogruppo E ed Afro-Asiatici

Le evidenze paleoontologiche ed archeologiche indicano l'Africa orientale come l'area più probabile nella quale avvenne l'evoluzione dell'Uomo Moderno. Gli studi genetici indicano anch'essi che le popolazioni della regione spesso includono - seppure non esclusivamente -  una rappresentanza dei cladi delle linee filogenetiche più fondamentali mitocondriali e Y.  La maggior parte della diversità dell'aplogruppo Y in Africa - comunque - si trova all'interno del macroaplogruppo E, che sembra essere apparso in un periodo compreso tra i 21.000 e i 32.000 anni prima d'oggi (YBP), in una località sita tra il Mar Rosso ed il Lago Ciad. L'analisi combinata dei 17 marcatori bi-allelici in 1214 cromosomi Y insieme al background culturale di 49 popolazioni [osservate da varie angolazioni: network, multidimensional scaling, analisi della componente principale, neighbor-joining plots), indicano il contributo maggiore di  Popolazioni est africane nella fondazione del macroaplogruppo, suggerendo una diversificazione che è precedente alla comparsa di alcuni tratti culturali e linguistici attuali ed alla conseguente espansione territoriale. Il gruppo proto-Afro-Asiatico vettore della mutazione E-P2 può essere comparso a questo punto ed avere successivamente dato origine ai differenti gruppi maggiori di popolazione, inclusi gli attuali parlanti lingue Afro-Asiatiche e le popolazioni di pastoralisti.

Article

European Journal of Human Genetics advance online publication 26 March 2014; doi: 10.1038/ejhg.2014.41

Y-chromosome E haplogroups: their distribution and implication to the origin of Afro-Asiatic languages and pastoralism
^EJHGOpen

Eyoab I Gebremeskel^1,2 and Muntaser E Ibrahim¹

1. ¹Department of Molecular Biology, Institute of Endemic Diseases, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan
2. ²Department of Biology, Eritrea Institute of Technology, Mai-Nefhi, Eritrea

Correspondence: Professor ME Ibrahim, Department of Molecular Biology, Institute of Endemic Diseases, University of Khartoum, PO Box 102, Qasser Street, Khartoum 11111, Sudan. Tel: +249 912576418; Fax: +249 9183793263; E-mail: mibrahim@iend.org

Received 27 June 2013; Revised 11 February 2014; Accepted 13 February 2014
Advance online publication 26 March 2014

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Abstract

Archeological and paleontological evidences point to East Africa as the likely area of early evolution of modern humans. Genetic studies also indicate that populations from the region often contain, but not exclusively, representatives of the more basal clades of mitochondrial and Y-chromosome phylogenies. Most Y-chromosome haplogroup diversity in Africa, however, is present within macrohaplogroup E that seem to have appeared 21 000–32 000 YBP somewhere between the Red Sea and Lake Chad. The combined analysis of 17 bi-allelic markers in 1214 Y chromosomes together with cultural background of 49 populations displayed in various metrics: network, multidimensional scaling, principal component analysis and neighbor-joining plots, indicate a major contribution of East African populations to the foundation of the macrohaplogroup, suggesting a diversification that predates the appearance of some cultural traits and the subsequent expansion that is more associated with the cultural and linguistic diversity witnessed today. The proto-Afro-Asiatic group carrying the E-P2 mutation may have appeared at this point in time and subsequently gave rise to the different major population groups including current speakers of the Afro-Asiatic languages and pastoralist populations.

