Greek islander 23andme -- very similar to cmv88's father and high Italian score!

[Sikeliot]

Ikaria, Greece. Island off the coast of Turkey.

61% Italian!! And very low Balkan.

http://i61.tinypic.com/24ec01e.jpg
http://i58.tinypic.com/2ib12lk.jpg

[poiuytrewq0987]

Which island is the person from? If it's the Dodecanese then it's not too surprising. The Italians have ruled Greek islands at one point or another throughout history. The high percentage could suggest it's recent than something from far back.

[Sikeliot]

Which island is the person from? If it's the Dodecanese then it's not too surprising. The Italians have ruled Greek islands at one point or another throughout history. The high percentage could suggest it's recent than something from far back.


Ikaria. In my opinion it is not due to recent Italian ancestry, but rather the eastern Aegean islands have a lot of pre-Greek Neolithic ancestry of the same stock as the people in southern Italy, so they come up highly Italian on 23andme. Their ancestry, unlike mainland Greeks who score high Balkan, is more in line with modern southern Italians.

http://www.greeka.com/pictures/maps/ikaria.gif

[poiuytrewq0987]

Ikaria. In my opinion it is not due to recent Italian ancestry, but rather the eastern Aegean islands have a lot of pre-Greek Neolithic ancestry of the same stock as the people in southern Italy, so they come up highly Italian on 23andme. Their ancestry, unlike mainland Greeks who score high Balkan, is more in line with modern southern Italians.



What do they (23andme) say about Greeks scoring high Italian?

[Sikeliot]

What do they (23andme) say about Greeks scoring high Italian?

They didn't make a statement, but not all Greeks score it. It's mostly islanders that score high Italian, and particularly the eastern Aegean.

[poiuytrewq0987]

They didn't make a statement, but not all Greeks score it. It's mostly islanders that score high Italian, and particularly the eastern Aegean.

You do realize that Greece was colonized a few times throughout history, right? The Romans, the Venetians, the Genonese and a few others have colonized Greece. It's from any of the aforementioned periods of colonization that the high percentage of Italian could come from. To suggest something fantastical like neolithic period when 23andme states that the population data is as is 500 years ago and not more than that. So, if somebody scores high Italian then it's because they have Italian ancestry, not Neolithic ancestry. I score some 4 percent Italian and I attest it to Roman colonization because that's the most logical explanation. The Greeks scoring high Balkan makes more sense because... they are from the Balkans, not Italy. We also don't know what exactly Balkan means and until we see something definitive from 23andme it's pointless to speculate about terms we have no idea what they mean.

[Sikeliot]

You do realize that Greece was colonized a few times throughout history, right? The Romans, the Venetians, the Genonese and a few others have colonized Greece. It's from any of the aforementioned periods of colonization that the high percentage of Italian could come from. To suggest something fantastical like neolithic period when 23andme states that the population data is as is 500 years ago and not more than that. So, if somebody scores high Italian then it's because they have Italian ancestry, not Neolithic ancestry. I score some 4 percent Italian and I attest it to Roman colonization because that's the most logical explanation. The Greeks scoring high Balkan makes more sense because... they are from the Balkans, not Italy. We also don't know what exactly Balkan means and until we see something definitive from 23andme it's pointless to speculate about terms we have no idea what they mean.


Mainland Greeks are part of the "Balkan" sample. So if all Greek islanders (yes, all) are scoring largely Italian, it can't mean they are all predominantly Italians, can it? It means their ancestry is more shared with people in southern Italy (who they score nearly identically to) and not mainland Greece.

Genoese, Venetians, etc. don't just score Italian but also French/German, so if these Greeks have ancestry from those regions, they would too.

[Hadouken]

Mainland Greeks are part of the "Balkan" sample. So if all Greek islanders (yes, all) are scoring largely Italian, it can't mean they are all predominantly Italians, can it? It means their ancestry is more shared with people in southern Italy (who they score nearly identically to) and not mainland Greece.

Genoese, Venetians, etc. don't just score Italian but also French/German, so if these Greeks have ancestry from those regions, they would too.

so according to this the greek islanders and southern italians are the populations which are closest to the ancient greeks

is that what you imply ?

[Sikeliot]

so according to this the greek islanders and southern italians are the populations which are closest to the ancient greeks

Either that, or they never were, and they have always been Hellenized Neolithic people who happened to be of similar stock. If you believe southern Italians and Aegean islanders are "purest" ancient Greeks, it assumes mainland Greeks were once like them and changed. I used to think this but now it just seems improbable.

[Hadouken]

Either that, or they never were, and they have always been Hellenized Neolithic people who happened to be of similar stock. If you believe southern Italians and Aegean islanders are "purest" ancient Greeks, it assumes mainland Greeks were once like them and changed. I used to think this but now it just seems improbable.

what changed your mind ?

[Sikeliot]

what changed your mind ?

Seeing how similar Albanians are to Greeks. I doubt you'd jump from Albania into Greece and suddenly they become like Rhodians, Sicilians, Cretans and Calabrese.

Also, the southern Peloponnese (Lakonia) is transitional genetically between the northern mainland and Crete. It all makes sense to me now that Greece has not ever been homogenous. The Greeks settled the islands which had people on them, people of Neolithic Med stock similar to those in southern Italy.

[Queen B]

Ikaria, oh, this strange island
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/may/31/ikaria-greece-longevity-secrets-age

[sql]

Doesn't surprise me, considering that Italians and Greeks are pretty much genetically indistinguishable, especially those from the south of these two countries.

[Sikeliot]

Ikaria, oh, this strange island
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/may/31/ikaria-greece-longevity-secrets-age

A lot of rural Sicilians live long too. There was a guy from Enna (inland eastern region in Sicily) who lived over 100 recently and they had his photo and all up on the net.

[Queen B]

A lot of rural Sicilians live long too. There was a guy from Enna (inland eastern region in Sicily) who lived over 100 recently and they had his photo and all up on the net.
Those are the 5 places with the largest life expectancy
http://www.aplaceformom.com/blog/2013-03-29-where-people-live-the-longest/