Arabian maternal ancestry of Marsh Arabs confirmed via MtDNA

[StonyArabia]

The Marsh Arabs are an ethnic group that lives in Southern Iraq. Well their origins has been debated for years, however it seem that the Arab ancestry of the Marsh Arabs via the maternal line has been confirmed as they have the same mtDNA lineages of other Arabian sub-groupings. In general Iraq had a heavy Arabian female gene flow more than any region, especially after the Mongol and Timurid rule.

The most important mtDNA lineages of Marsh Arabs seem to be as follow:
R0 (24.1%)
H* (7.6%)
R0a (6.9%)
HV* (3.4%)
H5 (3.4%)
J (22.7%)
J1b (5.5%)
J2a (4.1%)
U (15.9%)
K1 (6.2%)
U3 (5.5%)
U7 (4.8%)
N1 (8.9%)
N1b1 (4.8%)
N1c (3.4%)
T (7.6%)
T1a (3.4%)
W (4.8%)

http://forwhattheywereweare.blogspot.com/2011/10/genetics-of-marsh-arabs-iraq.html

This mtDNA sequence is very much similar to that of the Bedouins and Yemenite Jews little to no differences.

[StonyArabia]

Cluster analysis, based on mtDNA frequencies reported in Al-Zahery et al. for the ME, Turkey, India, and Pakistan. Assyrian frequencies (N=59) were added (FTDNA + 23andMe). The Marsh Arabs cluster with the Arabian Peninsula populations, and Egypt. Northern Iraqi Arabs, Iranians, Kurds, Turks, Azeris, and Assyrians, cluster together.

[emrauld85]

http://www.eupedia.com/europe/european_y-dna_haplogroups.shtml

Region/Haplogroup
---------------------------I------R1a------R1b------G-----J2------J1-------E------T------L------Q------N------Others Sample size
Iran----------------------3------16.5------6.5------10----12-----10-------4.5----3------4------4------2.5------27
Iraq----------------------4------5.5-------9.5------2.5---19.5----43------9.5---3.5-----0.5---0.5-----0.5------1.5
North Iraq (Kurdistan)
--------------------------17------11.5-----17------4------28.5---11.5-----7.5---3------0-------0------0----------0
South Iraq (Marsh Arabs)
---------------------------0------0---------3------1.5-----3.5----81-------6.5----0-------0.5----3------0----------1.5
Jordan-------------------3.5----1.5-------18------4------13-----31-------26-----0.5-----0------0------0----------2.5
Kurdistan (Turkey)------20-----16--------6------2.5----10.5---9.5-----11.5----5-------4.5----5------0-----------9
Lebanon------------------5------2.5-------8------6.5-----26-----20------17.5---5--------5------2------0----------2.5
Palestine-----------------0------1.5------8.5------3------17-----38.5----19.5---7--------0------0------0-----------5
Syria---------------------5------10-------13.5-----3------17-----30------11.5---5--------3------0------0-----------2

[Iẓeḍwan n Nanna-Tuda]

How could we be sure it's of Arabian origin? I think that the Fertile Crescent shares ancient genetic affinities with the Arabian Peninsula. Borders didn't exist at all, and as you know, some haplogroups, like J1 or G-CTS342 had to cross the Fertile Crescent before their arrival in the Peninsula - maybe draining people from the area. To me, we can't know for sure what's Arabian, what's Iraqi and what's Levantine as the populations were rather close even before the Arab Conquest. There are even cases of Arabian penetration in the Levant in the Pre-islamic era.

In Morocco, for example, when we see J1 carriers from Lebanon or Syria, we always attribute it to Arabians whereas it's not always true. I guess Levantines have their own subclade.

[Peterski]

So they are not indigenous to their present-day homeland since ancient times?

[Iẓeḍwan n Nanna-Tuda]

Who said they aren't ?
I've just said that the majority of Levantines and Iraqis is probably descendant of the population that already lived in these areas before the 700 ACE. However, because of the affinities that already existed between Arabians, Levantines and Iraqis, it can be hard to distinguish whether it's a "recent" Arabian contribution or just a Levantine/Iraqi continuum.