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Introduction

Polymorphisms like bi-allelic mutations associated with the male-specific Y (MSY) chromosome portion, are important tools that proved essential in addressing aspects of human ancestry, migration episodes¹ and testing coalescence processes.² Interestingly, some bi-allelic markers of the Y chromosome not only have geographically defined distributions, but are also associated with certain facets of human culture like languages^3, 4 and practice of pastoralism⁵ all of which contribute to the phenomenon of genetic drift, probably the most single key element in shaping population genetic structures.⁶ Intuitively, the high correlation between geographical distribution of some of the major E haplogroups and distribution of Afro-Asiatic languages, exemplary of established correlation between languages and genes as proposed by Cavalli-Sforza^7, 8 prompted us to revisit such correlation in a multidisciplinary platform better suited to unravel hitherto untold chapters of human history. No better venue to put such approach into practice than the area of the Sahel and East Africa. The Sahel, which extends from the Atlantic to the Red Sea coast of Sudan and Eritrea and the Ethiopian highlands including fringes of the Sahara, has witnessed human population demographic events that were pivotal in prehistoric and historic periods of human history. Early occupation by Homo sapiens of the Red Sea coast of Eritrea,^{9, 10, 11, 12, 13} and evidences of traces of earlier urban settlements in much of Eritrea^14, 15, 16 are some of the archaeological and paleontological evidences that suggest a major contribution of this area to prehistory and migration including the exodus of anatomically modern humans to Eurasia. Furthermore, in addition to the area being strikingly rich in genetic and linguistic diversity, it is one of the few remaining enclaves of traditional pastoralism, a dying human culture.¹⁷ Although suggestions has been made that East Africa is the likely place of origin of Y-chromosome haplogroups including the major E haplogroups, yet key questions on human origin and dispersal remain not fully addressed. One query, however, is whether the major macrohaplogroup E present almost in all continents and with particularly high frequency in East and North Africa in plethora of ancestral lineages, because of gene flow or an original early event of in situ evolution. Although a lot has been done to refine the E macrohaplogroup tree, sampling representative populations, like Eritreans, may still shed light on new dimensions of the history of populations bearing these mutations. Despite a single attempt to study Eritrean populations from the diaspora,¹⁸ no systematic analysis has been done so far to address the genetic diversity of extant Eritrean populations pertinent to questions like the origin of the Afro-Asiatic languages and pastoralism in light of the distribution of E macrohaplogroup as a case study.

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Materials and methods

Y-chromosome genotyping of bi-allelic markers

A total of 1214 Y chromosomes, positive for E haplogroups, were considered in the analysis. Out of an original sample of Eritrean males screened, 39 Y chromosomes (49%) turned to be positive for E markers and were included in the analysis. The language affiliation and present or past history of the populations analyzed are given in Supplementary Table S1. The culture is taken within the context of the current linguistic affiliation and information of past and present subsistence practices. The history of pastoralism is not restricted to cattle as it has been shown that livestock may change according to environment as the case with Baggara Arabs who were originally camel herders turned to cattle. Appropriate informed consent was obtained from all participants. DNA samples were obtained from buccal specimen using phosphate-buffered saline and DNA extraction was carried out according to Miller et al,¹⁹ with minor modifications. The bi-allelic variability at Y-chromosome-specific polymorphisms E-M107, E-M123, E-M148, E-M191/P86, E-M200, E-M281, E-M329, E-M33, E-M34, E-M54, E-M81, E-P72, E-U175, E-V19, E-V32, E-V6 (Y Chromosome Consortium (YCC), 2008),²⁰ and E-M 78²¹ were used to generate MSY chromosome haplotypes. Primers for genotyping were selected according to Karafet et al²⁰ and Underhill et al²² and the references herewith. Most of the genotyping was done at BGI Laboratory (Hong Kong, China). Published data of African, Asian and European populations^{22,23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34} were used alongside population data from this study for comparative analysis.

Y-chromosome haplogroup tree

The Y-chromosome haplogroup tree has been constructed manually following YCC 2008 nomenclature²⁰ with some modifications.³⁵ The tree (Supplementary Figure S1) contains the E haplogroups of Eritrean populations from this study and those reported in the literature.^{22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34} Genotyping results for E-V13, E-V12, E-V22 and E-V32 reported for Eritrean samples and elsewhere^23, 27 were retracted to E-M78 haplogroup level. All the analyses in this study were done at the same resolution using the following 17 bi-allelic markers: E-M96, E-M33, E-P2, E-M2, E-M58, E-M191, E-M154, E-M329, E-M215, E-M35, E-M78, E-M81, E-M123, E-M34, E-V6, E-V16/E-M281 and E-M75.

Phylogenetic analysis

Median-joining network (Figure 1) was constructed using Network 4.6.1.1. (http://www.fluxus-engineering.com) program.³⁶ Effective mutation rate of 3.8–4.4 × 10⁻⁴ mutations/nucleotide/generation³⁷ was used in estimating the divergence time of the populations using Network program.

