Pax Augusta
Elite member
Italians in general are well aware that the Roman Empire was multi-ethnic and that there may have been some legacies from the imperial era in Italy. Of course, many Italians are also ignorant and still think that the Latins or Italics were Nordic gods compared to the other populations of pre-Roman Italy. In any case, uniparental markers on mitochondrial or Y chromosomal DNA represent only one ancestor of the many ancestors from which a person is descended. Ethnicity estimates of commercial companies are games. To be clear for me everyone is free to do and think what he wants, but it is naive to think that an Italian can change his identity on the basis of his genetic results, or because he discovers he has a Y-DNA that exists in the Levant he begins to feel more Levantine than Italian, just as if he discovers he has a Y-DNA that is more frequent among Germanic populations he can begin to feel more German or Scandinavian than Italian. The Italian demography has changed a lot in the last 150 years because of internal migrations, and in the last 30-40 years it is changing because of external ones, and it will change again in the next years. Despite this, regional identity is still strong in Italy, even when a person has ancestors from different regions of Italy. There are many Italians born in a region other than that of their parents' origin who identify with their place of birth rather than their parents' place of origin. Identity is first and foremost a cultural process. Changing identity on the basis of genetic data may happen in the new world, or it may happen to those of mixed ancestry or to migrants in a completely different context, but it can hardly happen in Europe. Very rarely I do see it happening in Italy in the real life.
The interest in these topics should be purified by personal research into one's own identity, which only ends up influencing the judgement on what are the conclusions or hypotheses of the research. Population genetics produces hypotheses, genetic studies rarely have the smoking gun. And population genetics, including studies of the much overrated Ivy League schools, is much criticised by other scholars for its approach and method, which is often reminiscent of old 19th century theories. Pointing out that southern Europeans have more contact with West Asia, Levant and North Africa, which given the geography is like reinventing the wheel, feeds the idea that the purest Europeans are northern Europeans, nineteenth-century idea that it was the geneticists themselves who revived. So it is absolutely no surprise that he may be in contact with Ivy League Schools. Because more and more we see in discussions Nordicists going hand in hand with migrationists and orientalists.
Having said that, a few words should also be said about the G25 and Italy. As far as Italy is concerned, many areas are still uncovered, Liguria is based on a single individual probably from the Savona area, Emilia and Romagna are completely missing, and it is evident that the Alpine and Prealpine areas are oversampled compared to the Po Valley. The view it can give is still very partial. Only in a few years' time will we have a more accurate view, although it cannot be taken for granted, because Italian geneticists have suffered from circular argumentation from the very beginning, as this can be seen in their work, and from Cavalli-Sforza's initial wrong approach. So, if even geneticists are not exempt from mistakes, why should we believe amateurs who have never had a neutral point of view? When he said that modern samples were not representative and reliable he was referring only and exclusively to a few samples that he was interested in. Those who have really a neutral approach, rare even to find among geneticists, are interested in the accuracy of all, not just the part they are attached to for personal reasons.
Present pasts in the archaeology of genetics, identity, and migration in Europe: a critical essay
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00438243.2019.1627907
The interest in these topics should be purified by personal research into one's own identity, which only ends up influencing the judgement on what are the conclusions or hypotheses of the research. Population genetics produces hypotheses, genetic studies rarely have the smoking gun. And population genetics, including studies of the much overrated Ivy League schools, is much criticised by other scholars for its approach and method, which is often reminiscent of old 19th century theories. Pointing out that southern Europeans have more contact with West Asia, Levant and North Africa, which given the geography is like reinventing the wheel, feeds the idea that the purest Europeans are northern Europeans, nineteenth-century idea that it was the geneticists themselves who revived. So it is absolutely no surprise that he may be in contact with Ivy League Schools. Because more and more we see in discussions Nordicists going hand in hand with migrationists and orientalists.
Having said that, a few words should also be said about the G25 and Italy. As far as Italy is concerned, many areas are still uncovered, Liguria is based on a single individual probably from the Savona area, Emilia and Romagna are completely missing, and it is evident that the Alpine and Prealpine areas are oversampled compared to the Po Valley. The view it can give is still very partial. Only in a few years' time will we have a more accurate view, although it cannot be taken for granted, because Italian geneticists have suffered from circular argumentation from the very beginning, as this can be seen in their work, and from Cavalli-Sforza's initial wrong approach. So, if even geneticists are not exempt from mistakes, why should we believe amateurs who have never had a neutral point of view? When he said that modern samples were not representative and reliable he was referring only and exclusively to a few samples that he was interested in. Those who have really a neutral approach, rare even to find among geneticists, are interested in the accuracy of all, not just the part they are attached to for personal reasons.
Present pasts in the archaeology of genetics, identity, and migration in Europe: a critical essay
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00438243.2019.1627907