Genetics of Indus Valley Populations

Angela

Elite member
Messages
21,823
Reaction score
12,329
Points
113
Ethnic group
Italian
See:
Ajai K. Pathak et al

"The Genetic Ancestry of Modern Indus Valley Populations from Northwest India"

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002929718303987


"The Indus Valley has been the backdrop for several historic and prehistoric population movements between South Asia and West Eurasia. However, the genetic structure of present-day populations from Northwest India is poorly characterized. Here we report new genome-wide genotype data for 45 modern individuals from four Northwest Indian populations, including the Ror, whose long-term occupation of the region can be traced back to the early Vedic scriptures. Our results suggest that although the genetic architecture of most Northwest Indian populations fits well on the broader North-South Indian genetic cline, culturally distinct groups such as the Ror stand out by being genetically more akin to populations living west of India; such populations include prehistorical and early historical ancient individuals from the Swat Valley near the Indus Valley. We argue that this affinity is more likely a result of genetic continuity since the Bronze Age migrations from the Steppe Belt than a result of recent admixture. The observed patterns of genetic relationships both with modern and ancient West Eurasians suggest that the Ror can be used as a proxy for a population descended from the Ancestral North Indian (ANI) population. Collectively, our results show that the Indus Valley populations are characterized by considerable genetic heterogeneity that has persisted over thousands of years."



 
it's behind a paywall
again no proper Indus Civilization samples, but peripheral
I wonder whether they found haplo R1a this time, which was suspiciously absent in the prior study
 
Interesting paper. Unfortunately the supplemental data isn't available yet.

The authors mention the Ror tribe of North-Western India as an outlier due to elevated Anatolian and Steppe admixture. They cite male-biased admixture evidenced by elevated frequencies of J2 & Q in the Ror, which they speculate might be a result of Bronze Age influx from the steppe.

I would say that their conclusion is most likely wrong, and that J2 & Q were haplogroups carried by historical steppe groups like Scythians, Huna or Mughals. Elevated 'Central Asian' admixture in the Ror tribe is further evidence of this.

CRdaJvD.png


The biggest mystery seems to be the high Anatolian admixture in Jatts and especially the Ror.
 

This thread has been viewed 3884 times.

Back
Top