Figure 1.

Median-joining (MJ) network. Network manipulated to fit the geography of the extant populations. MJ network was constructed using E haplogroup frequencies. Group represented by ITAL contains all the Italian samples pooled. Populations’ descriptions are given in Supplementary Table S1.

Full figure and legend (134K)

A neighbor-joining (NJ) tree (Figure 2) was constructed³⁸ and evolutionary analysis was conducted using MEGA5 (Tamura et al³⁹).

Figure 2.

NJ tree based on FST values generated from Arlequin 3.11. Population names are as given in Supplementary Table S1. Population life style: circle – agriculturalists; square – pastoralists; triangle – nomads; inverted triangle – nomadic pastoralists; diamond – agro-pastoralists. The populations are colored according to their language family: red – Afro-asiatic; blue – Nilo-Saharan; green – Niger-Kordofanian; yellow – Khoisan; black – Italic and Basque.

Full figure and legend (83K)

Genetic structure and population differentiations

Multi-dimensional scaling (MDS) and principal component analysis (PCA) were performed by using PAST (paleontological statistics) algorithms version 2.11 software (available online at http://folk.uio.no/ohammer/past)⁴⁰ based on FSTvalues generated from Arlequin ver3.11 program.⁴¹ Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) was performed to verify statistical differences between linguistic and geographic groups. Haplotype frequencies and molecular differences of Y chromosome among haplogroups were taken into account. FST values were calculated based on the number of pairwise differences between Y-chromosome haplogroups. All calculations were performed using Arlequin version 3.11 (Excoffieret al⁴¹) using the 17 bi-allelic data listed above. The correlation among genetic, linguistic and geographic distances was assessed by the Mantel test using FSTmatrices resulted from Arlequin analysis.

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Results

Y-chromosome haplogroup diversity

Bi-allelic frequencies of E haplogroups for the populations involved in the analysis are given in Supplementary Figure S1 following the recent nomenclature.²⁰

Phylogenetic analysis

The network analysis on the chromosomes carrying E haplogroups was robust enough with a main cluster near the root represented by Kunama (KUN) encompassing most of Eritreans and Sudanese populations, including Nilo-Saharan and Afro-Asiatic speakers suggesting that linguistic divergence is either a subsequent event to population divergence, language replacement or that the two linguistic families may have shared a common origin. The Southern African populations, which include the Khoisan and Bantu of South Africa populations, are shown to be divergent from the East African larger cluster through its connection to the Somali population. The network also suggests that dispersal of the haplogroup to Southern Africa may reflect the spread of pastoralism from North East Africa.⁵ The Yemeni, Saudi Arabia and Oman populations on the other hand form a Near Eastern group. The link between the Yemeni and Omani populations with Afar and Saho populations from Eritrea could be attributed to the geographical proximity and possibly past genetic history. The Northern African populations tend to separate into two distinct groups: one containing Moroccan Arabs and Berbers and Saharawi, derived from the larger East African group and the other includes the Northern African populations of Algeria, Egypt and Tunisia, which forms a connection to both Europeans and Eritrean and Ethiopians hinting to recent genetic relationship between North and East African populations as is widely believed.³⁰

The NJ tree, which was not rooted, on the other hand was quite robust in showing similar grouping to that of the network, MDS and PCA plots to imply a correlation with language and relevance to geography. With few exceptions, all populations carrying the haplogroup were either pastoralists or had recorded history of pastoralism. The populations that made exceptions, includes Hausa, Fur and Masalit, have strong agricultural practices, while the latter is thought to have recent history of mixed farming or foraging. The other exceptions are Copts from Egypt and Tigrigna from Eritrea, both with documented history of agricultural practices albeit historically part of larger communities with established pastoralist practices. The Nilo-Saharan speakers and Niger-Kordofanian were confined to the cluster from Sudan and Eritrea.

