quote:"Researchers supported by The Wellcome Trust were able to sequence the Canaanite genome from the remains of five individuals buried in the ancient port city of Sidon (modern Saïda, Lebanon) around 3,700 years ago. The results were compared against the DNA of 99 modern-day Lebanese residents.
According to the results, Canaanite ancestry is a mix of indigenous populations who settled the Levant (the region encompassing much of modern Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, and the Palestinian territories) around 10,000 years ago, and migrants who arrived from the east between 6,600 and 3,550 years ago.
An additional Eurasian element was added to the genetic mix sometime between 1800 and 200 B.C., a tumultuous period that saw the collapse of the Bronze Age and the advent of the Iron Age, the era in which most scholars believe the Bible was recorded.
While the researchers were surprised at the level of genetic continuity between ancient Canaanites and modern Lebanese after some 4,000 years of war, migration, and conquest in the area, they caution against drawing too many conclusions on ancient history based solely on genetic data. "People can be culturally similar and genetically different, or genetically similar and culturally different," says Tyler-Smith.
Archaeologist Assaf Yasur-Landau, co-director of the Tel Kabri Archaeological Project and author of a forthcoming book on the Canaanites, agrees. "Canaanites are still a huge mystery to us, so every study of the Canaanites—whether it's in genetics, culture, economy, religion, or politics—is something that will tell us tremendously important facts about the makeup of the Biblical world of the first millennium."
Continuity and admixture in the last five millennia of Levantine history from ancient Canaanite and present-day Lebanese genome sequences
Marc Haber eta al 2017
The Canaanites inhabited the Levant region during the Bronze Age and established a culture which became influential in the Near East and beyond. However, the Canaanites, unlike most other ancient Near Easterners of this period, left few surviving textual records and thus their origin and relationship to ancient and present-day populations remain unclear. In this study, we sequenced five whole- genomes from ~3,700-year-old individuals from the city of Sidon, a major Canaanite city-state on the Eastern Mediterranean coast. We also sequenced the genomes of 99 individuals from present-day Lebanon to catalogue modern Levantine genetic diversity. We find that a Bronze Age Canaanite- related ancestry was widespread in the region, shared among urban populations inhabiting the coast (Sidon) and inland populations (Jordan) who likely lived in farming societies or were pastoral nomads. This Canaanite-related ancestry derived from mixture between local Neolithic populations and eastern migrants genetically related to Chalcolithic Iranians. We estimate, using linkage-disequilibrium decay patterns, that admixture occurred 6,600-3,550 years ago, coinciding with massive population movements in the mid-Holocene triggered by aridification ~4,200 years ago. We show that present- day Lebanese derive most of their ancestry from a Canaanite-related population, which therefore implies substantial genetic continuity in the Levant since at least the Bronze Age. In addition, we find Eurasian ancestry in the Lebanese not present in Bronze Age or earlier Levantines. We estimate this Eurasian ancestry arrived in the Levant around 3,750-2,170 years ago during a period of successive conquests by distant populations such as the Persians and Macedonians.
..In addition, the two Sidon_BA males carried the Y-chromosome haplogroups39 J-P58 (J1a2b) and J- M12 (J2b) (Table 1 and S4; Figure S9), both common male lineages in the Near East today. We compiled frequencies of Y-chromosomal haplogroups in this geographical area and their changes over time in a dataset of ancient and modern Levantine populations (Figure S10), and note, similarly to Lazaridis et al.,13 that haplogroup J was absent in all Natufian and Neolithic Levant male individuals examined thus far, but emerged during the Bronze Age in Lebanon and Jordan along with ancestry related to Iran. All five Sidon_BA individuals had different mitochondrial DNA haplotypes40 (Table 1), belonging to paragroups common in present-day Lebanon and nearby regions (Table S5) but with additional derived variants not observed in our present-day Lebanese dataset.
Clyde Winters Member # 10129
posted
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The sample is the aDNA of five individuals dating to 1700BC, compared to 99 modern people. The law of averages 5/99 makes it obvious that there would be some matches. There is no way this small sample could produce the results claimed by the the authors that "According to the results, Canaanite ancestry is a mix of indigenous populations who settled the Levant (the region encompassing much of modern Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, and the Palestinian territories) around 10,000 years ago, and migrants who arrived from the east between 6,600 and 3,550 years ago."
The results, do not agree with the claims of the authors for continuity between the populations.
Moreover, how can they predict events during the Akkadian period, when the aDNA has nothing to do with Mesopotamia or even date to the Akkadian period.
This is another paper by Haber et al, that is pure bs. It shows that if you make a few pretty charts you can publish your paper if you have the right support.
Punos_Rey Member # 21929
posted
Lioness/Dr. Winters:
Thanks for your commentary, figured I'd wait till the more seasoned vets commented and made some sort of sense out of it
Ish Gebor Member # 18264
posted
From my understanding, there was a major migration a few centuries up to a millennium ago. Coming from northern regions, into the Levant, Lebanon.
quote: In addition, we find Eurasian ancestry in the Lebanese not present in Bronze Age or earlier Levantines. We estimate that this Eurasian ancestry arrived in the Levant around 3,750–2,170 years ago during a period of successive conquests by distant populations.
--Marc Haber et al.
