for National Geographic News
Ancient maritime traders of the Mediterranean may have left behind a large genetic footprint in the region, where 1 in 17 men still harbors Phoenician DNA, according to a new study.
The findings could fill a gap in the history of the Phoenician civilization, which originated two to three thousand years ago in the eastern Mediterranean—in what is now Lebanon and Syria—and included prominent traders, according to Chris Tyler-Smith, lead author and associate researcher at National Geographic Society's Genographic Project. (The National Geographic Society owns National Geographic News.)
"By the time of the Romans they more or less disappeared from history, and little has been known about them since," Tyler-Smith added. "Our motivation was to really identify their genetic traces."
(Related: "Who were the Phoenicians" in National Geographic magazine, October 2004.)
The new research could also help scientists understand the genetic impact of other human migrations, such as military campaigns by the Greeks and the Mongols, Tyler-Smith said.
Tyler-Smith and colleagues used historic and archeological records, along with information from DNA samples.
Unlike mitochondrial DNA—which is passed down from mothers—the Y chromosome, passed down by fathers, is thought to provide more detailed genetic information.
Analyses of the Y chromosomal data revealed the presence of at least seven related genetic lineages from places around the Mediterranean Sea where Phoenicians had lived.
These lineages suggest that the Phoenicians contributed their genes to at least six percent of the modern populations of historic Phoenician trading outposts.
"Our findings suggest that the Phoenicians left behind a genetic legacy that persists till modern times," Tyler-Smith said.
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