Genetic structure and population differentiation

The MDS and the PCA plots (Figure 3 and Supplementary Figure S2, respectively) generated from the E haplogroup frequency data portrayed similar pattern that complement the network result. Generally four main clusters can be identified from the MDS and PCA plots. In the MDS plot, one of the main clusters (grey shaded) constitutes almost all Eastern Africans including most Eritrean and Sudanese populations. The Saho and Afar populations of Eritrea tend to cluster with the Near Eastern or Arabian populations (brown shaded). The West and Southern African populations (blue shaded) form the third cluster, while North African populations forming the fourth cluster (green shaded). Interestingly, populations from Egypt, Tunisia and Ethiopia (Ethiopian Jews) assumed an intermediate position between the East African and Near Eastern clusters. The PCA (Supplementary Figure S2) also gave the same result clustering the majority of East Africans (grey shaded) in the first component and North Africans (brown shaded) separated from Middle East populations (blue shaded) in the second component. The first two components account 83% of the variations observed.

Figure 3.

MDS plot based on the FST values generated from Arlequin 3.11 and using Rho similarity measures and with stress value of 0.07101. Populations’ descriptions are given in Supplementary Table S1.

Full figure and legend (212K)

As indicated in the AMOVA summary (Table 1), when Eritrean populations were grouped according to geographic location, most of the genetic variance (82.11%) was found within populations; a value that is similar to that obtained (82.44%) when the populations were grouped according to their linguistic affiliation. Variance among populations within the linguistic groups was 14.71%, which is slightly higher than the variance among the geographic groups (13.17%). The genetic variance among the linguistic and geographical groups was 2.85% and 4.71%, respectively. AMOVA analysis was also carried out to see the variation of populations from this study and from published works in relation to their linguistic and geographic affiliation. For this purpose, populations were grouped as Afro-Asiatic, Nilo-Saharan and Niger-Kordofanian with the exclusion of Middle East and Europeans populations in both cases. Most of the genetic variance (52.66%) was found to be within populations. The genetic variance among groups and populations within groups were 18.73% and 28.66%, respectively. The AMOVA result after grouping the population into North, South, West and East Africans was different from grouping the populations according to their linguistic affiliation. The results were 25.89% variance among groups, 19.63% among populations within groups and 54.48% within populations. Mantel test showed no correlation between geographical isolation and linguistic affiliation of the populations and their genetic distance.

Table 1 - Summary of AMOVA analysis.

Full table

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Discussion

The Sahel, which extends between the Atlantic coast of Africa and the Red Sea plateau, represents one of the least sampled areas and populations in the domain of human genetics. The position of Eritrea adjacent to the Red Sea coast provides opportunities for insights regarding human migrations within and beyond the African landscape.

Worth noting in the current data set is the absence of differentiation of Eritrean populations along their geographical and linguistic affiliation, which may be a reflection of their admixture⁴² or a common founding population with subsequent drift. Sharing of derived alleles for E and other more deep Y-chromosome lineages (unpublished data) of Eritreans with other populations from the region renders this part of East Africa a likely scene for some of the earliest demographic episodes within as well as subsequent expansion off the continent; a scenario that seems to corroborate paleontological, archeological and genetic evidences.^{9, 43, 44, 45}

The network cluster associated with the Eritrean Nilo-Saharan Kunama (Figure 1) may represent an expansion event following the out-of-Africa migration,^31, 46possibly close to the origin of the ancestral Y-chromosome clades.^47, 48, 49 The expansion, carrying the diversified E-P2 mutation, may be responsible for the migration of male populations to different parts of the continent and henceforth the rise and spread of the bearers of the macrohaplogroup.⁵⁰ These type of population movements, or demic expansions, driven by climatic change and/or spread of pastoralism and to some extent agriculture,^{51, 52, 53, 54} are not uncommon in human history. This scenario is more substantiated by the refining of the E-P2 (Trombetta et al³⁵) and its two basal clades E-M2 and E-M329, which are believed to be prevalent exclusively in Western Africa and Eastern Africa, respectively.

