posted
^ What you're pointing out is a perfect example of arbitrary division which is something many DNA ancestry companies are guilty of. In this case the division is between Northeast Africa and the Maghreb (Northwest Africa) with the latter being classified as 'North Africa' but the former 'Arab, Egyptian & Levantine'.
The reason is obvious to anyone familiar with Egyptian history and that is Egypt has had significantly more genetic influence from the Arab invasion than the Northwestern part of Africa. So one can argue that Northwest is more 'pristine' in terms of indigenous North African genetics but then again, that isn't entirely true either since the Maghreb has had geneflow from Europe since the Late Stone Age (KEB) to the Vandal invasion of the 400s.
That said, if one eliminates these historical genetic influences from Eurasia one can clearly see a common North African genetic scape with 'North Africa' still being valid.
-------------------- Mahirap gisingin ang nagtutulog-tulugan. Posts: 26285 | From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA | Registered: Feb 2005
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