Continuity and Admixture in the Last Five Millennia of Levantine History from Ancient Canaanite and Present-Day Lebanese Genome Sequences
Continuity and admixture in the last five millennia of Levantine history from ancient Canaanite and present-day Lebanese genome sequences
Marc Haber eta al 2017
The Canaanites inhabited the Levant region during the Bronze Age and established a culture which became influential in the Near East and beyond. However, the Canaanites, unlike most other ancient Near Easterners of this period, left few surviving textual records and thus their origin and relationship to ancient and present-day populations remain unclear. In this study, we sequenced five whole- genomes from ~3,700-year-old individuals from the city of Sidon, a major Canaanite city-state on the Eastern Mediterranean coast. We also sequenced the genomes of 99 individuals from present-day Lebanon to catalogue modern Levantine genetic diversity. We find that a Bronze Age Canaanite- related ancestry was widespread in the region, shared among urban populations inhabiting the coast (Sidon) and inland populations (Jordan) who likely lived in farming societies or were pastoral nomads. This Canaanite-related ancestry derived from mixture between local Neolithic populations and eastern migrants genetically related to Chalcolithic Iranians. We estimate, using linkage-disequilibrium decay patterns, that admixture occurred 6,600-3,550 years ago, coinciding with massive population movements in the mid-Holocene triggered by aridification ~4,200 years ago. We show that present- day Lebanese derive most of their ancestry from a Canaanite-related population, which therefore implies substantial genetic continuity in the Levant since at least the Bronze Age. In addition, we find Eurasian ancestry in the Lebanese not present in Bronze Age or earlier Levantines. We estimate this Eurasian ancestry arrived in the Levant around 3,750-2,170 years ago during a period of successive conquests by distant populations such as the Persians and Macedonians.
..In addition, the two Sidon_BA males carried the Y-chromosome haplogroups39 J-P58 (J1a2b) and J- M12 (J2b) (Table 1 and S4; Figure S9), both common male lineages in the Near East today. We compiled frequencies of Y-chromosomal haplogroups in this geographical area and their changes over time in a dataset of ancient and modern Levantine populations (Figure S10), and note, similarly to Lazaridis et al.,13 that haplogroup J was absent in all Natufian and Neolithic Levant male individuals examined thus far, but emerged during the Bronze Age in Lebanon and Jordan along with ancestry related to Iran. All five Sidon_BA individuals had different mitochondrial DNA haplotypes40 (Table 1), belonging to paragroups common in present-day Lebanon and nearby regions (Table S5) but with additional derived variants not observed in our present-day Lebanese dataset.
What happened to the specimen carrying L SNPs, in this region?
Haber is a magician. He has only 5 aDNA samples and 99 contemporary individuals, and he makes fantastic inferences not supported by the data relating to periods 3-4ky before the age of the aDNA sample.
This article like his Chad article, has no archaeological evidence supporting any of his inferences, yet the papers were published. What you can get published when you know the right people.
the lioness, Member # 17353
posted
quote:Originally posted by Clyde Winters:
Haber is a magician. He has only 5 aDNA samples and 99 contemporary individuals, and he makes fantastic inferences not supported by the data relating to periods 3-4ky before the age of the aDNA sample.
This article like his Chad article, has no archaeological evidence supporting any of his inferences, yet the papers were published. What you can get published when you know the right people. [/QB]
you don't like the haplogroups?
Clyde Winters Member # 10129
posted
quote:Originally posted by the lioness,:
quote:Originally posted by Clyde Winters:
Haber is a magician. He has only 5 aDNA samples and 99 contemporary individuals, and he makes fantastic inferences not supported by the data relating to periods 3-4ky before the age of the aDNA sample.
This article like his Chad article, has no archaeological evidence supporting any of his inferences, yet the papers were published. What you can get published when you know the right people.
you don't like the haplogroups? [/QB]
I don't see anything wrong with the haplogroups because Canaanites were Africans who migrated into the Levant. My opposition to the articles is the incongruence in using aDNA relating to 2kya to detail events that occurred 3ky earlier.
Ish Gebor Member # 18264
posted
quote:Originally posted by Clyde Winters: Haber is a magician. He has only 5 aDNA samples and 99 contemporary individuals, and he makes fantastic inferences not supported by the data relating to periods 3-4ky before the age of the aDNA sample.
This article like his Chad article, has no archaeological evidence supporting any of his inferences, yet the papers were published. What you can get published when you know the right people.
Correct.
Furter more:
"We computed the statistic f4(Levant_N, Sidon_BA; Ancient Eurasian, Chimpanzee) and found populations from the Caucasus and Iran shared more alleles with Sidon_BA than with Neolithic Levant (Figure 2A)."
Ish Gebor Member # 18264
posted
quote:Originally posted by the lioness,:
quote:Originally posted by Clyde Winters:
Haber is a magician. He has only 5 aDNA samples and 99 contemporary individuals, and he makes fantastic inferences not supported by the data relating to periods 3-4ky before the age of the aDNA sample.
This article like his Chad article, has no archaeological evidence supporting any of his inferences, yet the papers were published. What you can get published when you know the right people.
you don't like the haplogroups? [/QB]
LOL at the simplistic mindset.
the lioness, Member # 17353
posted
quote:Originally posted by Clyde Winters:
quote:Originally posted by the lioness,:
quote:Originally posted by Clyde Winters:
Haber is a magician. He has only 5 aDNA samples and 99 contemporary individuals, and he makes fantastic inferences not supported by the data relating to periods 3-4ky before the age of the aDNA sample.
This article like his Chad article, has no archaeological evidence supporting any of his inferences, yet the papers were published. What you can get published when you know the right people.
you don't like the haplogroups?
I don't see anything wrong with the haplogroups because Canaanites were Africans who migrated into the Levant. My opposition to the articles is the incongruence in using aDNA relating to 2kya to detail events that occurred 3ky earlier. [/QB]
quote: In this study, we sequenced five whole- genomes from ~3,700-year-old individuals
posted 
