Ancient Etruscans, and their cattle, were immigrants from Anatolia,

Genetic differences in current population of the Etruscan region were
found in populations in Turkey.

"We found that the DNA samples from individuals from Murlo and
Volterra were more closely related those from near Eastern people than
those of the other Italian samples", Professor Alberto Piazza, from
the University of Turin, Italy, says at the European Society of Human
Genetics

"In Murlo particularly, one genetic variant is shared only by people
from Turkey, and, of the samples we obtained, the Tuscan ones also
show the closest affinity with those from Lemnos."

Scientists had previously shown this same relationship for
mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in order to analyse female lineages. And in
a further study, analysis of mtDNA of ancient breeds of cattle still
living in the former Etruria found that they too were related to
breeds currently living in the near East.

Public release date: 16-Jun-2007


Contact: Mary Rice
mary@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
European Society of Human Genetics
Ancient Etruscans were immigrants from Anatolia, or what is now Turkey
Geneticists find the final piece in the puzzle

Nice, France: The long-running controversy about the origins of the
Etruscan people appears to be very close to being settled once and for
all, a geneticist will tell the annual conference of the European
Society of Human Genetics today. Professor Alberto Piazza, from the
University of Turin, Italy, will say that there is overwhelming
evidence that the Etruscans, whose brilliant civilisation flourished
3000 years ago in what is now Tuscany, were settlers from old Anatolia
(now in southern Turkey).

Etruscan culture was very advanced and quite different from other
known Italian cultures that flourished at the same time, and highly
influential in the development of Roman civilisation. Its origins have
been debated by archaeologists, historians and linguists since time
immemorial. Three main theories have emerged: that the Etruscans came
from Anatolia, Southern Turkey, as propounded by the Greek historian
Herotodus; that they were indigenous to the region and developed from
the Iron Age Villanovan society, as suggested by another Greek
historian, Dionysius of Halicarnassus; or that they originated from
Northern Europe.

Now modern genetic techniques have given scientists the tools to
answer this puzzle. Professor Piazza and his colleagues set out to
study genetic samples from three present-day Italian populations
living in Murlo, Volterra, and Casentino in Tuscany, central Italy.
"We already knew that people living in this area were genetically
different from those in the surrounding regions", he says. "Murlo and
Volterra are among the most archaeologically important Etruscan sites
in a region of Tuscany also known for having Etruscan-derived place
names and local dialects. The Casentino valley sample was taken from
an area bordering the area where Etruscan influence has been
preserved."

The scientists compared DNA samples taken from healthy males living in
Tuscany, Northern Italy, the Southern Balkans, the island of Lemnos in
Greece, and the Italian islands of Sicily and Sardinia. The Tuscan
samples were taken from individuals who had lived in the area for at
least three generations, and were selected on the basis of their
surnames, which were required to have a geographical distribution not
extending beyond the linguistic area of sampling. The samples were
compared with data from modern Turkish, South Italian, European and
Middle-Eastern populations.

"We found that the DNA samples from individuals from Murlo and
Volterra were more closely related those from near Eastern people than
those of the other Italian samples", says Professor Piazza. "In Murlo
particularly, one genetic variant is shared only by people from
Turkey, and, of the samples we obtained, the Tuscan ones also show the
closest affinity with those from Lemnos."

Scientists had previously shown this same relationship for
mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in order to analyse female lineages. And in
a further study, analysis of mtDNA of ancient breeds of cattle still
living in the former Etruria found that they too were related to
breeds currently living in the near East.

The history of the Etruscans extends before the Iron Age to the end of
the Roman Republic or from c. 1200 BC to c. 100BC Many archaeological
sites of the major Etruscan cities were continuously occupied since
the Iron Age, and the people who lived in the Etruria region did not
appear suddenly, nor did they suddenly start to speak Etruscan. Rather
they learned to write from their Greek neighbours and thus revealed
their language. Archaeologists and linguists are in agreement that the
Etruscans had been developing their culture and language in situ
before the first historical record of their existence.

"But the question that remained to be answered was - how long was this
process between pre-history and history"" says Professor Piazza. In
1885 a stele carrying an inscription in a pre-Greek language was found
on the island of Lemnos, and dated to about the 6th century BC.
Philologists agree that this has many similarities with the Etruscan
language both in its form and structure and its vocabulary. But
genetic links between the two regions have been difficult to find
until now.

Herodotus' theory, much criticised by subsequent historians, states
that the Etruscans emigrated from the ancient region of Lydia, on what
is now the southern coast of Turkey, because of a long-running famine.
Half the population was sent by the king to look for a better life
elsewhere, says his account, and sailed from Smyrna (now Izmir) until
they reached Umbria in Italy.

"We think that our research provides convincing proof that Herodotus
was right", says Professor Piazza, "and that the Etruscans did indeed
arrive from ancient Lydia. However, to be 100% certain we intend to
sample other villages in Tuscany, and also to test whether there is a
genetic continuity between the ancient Etruscans and modern-day
Tuscans. This will have to be done by extracting DNA from fossils;
this has been tried before but the technique for doing so has proved
to be very difficult."

"Interestingly, this study of historical origins will give us some
pointers for carrying out case-control studies of disease today," says
Professor Piazza. "In order to obtain a reliable result, we had to
select the control population much more carefully that would normally
be done, and we believe that this kind of careful selection would also
help in studies of complex genetic diseases."

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-06/esoh-aew061307.php

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