Re: Archaeology unearths gout in early Pacific people

On Nov 28, 3:37 am, g-hor...@xxxxxxx (G Horvat) wrote:
On Mon, 26 Nov 2007 14:43:45 -0800 (PST), Jack Linthicum

<jacklinthi...@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

[...]

So where did they get the gout gene? Also I don't have access to JSTOR
and the other pay-per-view services and don't tend to order them
through inter library loan.

The references I posted were all free-view. So is JSTOR - you may be
able to get access through your library.
I can't see any problem with Taiwanese and Polynesians gettiing their
gout genes from a common source.
The Bunun, and Paiwan are inland tribes, as are the Atayal (mostly) -
you'll find they each possess
high proportions of certain genes, consistent with being small groups,
isolated for a very long time indeed, ie,
they're inbred.

Nobody has ever done any gene studies on the Western Plains Formosans
or those around Taipeh
(who were very much the majority before Chinese Han settlement)
because there are no 'pure' ones left.

Very few detailed genetic studies have been done in the Philippines or
Indonesia between Taiwan and Polynesia.

snip

Trejaut et al. determined that the mtDNA sequences of Taiwanese
aborigines were consistent with the concept of being ancestral to
those of Polynesians but not exclusively. The mtDNAs they compared
were inherited by women, who have a lower prevalence of gout than men,
and the link with Polynesians was strongest in the Ami and Yami
samples.

The Yami (from Rotel Tobago/Orchid Island off Taiwan) immigrated there
from further south in the Batanes Islands within the last millenium.
Their language is
Bashiic, in common with those islands, and related to other languages
further south in Mindoro
(middle left hand side of Philippines).
They should not be lumped in with 'mainland' Taiwan samples.

The Ami themselves have a legend of origin from the sea to the east.
(They are east coast
dwellers). Blust makes a great deal of their knowledge of, and
vocabulary of the sea, in the paper that established
9 different language families in Austronesian, all based in Taiwan.

That paper (on top of previous linguistic ones) is the foundation
stone for the Out of Taiwan story.
(Subgrouping, circularity and extinction: some issues in comparative
Austronesian linguistics
R Blust - Symposium Series of the Institute of Linguistics Academica
...., 1999 - only available from Blust himself).
There is no trace of the proposed ancestor (proto-Malayo Polynesian)
of ALL other Austronesian languages on Taiwan itself.
The differences between the 9 Formosan language families and all the
others are based on phonetic changes alone.

Other Formosan tribes have very little, if any, vocabulary related to
the sea. This is usually ignored in all
the stories about those intrepid seafarers.

Much is made of the resemblance between the Yami boats and Solomon
Island boats. The resemblance is superficial, and
Yami boats are kept onshore in rough weather.

"As regards the possibility of cultural diffusion being
responsible for the widespread occurrence of
certain of the constructional details of these
boats, I can only report that the ' tatara ' is
unseaworthy in even a mild swell, and that the
craft becomes completely unmanageable in any
sort of wind. The ' chinedkulan ' is a good
deal more stable, and journeys from Botel
Tobago to the Batans (about 50 miles) are said
to have been of fairly frequent occurrence within
comparatively recent times. No such ambitious
journey has ever been attempted within living
memory."
BOAT CONSTRUCTION IN BOTEL TOBAGO. By E. R.Leach
Man - December 1937 (Avail JSTOR)

By contrast, the Melanesians managed to colonise Manus Island,
170 miles from the nearest land, by 20kya

I correspond with a Taiwanese linguist, who tells me I should refer to
the aboriginals as Formosans, and the majority Chinese
as Taiwanese. (As Formosa was named by the Portuguese, I find this a
little weird).

regards

Richard
.

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