Interestingly, this ancestral cluster includes populations like Fulani who has previously shown to display Eastern African ancestry, common history with the Hausa who are the furthest Afro-Asiatic speakers to the west in the Sahel, with a large effective size and complex genetic background.²³ The Fulani who currently speak a language classified as Niger-Kordofanian may have lost their original tongue to associated sedentary group similar to other cattle herders in Africa a common tendency among pastoralists. Clearly cultural trends exemplified by populations, like Hausa or Massalit, the latter who have neither strong tradition in agriculture nor animal husbandry, were established subsequent to the initial differentiation of haplogroup E. For example, the early clusters within the network also include Nilo-Saharan speakers like Kunama of Eritrea and Nilotic of Sudan who are ardent nomadic pastoralists but speak a language of non-Afro-Asiatic background the predominant linguistic family within the macrohaplogroup.

The subclades of the network some of which are associated with the practice of pastoralism are most likely to have taken place in the Sahara, among an early population that spoke ancestral language common to both Nilo-Saharan and Afro-Asiatic speakers, although it is yet to be determined whether pastoralism was an original culture to Nilo-Saharan speakers, a cultural acquisition or vice versa; and an interesting notion to entertain in the light of the proposition that pastoralism may be quite an antiquated event in human history.¹⁷ Pushing the dates of the event associated with the origin and spread of pastoralism to a proposed 12 000–22 000 YBP, as suggested by the network dating, will solve the matter spontaneously as the language differences would not have appeared by then and an original pastoralist ancestral group with a common culture and language⁵⁰ is a plausible scenario to entertain. Such dates will accommodate both the Semitic/pastoralism-associated expansion and the introduction of Bos taurus to Europe from North East Africa or Middle East.⁵⁵ The network result put North African populations like the Saharawi, Morocco Berbers and Arabs in a separate cluster. Given the proposed origin of Maghreb ancestors^{56, 57, 58, 59} in North Africa, our network dating suggested a divergence of North Western African populations from Eastern African as early as 32 000 YBP, which is close to the estimated dates to the origin of E-P2 macrohaplogroup.^30, 60 It can be further inferred that the high frequency of E-M81 in North Africa and its association to the Berber-speaking populations^{25, 30, 32, 60, 61} may have occurred after the splitting of that early group, leading to local differentiation and flow of some markers as far as Southern Europe.^30, 60, 62

A branching in the network may once again represent an episode of human migration that carried the haplogroup E-M35 and its subhaplogroups farther to the western coast of the Red Sea to Yemen, Oman and Saudi Arabia and concurrently down to Southern Africa as part of a more recent Y chromosome motivated out of Africa migration episode.

The PCA and MDS display similar interesting grouping of the Afar and Saho populations of Eritrea with their Near Eastern Arabian populations to conjure up on the genetic relationship of the two sides of the Red Sea. The arrival of the E-M35 and derived subclades, for example, E-M123/E-M34, to Arabia appears to be strongly linked to expansion into East Africa, North Africa, Europe, Southern Africa, an event that is likely related to pastoralism, hastened by its advent and amenable for analysis and dating using approaches similar to what was proposed for the co-migration of Y chromosome and disease traits.⁶³

The presence of archeological^{10, 11, 12, 13} and agro-pastoral^9, 14, 16 evidences from this side of the Red Sea and the history of migration of animals across the Red Sea,⁶⁴ however, calls for more molecular dissection of common haplogroups shared by these coastal populations. As suggested by others, this may give clues not only to the origin of E-M123, J-M267, K-M70, but also to the origin of Semitic languages.^65, 66 Indeed the trail of such historical movements are detectable by molecular signatures of markers like Y chromosome giving insights into episodes of even more regional nature, for example, the high frequency of E-V32 in Eritrea, in concordance to oral history, supports the historical ties between North East Africa (Egypt) and East Africa including Eritrea, Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia.

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Conclusion and future work

Although most of the data sets in our study define the deep ancestry of the phylogeny, they still shed some information to our interpretations of recent phenomena such as the current genetic diversity of the E haplogroup in an implication to the origin and spread of Afro-Asiatic languages and to the history of pastoralism.⁶⁷ Such perspectives, however, should be tested by using more recently derived markers^5, 47 within the major haplogroups to explain the archeological findings and the historical and current demography of the region. Moreover, more comparative genetic analysis between the two sides of the Red Sea, specially emphasizing on E-M123/E-M34 or E-M78 haplogroups, will not only refine the route of exit of H. sapiens sapiens from East Africa but also the genealogies of Afro-Asiatic languages in the region.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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